Category: Televisions

The LG G4 OLED TV has established itself as one of 2024’s best OLED TVs, blending cutting-edge picture quality with a sleek, wall-mountable design. Powered by LG’s advanced Alpha 11 processor and second-gen Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech, the G4 delivers exceptional brightness, vivid colours, and stunning HDR performance. Its features cater to a wide audience with robust gaming capabilities like 4K at 144Hz, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and low input lag. But, while the LG G4 is really strong, there is room for improvement, and today we’ll be looking at all of the potential options LG has to upgrade when it releases the LG G5 sometime in 2025. (Image credit: Future) For example, the addition of virtual 11.1.2 surround sound through AI Sound Pro is commendable but falls short of delivering a fully immersive audio experience. Moreover, while webOS provides easy access to apps and streaming services, its ad placements and limited customisability detract from its premium appeal. The upcoming LG G5 OLED TV has the potential to elevate the series further by addressing these limitations while introducing cutting-edge features. We expect enhancements in brightness, HDR support, and gaming capabilities, and deeper integration of AI could be a game-changer. Let’s dive into our wish list for the LG G5 OLED TV in 2025. (Image credit: Future) LG G5 OLED TV: Enhanced picture quality and gaming While the LG G4 OLED already impresses with its MLA tech and exceptional HDR performance, the LG G5 OLED could take brightness and HDR capabilities to the next level. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. The G4 already delivers outstanding peak brightness, and the G5 could further enhance localised brightness and improved processing power. Adding HDR10+ support would broaden compatibility with more HDR content, complementing Dolby Vision, and AI brightness optimisation could intelligently adjust to ambient lighting and content type. Gamers will expect even more from the G5, building on the G4’s strong gaming features like 4K at 120Hz for consoles and 144Hz support for PCs. The addition of 240Hz support could future-proof the G5 and enhanced “Game Optimiser” modes would help tailor the TV for different genres, such as RPGs or FPS games. To cater to the growing cloud gaming market, LG could integrate expanded support for platforms like Xbox Cloud Gaming, which would make the G5 a compelling choice for gamers looking for a seamless, high-performance experience. (Image credit: Future) LG G5 OLED TV: AI and UI The G4’s Alpha 11 processor offers significant AI enhancements over older TVs, but the G5 could push these capabilities even further, including smarter, more personalised settings for picture and sound based on user preferences and types of content. AI-powered real-time upscaling for older or low-resolution content would also ensure sharper visuals and better clarity, eliminating the need for manual adjustments, and AI-driven motion smoothing could refine fast-action scenes without introducing the “soap opera” effect. The G5’s webOS UI could benefit from deeper AI integration to make navigation more intuitive and personalised. Predictive algorithms could surface frequently used apps or settings, and voice commands powered by advanced AI could improve accuracy and context understanding. For example, users could ask for specific genres of content, and the TV could recommend options across streaming platforms. Additionally, AI could improve energy efficiency by learning a user’s behaviour and then optimising power consumption, including automatically dimming or turning off unused features during idle periods. (Image credit: Future) LG G5 OLED TV: Upgraded audio, design, and sustainability The G4’s audio performance is solid but falls short of a fully immersive experience, and the G5 could address this by integrating a more robust onboard speaker system. On top of that, AI-powered audio tuning could further enhance this experience by analysing room acoustics and adjusting sound profiles for clearer dialogue and balanced bass. In terms of design, the G5 could expand customisation options to suit diverse home setups, like more versatile stand designs. A height-adjustable option for soundbar integration or a rotating stand for vertical content would be welcome. Improved cable management systems that seamlessly route wires would add to its practicality, too. Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor for TV buyers, and the G5 could set a benchmark with eco-friendly innovations. Incorporating recyclable materials, reducing packaging waste, and introducing advanced energy-saving features would cater to environmentally conscious consumers. You might also like…

