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00:00These are two of the best TVs that you can buy right now.
00:02We've got the Samsung S95C and over there, the LG G3.
00:07The problem is, they're about 3,500 pounds each
00:11for these 65-inch models, which is kind of ridiculous.
00:13So if you spin over here, this is a TCL 55-inch
00:18for about 400 quid.
00:20And it kind of makes you think,
00:21why would you need to spend five or six times more
00:24on a TV like that?
00:25Well, I'm gonna tell you.
00:27In this video, we're gonna run through
00:28everything you need to know about buying a TV,
00:30from the picture quality, gaming, ports, sound,
00:33and also just how much you actually need to spend.
00:35So hopefully, by the end of it, you have a better idea.
00:38And I'll leave some links to my favorite recommended models
00:40in the description below.
00:41And if you do find this video helpful,
00:42a cheeky like and subscribe would be lovely.
00:45Tip number one, don't buy a TV right now.
00:48Although I guess it depends when you're watching this.
00:50But the cycle is pretty much the same every year.
00:52In January at CES, all the big manufacturers
00:54announced the new lineup of TVs.
00:56Then a few months later, around May or June,
00:58they launched them, but obviously at the full retail price.
01:00But then three or four months after that,
01:02maybe around November or leading up to Christmas,
01:04we see big discounts.
01:06So the best time to buy is around Black Friday,
01:08Cyber Monday, or in the lead up to Christmas.
01:10Or really, if you can and you don't mind going
01:12for last year's model, pick up one of those
01:14because you'll save a lot of money
01:16versus buying a new TV that's just come out.
01:19In fact, this LG G3 is already a couple hundred quid off
01:21when it launched like last month as I'm recording this.
01:24So if you can wait, I would definitely recommend it.
01:27And to be honest, the year-on-year upgrades
01:28often aren't that significant.
01:30A little bit brighter, a little bit faster maybe.
01:32Although I would say for this year,
01:34with the G3 and the new Meta MLA technology,
01:37which we'll talk about more later,
01:39we have seen a significant improvement in brightness.
01:42But for more regular TVs that aren't crazy expensive,
01:45there often isn't that much difference year-on-year.
01:48Tip number two, look past your regular big brands,
01:51your Sonys, your Samsungs, your LGs,
01:53because while they do offer fantastic TVs,
01:55recently over the last three or four years,
01:57the likes of TCL and Hisense have really disrupted
02:01the more affordable budget market.
02:03And you can get some terrific TVs like this
02:06for some pretty crazy cheap prices.
02:08As I say, 400 pounds for a 55-inch 4K HDR TV
02:11with Dolby Vision.
02:13We've got an eARC port, nice and thin bezels,
02:16and also Fire TV built in, which I really like.
02:19While it is fun to look at the latest OLEDs and QD OLEDs,
02:22for the vast majority of us,
02:23this is the TV that we might actually be able to buy.
02:27As fantastic as these higher-end flagship TVs are,
02:30and in this room side-by-side,
02:32you can definitely see the difference,
02:33particularly in the image quality,
02:35I think it's gonna be a tough sell
02:36to convince you to spend five times more on that.
02:40And as my dad always says,
02:41it doesn't make the TV shows you watch any better.
02:43Also, newer budget models have plenty of goodies for gaming
02:46like 120 hertz, VRR, and auto low latency,
02:49although we'll come back to these later on.
02:51Tip number three, and we have to talk about size.
02:54Really, the sensible thing to think about is
02:56how big is your room?
02:57Will it fit in your room?
02:58Is it gonna look ridiculous?
03:00And also, of course, budget.
03:01The bigger you go, the more expensive it is.
03:03In my book, though, the bigger the better,
03:05if you can get away with it.
03:06For example, the jump from 55, which we have here,
03:09to 65 over there doesn't sound like a lot,
03:12but in real terms of screen area,
03:15it's 40% bigger on this guy.
03:18And I think for me right now, the sweet spot is 65.
03:22To be fair, though, in my living room,
03:23I do have a 77-inch LG TV,
03:25which is, again, about 40% bigger than a 65-inch.
03:29Although what I would say to the five of you
03:31who are maybe considering buying an 8K TV
03:33is don't go for anything under 75 inches.
