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TVs can be tricky to buy. Whether you read our exquisite guide to the Best TVs or not, you probably won't find every top model at your local Walmart, Best Buy, or Costco. And when you're browsing retail websites, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by marketing speak like HDR, QLED, or “local dimming.” That's why we've collected a few tips, tricks, and terms to help you shop smarter when buying a new TV. Think of this as a checklist to consider before you buy your next big screen.
Be sure to check out our guide to the Best Bookshelf Speakers, Best Soundbars, and our How to Buy a Soundbar Guide for other helpful hints on how to upgrade your home theater.
Updated June 2025: We've added new information with the latest in TV tech, including RGB LED, new OLED displays, HDMI 2.2, and updated pricing and TV options.
- What Size TV Should You Get?
- What Screen Resolution Do You Need?
- What Is Backlighting?
- What Are Quantum Dots?
- How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
- What's High Dynamic Range (HDR)?
- Gaming Performance
- The Right Ports
- What About TV Software?
- Get a Soundbar or Bookshelf Speakers
What Size TV Should You Get?
When it comes to screens, bigger is better, right? Sure, but that doesn't mean you should always spring for the largest size. Pricing on bigger models continues to drop, but it can still get out of hand quickly, and you should always make sure you have room for all that screen footage. If you're watching your budget, common cheap TV performance issues like screen aberrations, inaccurate colors, and mediocre image processing may be harder to overlook on a bigger canvas, so you'll want to balance your size and performance needs equally.
Some high-end OLED TVs have smaller sizes so they can double as computer monitors, but most TVs below 55 inches are largely nonstandard these days. Many manufacturers still make models below this size, but you likely won't get the latest and greatest performance.
This is the smallest standard size for modern TVs. It’s generally considered ideal for the small-to-average room in a home or apartment, but if you have a larger space, you may want to size up. Be aware that TVs this size and larger often come with feet on both ends of the screen; if you’re not wall-mounting, make sure you measure the width of your TV stand to ensure it can hold your new TV. That said, we're seeing even midrange models switching to adaptable feet and/or pedestal stands more often.
This has long been the default option for larger living rooms or for spaces where you’re going to have many eyes watching at once. As TV tech has improved and prices have dropped, 65-inch models have started to become the standard for many, though it should be noted that they may dominate your decor to some extent in smaller rooms. If you have the extra cash and space, it is worth the upgrade for those who love seeing details even closer in films and TV shows.
I only recommend TVs this size and larger for people who have huge rooms and are looking for a truly cinematic experience. Buyer beware: Pricing on TVs this large can get quite pricey (well above $2,000 for higher-end models). Cheaper ones (under $1,000) might not look great due to limitations in processing and panel lighting. Be prepared to have a professional or a group of friends help you move and mount a screen this large.
What Screen Resolution Do You Need?
Resolution means the number of pixels on your screen. Modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), 4K Ultra HD or “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants. TVs below or above 4K UHD resolution are relatively rare but for opposite reasons: Full HD screens are now old tech and are reserved for only the smallest and cheapest models; 8K resolution is available mostly on expensive, big-screen TVs and 8K content is still virtually non-existent.
What's the difference? More pixels! 4K TVs have about four times the number of pixels as 1080p screens, and 8K TVs have about four times that of 4K models, or 16 times (!) that of 1080p. In theory, this means a much clearer picture than 4K TVs, but that's not necessarily the reality. Because the pixels in a 4K TV at standard sizes (55-65 inches) are already packed so densely into the display, you may not be able to see the difference between 4K and 8K TVs unless you're watching from a close range or on a very large screen (75 inches or above).
The lack of 8K content also means most of the video you're watching will need to be upscaled, or raised to the TV's resolution by its internal processing system. For this reason, if you're buying an 8K TV, you'll usually want to buy a more premium model with good upscaling from a brand that makes them regularly, like Samsung's QN900 series.
Stick to a 4K UHD screen for now, unless you're a high roller.
What Is Backlighting?