How bright is your TV screen? And can you answer that, beyond “yes, I can see the moving pictures”? Brightness is crucial for a good viewing experience on the best TVs. It ensures visibility, illuminating detail and infusing colors with depth and vibrancy, and you’ll need a decently bright screen to counteract ambient light for daytime viewing or a brightly-lit room in your home. But while the impact of brightness is very tangible – my eyes! – it can be hard to quantify for everyday shoppers. What is a nit (the most common unit of measurement for TV brightness), or a lumen for that matter? And is 2,000 nits really that much better than, say, 500? A nit is defined as the amount of light that a single candle emits in a square meter – roughly the size of a 40-inch TV – and is usually measured in terms of ‘peak brightness’, or the maximum light within a certain area, rather than the average brightness across a TV screen. For every thousand nits, you get the equivalent of one thousand candles, and so on. TVs tend to get incremental improvements each year, but there’s no doubt that 2024 was the brightest year for TVs yet. One of the best mini-LED TVs, the TCL QM851G, has a peak brightness of over 3,500 nits – double that of most screens in that list – while the new Hisense U8N and TCL C855 are both close to hitting 3,000 nits despite being sub-$1,000 TVs. (More entry-level Mini LEDs, such as the Hisense U7N, might be around 1,000 nits.) A mini-LED screen, which features a dedicated backlight with countless minute diodes, has a natural brightness advantage over OLED, a self-emissive display technology that’s better for putting brightness where it’s needed (lighting up individual pixels) than delivering a high number of nits – the reason why OLEDs faced years of criticism for being ‘too dim’ for the average home. But OLED TVs have also made incredible brightness gains over recent years. Not too long ago, it was unusual for an OLED screen to hit 1,000 nits, and now, it’s a regular occurrence. But what difference do these heightened brightness figures really make? Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Nit-picking The Samsung S95D, TechRadar’s best TV of 2024 pick, is the brightest OLED model we’ve yet tested (Image credit: Future) As we’ve said, brightness aids visibility, helping to ensure on-screen images are clearly illuminated, and that you can make out plenty of detail. It’s also crucial for color; just as colors fade into a vague gray in darkness, so too does increased brightness allow colors to stand out more clearly from each other. HDR content, which calibrates your TV’s brightness output to improve tonal contrast, also requires a decent level of nits (1,000) to work as intended. However, brightness can be a red herring without proper brightness control. You can have plenty of nits, but if your TV can’t precisely allocate that light where it’s needed, without bleeding into other pixels, the extra light can flatten contrast instead of increasing it. One of OLED’s great strengths is its ability to switch pixels entirely off, meaning that bright areas of the screen are contrasted by a true black rather than a half-lit gray. I’ve had an OLED TV – the LG C1 – for the past three years, without any of the latest brightness enhancements that LG has been cooing ever since its release (its peak brightness is around 750 nits). While it’s not ideal for daytime viewing – even indirect light from my living room window tends to ruin the image – it’s still an incredible screen for the way I largely use it, for an evening film in a dimly lit room. Notably, our pick of the best TV in 2024 is the Samsung S95D, an OLED model that achieves a maximum 1,868 nits peak brightness. While it’s not the brightest screen this year, it’s still the most impressive. And Sony managed to chip away at OLED’s supremacy in 2024 with the introduction of the Sony Bravia 9, a mini-LED model that uses the company’s new XR Backlight Master Drive with High Peak Luminance tech to deliver both high peak brightness and deep, well-defined blacks. A brighter future for TVs The Sony Bravia 9 TV uses advanced backlighting tech to eliminate typical mini-LED picture artifacts such as blooming and off-axis contrast fade (Image credit: Future) While 2024 was the best year for TV brightness yet, that crown is inevitably going to 2025 when it comes. Universal Display, a developer and manufacturer of OLED, has figured out how to make more power-efficient displays, which could reduce manufacturing costs at the same time as increasing brightness – counteracting how expensive high-end, high-brightness OLED TVs can be. This innovation works by increasing the power efficiency of blue pixels specifically, which have proved harder to optimise compared to their red or green counterparts. This means that a TV screen can deploy fewer layers of blue pixels for the same brightness output as existing screens. Less layering, less cost, more light – and we may start seeing gains from this technology as soon as next year. TCL also has plans to bring out a 2025 mini-LED TV – an update to this year’s QM851G – reportedly with a 6,500-nit brightness that’s approaching direct daylight and would knock even our brightest 2024 screens to the curb. Of course, brightness isn’t everything for a new TV: you also need to consider its processor, resolution, audio, format support, smart platform, and naturally the price you’re getting all that for. And there are benefits to a TV with a limited light output, especially when excess blue light is known to impact sleep quality. But for sheer impact, and the improvement of contrast on our TV screens, the steady march of brightness is something to be celebrated. You might also like…

