LG G4 OLED and Samsung Neo QLED: A Comparison of High-End TV Technologies

LG G4 OLED review

When you're discussing the best OLED TV you can buy, LG is always prominent in the conversation -- and its new flagship model, the LG G4 OLED, is a prime example of why. It builds on the cunning advancements and top-level performance of last year's LG G3 OLED while also managing to be even better looking, easier to use and better suited for all watching environments. It's expensive, yes (with the 65-inch model priced around $3,000), but you'll see your investment in everything the G4 displays and does. Our testing showed excellent color and brightness with both SDR and HDR content, and LG's gaming-centered additions remain top-notch. It's possible to nitpick: There's no ATSC 3.0 tuner, and at least one competing set just barely edges it out as the OLED picture champ. But these things won't much diminish your experience watching the G4, which is satisfying in every way, with every type of show or movie. If you have the means, this is one of the best TVs money can buy. The G4 sits at the top of LG's OLED catalog, offering a more sophisticated picture and groundbreaking technologies than (in descending order) the LG C4 OLED and B4 TVs. (The recently announced M4 is almost identical except for its wireless design.) The G4 comes in five different sizes, all of which are available as of this writing: We evaluated the 65-inch G4, though because the 55-, 77-, and 83-inch versions all use identical technology, we expect them to deliver similar performance. The 97-inch model is the same as the others in all ways but one: It does not use LG's Micro Lens Array, so its picture is likely to appear somewhat dimmer. In many ways, the G4 is not your typical OLED TV. Whereas most have pure-glass screens measuring one-quarter inch or less, LG has amped up the G4's thickness, so it comes in at just over half an inch, and a silver band along the edges gives it an unusually elegant, sparkling look. Shockingly, none of this makes it look bloated or bulky, and it increases stability while decreasing potential safety issues frequently associated with OLED sets. But as it measures 56.7x32.5 inches and weighs 52.5 pounds, it's still a big set, and one you'll want help setting up. The G3 notoriously did not come bundled with a stand (and buying one separately was a supreme pain), but that's a mistake LG has corrected with the G4. Not only is a stand included, but it takes just a few minutes to assemble. The stand can be configured to one of two heights (so the screen is either close to the surface it's on, or so there's room for a soundbar beneath); the wide panel-shaped foot extends both forward and backward for maximum stability; and the shaft that connects it to the TV has a built-in cable management channel. It's all you could ask for. If you'd rather mount it on the wall, on the rear panel you can find traditional-style 300 x 200 VESA holes but LG's proprietary system allows for nearly no gap between the set and the wall. Although the power cable on the back of the G4 is center mounted, the ports are all located closer to the TV's left side. Three of these are particularly easily accessible: One USB port and two HDMI ports angle directly off the side so you can plug or unplug devices in seconds. For things you're more likely to leave plugged in all the time, there is a selection of other ports facing downward just a few inches away: two USB, two HDMI, Ethernet, S/PDIF optical audio out, coaxial cable, RS-232C, and IR blaster. Per LG's usual, all four HDMI ports use the newer and more powerful HDMI 2.1 standard that allows for features such as 4K video at 120Hz, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM), and Quick Media Switching (QMS). Not all manufacturers max out their TVs with this technology -- we're looking at you, Sony -- so it's nice to see LG giving its customers an extra dose of future-proofing on its highest-end set. We follow a standard testing protocol for every TV we review at Tom's Guide. Our benchmarks include a series of technical and subjective tests designed to rate the set's performance. For our technical tests, we take measurements using an X-Rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer, a SpectraCal VideoForge Pro pattern generator, and Portrait Displays' Calman TV-calibration software. We also use a Leo Bodnar 4K Input Lag Tester for determining the TV's gaming prowess. Subjective tests vary based on the reviewer, but usually feature observations based on a diverse selection of