All TVs—besides OLED and some specialty Micro LED models—use a combination of LED backlighting passed through a multi-layer substrate. There are layers that make the color and image, as well as a layer that lights said image so we can see it, controlled by the TV's internal processing. These lighting systems have a big impact on how good your LED TV screen looks in terms of contrast (the differences and definition between dark and light objects) and color.
Here are some backlighting terms you'll likely run into and what they mean:
Edge lighting is typically used in budget TVs, or TVs that need to be thinner than their direct-lit and locally dimmed counterparts. It involves a ring of lights around the screen used to illuminate the display. It commonly lights the screen unevenly and bleeds through in dark rooms where the lights sit, which can be off-putting and distracting.
Direct-lit TVs tuck their backlighting behind the display and can typically get brighter than their edge-lit counterparts. Without local dimming, direct-lit TVs will also look odd in darker rooms, with blotchy spots that reveal the backlighting.
Local dimming is a technology we’re increasingly seeing on even budget TVs from brands like TCL and Hisense, where multiple LEDs in the back of the TV can coordinate to light or darken smaller sections of the screen as needed. This means better contrast and less bleed from bright images on a dark background. (Think tiny stars or a spaceship lit across a deep-space background in a sci-fi or nature film.)
Mini-LED technology ($500+) takes local dimming to a more exact level, allowing for even more dimming zones behind your panel for better control. As the name suggests, mini-LEDs are smaller, with the best models fitting thousands across a standard screen. Since mini-LEDs are more precise, they create better contrast with less “haloing” around images on dark backgrounds than regular LEDs. This helps them better compete with the self-emissive screens, like OLED.
OLED, or “organic LED” ($800+) displays have individual pixels that act as their own backlight, so you get perfect contrast. Blacks are truly black because the pixel is completely turned off. The downside of these “self-emissive” displays has long been that they don't typically get as bright as the best LED TVs. This is still the case, but the best OLED TVs like the LG G5 utilize new technologies that double or triple the brightness of OLEDs made just a few years back. While LED TVs are still the brightness leaders (continuing to advance with each new generation), the best OLED TVs from Samsung, Sony, LG, and Panasonic offer enough brightness for even challenging lighting conditions. There are various types of OLED technology available, which we'll discuss in more detail below.
In extreme viewing scenarios, you might also run into OLED “burn-in,” where the content you watch leaves a visible mark on the screen. This is rare for modern OLED displays, and only happens if you leave static images on the screen for thousands of hours. Because they're organic, OLED images can also degrade at different levels over time, but again, this takes years of use and can often be accounted for with built-in tech. While both leading display technologies have their place, OLED's mix of improved brightness and perfect contrast has helped it remain the stalwart favorite for videophiles and professional reviewers, especially with recent innovations.
Micro LED ($20,000-100,000+) is a new emissive technology designed to compete with OLED. Not to be confused with mini-LED, these TVs are packed with incredibly tiny micro LEDs that, like OLED displays, act as their own backlighting. That allows them to deliver black levels and contrast like OLED, but at higher brightness levels. These TVs are currently very large and prohibitively expensive due to the production process (it's tough to get traditional LEDs small enough!), but new players like Awall are striving to make this tech more approachable. We expect Micro LED to be more prevalent in the future, but even several years on, this technology is still out of reach for the vast majority of shoppers.
RGB LED is yet another new display technology that works similarly to LEDs, but with a new wrinkle. Unlike traditional LED TVs that use white or (more commonly) blue LEDs and color filters light an LCD panel, RGB LED TVs from Hisense and Sony use tri-colored red, green, and blue lights at the source of the panel stack to provide advanced brightness, less blooming, and purer more accurate colors at both high and low brightness levels. These TVs are still in their infancy, but we've seen the earliest models in person, and they show incredible promise as the affordable TV technology to beat in the near future. For now, we'll have to wait and see how things develop.
What Are Quantum Dots?
Another display technology you'll hear a lot about when shopping for a new TV is QLED. While this technology may look nearly identical to OLED on a TV box, it's actually a variation of LED TV technology with one distinctive difference: quantum dots.
