I recently had to move (my house burned down, for those who don’t know), and I had to purchase a new television, so I thought I’d briefly share my experience with everyone and let you know what I think the best TV on the market is.
First, go OLED. Just do it. OLEDs are much better. There’s no washout from side angles, they’re paper-thin, the colors pop like nobody’s business — go OLED. And go 4k. It makes a difference, it really does, especially if you game or you stream content as opposed to using a cable box. Also, get HDR. That makes a very big difference for gaming and for anything designed to use HDR — and that content is increasing daily.
Second — I hope I don’t get sued for this — but Consumer Reports has always been a reliable magazine, and their ratings are almost impossible to come by for free on the Internet (kudos to the people at CR for staying relevant) — but my late father subscribed to that particular magazine, and only passed away a little while ago, and before he did, he informed me that Consumer Reports had ranked the LG C2 series (their flagship model) as the best TV on the market (it’s OLED, 4k, HDR).
Thing is, to get a decent LG C2, you need to shell out a lot of money. So may I suggest one step down to what I purchased, which is the *A2* model? The only significant difference between the two is that the C2 is 120 Hz and the A2 is 60 Hz.
Okay, okay, I can hear fanboy bitching already. Blah blah the PS5 can do 120 FPS in a few games, so can the XBox, so you’re really going to miss that 120 Hz! Plus, a VERY few shows are being broadcast in 120 Hz.
The thing is, the science doesn’t support spending the money on the 120 Hz (which can broadcast 120 frames per second, as opposed to to 60 for the 60 Hz A2 models), because the human eye cannot notice a difference past 60 frames per second. 60 frames per second, when you see it on television, gives you that hyper-real “Soap Opera Effect”. Most people turn it off.
And I, personally, myself, was once incredibly psyched to get a 144 Hz monitor — and then incredibly disappointed when, no matter what I did, no matter how powerful my card, I could not, for the life of me, notice a difference past 60 FPS in gaming (and these games were not capped at 60 FPS; I was getting a steady 144 FPS).
Consider that very few things at all are broadcast in 60 FPS, and very few video games use over 60 FPS, even if the capability is there, precisely because the science says the human eye cannot tell the difference between 60 FPS and over 60 FPS. 60 FPS is the rough cap. Yes, yes, I know, it’s like lossless music; even’t if you can’t hear it, or see it, it’s still there, and for the true cinephiles and such — and if you can afford it — get the C2 model.
But if you’re on a budget, may I recommend the much cheaper A2 which has everything the C2 does (basically) except for the 120 Hz refresh rate? At around 48” to 55”. I have a 48” and it is *crystal* clear, it really is.
So, there you go. I recommend an LG A2 or C2 and I think Consumer Reports says the C2 is the best overall (both LG). Do some shopping around, look for deals. All I can tell you is that neither will disappoint you — but that my last 1080p Sony Bravia (entry level) model did, indeed, disappoint me (and it was 60”). So I did my research this time.
Good luck.