movies, TV shows, and other content reflecting the things you may actually want to watch on the TV. For a more detailed look at what we do and how we do it, check out our How we test TVs page. OLED TVs tend to dazzle under most circumstances, but LG touts a whole catalogue of technologies in promoting the G4's specific picture quality. These include the α11 AI Processor 4K that drives everything (and utilizes a number of AI-powered technologies to improve upscaling and tone) to Micro Lens Array (which LG claims "magnifies the glow of each pixel") and Brightness Booster Max, which, uh, boosts the brightness. There's support for three of the main formats of HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), but not HDR10+. Ultimately, however, all that matters is what appears on the screen. And everything that appears on the G4's screen looks remarkable. As on all OLEDs, black levels are perfect, but it's that supercharged brightness that makes a critical difference in the G4's overall impact. It gives an explosive boost to the central detonation scene in Oppenheimer, with searing brights cutting through the early-morning gloom to incisively highlight the world-changing nature of the first atomic bomb test. It also firmly emphasizes the comic-book contrasts inherent in the distinctive art style for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and the shadowy divisions between screen elements that heighten the action and the tension of Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning. But the color is unimpeachable as well, in these titles as well as others where it's even more important. You're transported right to the underwater vistas of Pandora in Avatar: The Way of Water, with the sumptuous blues and greens of its flora and fauna mixing seamlessly with the fast motion of its more suspenseful chase scenes. Barbie looked equally good in the gaudy, pink-saturated Technicolor sections as it did in the scenes set in something more closely approaching the real world. And The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks about as good as it ever has, with its swirling animated cartoon palette as vibrant and humorous as the movie itself. No matter what I watched, the G4's picture impressed from any and every viewing angle, too, with its colors losing none of their luster. This is exactly what you want from a TV big enough (and expensive enough) to be the centerpiece of your living room entertainment setup. Our anecdotal experiences with the G4 were borne out by our technical tests, in which the TV also excelled. Against its primary competitor released so far this generation, the Samsung S95D, the G4 came out on top in our tests with SDR content, bettering the Samsung set in both brightness (358 versus 276 nits) and color accuracy (with Delta-Es, which measure the difference in color between the source and the screen, with lower numbers preferable, of 1.4041 and 3.5085 respectively). The race was a bit closer with regards to HDR content, where the G4's 1,488 nits (in Filmmaker Mode, measured on 10% of the screen) didn't quite live up to the Samsung's 1,777. It's important to note, though, that as humans perceive brightness logarithmically, these differences are less likely to be detectable. What may notice, though, is the G4's HDR color handling, which falls more noticeably short of Samsung's. The G4 covers a nearly perfect 97.29% of the UHDA-P3 color gamut, but the Samsung comes even closer with 99.97%. Because far less content takes advantage of the Rec. 2020 color space, numbers there don't mean as much for everyday watching, but the G4's 72.91% of coverage doesn't come anywhere close to the Samsung's 89.73%. In short, under most circumstances you won't notice anything wrong with the G4's picture, but it's not quite the best you can currently get. Not all TVs sound weak, but few sound great -- even at the top end of the price range. The G4 does not make any drastic improvements in this area, though to my ears, it sounds marginally better than the G3: ever so slightly louder and just a mite clearer, but nothing that's likely to convert diehard audiophiles. There's not a heavy bass presence, with our test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," thumping one-dimensionally, and a soprano vocal track did clip out just a bit with the set tuned to topmost volume. For ordinary, everyday use, the G4's sound is serviceable, and we had no substantive complaints to make when watching action scenes in movies such as Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning and Avatar: The Way of Water. But if you want to make your movies and music sound as good as possible, and if you have the additional money, you will probably want to supplement the G4 with one of Tom's Guide's best soundbars. Given the G4's high picture quality, it's no surprise that gaming on it is a joy -- I found myself lost in the galaxy-hopping wonders of Starfield all over again during testing, with a variety of alien planets, space battle scenes, and the human settlement of New Atlantis all a rich joy to explore. LG's polished gaming features come by way of the integrated Game Optimizer, which you can turn on via the menus. These allow for lots of ways to customize your play for specific genres and even room environments, and a pop-up game bar gives you a ton of useful information such as the current frame rate, VRR status, and a quick way to turn on Dark Room Mode or Multi View, or change the settings. The panel's high refresh rate keeps everything looking slick, but you have the potential to go even further: Although the HDMI ports max out at 120Hz for consoles like the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, their refresh rates can register as high as 144Hz if you plug in a PC with a compatible graphics card. Low input lag helps a lot, too. We measured a cool 9.2ms with the Game Optimizer Boost feature on -- handily below our 10ms threshold for the smoothest gaming experience. (Without the boost function activated, we measured 12.9, which is still pretty good.) LG has stuck with its proprietary webOS operating system, and I don't mind at all. Even though lacks the ultrabroad integration of Google TV, it is tightly designed and a cinch to navigate and configure. The newest version, included with the G4, adds up to 10 user profiles and simplifies exploring the settings. Below an expansive ad carousel at the top of the home screen is a row of Quick Cards that collect the G4's functions into instantly recognizable categories (Home Office, Games, Music, Home Hub, Sports, and Accessibility). This is followed by an Apps bar that is prepopulated with all of the current most popular streaming services, though you can add more in seconds. Additional content, such as from LG Channels (the company's own live-broadcast aggregation service) is called out below this. LG's voice search system works well, but if you still can't find something to watch, you can stream via Chromecast or Apple AirPlay 2. One thing you can't get are over-the-air 4K broadcasts, as LG has done away with the ATSC 3.0 tuner in this generation due to a patent dispute; an ATSC 1.0 tuner is installed instead. This is a notable omission and something you don't want to see on a top-of-the-line TV. Support for Amazon Alexa, Apple Airplay 2, Apple Home, and Google Assistant further expands the G4's capabilities into the smart home realm. You can also set the TV to display photos or other artwork when you're not watching it, which is a fun way to bring more color to your living room. The Magic Remote remains LG's control of choice for the G4. The ergonomic, black-plastic remote remains a bit old-fashioned in its inclusion of number buttons, but it has all the controls you need and a comfortable design that leaves very little to complain about. Its most controversial feature (to me, anyway) is what gives it its name: You can wave it around to display a mouse-style pointer, which you can then use to select on-screen elements. I still consider this more trouble than it's worth, and I prefer using the five-way selection pad to move around the screen, but for people who like it, the option is there. And the rest of the remote is good enough that I have no problem overlooking it. The LG G4 is a first-rate TV that makes anything you watch look better. Bursting with beautifully executed features that enhance picture quality, gaming, the OS and more, it's a killer OLED that has little trouble earning its admittedly high price. The same-priced Samsung S95D is a strong competitor, however, and its superior HDR handling may make it the front-runner if that's what you care about most. Also in the running is last year's LG G3 OLED, though only slightly less a compelling performer than the G4, it's currently available for about $700 less (though, of course, this won't always be the case). But when you factor in everything -- the gorgeous design, the sleekly effective webOS, and the do-everything remote control -- the LG G4 leaves you wanting for basically nothing. If you're looking for an OLED TV, it's tough to do better than this.