2024 was another great year if you love TVs. Both QLED QLED and mini-LED sets have continued to improve at pace, while OLED continues to dominate our picks of the best TVs thanks to the brightness-boosting excellence of both quantum dot and MLA tech. There’s simply never been a better time to own a quality smart TV. Over the past 12 months, Samsung’s sterling output has impressed us more than any other manufacturer, while we’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the resurgence of the best 4K projectors. It’s not all been sunshine and roses, though. With another 365 days in the book, 8K has yet to impact the market. Thankfully, the biggest TV winners of 2024 easily outnumber the losers of the year just gone. Winner: Samsung dominates our best TVs picks Samsung’s QN90D mini-LED is TechRadar’s Best TV for Sports pick (Image credit: Future) The stranglehold on the high-end TV space that Samsung has developed over the last few years is pretty remarkable. The South Korean firm wasn’t content with regularly churning out the best mini-LED TVs, oh no. Instead, it went and stole the crown in the OLED market thanks to its QD-OLED panel tech. A third of our top 9 best TV list is currently dominated by Samsung – more than any other manufacturer. Not only does the Big S continue to body the opposition with QLEDs, but it’s amazingly stolen the mantle from LG in the OLED space – quite the shocker, seeing as LG is wholly responsible for putting the premium TV tech on the map.There’s simply no denying the dominance of Samsung. From the unbeatable value of the Samsung S90C to the high-end dream performance of the Samsung S95D (our TV of the Year), the current king of TV manufacturing is the iconic South Korean brand. Over to you, LG. Winner: Projectors rise again Sony’s new Bravia 9 and 8 projectors with XR for Projector video processing (Image credit: Future) The best projectors of 2024 were no longer only for obsessive cinephiles with gargantuan walls. With an increased focus on affordability and less intimidating form factors, projectors feel like a genuinely viable alternative to high-end TVs for the first time in years. New high-end models from Epson, Sony, and Samsung dominated TechRadar’s Best of CEDIA Expo 2024 awards, with the Epson QL7000, a model capable of 10,000 ANSI lumens brightness, offering a projector alternative to massive 100-inch-plus TVs and micro-LED video walls for those who don’t want to watch in a dark theater room. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. On the affordable and portable side of the spectrum, new projectors like the LG CineBeam Q offered up design sophistication and 4K resolution in an under-$1,000 model, while the Anker Nebula Mars 3 combined high brightness and 2.5-hour battery life in a rugged, roadworthy case. Companies are taking note, too. A recent tvOS beta for the exceptional Apple TV 4K included support for a wider range of projector-friendly aspect ratios, including 21:9 and 32:9. Projectors are having a moment. Here’s hoping it lasts through 2025 and beyond. Winner: OLEDs continue to astound LG’s new G4 OLED TV uses second-gen MLA tech to increase brightness (Image credit: Future) Traditional W-OLEDs have long been our favorite TV type, and the gap between LCD and the best OLED TVs has only become more cavernous over the last year with brighter forms of ‘organic light-emitting diode’ tech. The sensational Samsung S95D shows that quantum dot tech is now firmly established as the OLED technology to beat. Thanks to its effective anti-glare coating and a hugely impressive peak HDR brightness of 1,868 nits, it’s capable of showcasing pictures that are almost as bright as the best mini-LED TVs while also delivering better contrast through its perfect black levels. Not that QD-OLEDs don’t still face stiff competition. The LG G4 floored us with its dazzlingly vivid images that get incredibly bright thanks to the set’s second-gen MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology. The Panasonic Z95A with its ‘Master OLED Ultimate’ MLA panel is also a stunner. This trio of sets leaves us in no doubt about OLED’s vice-like grip on the high-end TV market, though Sony’s new flagship Bravia 9 with its innovative XR Backlight Master Drive with High Peak Luminance tech gave a strong indication that mini-LED tech is making inroads in the premium TV space. You don’t necessarily have to blow your life savings to own a terrific OLED TV. The LG B4 is one of the best budget OLEDs we’ve ever reviewed, and thanks to its quartet of HDMI 2.1 ports and new Dolby Vision Filmmaker mode, it’s fantastic for both gamers and movie lovers. 2024 was the year of OLED. We’d be surprised if every year until 2034 wasn’t, too. Loser: 8K… again The Samsung QN900D is TechRadar’s pick for best 8K TV, a category that has yet to really break through due to high cost and limited 8K content (Image credit: Future) Until we’re all forced to have Minority Report-mandated cornea upgrades, the long-touted 8K future of TVs should probably be shelved for the time being. Though the recently released PS5 Pro is trying to make 8K console gaming a thing, the likelihood of Sony’s expensive new machine moving the needle in terms of 7,680 x 4,320 gaming (if you’re down with your pixel count lingo) is extremely unlikely. The Samsung QN900D is our current choice for the best 8K TV, and it’s unquestionably a fantastic television. Yet at the time of writing, it’s also an unessential one, because the best streaming services, Blu-rays and video games aren’t yet at the level to deliver 8K at the price point people are interested in or demand. Until the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sony with its PS5 Pro take 8K seriously, even the most fanatical of TV fans should keep hold of their 4K sets. Winner: You still can’t beat 4K Blu-ray Our love for 4K Blu-ray discs endures… (Image credit: Future) Despite the best efforts of Disney and Best Buy to either reduce or flat-out stop support for 4K Blu-rays, our beloved Ultra HD discs aren’t going anywhere quite yet. 2024 was another strong year for 4K Blu-rays. When a movie transfer is done correctly on the format, it still looks comfortably crisper than on streaming services and also has superior audio quality. This year spoiled us with some incredible 4K transfers, even if the movies themselves couldn’t quite match up with the image quality. Despite not being great films, the likes of Alien: Romulus and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes look absolutely pristine on one of the best 4K Blu-ray players. As for Dune: Part 2, the sweeping sci-fi epic continues Denis Villeneuve’s incredible run of drool-worthy 4K transfers. When it comes to 4K Blu-ray vs streaming, the scoreline continues to read ‘Discs 1- Internet 0’. You might also like…