03:35You need at least that size or bigger
03:37to really appreciate that 8K resolution.
03:40Also, if you do want a bigger screen,
03:41maybe consider last year's models.
03:43For example, this 65-inch LG OLED C2 from last year
03:47is nearly 500 quid cheaper than this year's 55-inch C3,
03:52and they offer very similar picture quality.
03:54Tip number four, change the settings.
03:57Even if you just spend a couple of minutes
03:58flicking through the different picture modes,
04:01it can make a big difference.
04:02For example, most TVs will come in the standard mode,
04:05but then you'll have Filmmaker or Expert Bright
04:07or something similar.
04:08And generally, well, you can see here, this is Vivid.
04:11And maybe if you're watching a Pixar movie
04:12or football or something
04:13and you want the most crazy, contrasty, and vibrant picture,
04:17but most of the time, I stick to an Expert or Natural mode
04:21or Filmmaker mode.
04:22This is generally the most accurate for colors.
04:25A little bit darker, but if you're watching movies,
04:27this is what you want.
04:28Couple of simple things.
04:29Make sure it's in Home mode
04:31and not a Store or Retail mode
04:33because that will give you really blown-out colors.
04:35Also, turn off any kind of Eco mode, generally.
04:38I mean, that might save you a little bit of money,
04:40but it will also drop the brightness.
04:42You might prefer that,
04:43but generally, I always like it as bright as possible.
04:46Also make sure you've checked for updates
04:47because they can add new streaming apps
04:49or improve the processing a little bit through updates.
04:52Game mode is also essential for consoles
04:54and helping to reduce response times for gaming.
04:56Although most new TVs will automatically switch
04:59to Game mode because they have ALLM
05:01or Auto Low Latency mode.
05:02But we also have to talk about motion smoothing
05:04because while this can work well for sports,
05:07making 24 or 30 FPS video look like a higher frame rate
05:10and making it easier to keep track of the fast movement,
05:13most of the time for movies and TV,
05:15turn off motion smoothing.
05:17It can create an overly smooth,
05:18cheap-looking soap opera effect.
05:20Luckily, there are often less intensive smoothing options
05:23like LG's Cinematic Motion,
05:25which selectively smooths fast motion
05:27while backing it off when things become more static.
05:29But as always, with the TV you buy
05:31and the settings you use, it's entirely up to you.
05:34Get a soundbar.
05:35It'll make a world of difference to the audio from your TV.
05:38I have the Sonos Arc down here.
05:41Normally I'd have it on top of here,
05:41but I had to move things around for filming.
05:43And I love this thing.
05:44It's about 700 pounds and a year or so old now,
05:47but I think it does a great job.
05:48Although there are great alternatives
05:49from pretty much every big TV brand as well.
05:52Yes, it's more expense,
05:53and of course you can buy one later,
05:54but if you spend all that money on a great TV,
05:57then you'll probably want great sound quality to match.
05:59Pricier TVs already have pretty decent sound quality
06:02from their built-in speakers,
06:03with some even getting surround sound.
06:05Well, ish.
06:06But even these will be outclassed by a mid-range soundbar
06:09and versus a budget TV,
06:10any soundbar will be a big improvement.
06:12Obviously you could go with separate speakers
06:14and a receiver, but for me,
06:15I always find a soundbar a nice and easy all-in-one option.
06:18And there's tons of great models out there
06:20for pretty much every budget.
06:21I mean, you don't need a Dolby Atmos one
06:23with its fancy angled extra speakers
06:25that can bounce the sound around your room,
06:27but it does give you that extra level of room filling sound.
06:30Plus a lot of newer content does support Atmos.
06:33Most of the time, you'll want to connect your soundbar
06:35or speaker system to your TV via an Arc
06:37or a more recent eArc enabled HDMI port.
06:40And this allows you to use your TV remote to control it.
06:43Anything that cuts down on remotes is fine by me.
06:46But TVs aren't just about specs and image quality.
06:49If you're gonna have a big black rectangle
06:51dominating your living room,
06:53then you want it to look pretty good as well.
06:54The good news is even more recent TVs like this
06:57that are a bit more affordable,
06:58have nice and thin bezels and look pretty smart, I think.
