TV

Currently there are only 3 types of TV technologies available to consider: OLED, QLED and LED. Plasma and LCD were popular a few years ago but these technologies have faded away.

The top video display technology is OLED or Organic LED. What makes this technology super special is that it’s the only technology with True Black Levels. Basically, most TV technologies work with a back light so when you are looking at a black image the pixels go dark but the light behind still shows through, creating more of a grey than a black. This is an issue because when you’re watching dark scenes you want the blacks to be dark black, allowing incredible detail, with colors that practically pop right off the screen. OLED accomplishes this by using no back light and has the ability to turn off every individual pixel separately–millions of them! That means when there is a black image, it is truly black as no light shines through. This produces an incredibly spectacular image that no other technology can create.

The only technology that is even close is QLED from Samsung. Rather than license the rights from Universal Display Corporation, the developer and supplier of OLED technology and materials, Samsung has developed their own proprietary technology to mimic OLED. However, it still uses backlighting, so their black levels are definitely not equal to OLED. Basically, these are improved LED TVs that don’t quite rise to the performance level of OLED televisions.

As far as LED technology, that is soon to fade away and currently available only on small size TVs for the most part.

Smart, 4K, 8K, HDR, HD, Ultra HD, 120/240 refresh rate. With a list that can keep going, how do you choose? If you are looking for a TV that is 55” or larger, the decision gets pretty easy if you want to really have an amazing viewing experience.

Start with a smart TV. As streaming is becoming even more important than cable to many viewers, this technology is a must. This will give you access to most streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and more.

Next, look for a refresh rate of at least 240 Hz. This becomes critical when watching fast action movies and sports or the image will appear blurry when the action moves quickly.

With regard to resolution, if you want to see detail the way the producers and directors intended, 4K is the way to go. This offers the highest level of resolution until you go to – of course – 8K! While this is the next jump in resolution, it is early and expensive with little content. Look for an HDR-compatible set, which offers more realistic colors and better contrast.

Consider how many people in your family typically watch at once and where you’re going to put your new TV. Then pick the largest screen size that will fit comfortably into that space — and your budget. The sweet spot today, considering price, performance and the living space, is 55 or 65 inches but 75” and even larger TVs have become affordable.

Screen size also depends on how close you are to the TV. If you can see the individual pixels of the screen, you’re too close. A good rule of thumb is that you should sit at a distance from the TV that is three times more than the height of the screen for HD and just 1.5 times the screen height for 4K Ultra HD. In other words, you can sit twice as close to a 4K UHD TV.

The first 8K TVs are just now coming to market, with Samsung’s Q900 8K TV arriving first, and more to come from other manufacturers in 2019. These displays quadruple the resolution seen on 4K sets, offering a giant leap forward in picture quality. However, finding content to fully take advantage of that higher resolution is extremely limited. It’ll be at least a year or two before 8K sets are recommended for anyone but the earliest of adopters.

A 4K OLED TV with HDR from either Sony or LG both offer incredible features and your family will be thrilled. To select which particular model, reach out to IDS today and we will be happy to help you with that decision!