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Samsung The Frame on sale: Wall-art TV gets Black Friday pricing of up to $800 off
Samsung The Frame on sale: Wall-art TV gets Black Friday pricing of up to $800 off
Samsung's The Frame looks like no other TV. Its ultrathin screen can double as a place to display digital art and measures just 24.9mm thick, similar to a typical picture frame. By subscribing to Samsung's Art Store for $5 per month, users can gain access to over 1,400 pieces of art to show on the screen. Design-conscious buyers might also enjoy the 6GB of on-board storage, which is enough to hold approximately 1,200 ultra high resolution photos -- and that includes your own pictures, too.
The TV includes 4K resolution, QLED tech with quantum dots and Samsung's dual LED backlight structure, as well as the company's full smart-TV streaming suite.
Samsung
The Frame TV of varying sizes -- from 32 to 75 inches -- has large discounts at Amazon. Few TVs offer the unique elegance of the Frame, and some buyers may value its style over image quality. Even with the sale prices you'll pay a steep premium for The Frame's unique look.
Read more: Best TV deals for Black Friday 2021 so far
One non-Frame equivalent is the Samsung Q60A series, which has similar picture quality and costs about $300 less at the 55-inch size. Other TVs also cost less and have better image quality. For example, the Vizio M-7 Series Quantum achieves superior picture quality using full-array local dimming -- a feature these Samsung TVs lack -- and costs $430 less than The Frame at 55 inches.
Samsung The Frame on sale: Wall-art TV gets Black Friday pricing of up to $800 off
Samsung The Frame on sale: Wall-art TV gets Black Friday pricing of up to $800 off
Samsung's The Frame looks like no other TV. Its ultrathin screen can double as a place to display digital art and measures just 24.9mm thick, similar to a typical picture frame. By subscribing to Samsung's Art Store for $5 per month, users can gain access to over 1,400 pieces of art to show on the screen. Design-conscious buyers might also enjoy the 6GB of on-board storage, which is enough to hold approximately 1,200 ultra high resolution photos -- and that includes your own pictures, too.
The TV includes 4K resolution, QLED tech with quantum dots and Samsung's dual LED backlight structure, as well as the company's full smart-TV streaming suite.
Samsung
The Frame TV of varying sizes -- from 32 to 75 inches -- has large discounts at Amazon. Few TVs offer the unique elegance of the Frame, and some buyers may value its style over image quality. Even with the sale prices you'll pay a steep premium for The Frame's unique look.
Read more: Best TV deals for Black Friday 2021 so far
One non-Frame equivalent is the Samsung Q60A series, which has similar picture quality and costs about $300 less at the 55-inch size. Other TVs also cost less and have better image quality. For example, the Vizio M-7 Series Quantum achieves superior picture quality using full-array local dimming -- a feature these Samsung TVs lack -- and costs $430 less than The Frame at 55 inches.
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In 2020, Samsung's TV lineup seems skewed more than ever toward higher-end models: There are three series with 8K resolution, a bunch of lifestyle models such as The Frame, The Sero and even a crazy-expensive outdoor television called The Terrace. Among relatively "normal" TVs, the Q80T stands out. It's not cheap, but it is the least expensive Samsung QLED TV to feature full-array local dimming, which gives it an excellent picture.
The Q80T's big brother, the Q90T, also has FALD and I expect it to perform even better, but once again there's an issue with price. In the 55- and 65-inch sizes the Q90T costs basically the same as my favorite high-end TV for 2020, the OLED-powered LG CX, and in my experience the OLED will have a better picture overall. That puts the Q80T in roughly the same price-to-performance sweet spot as the Sony X900H, the Vizio P-Series and TCL 6-Series.
I compared all four in my basement TV lab side-by-side and the Samsung Q80T was indeed excellent, but despite costing more than the other three, it didn't put out a better picture. Instead its strength lies in design, with sleeker looks, an excellent remote and, yes, that Samsung nameplate. Like the others it's also well-suited to pair with an Xbox Series X or PS5 thanks to variable refresh rate capability and 4K/120Hz input.
If you have your heart set on a Samsung, you want a great picture and you don't have money to burn, the Q80T is pretty sweet. But if you're brand-agnostic, the Vizio and TCL are both better values.
Sleekness from the stand up
When you pay a little extra for a Samsung you expect superior design, and the Q80T delivers. The most obvious upgrade is the stand: Samsung uses a central pedestal, which to my eye looks a lot sleeker than the two separate legs to either side that most new TVs employ. The base is a single slab of metal, flush against the tabletop. An angled chunk of metal and plastic supports the panel, creating a nice floaty effect.
