OLED is the champion mode to ticker TV close now. Imagine a perfectly achromatic surface successful which each tiny pixel is controlled independently for an representation that seems to look from the void similar magic. It’s astir hard to judge it’s real, and it keeps getting better. Display manufacturers similar LG and Samsung person pushed OLED beyond expectations for brighter highlights, richer and much earthy colors, and faster refresh rates to elevate everything you ticker oregon play.
The champion OLED TVs aren’t cheap, but they’re not the pinnacle of TV decadence they were a fewer abbreviated years ago, offering progressively approachable luxury for the masses. For those who admit a prime location theatre experience, there’s nary amended payoff for your investment. We walk countless hours of meticulous investigating each twelvemonth to curate the champion TVs you tin buy. So work connected to find the cleanable OLED surface for you—and get acceptable to beryllium dazzled. For much buying tips, cheque retired our database of the Best Soundbars, the Best Streaming Devices, and our usher connected How to Choose the Right TV.
Updated March 2025: We've added the LG M4 Wireless OLED TV with the Zero Connect Box.
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What's the quality betwixt OLED and LED?
Unlike LED TVs, which usage a operation of an LCD sheet and LED backlighting, OLED (which stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode) uses peculiar integrated worldly that lights up erstwhile fed electricity. OLED is an “emmissive” show technology, meaning each of an OLED panel's millions of pixels tin crook connected oregon disconnected independently. Because of this broad lighting control, emissive show technologies similar OLED—and the much experimental (and expensive) microLED—can supply cleanable achromatic levels and superior opposition implicit accepted LED displays.
QLED TVs usage tiny nanoparticles called quantum dots for enhanced brightness and colors. They mostly connection higher brightness than some LED and OLED; immoderate budget-conscience QLED models from brands similar Hisense and TCL adjacent outshine pricier OLEDs. But OLED TVs person their ain brightness innovations, including immoderate that incorporated quantum dots (known arsenic QD-OLEDs), and the champion OLED TVs tin inactive get precise bright. In general, OLED’s premix of precocious brightness, cleanable achromatic levels, near-infinite contrast, and fantabulous off-axis viewing adds up to a much balanced show than likewise priced QLED displays.
Especially successful its aboriginal years, OLED's standout interest has been its accrued hazard of burn-in, oregon representation retention, implicit accepted backlit displays. Due successful portion to the usage of integrated compounds, OLED panels tin much easy degrade astatine antithetic rates implicit time, which could perchance pb to variations successful brightness and colors.
Thankfully, OLED burn-in is progressively little communal successful modern TVs for respective reasons, including features similar surface savers, static representation detection, and different hardware methods to trim and rectify representation retention. While burn-in remains a mild concern, it's lone worthy considering for highly high-volume users similar gamers who support a static representation connected surface for aggregate hours (or days) astatine a time. Even past it usually isn't permanent. For most, OLED burn-in isn't thing to interest about.
For much info astir TV technology, from quantum dots to 4K, cheque retired our guides connected How to Choose the Right TV (also linked above), How to Setup Your New TV, and HDR, oregon sojourn the “Helpful Definitions” conception successful our Best TVs usher for much info.