The LG OLED Evo G4 TV Review: A Powerhouse Gaming TV -- With A Big Catch

You can go into any department store and pick up a reasonable TV for less than $1,000; what you can't do for that price is get a TV that covers all the bases, from being ideal for watching movies to functioning as a hardcore console gamer's display and more. The LG OLED Evo G4 TV aims to tick every single box that you could possibly want in a TV -- and bring a fancy, bright OLED screen into your home, to boot. I spent a few weeks with this TV, testing it as a gaming TV and as a way to enjoy my other home entertainment. And I realized it's not just a good gaming TV, after putting it through the paces with cloud gaming, my husband's PlayStation 4 Pro and more. Thanks to some minor improvements over its predecessor, it's my pick as the best gaming TV you can add to your home right now. Read on for my thoughts on its design, performance and more. One of my favorite design features isn't what's on the TV itself -- though LG slashed the overall height of the panel by 0.2 inches -- but rather what's behind the TV. The stand features a built-in cable cord organizer, so when I plug in all of my tech, from the PlayStation 4 Pro to the Nintendo Switch to the soundbar, all the cables can get neatly tucked in for a less cluttered look. It's a rather silly feature to enthuse over, I admit, but I'm obsessed. Again, not much has changed in the exterior design, but under the hood, there are some design improvements in the micro lens array (MLA) technology. If you're not sure what that is: Basically, OLED panels use self-lit pixels. While most of those pixels aim the light toward your viewing area, some of that light escapes out the back, so to speak. MLA grabs that light and redirects it toward you, making for a brighter picture. And, true to form, LG's MLA technology brings the brightness to any space, whether it's a sunny, bright living room or a darkened theater. I'm always impressed by how it showcases well under any conditions. LG definitely improved this feature, as it feels brighter than its predecessor (and my former top pick for the best gaming TV), the G3, though LG didn't release the official nits number. I have learned in my weeks of testing that I still have a love/hate relationship with the remote, too. The Magic Remote Control features a central button that doubles as a mouse. In the G3, I found I loathed that feature; I would start using the mouselike scrolling and shift over to pressing buttons old-school style. This time, I told myself I would strictly stick to the scrolling button to check for improvements. I can say with confidence that it's improved, and I found myself semi-enjoying it. It still doesn't fully work across different streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, but as an accessible device, it's pretty much game-changing. Motion tracking has improved as well, so I feel more in control as the "mouse" moves across the screen. WebOS 24 also saw minor improvements over WebOS 23, based on user feedback. It's easy to log in to my apps, my games and more from the home screen. And, of course, below the apps you'll find the LG Channels for those who prefer to casually cable-surf for content. It's intuitive to use. As a gaming TV, the LG OLED Evo G4 4K knocks it out of the park. One of the first games I booted up was Assassin's Creed Valhalla via Amazon Luna and paired the TV with my Amazon Luna controller. A gaming TV should be easy to pair devices with and quick to load, with low input lag, virtually zero buffering and no ghosting. This TV ticks all these boxes and then some. Let me explain. Assassin's Creed Valhalla looked gorgeous on the screen. In previous TVs I've tested, sometimes the picture was pixelated and looked strange, whether it's a loss of detail, color or some other minor gripe that detracts from gameplay. Because Amazon Luna offers a Ubisoft connection to stream your PC games to your TV, I connected the accounts and streamed the game. I could watch my husband capture a cat's footsteps or find the root of a mountain with stunning detail that drew me into his gameplay. So much, in fact, that there were more than a few moments when I just set my camera down and simply watched. And, best of all, we experienced no buffering issues besides the one to two minutes it takes to boot up the game. I experienced a handful of moments during which the Luna controller didn't want to connect to the LG, but I attribute that more to the controller itself than the TV. My Nintendo Switch, in comparison, didn't have any connection issues. I also cross-tested Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga across both my Nintendo Switch and cloud gaming to see if I could spot any buffering or input lag issues. Again, I experienced no problems. Both renditions of the game looked colorful on-screen, with inky blacks looking great during my Death Star space battle. As a home entertainment device, the LG OLED Evo G4 4K really shines with AI Picture Pro on. Combined with the upgraded α11 AI Processor 4K, the TV takes your picture and enhances it in real