Black with a minimal frame around the image, the Q80T also has a textured backside and a cable management system that lets you channel power and HDMI from their ports through the stand, making for a cleaner look.
David Katzmaier/CNET
Samsung's clicker is also among my favorites, with minimal buttons and just the right feel in-hand. Channel and volume keys click up and down, Ambient mode gets its own button as does the mic for voice, and even the Netflix and Amazon app shortcut keys are nicer than on other remotes: They lack garish colors and instead just match the rest of the wand.
Ambient mode is designed to show stuff on the screen when you're not watching TV. It's a cool feature if you don't like the big black rectangle of an inert TV, and can display your photos, designer art, the weather, headlines and even adjust backgrounds to match your wall.
David Katzmaier/CNET
Alexa and Google join Bixby
Samsung's homebrew Bixby voice assistant is built into the Q80T, as you'd expect, but new for 2020 you can choose the overwhelmingly more-popular Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant instead. You can select between the three in the menus and whichever one you choose will be available when you press the mic button on the clicker.
Alternately you can set the remote's mic to listen for the "Alexa" or "Hey, Google" wake words, allowing you to issue commands hands-free (it worked well as long as I stayed relatively close to the remote). And like most TVs you can also pair the Q80T with separate Alexa or Google speakers.
David Katzmaier/CNET
Beyond voice, Samsung's on-screen smart TV system is excellent, with quick responses and plenty of apps, and I'd take it over LG or Vizio's systems. I still like Roku and Android TV (found on Sony TVs) better overall, however, because they have even more apps. Just like most TVs now (including Roku), Samsung has the Apple TV app and works with Apple's AirPlay system.
Full-fledged features and HDMI connectivity
Full-array local dimming sets the Q80T apart from cheaper Samsung TVs. This technology, which improves LCD image quality significantly in our experience, boosts black levels and contrast by making certain areas of the picture dimmer or brighter in reaction to what's on the screen. The step-up Q90T and the company's 8K models have more dimming zones and brighter images than the Q80T, but Samsung doesn't say exactly how many zones each has.
Key features
Display technology
LED LCD
LED backlight
Full array with local dimming
Resolution
4K
HDR compatible
HDR10, HDR10+
Smart TV
Tizen
Remote
Standard voice
Like all of Samsung QLED TVs, as well as most higher-end TVs from Vizio and TCL, the Q80T's LCD panel is augmented by a layer of quantum dots -- microscopic nanocrystals that glow a specific wavelength (i.e. color) when given energy. The effect is better brightness and color compared to non-QD-equipped TVs. The Q80T uses a true 120Hz panel, which improves the TVs' motion performance, but as usual the "Motion Rate 240" specification is made up (note that the 49- and 50-inch sizes are 60Hz/MR 120).
The set supports high dynamic range content in the HDR10 and the HDR10 Plus formats. It lacks the Dolby Vision HDR support found on most competitors' HDR TVs. I've seen no evidence that one HDR format is inherently "better" than the other, so I definitely don't consider lack of Dolby Vision a deal-breaker on this TV -- instead it's just one more factor to consider.
Gaming features are one of the Q80T's strong points. It's compatible with variable refresh rate, as well as the FreeSync and G-synch VRR formats, available from devices including select PCs, the Xbox Series X and PS5, although the latter doesn't support VRR yet. The Q80T also accepts 4K/120Hz input on HDMI 4, which is conveniently marked with a little game controller icon. The TV supports Auto Game Mode too, which lets it automatically switch to game mode to reduce input lag when it detects you're playing a game. (Note that the 49- and 50-inch sizes lack 4K/120Hz input and VRR.)
David Katzmaier/CNET
4x HDMI inputs
2x USB ports
Ethernet (LAN) port
Optical digital audio output
RF (antenna) input
Remote (RS-232) port (EX-LINK)
This list is mostly solid, unless you happen to own a legacy device that requires analog video (component or composite) or audio. The Q80T is one of the few TVs that doesn't at least offer one analog input, audio or video.
Picture quality comparisons
David Katzmaier/CNET
The Q80T is an excellent performer overall, with good local dimming and contrast, excellent brightness, color and video processing. It fell short of the black levels and brightness of some less-expensive TVs, such as the Vizio P-Series and TCL 6 series, especially with HDR material, but showed less blooming and a slightly cleaner image, earning the same score of 8 (Excellent) in this category. I preferred the Vizio and TCL overall for image quality and liked the Sony X900H a bit less, but all four occupy the same general plane.