07:01But then the more you pay genuinely,
07:03the fancier the design, both from the front and the back.
07:06Pretty much every TV you will mount
07:08on what we call feet or a stand.
07:10Although this particular TV over here,
07:12the G3, the gallery design from LG
07:14is meant to be wall-mounted.
07:16They actually put the bracket in the box.
07:18And actually one of the benefits of OLED TVs
07:20is generally they're a lot thinner
07:21and particularly with new models
07:22where you have a uniformity of the thickness,
07:25it can be pretty much flush to the wall.
07:27This actually has ended up looking more like a 55 inch
07:30next to that, which is obviously a foot or so off the wall.
07:33So I would actually recommend wall mounting
07:35when you can.
07:37Obviously you might want to hide the cables,
07:38which can be a little bit tricky.
07:40But the good news is pretty much every TV
07:41is VESA mount compatible
07:43or they'll have their own bespoke option like the LG.
07:46Just make sure the TV you're buying with its feet
07:49will actually fit on your TV stand
07:51or the table you're putting it on.
07:52As you can see with this one,
07:53the feet go almost to the edge of the TV.
07:55So you need quite a bit of space.
07:57Contrast that to Samsung's design
07:59and on their higher end TVs,
08:00we have these pedestal stands, which are in the middle.
08:03Obviously there was no issue with the edge of the TV
08:06being too wide for your TV stand.
08:07I must admit, I don't love these stands.
08:09I feel like the installation's a little bit fussy.
08:11It takes me like 10, 15 minutes compared to two minutes.
08:13But what I do like about some of Samsung's TVs,
08:15particularly higher end models,
08:17is the use of the one connect box.
08:19So you simply have one cable around the back
08:21that connects the TV to a separate IO unit,
08:24which you can then either mount on the back of the TV
08:26or put anywhere else you like.
08:28And then you plug all your HDMI and extra ports in there.
08:31So there's less cables, less fuss around the TV.
08:34And if you are wall mounting it,
08:35it means you just have a single cable running down
08:37and that is it.
08:38Compared to any other TV,
08:39you're gonna have HTMIs, you're gonna have your power.
08:42It's gonna look a bit ugly.
08:43Now what we've done over here,
08:44which has taken a bit of effort,
08:46is actually drill into the wall and route the cables down.
08:50I think if you are gonna wall mount your TV
08:52and spend a lot of money on it
08:53and you want it to look nice,
08:55I would definitely encourage you to do that
08:57because it looks a lot smarter.
08:59Let's talk about gaming.
09:01And to be honest with you,
09:02any recent TV, even cheap ones like this,
09:04are plenty good enough.
09:06They're 4K, you got basic HDR, 60 Hertz.
09:09For the vast majority of games, that is all you need.
09:11Obviously there are differences in picture quality
09:13and the reflectivity of the TV.
09:15You can see my white T-shirt clear as day through this.
09:18But I think if you are looking for a higher-end gaming TV,
09:21you want 120 Hertz and also an HDMI 2.1 port.
09:26Cheap TVs are still HDMI 2.
09:28The more mid-range and higher-ends
09:29have at least one 2.1 port, which has a higher bandwidth,
09:32which means you can game on your PS5, Series X,
09:34or even your PC at full 4K 120.
09:38Very few games actually support that.
09:39It's more about future-proofing.
09:40And actually the Samsung S95C over there
09:43does support 144 Hertz, which is quite rare,
09:46but only for PC games.
09:48We also have extras like VRR, or Variable Refresh Rates,
09:52which can help reduce screen tearing in games,
09:54and also ALLM, or Auto Low Latency Mode.
09:57And this puts your TV into its optimal game mode
09:59when it detects a console input.
10:01So turning off all that background stuff
10:03and giving you the fastest response time,
10:05which for high-end and particularly
10:06for twitchy competitive gamers is really important.
10:09But arguably more important than all of that
10:11is how good the picture quality is.
10:13Which leads us nicely into tip number eight,
10:16image quality, the picture quality,
10:17which for a TV really is the most important thing, right?
10:20And I think beyond the 4K resolution,
10:22which pretty much every TV is these days,
10:24obviously you've got a handful of 8K models.
10:26No one really buys those.