time for more detail, smoother shading and more. I really liked this feature on the TV; the difference was visible when I flipped it on and off during my testing. As with many other TVs, I recommend calibrating it to your preferences. And one thing to note: When I swapped between gaming and watching TV, the Game Optimizer mode remained on. The TV automatically asked me if I wanted to swap into Filmmaker mode when I clicked into Amazon Prime; otherwise, you'll need to make picture adjustments yourself in the settings menu. I tested it across House of the Dragon, Fallout and The Gilded Age as well as countless movies. The Godswood showcased beautifully, with the vibrant reds of the leaves contrasting nicely with the burgundy velvet of Alicent's dress. I'm noticing a trend where -- when calibrated properly -- most TVs now show this scene particularly well, which is where Fallout comes into play. Further testing shows the vault suit's deep blue really shone and stood out against the bland orange wasteland's tone. The fabrics in The Gilded Age also drew me in, and I enjoyed marvelling at taffeta fabrics and detailed stitches on-screen. I'm assuming this is in part due to the AI Picture Pro, which made the characters more lifelike, and, as a result, it felt more immersive. There is one place where the TV fell short: the audio. If there is one component I would rip out of this TV and build anew, it's these down-firing, α11 AI Sound Pro-enhanced speakers. AI Sound Pro is exactly what it sounds like: LG enhanced the audio with AI to bring a better surround sound-style audio to your home entertainment. But it doesn't work. Mad Max: Fury Road sounds tinny at best, and the sound feels all over the metaphorical map, with quiet sounds barely audible and loud noises so boisterous I worried my neighbors would bang on my door. Sure, like the AI Picture Pro, you can switch off AI Sound Pro, but then the audio is so muted you have to turn the speakers halfway up to get to an audible listening level. The solution here is to invest in a dedicated soundbar and subwoofer so you don't have to worry about this. It makes all the difference in your experience. As a gaming TV, this is one of the best that you can buy right now for your home. It's fairly expensive (the price varies wildly by size), but in this case, you really get what you pay for, and I believe it's worth the price tag. From scrolling through my apps on the home screen to gaming, everything feels intuitive and easy to navigate. Cloud gaming feels strong, and with the enhanced MLA technology and upgrades to WebOS, it's a suitable TV for literally any space. Just be prepared to factor in the cost of a soundbar -- you will want it. As the consumer tech and electronics editor at Forbes Vetted, I've been covering tech for over five years. Specifically, I've been working with TVs and home entertainment most of that time, covering the latest panel launches as well as providing in-depth reviews, including the LG OLED Evo G3 TV, the Samsung OLED S95C TV, the Roku Plus Series TV and more. In addition to my personal testing, I've gone as far as to travel across the country to California from my New York City apartment to get hands-on testing with some of the latest TV launches. I've interviewed countless TV and home-entertainment experts and have partaken in demos in which the top screens have been physically removed so I could see the displays' inner workings, all the way down to the processors and dimming zones. In short, I know both the inside and outside of most TVs on the market. My time testing TVs focuses on every kind of TV viewer, from the casual watcher to the dedicated gamer who wants the best gaming TV for their home. For this story, I focused on how the TV performed for both home entertainment and as a gaming TV for those who prefer to play on their consoles. If it's a TV that you can buy right now, I've tested it. I set the TV up in my living room and used it for a few weeks, taking note of its brightness and dimming settings. In my testing, I tested it across various films and movies, taking into account color quality and accuracy, WebOS design, the LG Magic Remote Control and more. I tested it by watching House of the Dragon, Fallout and The Gilded Age, as well as many, many films to get an accurate picture of how the TV display performed for a range of different programming. For gaming, I used three different devices: my beloved Nintendo Switch, my husband's PlayStation 4 Pro and the Amazon Luna cloud gaming, which supports Ubisoft game streaming. Games I played included but certainly weren't limited to: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Stardew Valley and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I played these for hours, clocking in a minimum of 20 gaming hours to make sure I tested for input lag, buffering and ghosting as well as picture quality. I also cross-tested gaming across the different TV modes, from Filmmaker to Game Optimizer, to test the device not just for gaming but also as a home entertainment TV. I also reviewed lag and input to see how each mode performed.

The Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900D TV Review: AI Upscaling Futureproofs This TV

While 4K resolution is currently the most popular pick when buying a new TV, enhanced technology under the display's hood is making 8K more feasible -- and more affordable -- for your home. The Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900D TV is the latest 8K model from Samsung that promises to deliver this enhanced 8K picture not only to your movies and TV shows, but also to older content via AI upscaling. I tested the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900D TV for a month, checking its picture and performance across a variety of new and older TV shows, movies and video games. I also played games on Samsung's cloud gaming platform, the Samsung Gaming Hub, to see how cloud gaming performed with the enhanced Samsung Tizen OS. In short, it's a great TV with some minor caveats. Read on for the full review on design, performance and more. The design of the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900D doesn't seem all that different from its predecessor, the QN900C. Infinity bezels still look nearly nonexistent, though Samsung rebranded from an Infinity Design to an Infinity Air Design, which knocks a whole 0.1 inch off the depth of the screen, bringing it to only 0.5 inch. Again, it's not really noticeable if you're seeking major differences in this panel. But what you will notice is that the TV itself looks incredibly thin, even despite being a QLED display, not an OLED panel, which is historically much thinner. Like the previous models, it has a One Connect design, so a separate box houses the processor and other hardware. You can either stick it behind the TV if you're placing it on a console, or below if you're mounting the TV. Either way, get a friend to help you set it up. The 65-inch TV I tested weighs 66.6 pounds with the stand, so it's not a light lift. As an all-around home entertainment system, the QN900D shines as one of my favorites of the year (so far). The processor under the hood has been upgraded to an NQ8 AI Gen3, which, according to Samsung, promises a CPU up to 30% faster, a GPU up to 2.2 times faster and an NPU up to two times faster. To me, the upgrades are worthwhile. The TV felt speedy and responsive to commands, whether I was opening my apps or playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The TV also uses all those neural networks and CPU for another great purpose: AI upscaling. Most TVs, including the best 4K TVs, offer at least some kind of upscaling for older content. While most older shows can be remastered, some cannot due to the filming techniques used at the time, which is where this upscaling comes into play. Personally, I liked checking out favorite older shows like Parks and Recreation and Arrested Development on the screen. The image looked clear and sharp. For newer content, however, that's where I feel the QN900D really shines. I always test on HBO's House of the Dragon. My preferred color saturation test, a scene at the Godswood, showcased beautifully, with the rich, dark red of Alicent's dress contrasting nicely with Rhaenyra's dark attire. But this time, I tossed in a newer and more muted show, Fallout. Though the palette focuses on a dingy post-apocalyptic Western aesthetic, the colors and detailing were great, from highlighting Lucy's vault suit blues to really nailing the wasteland's shades of orange and yellow. The same proved true for scenes in Mad Max: Fury Road, where action-heavy scenes felt smooth and clear. Without trying to sound too dramatic, it really was a treat for the eyes. Calibration was easy, too, once I figured out what I wanted. To be clear: This TV isn't a plug-and-play panel. To date, I've never seen a Samsung panel, or really almost any other panel, that doesn't require some kind of finessing. But I definitely recommend taking the steps to maximize your picture for streaming and gaming, as it made all the difference for my experience. Personally, I calibrated the settings and polished them off by leaving it on Film mode, which I found to be more robust in color accuracy compared to, say, Intelligent mode. Gaming felt clear and colorful on the screen. I tested across a multitude of games, from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Stardew Valley to Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. I also hopped on the Samsung Gaming Hub to test it on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Starfield. The Nintendo Switch games looked great on-screen, and the TV automatically goes into a dedicated gaming mode for ease of use, then exits when you're done. Even pairing the controller felt seamless, with easy, digestible instructions that had my Amazon Luna controller connected in less than two minutes. And, of course, the built-in speakers proved a pleasant surprise. Most of the time, I plug in my old Samsung soundbar to enjoy my home entertainment because the built-in speakers sound tinny