Dim lighting: I started with the excellent-looking Blu-ray of Parasite. In brighter scenes the Samsung generally matched the image quality of the others -- all four were excellent overall. Differences emerged in darker scenes, for example during Park Dong-ik's ride in the back of the car in Chapter 4. The TCL and the Vizio both showed darker, more realistic "black" in the shadows and letterbox bars, with less bleed from bright areas into dark, compared to the Sony and Samsung. The latter two were close, but the Samsung has a slight edge over the Sony. The differences weren't drastic -- all four TVs have very good black levels and contrast -- but still visible side-by-side.
Here's where I mention an unusual thing Samsung did with settings, which I liked. The Brightness control handles backlight level but there's an additional Shadow Detail slider under Gamma (where it should be) that controls exactly that (and does a lot of the same work as a standard Brightness/black level setting). According to my measurements it does what it claims: boosts brightness at low levels (5% to 20%) as you creep up. The default "0" setting is the most accurate but cranking it up did reveal more, yes, details like the car seat cushions and floor of Parks car became more visible.
Bright lighting: These days TVs just seem to be getting brighter but the Q80T is an exception, measuring dimmer than many TVs at its level including the TCL, Vizio P and Sony, and even slightly dimmer than the Q70 from 2019. It's still bright enough for just about any room, however, and has plenty of punch to make HDR look impactful.
Light output in nits
TV
Brightest (SDR)
Accurate color (SDR)
Brightest (HDR)
Accurate color (HDR)
Hisense H9G
1,239
1,238
1,751
1,498
TCL 65R635
1,114
792
1,292
1,102
Sony XBR-65X900H
841
673
989
795
Vizio P65Q9-H1
768
629
1,305
1,084
Hisense 65R8F
717
717
770
770
Samsung QN65Q80T
664
503
1,243
672
Vizio M65Q7-H1
595
424
588
480
LG OLED65CX
377
290
690
634
Don't let the high score in Dynamic fool you. Aside from being woefully inaccurate, it fluctuated quite a bit, starting out at over 1,200 nits but falling almost immediately to around 300. Most other TVs don't show such dramatic fall-off, and none of the Q80T's other modes did either.
For the Accurate measurements in SDR I used the Natural picture mode in combination with the Warm color temperature setting (the default temperature for Natural is quite blue). I prefer Vizio and TCL's approach of a dedicated, accurate bright-room picture mode.
Unlike previous Samsung TVs I've tested the Q80T didn't excel at handling ambient light. In a bright room all of the TVs in my lineup were better at reducing the brightness of reflections to preserve the fidelity of the image. The difference wasn't massive but definitely noticeable in dark areas of program material.
Color accuracy: The Samsung's Filmmaker Mode and Movie modes are both accurate before calibration but I prefer the former because it disables most video processing by default (see below). After calibration, as expected, it was excellent. During Parasite, colors like the green lettuce and red kimchi in the cafeteria in Chapter 4, as well as the skin tones of the family as they eat, looked natural and well-balanced. Then again so did the other displays -- it was difficult to see any real color differences even side-by-side with non-HDR colors. Video processing: As usual the Samsung aced my tests in this category, delivering true 1080p/24 film cadence with film-based sources and plenty of motion resolution (1,000 lines) with video-based sources. The TV achieved both results with a Picture Clarity setting of Custom with Blur Reduction at 10 and Judder Reduction at 0, so if I had this TV I'd "set it and forget it" right there. Note that Filmmaker Mode's default setting is to turn Picture Clarity off, which results in less motion resolution, but you can adjust it to taste.
You can also add more smoothing or soap opera effect by increasing Judder Reduction or choosing Auto instead of Custom. Meanwhile the LED Clear Motion option makes motion even sharper with the help of black frame insertion, at the expense of flicker and a dimmer image.
Samsung continues its tradition of excellent input lag in game mode with a score just over 14 milliseconds with both 1080p and 4K HDR sources.
Uniformity: With demanding, full-field test patterns the Q80T's screen was quite uniform, with more-even lighting from edge to edge than the Vizio, whose sides looked slightly dark, and slightly less-even lighting than the TCL. With program material I saw the same minor issue on the Vizio while the others were very similar (note that uniformity can vary from sample to sample). From off-angle the Samsung was the best LCD TV I've tested, maintaining color fidelity, brightness and contrast better than the others.
HDR and 4K video: With high dynamic range sources the differences between the four TVs became more apparent, and the Vizio and TCL looked slightly better than the Sony and the Samsung overall. The Q80T's highlights appeared a bit dimmer than the others, including the Sony, while its black levels were lighter and less realistic than the TCL and Vizio, it's contrast did beat the Sony's.