Not to be confused with everyone's favorite quirky '90s sci-fi series, quantum dots are tiny nanoparticles that glow when light passes through them. When added to a TV display, they can create more expansive and brighter colors that maintain accuracy at high brightness levels. Samsung was the first major brand to coin the term “QLED” but now most mid-tier LED TVs and above utilize some form of QLED technology (Hisense calls its version “ULED”).
More recently, Samsung added quantum dots to OLED displays to create QD-OLED (though Samsung often refers to it as Quantum OLED). Samsung introduced QD-OLED in its impressive return to OLED TVs with the S95 series (and later the step-down S90 series). Sony followed suit, blending Samsung QD-OLED displays with its lauded picture processing for the fantastic A95 TV series, and the newer Bravia 8 II.
QD-OLEDs have helped advance OLED tech by allowing for brighter, more versatile OLED TVs that compete better with ever-brightening QLED TVs. Not to be outdone, LG upgraded its OLED panels with its own brightening techniques, including its innovative MLA (Micro-Lens Array) displays in 2024, and for 2025, a new four-stack panel which uses two layers of blue elements and independent layers of red and green to create the brightest OLED we've tested yet. These advancements have helped OLED remain the marquee display technology for high-end TVs, even as QLEDs continue to raise the bar with eye-popping brightness.
How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
You'll see quite a range of prices when shopping for a new TV. It all comes down to the features, screen type, and performance. Here's a basic price guide on what you can expect for the money. Be sure to check out our list of the Best TVs for specific model information.
If you just want a TV with a large screen that can stream your favorite shows, this is a good starting place, especially if you're on a budget. We highly suggest you avoid TVs that aren’t made by the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, Hisense, Vizio, Panasonic, or Roku. Also, avoid spending less than $200 on anything, unless it’s smaller than 55 inches.
Here are some TVs we like in this price range:
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If you watch TV often and want something between 50 and 65 inches, this is a great price category to target. Stick to the major brands above—especially our favorite value-oriented brands like TCL, Hisense, and Roku—and you can hardly go wrong. If you want the best from more premium brands like Samsung, LG, and Sony, you'll likely need to spend up.
Here are some TVs we like in this general price range:
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This price range is for TVs 65 inches or larger, and/or those with advanced panel technologies, like OLED, and QLED/mini-LED. You’ll also typically get higher-end processing for improved clarity and upscaling, and better hardware like a 120Hz panel for video games and sports. Get into the $2,000 range and you'll find top-rated 4K TVs from Samsung, LG, Panasonic, and Sony. Spend more than a few thousand, and you can get into 8K resolution if you care to—not that there is currently much 8K content to watch.
Here are some TVs we love at this price range:
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What's High Dynamic Range?
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High Dynamic Range, more commonly called HDR, is now standard on all TVs worth buying, allowing you to see a wider range of highlights, contrast, and even more lifelike colors on supported movies and TV shows. Unlike the older Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) found in HD TVs, HDR formats provide specific information about where your 4K HDR TV should get especially bright or dim, allowing for much better overall contrast and color vibrancy. HDR content is also mastered at higher brightness levels, translating to a more dynamic vision of the director's intent with supported TVs.
There are a few major standards for HDR these days, including Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+. All of them enhance the differences between the brightest and darkest parts of an image. HDR10 is available in virtually every modern TV and is the baseline standard. Dolby Vision is the most widely available of the more advanced HDR formats, while HDR10+ (championed by Samsung) is a similarly advanced HDR version that's becoming more common. Both advanced formats allow TVs to adjust the brightness and contrast of supported content on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis, so you'll get results closer to the director's vision.
These days, you wouldn't want to buy a TV that doesn't support HDR unless you're after a small/cheap HD TV. Even if you're on a tight budget, you'll also want to consider an LED TV with quantum dots (aka a QLED or NeoQLED display) for their brighter and more vivid colors.