and high-pitched. To my surprise, the QN900D didn't need one in order to function well. Audio came across well, and while it could have used more bass, I found it very enjoyable with the aforementioned shows. I still recommend a soundbar, but in my weeks of testing, I stored my old soundbar in favor of this TV's excellent use of Dolby Atmos and Object Tracking Sound Pro. However, I did run into a roadblock: the Samsung Tizen system. It has a few upgrades that I really, really liked. For the most part, it felt intuitive to use and it made it easy to jump into not only my favorite content but also those Gaming and Ambient modes. Finding and entering my apps felt easier than before, with the apps at the center of the home page. And when you want another mode, whether it's Gaming or Ambient, the system puts hubs on a left panel, which makes it easy to shift between them for a seamless swap. And if you're the kind of person who scrolls through FAST channels, then the Samsung free channels will be just the thing for you. Most of these features aren't new, though. But for those who only stream, it might take you a few minutes and a Google search to learn how to add an app to the home screen. Normally, I would disregard this, but I ended up having to Google more than once to remind myself how to install and add my favorite apps. It's a rare misstep for the Samsung ecosystem, especially since I know that if an experienced consumer tech editor like me struggled with this, others will, too. Should this turn you away from this display? Absolutely not. Again, this is my favorite TV I've tested so far this year. Once your TV is fully set up with your favorite streaming services, you're probably not going to add too many more apps to your library, so it won't matter in the long run. As technology improves and new TV lineups launch each year, you'll find that pretty much all devices have a really good picture. But when testing the Samsung Neo QLED 8K QN900D, I felt this TV knew exactly what it was meant to do: show a gorgeous, future-proof picture. It's not a cheap TV, at $5,000 for the 65-inch model, but for those who can splurge, it's one of the best TVs on the market right now -- and the best 8K TV you can buy. Gamers will find that it's a good TV for gaming, and while it's not the best gaming TV available in my opinion, it's still worthy of consideration as a splurge choice. As the consumer tech and electronics editor at Forbes Vetted, I've been covering tech for over five years. Specifically, I've been working with TVs and home entertainment most of that time, covering the latest panel launches as well as providing in-depth reviews, including the LG OLED Evo G3 TV, the Samsung OLED S95C TV, the Roku Plus Series TV and more. In addition to my own testing, I've gone as far as to travel across the country to California from my New York City apartment to get hands-on testing with some of the latest TV launches. I've interviewed countless TV and home entertainment experts and have participated in demos in which the top screens have been physically removed so I could see the displays' inner workings, all the way down to the processors and dimming zones. In short, I know both the inside and outside of most TVs on the market. My time testing TVs focuses on every kind of TV viewer, from the casual watcher to the dedicated gamer who wants the best gaming TV for their home. For this story, I focused on how the TV performed for both home entertainment and as a gaming TV for those who prefer to play on their consoles. If it's a TV that you can buy right now, I've tested it. I set the TV up in my living room and used it for a month, taking note of its brightness and dimming settings. I tested it across various films and movies, taking into account color quality and accuracy, OS design, accessibility features and more. As for specific programming, I tested House of the Dragon, Fallout, Archer and Rick & Morty, as well as many, many films to get an accurate picture of how the TV display performed for various TV shows and movies. For gaming, I used three different devices: my beloved Nintendo Switch, my husband's PlayStation 4 Pro and the Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming supported by the Samsung Gaming Hub. Games I played include but certainly weren't limited to: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Stardew Valley, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Starfield. I played these for hours, clocking in a minimum of 20 gaming hours to make sure I tested for input lag, buffering and ghosting in addition to picture quality. I also cross-tested gaming across the different TV modes, from Filmmaker to Gaming, to see if one performed better than the other. I also reviewed lag and input to see how each mode performed. For cloud gaming, I booted up the Xbox Game Pass with my Amazon Luna controller and logged hours of gameplay across two different AAA titles: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Starfield.