Watching the Spears and Munsil HDR benchmark's test montage, the ferris wheel at night (4:51) was a good example, with a slightly gray-blue cast to the sky, and less pop in the lights on the Q80T. It still looked great, with plenty of punch and contrast I expect from HDR, but next to the TCL and Vizio it didn't convey quite the same sense of realism -- although it looked better overall then the Sony.
Brighter scenes, like the closeups of flowers and insects (3:26), showed less of a difference but the Samsung still appeared very slightly dimmer than the TCL and Vizio, an impression backed up by spot measurements of my light meter. Colors were crisp and vibrant, however, and the orange of the monarch butterfly for example appeared a bit deeper and more saturated than the TCL, if not quite as powerful as the Vizio.
The Samsung and Sony had one advantage during the montage however: they were slightly cleaner than the TCL and Vizio in the first fade up from black to a bright sky. The latter two showed faint, subtle banding in the sky as the image brightened, while the two "S" TVs didn't.
Another advantage: The Q80T was the best among the three at controlling blooming, so stray illumination wasn't an issue even in difficult mixed bright-and-dark scenes. One major reason, I suspect, was its less-aggressive brightness compared to the more blooming-prone TCL and Vizio.
Switching over to Parasite in HDR, the Samsung's image held up better than before thanks to its ability to control blooming and maintain black levels (at the expense of brightness). During the dark Chapter 4 car ride, for example, the Q80T's black levels were darkest and it showed less stray illumination in the passing streetlights. On the other hand those lights and other bright spots were more brilliant on the TCL and Vizio, and both exposed more shadow detail than the Samsung -- while the Sony had the best shadow detail and the worst contrast. I still ended up preferring the TCL and Vizio overall, but the Samsung was much closer.
In brighter scenes where blooming is less visible the superior light output of the other TVs shined gave them more characteristic HDR punch, particularly in highlights like the sun as TK approaches the house in Chapter 3. The Samsung still looked brilliant, saturated and impressive, but the TCL and Vizio looked just a notch more-so in my side-by-side comparison.
Geek Box
Test
Result
Score
Black luminance (0%)
0.003
Good
Peak white luminance (SDR)
664
Good
Avg. gamma (10-100%)
2.22
Good
Avg. grayscale error (10-100%)
0.64
Good
Dark gray error (30%)
0.90
Good
Bright gray error (80%)
1.37
Good
Avg. color checker error
2.70
Good
Avg. saturation sweeps error
2.01
Good
Avg. color error
1.29
Good
Red error
1.34
Good
Green error
0.59
Good
Blue error
1.13
Good
Cyan error
1.38
Good
Magenta error
1.61
Good
Yellow error
1.70
Good
1080p/24 Cadence (IAL)
Pass
Good
Motion resolution (max)
1000
Good
Motion resolution (dejudder off)
1000
Good
Input lag (Game mode)
20.77
Good
HDR10
Black luminance (0%)
0.005
Good
Peak white luminance (10% win)
1243
Good
Gamut % UHDA/P3 (CIE 1976)
91.85
Average
ColorMatch HDR error
5.52
Poor
Avg. color checker error
2.65
Good
Input lag (Game mode, 4K HDR)
20.37
Good
Portrait Displays Calman calibration software was used in this review.
QD-OLED TV: Samsung, Sony Take on LG With Quantum Dot Special Sauce
QD-OLED TV: Samsung, Sony Take on LG With Quantum Dot Special Sauce
The best TVs you can buy use OLED screens and until now, LG Display has been the sole producer of every OLED television in the world. In 2022 a new kind of OLED TV technology, called QD-OLED, finally goes on sale. The technology debuts in new 55-inch and 65-inch TVs from Samsung and Sony, as well as a new monitor by Alienware. QD-OLED uses quantum dots in combination with organic light-emitting diodes, and it promises even better picture quality than traditional OLED TVs and monitors.
We already reviewed the Alienware monitor and liked it a lot, but we haven't had the chance to see the TVs beyond brief, early demos of prototype products. Samsung's QD-OLED TV, the QS95B, is available now and priced at $2,200 for the 55-inch and $3,000 for the 65-inch model, which is exactly the same as LG's best 2022 OLED TV, the G2 series. Meanwhile Sony is charging more for QD-OLED, $3,000 for the 55-inch and $4,000 for the 65-inch when they go on sale in June.
First things first: We won't know how these QD-OLED TVs really compare against LG OLEDs like the the C2 we recently reviewed, or to other OLED and non-OLED TVs, until we can test them in person. But they sure look promising.
So what is QD-OLED, and why is it potentially better than traditional OLED and LED LCD? Read on to find out.