10:27And some very cheap, smaller 1080p models,
10:30but the 4K resolution is standard,
10:32and with that comes some level of HDR.
10:34So really what makes all the difference
10:35is what kind of backlight it uses,
10:37the contrast, the brightness, and of course,
10:39viewing angles for your mates
10:41sitting in the cheap seats at the side.
10:42Not everyone has that sweet spot.
10:44It's pretty important that your TV looks good
10:45from as wide an angle as possible.
10:48So your basic entry-level LED LCD TV
10:51may hit around 500 nits of peak brightness,
10:53while your more premium QLEDs and mini LED TVs
10:56can hit up to 2,000 nits,
10:58while OLED TVs boast the best black levels.
11:01And brightness is particularly important
11:03when it comes to HDR content.
11:04Now, the good news is that all new 4K TVs
11:06will support some form of HDR, like regular HDR10,
11:10which brings out extra details and shadows
11:12and brighter areas,
11:13and makes the whole experience more immersive, more vibrant.
11:16Then we have more advanced HDR,
11:17like Dolby Vision or HDR10+,
11:20which will give you even more detail,
11:21as each scene's HDR has been optimized.
11:24The thing is, even cheap TVs these days
11:26have Dolby Vision HDR,
11:28but because the brightness just isn't that high,
11:30as I say, around 400 or 500 nits,
11:31it just isn't that impressive.
11:33Compared to a higher-end or flagship TV like this
11:35that can push 1,500, 2,000 nits,
11:38those bright whites, the color,
11:40what they call color volume in their marketing spiel sometimes,
11:43it's just a lot more impressive.
11:45And I think that brightness, that nit level,
11:47the peak brightness, is a really important metric to look at
11:49when you are reading reviews for TVs.
11:51Essentially, the brighter, the better,
11:52particularly if you're in a bright room
11:54and you've got windows
11:55and maybe you can't control the lighting.
11:57You just simply want a brighter TV
11:58so it can offset the bright ambient lighting.
12:00If you're in a nice dark room,
12:02then perhaps an older OLED that doesn't get as bright
12:04but has those nice inky dark blacks
12:06will be fine for your movies.
12:07Also bear in mind,
12:08there's a lot of magic going on behind the scenes.
12:10The processing, the upscaling,
12:12particularly from low-resolution content up to 4K,
12:15how effective that is
12:17is very much down to the processor, the chip inside TVs.
12:20They're all pretty good these days,
12:21but generally, the more advanced, higher-end the TV,
12:25the better processing, the better motion smoothing,
12:27and the better upscaling you'll see.
12:29Very hard to quantify,
12:30especially on a YouTube video like this with compression,
12:33but it is one of the advantages
12:34of going for a higher-end TV.
12:37And all this brings us to the big question
12:39of what is the best TV technology?
12:42At the budget end, we still have LED LCDs.
12:44These have been pretty common for the last five years or so
12:47and they're absolutely fine.
12:49Nothing wrong with them.
12:50The downsides generally are poorer viewing angles.
12:53They don't tend to have a great anti-reflective coating,
12:56not as bright, colors perhaps aren't as accurate,
12:58but a lot of those things are hard to see
13:00unless you have it side-by-side with a higher-end TV.
13:03Nothing wrong with it at all,
13:05and the best bit is they're a lot more affordable.
13:06Blacks can also look a bit more grayish
13:08thanks to the universal backlighting,
13:10which can only dim the whole screen
13:12rather than individual areas.
13:14Now, this is also important.
13:15While this is an LED LCD TV,
13:17it's actually a QLED TV as well.
13:20Basically, that means that there is a quantum dot layer
13:23in the back of this that can help boost the brightness
13:25and give you more punchier, accurate colors.
13:27So it's basically like a slightly higher-end LED LCD TV.
13:31And that is something that we're seeing a lot more,
13:32even on more budget TVs
13:34in the sort of five-, six-, 700-pound region.
13:36And it's definitely an advantage,
13:37but it doesn't bring it up to a high-end QLED
13:40or an OLED level of technology.
13:42As you can see, it's still not the best picture in the world,
13:46but it's better thanks to QLED.
13:48Then we have mini-LED panels,
13:50which are a great upper-mid-range option.