The Samsung QLED TV most people should buy isn't even their latest model

Samsung's Gaming Hub features are the low-key best part of the TV, ideal for users who want full control over the set's color, refresh rate, and more. Since being introduced in 2021, Samsung's Neo QLED series of televisions has ranked high in its class, setting the benchmark for display quality and features. And while the 2023 QN90C TV is no longer the best model from the company, it's still one of the best offerings in general if you don't need all the latest AI features on Samsung's 2024 line. Also: Samsung has a new entry-level OLED TV and it costs $900 less than the S95D (The set is available in 43 to 85 inches, but I tested the 55-inch for this review.) Right out of the box, this is just a good-looking TV. It has a very slim design and a super-thin bezel that truly makes the picture stand out. As I was unboxing it, the stand also caught my eye. Instead of two legs like almost all other TVs, the QN90C is supported by a single leg in the middle, similar to a computer monitor. Also: The best Samsung TVs of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed Though I have to admit, setting up that stand was a little cumbersome, so much so that after I read the manual and started putting it together, I had to refer back to the instructions because I couldn't figure it out. I'd consider that a small inconvenience, though as it's a "one and done" type of thing, I feel like the sleek, premium look was eventually worth it. The stand did have a slight wobble, especially when my kids ran through the living room, but I was never worried about the set toppling over. If inputs are a concern, the QN90C carries four HDMI ports (one eARC), all of them supporting HDMI 2.1. For an operating system, the set uses Samsung's own Tizen software. This was my first experience with Tizen, and while it wasn't as user-friendly as Roku or Google TV, I was able to navigate where I wanted to go without much trouble. On the display side, this is a Quantum Mini-LED, which Samsung first introduced in 2021. As the name implies, the LEDs are much smaller here than usual, leading to better backlight control. Samsung claims to take that a step further though, with microlayers inside the LEDs, eliminating noise. There's support for HDR10 and HDR10+, and online reports put the brightness at nearly 2,000 nits -- meaning it's bright enough for most home and office environments. My living room has a fair amount of natural light shining where my TV sits, and this set's display thrives in that environment -- largely due to its anti-reflection film. There are times with my everyday television that I have to close my blinds because of glare, but the QN90C was bright enough which made that unnecessary. I fired up a personal favorite, Netflix's Stranger Things, to test the display, and it was the most I've enjoyed that show visually. Also: LG vs Samsung TV: Which brand should you buy in 2024? The QN90C also utilizes local dimming control, which takes unused electrical power from dark areas of the screen and diverts it to brighter areas. I was impressed with how that worked here, as dark scenes were dark as intended, but black levels still had a contrast where things were clearly visible. Bright colors popped beautifully, and scenes with fast action showed no signs of blur. As far as upscaling content Samsung has its Neural Quantum Processor on board, which uses AI to add depth and sharpness to content regardless of the original resolution -- essentially making everything 4K. I tested this out with Ferris Bueller's Day Off and absolutely loved how things looked. I've had televisions where the upscaling produced results far too unnatural looking, but the QN90C does this very well. When it comes to sound, this set is plenty sufficient as-is. It supports Dolby Atmos, but even without a sound bar, I could clearly hear dialogue over the bustle of my two kids and dog. I keep closed captions on my everyday TV for this very reason, even when using a sound bar, and it was nice to be able to turn that off for a while. Like other Samsung televisions, it supports what they call object tracking, which sends sounds to the relevant part of the screen. For example, if you're watching a movie with a racing scene, you'll audibly notice the engine sound roar left to right along with the car. Also: Samsung has its own line of video game controllers now. Here's the first model When I started digging into the gaming features though, I found where this television really shined. It has a very low input lag (under 10ms), a 120Hz display, support for variable refresh rate, and Samsung's above-average Game Bar feature. Holding the pause/play button while a video game console is on brings up the menu overlay, and from there you can dig into the settings like Game Picture Mode (there are six to choose from, plus two custom options), Game Motion Plus (which reduces motion blur and improves picture quality), and an on-screen crosshair (with three color options). From that bar, there's a deeper game mode settings option, which lets you tune the black equalizer, choose "basic" or "advanced" for HDR, and even choose the level of judder reduction and blur reduction. Most casual gamers wouldn't dive this deep into these settings, but for serious gamers, this is a fantastic thing to have. It's the deepest level of customization I've seen from a gaming menu. In fact, I'd call this easily one of the best gaming TVs I've come across. The Samsung QN90C TV has a few minor annoyances -- I'm hesitant to call the wobbliness and installation process shortcomings -- but its picture quality in every instance and gaming features more than made up for those. If you're looking for a premium-level TV that does well in any environment with any kind of content, keep this one high on your list.