Today's TV tech: LCD, OLED and QLED
Right now there are two technologies most TV buyers can actually afford: LCD and OLED. LCD TVs are sometimes called "LED TVs" due to the tiny LEDs they use to create light. The image is created by a liquid crystal layer, just like LCD TVs from 20-plus years ago. Mini-LED TVs operate the same way, just with more LEDs in their backlights, while QLED TVs are basically LED LCD TVs with quantum dots.
The size of the quantum dot determines what color it emits when supplied with energy. Currently that energy is supplied by blue LEDs or blue OLEDs.
Samsung
OLED is a newer technology. Each pixel emits its own light, created by a substance that glows when you give it energy. This substance includes the element carbon, hence the "organic" moniker. Since they're able to turn individual pixels off, to a perfect black, their contrast ratio and overall picture quality are typically better than any LCD.
One of the biggest improvements in LCD TV tech over the last few years is the inclusion of quantum dots. These microscopic spheres glow a specific color when excited by light. In the case of LCD TVs, blue LEDs supply all the blue light plus the energy to get red and green quantum dots to emit red and green light. This is what allows LCD TVs to have such extreme brightness and better color than LCD TVs of old.
The many layers of LCD (left) compared with the relatively few layers required by QD-Display (right). Among other benefits, even thinner TVs are possible.
Samsung
You can read more about the differences between these technologies in our comparison of LCD and OLED TV display technologies, but the short version is that LCD-based TVs tend to be brighter, while OLED TVs have better overall picture quality. There's also microLED, but microLED TVs are currently wall-size and absurdly expensive. They're not really competition for LCD, OLED or QD-OLED TVs, and likely won't be for the foreseeable future.
The layers required to make an image with different TV technologies. With LCD, the light and the image are created separately. With WOLED (LG's current tech), the "white" layer is actually blue and yellow. Color filters create red and green.
With Samsung's new QD-OLED, only blue OLED material is used, with red and green created by quantum dots. (Click to enlarge)
Samsung
QD + OLED = 💖?
Combining the efficiency and color potential of quantum dots with the contrast ratio of OLED is basically the holy grail of current image quality. LCDs don't have the pixel-level contrast of OLED. Their backlights, even with mini-LED, are just too coarse. OLED TVs, while bright, don't have the extreme brightness potential of LCD.
The layers of a QD-OLED display.
Nanosys
QD-OLED potentially solves both these issues and could be greater than the sum of its parts. A blue OLED material creates, as with most LED LCDs, all the blue light. A quantum dot layer uses this blue light to then create green and red light. Quantum dots are nearly 100% efficient, so basically no energy is lost converting these colors. The current version of OLED uses color filters to create red, green and blue, essentially blocking a significant amount of the light potential created by the OLED material, so it's potentially less efficient.
The result could be greater brightness and color than with current versions of OLED, while keeping that technology's superlative contrast ratio.
Samsung
What else we know about QD-OLED TVs right now
Aside from the basic technology above, we know a few details about the actual TVs and monitors hitting the market later this year.
Samsung:QD-OLED panels are built by Samsung Display, a division of that mega conglomerate that manufactures displays. Samsung Electronics, the division that makes the TVs themselves, officially unveiled its TV in March 2020 after a tease at CES 2020. Called the QS95B series, Samsung touts improved brightness and color as well as the typical features of the company's 2022 TVs, such as revamped processing, HDMI 2.1 inputs, an improved smart TV system and a solar remote. The QS95B series is available for preorder now to ship in April.
Sony: Called the A95K series, it will also come in 55- and 65-inch sizes. Sony claims better color and improved viewing angles for this TV but told CNET's David Katzmaier not to expect a significant improvement in peak brightness with whites. It has 4K resolution, HDMI 2.1 inputs and a bunch of other features, like a built-in camera and remote finder.
Sony's AK95 series is a QD-OLED TV available for preorder in June in 55- and 65-inch sizes.
Sony
Alienware:The third manufacturer with QD-OLED has a curved 34-inch, 3,440x1,440-pixel monitor, model number AW3423DW. In case you're counting, the smallest OLED TV LG makes is 42 inches. CNET's Lori Grunin reviewed the monitor and lauded its performance for gaming as well as its color accuracy.
The Alienware QD-OLED monitor costs $1,300.
Dell
Read more: Alienware 34-Inch QD-OLED Monitor Review: It Brings the Pretty
What we don't know about QD-OLED
We know the prices of these TVs, so the next biggest unanswered question is how good they will look compared with "vanilla" OLED TVs from LG and Sony. Samsung says that its QD-OLED will be brighter than OLED, with a better contrast than LCD. The latter is easy; all OLEDs have better contrast than all LCDs. How much brighter remains to be seen, literally and figuratively. LG promises its own improvements for 2022 OLEDs and beyond, so it's possible this brightness aspect won't be a huge factor.