Buying a new TV should be fun. Upgrading from an old set to a fresh one instills excitement as you look forward to better picture and sound quality when watching your favorite movies and TV shows. But what if you get the TV home, set it up and it doesn’t look how you expected? Well, fear not, because you’re not alone in that experience. Many obscure settings that affect a TV’s performance are hidden in its menus. This is not just true of budget sets; even the best TVs have some of these annoying settings. While TV picture settings are generally subjective, with some people preferring a brighter and more colorful image and others a more natural one, some settings should be turned off regardless. Below, I’ve picked six important adjustments people often miss when setting up their new TV, and having worked in AV retail, I know it can take some people quite a while to notice. But, worry not as I’m going to tell you how to change these settings. For photos, I used the Panasonic MZ1500 OLED and although the menu on your TV will most likely look different, the principle should still be the same. Turn off Eco and Power Saving Modes Your TV may have Eco settings that could affect picture quality, such as an Eco picture mode or a light sensor that dulls the picture in darker environments, as shown here on a Philips OLED806. (Image credit: Future) Did you get your new TV all set up and think it looked a little… dull? It’s most likely in Eco mode. The majority of TVs now ship with their picture mode set to Eco out of the box and while this will save you some money on energy costs, it will also affect the quality of the picture. Eco mode often has an extremely low brightness setting, which takes away the dynamic color and detail from a TV’s picture, making movies and TV shows look drab. To turn this off you’ll need to go Settings and navigate to Picture Settings. There will be a list of Picture Presets (also referred to as Picture Modes) and this will most likely be set to Eco. You’ll want to change this to Movie, Filmmaker or Standard as these are the more accurate and brighter picture modes. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Some TVs have other power-saving modes hidden away as well. If you once again navigate to Settings and then System Settings, there may be a section called Power Saving or Energy Saving. While these will often have to do with timers, there can sometimes be a power-saving setting that you’ll want to turn off. Take the TV out of Dynamic or Vivid Picture Mode Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) A TV’s Dynamic mode (Picture 1) may be brighter, but it oversaturates the image and takes away detail, so other modes such as Filmmaker (Picture 2) are better. (Image credit: Future) A TV’s Dynamic (also sometimes called Vivid) picture mode is just as bad for picture quality as Eco. Often, it’s the most inaccurate mode and it’s one we are not fans of here at TechRadar. A Dynamic mode offers significantly higher brightness, but with oversaturated colors and exaggerated textures, giving the picture a fake look. If you want your movies and TV shows to look natural, avoid this at all costs. Brands like Samsung used to swear by the Dynamic mode, but models like the Samsung S95D, its 2024 flagship OLED, and the Samsung QN90D, one of the best mini-LED TVs, look far better in their Filmmaker, Movie and even Standard modes. Check for the latest software update It’s important to check for the latest software updates for security and to add new features (Image credit: Future) Most TVs will automatically search for the latest software update on the first startup. But I’ve had experiences during my testing where a TV hasn’t done that, so I always go and check for the latest update regardless. Why is a software update important? Not only does it make sure you have the latest features, with smart TV platforms like Roku, webOS, Tizen, Google TV and more all providing regular free upgrades, but it’s also critical for the security of your TV. Because your TV is connected to the internet, it’s always at some form of risk, but making sure software is regularly updated will reduce that risk dramatically. To do this, you’ll need to navigate to your TV’s System Settings once again. Thankfully, brands make it obvious by labeling this setting ‘Check for Update’ or ‘Software Update’. Sometimes this can be found in the About TV section, but that varies from set to set. Changing or disabling motion smoothing Motion smoothing or interpolation (referred to as Intelligent Frame Creation on the Panasonic MZ1500 shown above) can drastically affect picture quality (Image credit: Future) Probably one of the most controversial settings on TVs is motion smoothing or motion interpolation. This is where a TV uses blur and judder reduction to process fast-moving