13:52And these get much brighter and have better contrast
13:54than your typical LED LCD,
13:56thanks to having a backlight with lots more
13:58and much smaller LEDs, so you get more precise lighting.
14:01These are also grouped into zones,
14:03which can be dimmed individually,
14:04meaning less backlight bleed into dark areas
14:06and improving your contrast and your HDR massively.
14:09So the rule of thumb for any TV really, except for OLEDs,
14:12is the more dimming zones, the better.
14:15At the high-end though,
14:15things get a little bit more complicated.
14:17We have Samsung's Neo QLEDs and LG's QNEDs,
14:21both of which combine QLED, quantum dark tech,
14:24with mini-LED backlighting,
14:25kind of for the best of both worlds,
14:27and these are ideal for bright rooms,
14:28although they can be quite expensive for what you get.
14:31Then there's OLED, which I reckon is the best right now.
14:35OLED pixels can turn themselves on and off individually.
14:38They're self-emitting,
14:39which gives us near-perfect black levels and contrast.
14:42They're color accurate, we have great viewing angles,
14:44and recent OLEDs are also brighter than ever.
14:47Downsides?
14:47Well, they can suffer from image retention, aka burning,
14:50if you leave it for hours a day on the same screen
14:53and the same static elements,
14:54but recent TVs come with OLED care settings
14:57like Pixel Shift and Pixel Refresh.
14:59So unless you really abuse it
15:00and keep it on the same bright screen all day long,
15:03you're not really gonna have a problem.
15:04Also, older OLEDs can't get anywhere near as bright
15:07as a mini-LED or a Neo QLED.
15:09However, some newer high-end OLEDs
15:12use the same quantum dark layer tech,
15:15hence the QD OLEDs that you may see from Samsung,
15:17or in LG's case with this new G3,
15:19we have a micro-lens array, or MLA,
15:22which massively boosts the brightness
15:23without really increasing the risk of burn-in.
15:26So that's all well and good,
15:27but really it's all gonna come down to what you can afford,
15:29and I would suggest looking at last year's model
15:31or even the year before that of a higher-end OLED,
15:34perhaps, than a new, cheaper LED LCD.
15:38Let's talk about these guys, smart sticks,
15:40because every TV now is, of course, a smart TV,
15:43which means it's connected to the internet
15:45and you have a variety of streaming apps,
15:47your Netflixes, your iPlayers here in the UK,
15:49YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, all that good stuff.
15:52Now, you may not actually like the UI
15:54of the TV you buy particularly,
15:55in which case you can plug in maybe one of these,
15:58which is a Chromecast with Google TV or an Amazon Firestick,
16:02and actually this TCL comes with Fire TV OS as its UI,
16:06which is pretty cool.
16:08You've also got Apple TVs, you've got Roku sticks,
16:10lots of options, and they're all dirt cheap,
16:12like 30, 40, 50 pounds.
16:14Obviously, the Apple TV's a bit more,
16:16but that is a great way of not only bringing your old TV
16:19into the 21st century,
16:20if it doesn't have a great smart home hub like this,
16:24or if you just simply don't like the look of it
16:26or it doesn't have the app you want,
16:28get yourself one of these.
16:30Okay, let's wrap this up,
16:31and I think my number one takeaway would be read reviews,
16:34because one 4K HDR QLED TV is not gonna be the same
16:38as another 4K HDR QLED TV.
16:40You've gotta look at the brightness,
16:41the backlight, the contrast, also what UI,
16:44does it have the right streaming apps,
16:45the ports, HDMI 2.1, lots of stuff to consider,
16:48lots of stuff that you probably don't really care about,
16:50so read reviews, they'll break it down for you.
16:52The good news, though,
16:53is you can't really buy a bad TV anymore.
16:55They're all variations of good,
16:57and also if you want some of the higher-end features,
16:59but to be honest, you can get away with buying
17:01last year's model or the year before,
17:03or to spending three or 400 pounds
17:05on a decent 55-inch TV.
17:07Hopefully that was helpful.
17:08If you have any questions at all,
17:09leave a comment down below,
17:10and also let me know what TV you're using right now,
17:12and if you enjoyed the video,
17:13a like and subscribe would be very much appreciated.
17:16I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Chat.