Two additional improvements with QD-OLED are possible according to its proponents: off-axis and motion blur. Since QD-OLED lacks color filters, they will potentially look better when seen from the side than OLED, which already looks much better off-axis than LCD. So if you have a really wide sofa, people in the cheap seats won't have a worse picture than those sitting directly in front of the TV. From what Katzmaier saw in his demo of Sony, the off-axis improvement is real but not a huge deal
Motion blur is a bit of a rabbit hole, but due to how the current generation of OLED works, they still have motion blur. Samsung Display claims QD-OLED will have significantly less motion blur than LCD, though the company didn't say if it's better than LG's OLED. An ultrafast response time, plus extra brightness so you can use black frame insertion and still have a bright image, means it should be at least as good as regular OLED.
A TV demonstrates Samsung's QD Display technology, which combines OLED elements with quantum dots to boost color and other image quality attributes.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Then there's the question of color volume, which is something you're going to hear more and more about in the coming years. Basically, it's how much color there is in extremely bright parts of the image. One drawback of LG's OLED method is that to get the brightness desired by consumers, it uses an additional subpixel, white, in addition to red, green and blue (see image with LCD, WOLED and QD-OLED above). This technically has the effect of "washing out" extremely bright parts of the image.
From what we've seen so far, QD-OLED could deliver improved color. The caveat is that we haven't actually had the chance to compare it with shipping products (as opposed to prototypes) using real-world video. With most real-world HDR TV shows and movies there really isn't that much color information in bright parts of the image. That's partly to do with the inability of most displays to do anything with it. But even if Hollywood were to color-grade more shows and movies with more bright-color data, we're still just talking about things like more yellow in the sun, more blue tint to headlights, and so on. It remains to be see how much different QD-OLED will look with those colors.
The future is now(ish)
In the end, how much better QD-OLED is than regular OLED doesn't actually matter. It's already the most important thing it could be: more OLED. Another company making OLED displays is by far the healthiest thing that could happen to the TV industry and for consumers. Pushing picture quality up and prices down has never been a bad thing.
For that matter, as someone who has always hated LCD, I think a future without that tired, Band-Aid-ed TV technology is a welcome one. But that might just be me.
We expect to get our hands on the first generation of QD-OLED displays later this year. Stay tuned.
As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile road trips, and more. Check out Tech Treks for all his tours and adventures.
He also wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, along with a sequel. You can follow his adventures on Instagram and his YouTube channel.
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Best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X, Series S for 2022: LG OLED, Samsung QLED, Vizio and More
Best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X, Series S for 2022: LG OLED, Samsung QLED, Vizio and More
If you've invest in a PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console, any TV with an HDMI port will work. However, not all TVs are created equal, and if your TV isn't up to snuff, it may be unable to take advantage of these new consoles' best features. The best 4K TVs these days are equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports, which have the power to let you play at 4K with HDR and reach frame rates as high as 120 frames per second. On top of all that, the gameplay stays butter-smooth, with the consoles and TV playing nice via variable refresh rate, which reduces choppy movement and screen tearing.
Also, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on an 88-inch 8K behemoth to get these gaming console-friendly features. In fact, as far as screen size goes, you can find most of the features necessary for an excellent gaming experience in 65-inch TVs that are priced below $1,000.
Best TVs for PS5 and Xbox
At the end of the article you'll find two charts with all of the TVs we know on sale now that support advanced gaming features. We've included compatible TVs from the past two years, and you may still be able to find 2020 models on sale. Before those charts, however, here's a list of our current favorite gaming TV options.
David Katzmaier/CNET
If OLED isn't your thing, Samsung's QN90A offers the best non-OLED picture quality we've ever seen. Image quality is incredibly bright, with minimal blooming from the local dimming backlight. This gaming TV option also has the lowest input lag we've ever measured on a TV.
1080p input lag: 10ms
4K HDR input lag: 10ms
Sizes: 50-, 55-, 65-, 75-, 85-inch.
Read our Samsung QN90A review.
David Katzmaier/CNET
The Hisense U8G offers tremendous brightness for gamers who want to play during the day and don't have light control in their chosen gaming space. While there are a couple of TVs that are brighter, all are a lot more expensive. Contrast and color is good too, though HDR is a step behind the competition and this 4K resolution TV's games mode isn't as sophisticated as Samsung or LG.
1080p input lag: 15ms
4K HDR input lag: 15ms
Sizes: 55-, 65-inch.
Read our Hisense U8G series review.