images to give them a smoother appearance. To do this, a TV will analyze the video signal and insert new frames in between the actual video frames to compensate for a faster-moving object, say a ball during a soccer game. While it can be useful for sports, motion smoothing often makes movies look too smooth, with an artificial quality that can give some a feeling of motion sickness. Tom Cruise personally asked viewers to turn off motion smoothing for Top Gun: Maverick as it ruined the look of the movie. And as someone who regularly uses that movie to test TVs, I agree! That being said, budget TVs and those with 60Hz panels can struggle with fast-moving pictures and sports, so some motion smoothing can help. To alter or turn off motion smoothing, go to Picture Settings and look for the Motion submenu. There, you’ll most likely find custom Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction sliders along with preset motion smoothing modes (like those found on the Hisense U7N). Depending on your preference, you’ll want to reduce motion smoothing or turn it off altogether for a more natural picture. The level of the settings can also depend if you’re watching a movie or sports. Set HDMI to Enhanced for Gaming Changing the HDMI format is essential for getting the most out of your gaming device. This photo is of the Hisense UXN (Image credit: Future) If you’ve bought one of the best gaming TVs, you’ll find it has a Game Mode, whether that’s a picture preset or an option in the settings menu. But despite turning this on, you may find you’re not getting the full 4K 120Hz support you expected if you bought a TV like the LG C4. Although Game Mode prevents this from happening, there is an important HDMI setting that often goes unnoticed. Go to Settings and look for HDMI Control. Click on that and you should see Standard, Enhanced and possibly other settings. Set it to Enhanced and that should activate the TV’s HDMI 2.1 features, including 4K 120Hz support. This is most often an issue with older TVs, but you can never be sure. Check sharpness, color and detail enhancement Some picture adjustments such as the Resolution Remaster setting at the bottom of the menu shown on the Panasonic MZ1500 shown above can drastically alter image quality and should be tweaked or turned off (Image credit: Future) The final settings to check are more of a personal choice than a necessary change. If you explore your TV’s picture settings, you’ll sometimes notice ones that enhance color, sharpness, resolution and more. Some may find they like these but in many cases, they can negatively impact your TV’s picture. One example is the Super Resolution feature on Hisense TVs such as the Hisense U6N. I have found that having this setting turned on gives textures and details an overly sharp, fake look. But this is just one example, and all TV brands have some related setting that can give pictures an over-enhanced look. In the images of the MZ1500 above, you can see settings such as Noise Reduction and Resolution Remaster turned on in Dynamic, the most inaccurate mode, and turned off in Filmmaker, the most accurate one. While you may find you like some of these settings, it’s best to pick a favorite ‘base’ picture preset you like and play around with settings until you get the picture you’re most comfortable with. You might also like

For several years now, micro-LED has been touted as the next big thing in TV tech (and screen tech in general). Micro-LED tech works like the best OLED TVs in that each pixel emits its own light, meaning you get pixel-precise contrast with infinitely deep black tones – however, the pixels can be far brighter than may ever be possible with OLED, and they should be more durable and longer-lasting. But despite being first introduced for TVs several years ago, there hasn’t been a ton of movement in micro-LED TVs. They’re extremely expensive, and they’re generally only available in very large sizes, mostly breaking way past the 100-inch battery (though Samsung managed to get the tech into a 75-inch set). And these huge sets are still 4K, when you might expect the likes of Samsung to make them 8K. So why hasn’t more progress been made, and will this change soon? I’ve already heard from one big manufacturer of the tech that it’s between five and 10 years away from being remotely mainstream, so at a recent Hisense event to highlight the company’s also huge (but much less expensive than micro-LED) laser TVs (which combine ultra short throw projection tech with a specially matched light-rejection screen), I spoke to Dr. Liu Xianrong, Chief Scientist and General Manager of Hisense Laser Display, about the future of giant screens. He explained that the problem with micro-LED, similar to OLED TVs, is that they have some fixed costs and complexity in their production process that aren’t really reduced by making the sets smaller, and there isn’t an obvious way to change the cost and complexity on the horizon – so the economics of building micro-LED screens may not be able to bring it to the mainstream any time soon. Dr Liu explained that the problem in the case of micro-LED TVs is that each pixel is made of three sub-pixels (red, green and blue) and that these pixels are created by different companies, and have to be brought together and then combined when manufacturing the panel. The RGB pixel structure of a micro-LED screen. (Image credit: Getty Images) The OLED equivalent to this could be considered to be the masking process, which again requires material from different places to be deposited using an elaborate and pricey system, which hasn’t changed much since the tech launched, hence why the price has stayed high. Inkjet-printed OLED is supposed to be the solution to this in OLED’s case, but we’ve been promised that tech is just around the corner for a long time (though TCL CSOT, the screen manufacturing and development arm of TCL, says it really is rolling this tech out now for smaller screens). Amusingly, it’s possible to make very small micro-LED screens with extremely high pixel density – think something designed for the best smartwatches – as well as very large micro-LED screens, but getting something made in the middle is where it falls apart, but that’s what we really need for most TVs. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Separation of powers Dr Liu said there’s another complication with micro-LED TVs in development, though, that stems from the fact that the pixels do all the work for both the brightness and the color. When you want to make a processing adjustment to the brightness, you can’t help but affect the color, and vice versa. It makes the whole panel extremely complicated to keep looking perfect, again affecting how costly the whole system is to develop and produce. In most TV tech, including mini-LED, laser TV and OLED when used on TVs, there are separate elements that can help mitigate this. Mini-LED uses a web of tiny LED lights to generate the brightness, behind a color-changing array of pixels (generally using quantum dots). You can control these elements individually to compensate for any changes you’ve made to the other one and keep things consistent. QD-OLED is similar, in that a layer of blue/green OLED pixels sits behind a quantum dot color-filter layer. In mini-LED, light generation and color come from separate sources, so it’s easier to manipulate them. (Image credit: TCL) And while laser TVs handle color and brightness all in one from the projector, the screen is an element that can be developed separately to help improve brightness, say – Hisense packs an ambient light-rejecting screen with its laser TVs that can roughly double brightness compared to a basic screen – so you can still use the fact that they’re separate to help with refining the picture. Packing everything into a set of RGB sub-pixels for micro-LED adds complexity that definitely can be overcome (OLED phone screens use an RGB sub-pixel structure), but again it just factors into why the TVs are likely to remain expensive, and why it will be slow for that to change. Micro-LED and mini-LED were actually introduced to the world at the same time – Samsung announced its first mini-LED and micro-LED TVs at the exact same event. But the best mini-LED TVs have dropped rapidly in price so that instead of being in elite TVs only, the tech is now available in really good cheap sets, such as the Hisense U6N and TCL C805 (UK and Europe only). Micro-LED seems like it’s a long way from having that same breakthrough affordable moment, even though giant TVs are becoming more and more popular, which should be ideal for it. It probably is still the next big thing in TVs; just don’t expect ‘next’ to be just around the corner. You might also like…

This year, I swapped my 2021-era mid-range OLED TV for a new 2024 mid-range model from the same manufacturer – a like-for-like swap. I switched from a Philips OLED806 to a Philips OLED809 because I am a sucker for Philips’ magnificent Ambilight tech. (US readers: sorry, Philips’ OLED TVs aren’t available there.) Given the popularity of the LG C1 OLED TV in particular, which topped our list of the best OLED TVs in 2021, I expect that there will be a load of people out there thinking about making the same kind of swap. It’s been a few years, the TV technology works especially fast – there must be some nice upgrades, right? This is true, and I love my new TV – but it’s not quite clear cut to say that everyone else will feel the same about the upgrade. Some of the changes are subtle enough that people might not feel they’re worth the upgrade, and some things haven’t changed at all. So let me tell you six conclusions that stood out to me from comparing my old TV to my new one. 1. I had no burn-in problems Okay, this isn’t really a comparison of the TVs, but it’s worth mentioning anyway since a lot of people are still under the impression that OLED TVs develop burn-in rapidly. My old TV from 2021 logged 3,700 hours of use and had zero signs of any image ghosting, pixel issues, or anything else like that. That includes playing a lot of games and watching sports; ie, things that are likely to leave logos on the screen for a long time, and provide the risk of burn-in happening. Bear in mind that OLED technology and processing have developed another three years since the TV that didn’t have any burn-in problems, and it’s even less likely to happen in new sets. 2. The brightness boost is real, but it’s also more subtle than you might hope The Philips OLED809 top; OLED806 bottom. (Image credit: Future) The Philips OLED806 was capable of around 750 nits of peak HDR brightness (in a 10% window), while we’ve measured the Philips OLED809 at between 930-1090 nits, depending on the mode you’re in. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Even at the lower end of the OLED809’s zone, that’s more than a 20% increase in HDR brightness, and it’s extremely obvious for these shiny HDR highlights when the TVs are next to each other. White tones are not only much brighter, they look purer – and the extra contrast makes the dark tones look even inkier. Would I notice this difference if they weren’t next to each other? Yes, I’m confident I would, but doing so is literally my job. I managed to correctly guess the brightness of the LG C4 when I saw it in a demo room at CES 2024. I am not normal – for most people, it’s not a revelatory step up in brightness. You can see this more in the image below, which relies more on fullscreen brightness, which continues to be low on OLED TVs. The fur on the OLED809 has a slightly richer golden hue from its extra brightness, but otherwise, there’s little major difference. If you were to go from a 2021 OLED TV to one of today’s higher-end OLEDs – the Samsung S95D, the LG G4, the Panasonic Z95A, or Philips’ OLED909 – then you would see a clearer jump in brightness of all kinds. (Image credit: Future) 3. You’ll still want real speakers if you’re a serious movie fan More and more processing is going into the audio of mid-range TVs, especially around making sure that dialogue clarity is clear and sound positions match the movement of things on-screen. And these have improved hugely over the meager audio of affordable sets from a few years ago. In our review of the Philips OLED809, we gave it a high sound score, because the TV offers surprising weight to the bass and clarity to the overall sound mix. But that’s a high score compared to other built-in TV speakers. They don’t hold a candle to a good-size soundbar, let alone a full home theater speaker array. Compared to one of the best soundbars with a sub and rear speakers, today’s mid-range TVs will all still come across as thin, constrained to the TV screen, and lacking in real depth. 4. Smart TV software has come a long way (Image credit: Future) My old TV was an Android TV, and while it worked fine, it was not slick. My new TV is powered by Google TV, and it’s a lot faster, easier to use, and better at helping me find what I want. The same is true of TVs from other makers, too – the new software in the LG C4 compared to the LG C1 is a major jump in usability, as well as feeling more responsive. Samsung’s Tizen platform has also developed a lot in three years, and there’s a new look rolling out to TVs now. It’s not about the access to the apps – that’s essentially the same. But it feels a lot less like you’re battling with TV software to get to what you want. 5. Reflections are still a problem (Image credit: Future) The highest-end OLED TVs have reflection reduction technologies. The Samsung S95D has a matte ‘OLED Glare Free’ coating to dissipate reflections that’s a revelation, and earned it our ‘TV of the Year’ award; the LG G4 and Philips OLED909 have a polarizer that reduces the intensity of reflected lights. Mid-range OLED TVs do not get any of this. They have the same glossy screens they’ve had for years, which are great for vibrant colors and super-deep black tones, but not so great for reflections. And since mid-range OLEDs today still don’t have very high fullscreen brightness, reflections can be quite visible in any kind of viewing, if you’re in a bright room. This shouldn’t necessarily be a dealbreaker for people – it isn’t for me, and my TV is right by a huge window – but it’s definitely an ongoing flaw. 6. You probably don’t need a like-for-like upgrade So, I’ve run through the core things I’ve noticed, and my conclusion for most people who got a mid-range OLED TV in 2021 – whether that’s a Philips OLED806 like me or an LG C1 – is that you probably don’t need to upgrade to a like-for-like 2024 model. Yes, your TV will be better – but it won’t be mind-blowing better, and OLED still costs prices that will make you want a mind-blowing upgrade. That’s a little different if you bought the cheaper LG B1 or LG A1; stepping up to today’s mid-range OLED TVs would nearly double the brightness of those sets, and you’d 100% notice that. That would feel like a major change. And if you swapped from a mid-range 2021 OLED to a high-end 2024 OLED, you’d again see nearly a 100% increase in brightness for a major visual upgrade (plus you’d get anti-reflection tech). Today’s best deals on TVs mentioned here

Samsung’s S95 series OLED TVs have quickly become a standout in the premium TV market, combining the cutting-edge QD-OLED tech with features that appeal to cinephiles, gamers, and tech enthusiasts alike. Known for delivering exceptional picture quality with vibrant colours, deep blacks, and impressive brightness, the current Samsung S95D OLED has solidified its place as one of the best TVs out there and was our pick for TV of the year in the TechRadar Choice Awards 2024. However, as good as it is, there’s still room for growth. With advancements in AI-driven picture processing, smarter user interfaces, and hardware refinements, the next-generation S95 series OLED, set for release in 2025, has the potential to perfect Samsung’s vision for the ultimate flagship TV. Samsung hasn’t officially announced the new S95 series model, but according to a recent leak, it will be named the Samsung S95F and will be available in a 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, and a new 83-inch screen size. Samsung’s QD-OLED tech has been a major step forward, offering a unique combination of OLED’s perfect contrast and QLED-like brightness that pushes picture quality to new heights, allowing the S95 series to excel where traditional OLEDs sometimes fall short. The upcoming 2025 S95F series OLED is expected to take this foundation even further. As AI plays an increasingly central role in picture and sound processing, Samsung has the opportunity to refine its Neural Quantum Processor for smarter upscaling and real-time scene optimization. With competition in the OLED TV space intensifying, Samsung’s S95F series will need to push boundaries even further to stand out as the definitive flagship choice for cinephiles and tech enthusiasts alike. (Image credit: Future) Samsung S95F OLED TV: AI and smart enhancements At the heart of Samsung’s S95 series OLED is its Neural Quantum Processor, an AI engine that powers the TV’s exceptional picture performance. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. While the current S95D already enhances content with impressive upscaling, sharpening details, and refining colors, the next-generation 2025 S95 series has the opportunity to take this a step further. By leveraging the more advanced AI used in the Samsung QN900D 8K TV, a 2024 model, the processor could dynamically analyse and optimise every scene in real time, delivering even sharper motion clarity, improved texture detail, and more precise HDR tone mapping. One area where AI can make a meaningful impact is dynamic scene recognition. By recognising the specific content on-screen – whether it’s a brightly lit landscape, a moody nighttime shot, or fast-moving gameplay – AI could adjust brightness, contrast, and colour settings on a scene-by-scene basis. Samsung’s Tizen OS has long been a robust platform, offering users access to a wide array of streaming services, apps, and tools. However, there’s room for improvement in responsiveness and overall usability. The new S95F series could use to AI to make Tizen smarter and more intuitive, for example by adding a personalized recommendation system. Faster menu navigation and smoother app launching would also be welcome upgrades. Finally, AI could play a significant role in improving audio performance, another key aspect of the TV experience. While Samsung’s current OLEDs already offer Dolby Atmos support, AI-powered sound processing could enhance clarity, virtualise surround effects, and deliver precise spatial audio tailored to the room’s acoustics, as well as boosting hard-to-hear speech. The Samsung S95D (right) displays elevated black levels when compared to the LG G4 OLED TV (left) when viewed in bright lighting – something we hope will be improved in the new S95F (Image credit: Future) Samsung S95F OLED TV: Picture and hardware improvements As we’ve discussed, Samsung’s QD-OLED has already redefined what’s possible in terms of picture quality, offering the perfect blacks of OLED alongside higher brightness and vibrant colour reproduction. However, to truly set the S95F series OLED apart, Samsung could push for even higher peak brightness levels, surpassing the already impressive output of the current S95D, the brightest OLED TV TechRadar tested in 2024. With competitors like mini-LED TVs closing the gap, achieving over 2,000 nits of peak brightness would ensure better HDR performance, delivering punchier highlights without compromising OLED’s natural contrast. Another key area for improvement lies in reflection management. While the S95D already features a highly effective anti-reflective coating, black depth is diminished and shadow details tend to get lost when viewing content with darker scenes in bright environments. For the next-gen S95F, Samsung could refine its anti-reflective tech to minimise glare without diminishing image contrast. Finally, hardware refinements could focus on energy efficiency and durability. OLED displays are sometimes criticised for high power consumption, especially at brighter settings, and AI could assist in this area, dynamically adjusting power usage based on content and ambient lighting while preserving picture quality. Samsung could also address concerns around OLED burn-in by enhancing panel durability, ensuring long-term performance without compromise. (Image credit: Future) Samsung S95F OLED TV: Gaming and build quality Samsung’s S95D OLED made a strong impression among gamers thanks to its support for 4K at 144Hz, ultra-low input lag, and Samsung Gaming Hub. For the S95F, Samsung can further solidify its position by introducing AI game optimisation, including real-time analysis to automatically adjust settings like response time, brightness, and colour profiles based on the game genre. Enhanced support for higher refresh rates, such as 240Hz at 1080p, would also appeal to competitive gamers looking for the smoothest possible experience. Beyond performance, Samsung can elevate the Gaming Hub with expanded cloud gaming integrations. The current Game Hub already supports services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now, but tighter optimization and faster load times would make cloud gaming feel more seamless. By incorporating AI to streamline game discovery and recommend titles based on user habits, the S95 series OLED could become a true all-in-one hub for next-gen gaming. Samsung’s attention to build quality and sustainability will also be key to the S95F’s long-term appeal. With a growing focus on eco-conscious design, Samsung could incorporate more energy-efficient materials, smarter power management, and recyclable components into the TV’s construction. If Samsung can combine these refinements with the stunning picture quality, advanced gaming features, and smarter AI-driven enhancements we expect, the 2025 S95F OLED has the potential to not just match but surpass its predecessors. It could become a flagship TV that truly delivers on all fronts. You might also like…