Gaming Performance
If you’re going to be gaming on your TV, you'll want to pay attention to two factors: refresh rate and input lag. You can often find these specs on the product listing or the box itself. Most basic TVs have a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which means the display can natively reach 60 frames per second (fps), or 60 images on the screen per second. However, modern consoles and games can support up to 120 frames per second, or 120 images per second. This offers smoother motion on the screen, making your game feel more fluid and responsive. For this reason, the best gaming TVs utilize a 120 Hz panel for a refresh rate of 120 frames per second (or higher). The latest TVs can stretch that refresh rate to 144 Hz and even 165 Hz, but only with certain gaming PCs.
Input lag is the time it takes for your movement on a gamepad or keyboard to register on the screen. The lower the better. Most TVs hover at around 10-15 milliseconds of input lag (less if the game is running at 1080p and 60 frames per second). LG’s OLED models have shockingly low input lag times, but this is primarily beneficial for fast-paced games that require speedy interactions, like first-person shooter games.
If you're an avid gamer, you'll also want to ensure your TV offers advanced gaming features like VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) to sync with a game's changing refresh rate without “tearing” or feeling sluggish, and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), which automatically optimizes the TV's input lag when turning on a modern console or gaming PC. To get those features in high resolution, you'll need a high-bandwidth HDMI connection, and that means a TV with HDMI 2.1 support.
What about HDMI 2.2?
A newer standard, HDMI 2.2, was announced by the HDMI Forum at CES 2025. This standard advances the technology further, including higher bandwidth, support for advanced commercial and AR/VR technologies, and features designed to improve lag between home theater devices. However, since HDMI 2.1 already supports video resolution at up to 8K and even 10K (which is non-existent for regular folks), along with all the bandwidth and low-lag tech regular viewers will need for the foreseeable future, HDMI 2.2 isn't something to worry about.
The Right Ports
Most TVs include an optical output for audio, Wi-Fi and Ethernet network connection, and three or four HDMI ports. As noted above, you should make sure your new TV provides at least one high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 port (or more if you have multiple modern gaming devices), which supports 4K resolution at 120-Hz or higher for the best gaming performance, among other benefits.
All new TVs provide an HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) port, which lets you easily connect modern soundbars, powered bookshelf speakers, and A/V receivers with an HDMI cable—and even control volume and power from the TV remote. Most midrange TVs or higher will support the more advanced version of ARC, HDMI eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel), which allows a TV to send uncompressed sound formats to a supported audio device. In essence, it supports better sound quality to raise the performance of the best soundbars and surround sound systems, but you'll likely need a great setup to tell the difference.
I recommend buying all-new high-speed cables if you're getting a new TV for the first time in a while, like the affordable Amazon Basics cable linked above. Modern cables support higher data speeds than those from years past, and HDMI cables can wear out over time.
What About TV Software?
All major TV brands have a baseline smart interface with support for multiple streaming services, such as Vizio's Home Screen, Samsung's Tizen OS, and LG's webOS. New Sony TVs come with Google TV, as do most new Hisense and TCL models. Roku TVs come with Roku OS, the streaming brand's simple, tile-based interface.
Roku and Google TV are our current favorite interfaces, but if you're not keen on your TV's built-in operating system, worry not—you can easily add your desired streaming platform on the cheap with one simple purchase. Just grab one of our favorite streaming devices, plug it in, and let your preferred smart interface do the heavy lifting.
Get a Soundbar or Bookshelf Speakers
TV speakers suck. Companies have tried to improve them, but even the best models still sound tinny. Just buy a soundbar already. Many modern soundbars come with built-in smart assistants like Google Assistant or Alexa, connect to streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify Connect, and offer advanced sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to immerse you in sound. Our Best Soundbars guide has several recommendations at multiple price ranges.
If you're more music-oriented and don't care as much about surround sound formats, we recommend considering a pair of bookshelf speakers as a soundbar alternative. Many options in our Best Bookshelf Speakers guide come with built-in amplification and advancements like wireless streaming and HDMI ARC, so you don't need a separate amplifier—just plug and play. If you've been listening to TV speakers up to now, you won't believe what you've been missing.
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