David Katzmaier/CNET
With a price generally lower than any of the TVs above, this Vizio's image quality and gaming features aren't quite as good, but it's still a solid step above budget gaming TVs. Local dimming achieves solid contrast and while it lacks 4K/120Hz input capability, this smart TV does offer variable refresh rate -- a rarity at this price.
1080p input lag: 16.07ms
4K HDR input lag: 13.73ms
Sizes: 50-, 55-, 58-, 65-, 70-, 75-inch.
Read our Vizio M-7 Series Quantum (2021) review.
Gaming TV FAQs
Below you'll find answers to some of the most common questions about the best gaming TVs, followed by the charts that show which features are available on which TVs.
What TVs support HDMI 2.1 features?
All the advanced gaming features we've mentioned-- 120Hz input and VRR, as well as the more common Auto Low Latency Mode, aka Auto Game Mode, and eARC -- are roughly grouped under the HDMI 2.1 standard, but not all of the TVs in the charts below include every feature, nor deliver the full video and audio bandwidth that's possible with HDMI 2.1.
Even more confusing, input capability can vary on the same TV. Behind the physical connection where you plug an HDMI cable is a subsection of the TV's processing, namely a chip. These chips cost money, like everything else. In order to keep costs down, not every input on the TV is fully capable of all the latest features and frame rates. To put it another way, every road on Earth could be capable of highway speeds, but building them all that way would be expensive and rather pointless.
For example, one HDMI input might be capable of eARC, but not be able to handle 4K at 120Hz. Just something to keep in mind as you peruse the charts below. Also, there are some important brand and model specifics that didn't fit in the chart; please check the bullet points below for details.
Finally, the consoles themselves are in a transition period, too. The hardware of the PS5 console can technically support VRR, but unlike the Xbox Series X and Series S, it's not enabled yet. Sony's PlayStation 5 FAQ says VRR will be added via a future software update.
What is 120Hz input?
Despite TVs being capable of 120Hz refresh for well over a decade, the ability to input 120Hz is a far more recent development. This is largely due to the fact that other than a fairly beefy gaming PC, there just haven't been any 120Hz sources. That all changes with the PS5 and Series X. Some of the TVs on our list can accept 4K at 120Hz on all HDMI inputs. Others can only do so on select inputs and one, the TCL 6-Series, can only accept 120Hz at lower-than-4K resolution (1440p).
The Xbox Series S can also output 4K at 120Hz, but internally the game is rendered at a lower resolution (1440p) and upscaled before it's sent to your TV.
For more info, check out the truth about 4K TV refresh rates -- and beware fake 120Hz refresh rates on 4K TVs.
What is VRR?
VRR, or variable refresh rate, is a new TV feature that you'd probably be surprised wasn't already a thing. All modern TVs have a fixed refresh rate. A 60Hz TV is going to refresh, or create, a new image 60 times a second. The problem is a new console might not be ready to send a new image.
Let's say you're in the middle of a huge boss battle, with lots of enemies and explosions. The console struggles to render everything in the allotted time. The TV still needs something so the console might send a duplicate of the previous image, creating juddering on screen, or it might send a partially new image, resulting in the image looking like someone tore a page off the top and revealed the new page below.
VRR gives the TV some flexibility to wait for the new frame from the console. This will result in better gaming performance with smoother action and less tearing.
What is ALLM or Game mode?
Game mode turns off most of the image-enhancing features of the TV, reducing input lag. We'll discuss input lag below, but the specific feature to look for is called either Auto Low Latency Mode or Auto Game Mode. Different manufacturers call it one or the other, but the basic idea is the same. Sensing a signal from the console, the TV switches on game mode automatically. This means you don't need to find your TV's remote to enable game mode. Not a huge deal, but convenient. All the TVs listed above have, or will have, one or the other.
What about input lag?
Input lag describes how long in milliseconds it takes for the TV to create an image. If this is too high, there's a delay between when you press a button on the controller and when that action appears on screen. In many games, like shooters or platformers, timing is crucial and a TV with high input lag could hurt your performance.
As a longtime console gamer myself, I can easily notice the difference between high (greater than 100ms) and low input lag (sub-30ms). The good news is, most modern TVs have input lag that's low enough that most people won't notice it. Largely gone are the days of 100-plus-millisecond input lags… at least when you enable game mode.
So as long as the TV has a game mode, you're probably fine, though it's worth checking CNET's reviews for the exact numbers to see if it has low input lag. Lower, in this case, is always better.
What is eARC?
