I’ve carefully selected these TVs based on a balance between their value and performance, which is extremely important when you’re watching on a big screen. After all, what’s the use of getting a giant TV if it doesn’t look good? Traits I look for in a large TV include good brightness and contrast, advanced local dimming (read: good backlighting) to reduce light bleed from bright objects on dark backgrounds, accuracy to the director’s intent, and impressive color saturation, especially for HDR (High Dynamic Range) content. For backlit TVs especially, I looked for good screen uniformity, or a lack of noticeable abberations from their mini LEDs that light up the TV panel in weird or glow-y ways.
Image processing, or a TV’s ability to reduce artifacts and bring out details, is another major consideration for large TVs, because the bigger the image, the more likely you are to notice fuzzy details or image inconsistencies. 4K Ultra HD (UHD) resolution is a must, of course, but so is good upscaling to raise the quality of lower resolution images such as High Definition (HD) or even Standard Definition (SD) broadcasts like old movies or classic TV shows. While it’s not a hard rule, in general, the more premium the TV the better the processing. Premium brands like LG, Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic are still the top options in this category.
With that in mind, this guide is designed to help you make an informed choice about where you’re willing to splurge. People rarely regret getting a larger TV, but it’s important to weigh how big a screen you actually need (and how easy it is to set up and move) with your performance demands. This list has something for every budget, but personally, I’d happily give up some quantity for quality. For me, that means buying OLED, where each pixel is its own backlight, but I also recognize everyone’s needs are different.
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