This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.
It’s an increasingly tech-savvy, high-definition world. So, it makes sense that 4K TVs are now the absolute standard for streaming content from your favourite apps, up-to-date to gaming, and accessing a whole host of tech savvy features.
To enjoy all this, you’ll need a TV that’s up to the task — a TV that promises great performance at a price that suits you. Thankfully, there's no shortage of choice. But how do you know which one is the best for you?
With an ever-growing selection of top brands, and tech terminology that can leave your head spinning, choosing a new 4K TV is not easy. You need to know you’re getting the latest tech — something that isn’t going to look out of date in the next few months. After all, even the once fancy-sounding high definition is so last generation. Confusing, isn’t it? That’s where we come in.
What is 4K?
The futuristic sounding 4K is another way of saying ultra-high definition. A 4K TV display has at least 8 million active pixels. That’s a standardised resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 — four times the resolution of the HD standard of 1080p. Top branded TVs will also do a great job of upscaling regular HD and SD content so it looks as polished as possible on your 4K display.
How big are 4K TVs?
When it comes to 4K, bigger is indeed better. And why not? A bigger screen makes sense to get the most out of the 4K quality — and to set these TVs apart from smartphones and small devices, which we increasingly use to watch HD content. The smallest size in 4K is usually 48 inches, going up to 55, 65, 75, and even 80+ inch screens. The screen size is measured diagonally, from corner to corner.
How much do 4K TVs cost?
This very much depends on the spec and manufacturer of the TV. It’s possible to find basic (but still good quality) models for around the £400 mark. You might be surprised to find that for TVs that offer multiple screen sizes, there isn’t a huge price difference between 48 and 65-inch models. It’s when you go past 80 inches that the prices really start to go up.
What’s better, OLED or QLED?
OLED and QLED are the panel technologies behind premium 4K screens. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. It uses a carbon-based film between two conductors that emits its own light when electric current is passed through. This creates a “self-emissive” display, as the OLED panel generates light without needing to use a backlight (as used by LCD displays). Its pixels are individually lit.
OLED screens produce whiter whites — because the panel lights itself — and blacker blacks, because the pixels turn off entirely — without relying on a backlight. OLED prevents “hotpsots” (points of very bright light) and “blooming” (when light images bleed into dark patches).
QLED stands for Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode. Championed by Samsung — the world’s biggest manufacturer of televisions — QLED is a type of LCD panel technology. It uses a LCD backlight and quantum dot colour filter that boosts colour and contrast. QLED is renowned for delivering a brighter picture than OLED — which is especially useful if you’re watching in a brightly-lit room.
Ultimately, neither is better. The OLED image is more refined, but QLED is brighter — it’s down to personal choice.
What is Neo QLED?
Now Samsung has introduced Neo QLED. This uses a MiniLED backlight, which replaces usual LED diodes with even smaller LED diodes — forty times smaller, in fact — and removes light guiding lenses. This ensures more — but smaller — dimming zones (little areas that dim the parts of the picture that need to be darker) plus superior control over backlight and colours.
What is the best 4K TV for gaming?
If you’re planning on connecting a TV to a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, there are features to look out for. Make sure it has HDMI 2.1 ports, which deliver better bandwidth, higher resolution, and higher frame rates. A gaming-friendly TV will also support eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), 4K@120Hz (High Frame Rate), HGiG tone-mapping, and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate).
What is the best 4K TV?
We've searched the internet for some of the best 4K TVs. Maybe you're looking for pure power, or maybe you're on a tight budget. No matter what you require, there should be something for you in this list.
These are the best 4K TVs in 2023.