While not a console feature, eARC is a next-gen TV feature to keep in mind. It's the evolution of ARC, or Audio Return Channel. This sends audio from a TV's internal apps (such as Netflix or Vudu), back down the HDMI cable to a receiver or soundbar. With eARC, newer formats like Dolby Atmos can be transmitted as well.
The issue is in many cases, eARC often precludes higher resolutions or frame rates on the same input. So if you've connected your PS5 to your receiver and the receiver to the TV, you can have eARC audio back from the TV or 4K120, but usually not both. This is only important if you plan on using the internal apps in a TV (as in, not a Roku or Amazon streaming stick) and you want to use the new audio formats via eARC.
Best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X, Series S in 2022
2021 TVs for PS5 and Xbox
Brand
Model
65-inch price
4K 120Hz Input
VRR
ALLM/AUTO
eARC
LG
G1
$2,500
HDMI 1-4
Yes
Yes
HDMI 2
Nano 90
$1,300
HDMI 3, 4
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
QNED 90
$2,000
HDMI 3, 4
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
C1
$2,100
HDMI 1-4
Yes
Yes
HDMI 2
A1
$1,800
No
No
No
HDMI 3
Nano 75
$900
No
No
Yes
HDMI 2
70 series
$700 (70 in)
No
No
Yes
HDMI 2
Samsung
QN900A
$4,000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
QN800A
$3,000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
QN90A
$2,100
Yes (55 in and up)
Yes (not 43 in)
Yes
Yes
QN85A
$1,900
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Frame
$1,700
Yes
Yes (55 in and up)
Yes
Yes
Q80A
$1,400
Yes (55 in and up)
Yes (not 50 in)
Yes
Yes
Q60A
$1,000
No
No
Yes
Yes
Sony
A90J
$3,800
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Yes
X80J
$1,000
No
No
No
Yes
A80J
$2,200
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Yes
X95J
$2,000
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Yes
X90J
$1,350
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Yes
X85J
$1,100
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Yes
TCL
8
$2,000
No
No
No
No
6 8K
$2,200
HDMI 1,2
Yes
Yes
HDMI 4
6 4K
$950
Yes (x2)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Vizio
OLED
1900
HDMI 2, 3
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
P series
1300
HDMI 3, 4
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
M series
900
No
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
Hisense
U9
$3500 (75")
No
No
No
No
U8
$1,250
HDMI 3, 4
VRR
No
HDMI 3
U7
$1,000
No
Freesync
No
Yes
*Available via a firmware update at a later date (just like Sony's 2020 models).
2020 TVs
You might still be able to find some of 2020's TVs on sale. Many had 120 Hz inputs, eARC and more, though not quite to the extent of the newer models. Here's a look at the TVs from 2020 and what they could do.
2020 TVs for PS5 and Xbox
Brand
Model
65-inch price
Max input Hz
VRR
ALLM/AUTO
eARC
LG
UN85
$765
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
Nano85
$1,000
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
Nano90
$1,200
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
Nano91
$1,000
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
CX
$2,200
120Hz (All)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 2
GX
$2,500
120Hz (All)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 2
BX
$2,000
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
Samsung
Q70T
$1,200
120Hz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Q80T
$1,700
120Hz (HDMI 4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
Q90T
$2,000
120Hz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Q800T (8K)
$2,700
120Hz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sony
X900H
$1,400
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 3
TCL
6-Series
$950
4K60/1440p120
Yes
Yes
HDMI 4
Vizio
OLED
$1,500
120Hz (HDMI 2,3)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
P
$950
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
PX
$1,500
120Hz (HDMI 3,4)
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
M-Series
$600
60Hz
Yes
Yes
HDMI 1
Notes and specifics
Prices are current as of press time but may fluctuate.
There are some TVs that fit the criteria but weren't included because they're so expensive, namely 8K TVs like LG's ZX series and Samsung's Q950TS and Q900TS series.
The PS5 and Series X can also output 8K resolution to compatible TVs, but we consider 4K/120Hz, VRR and other enhancements like ray tracing and even HDR more important than 8K for gaming.
Samsung doesn't specify which inputs can handle 4K120 or eARC. It is unlikely that all do, but when we asked, the company didn't clarify. We did review the Q80T, however, and can confirm that Input 3 is compatible with eARC and Input 4 with 4K120.
Sony says the software update(s) that enables VRR and ALLM on the X900H is coming "at a later date." It's been saying that for over a year now.
The Vizio 2020 M-Series is only 60Hz but has VRR.
The TCL 2020 6-Series can only accept 4K at 60Hz, but can accept 1440p at 120Hz.
As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, airplane graveyards and more.
You can follow his exploits on Instagram and YouTube, and on his travel blog, BaldNomad. He also wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, along with a sequel.
