One kind of backlighting technology for LED LCD TVs is called mini LED. LCD-based TVs do not emit light on their own; instead, they need a backlight. This indicates that LCD panels pass on the light produced by a backlight situated behind the screen rather than producing light of their own. Clusters of small LEDs are placed directly behind the LCD substrate (not on the edges) in the mini-LED TV backlight. Compared to edge-lit or even certain FALD LED LCD TVs, these small LEDs are usually organized into many local dimming zones, allowing for more precise control over brightness and contrast.
OLED and micro-LED technology, in contrast, do not incorporate an LCD substrate or backlight and are self-emissive. Thus, every sub-pixel has the ability to turn or fire its light One kind of backlighting technology for LED LCD TVs is called mini LED. LCD-based TVs do not emit light on their own; instead, they need a backlight. This indicates that LCD panels pass on the light produced by a backlight situated behind the screen rather than producing light of their own. Clusters of small LEDs are placed directly behind the LCD substrate (not on the edges) in the mini-LED TV backlight. Compared to edge-lit or even certain FALD LED LCD TVs, these small LEDs are usually organized into many local dimming zones, allowing for more precise control over brightness and contrast.
OLED and micro-LED technology, in contrast, do not incorporate an LCD substrate or backlight and are self-emissive. Thus, every sub-pixel has the ability to turn or fire its light.
1.Sony XR X93CL
A 4K TV with a Mini LED backlight is the Sony X93L. It was released in 2023, and in Sony’s 2023 lineup, it has an odd place. It is nearly a carbon clone of the 2023 Sony X95K, though the 65, 75, and 85-inch sizes are limited to North America. It is positioned below the Sony X95L, which is only offered in an 85-inch size in North America but is available in different sizes in Europe and other places, and above the Sony X90L/X90CL. Similar to Sony’s previous flagship X95K, it comes with an impressive array of added capabilities, including as support for up to 4k broadcasts, an ATSC 3.0 tuner, and hands-free voice control. It also has an S-Center speaker input. Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, intended to enhance overall performance, powers it.image processing and upscaling. For gamers, it has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and variable refresh rate (VRR) support, so you can take full advantage of the latest consoles. Like past Sony TVs, it’s powered by the Google TV smart platform, which is user-friendly and has a ton of apps available to download.
The Sony X93L is an excellent TV overall. It’s great for watching shows or sports in a bright room thanks to its high peak brightness and excellent reflection handling. Thanks to its high peak brightness and Mini LED backlight, it looks great in a dark room, resulting in deep blacks with minimal blooming around bright objects. Finally, it’s an amazing gaming TV with low input lag, a quick response time, and many additional gaming features, including variable refresh rate support to reduce screen tearing.
When viewing TV in a bright room, the Sony X93L is an excellent choice. You won’t have to worry about glare because to its high peak brightness and superb reflection handling. It upscales older video quite well and offers a big selection of streaming applications so you can discover your favorite shows quickly. It’s best to watch shows directly in front of this TV due to its restricted viewing angle, which is its only drawback. When viewed from an angle, it doesn’t appear as attractive if you enjoy walking around with the TV on or have a broad sitting arrangement.
In a bright setting, the Sony X93L is an excellent TV for watching sports. Because of its exceptional reflection handling and great brightness, glare never becomes a problem in a bright setting. Its short reaction time makes fast action fluid and easy to discern. Additionally, its excellent gray uniformity minimizes the appearance of a filthy screen in the middle. Unfortunately, because of its limited viewing angle, it’s not as ideal for large gatherings or broad seating arrangements for watching big games because the quality of the image deteriorates when viewed off-angle.
Pros
No upscaling issues.
Bright enough to fight glare.
Excellent reflection handling.
Cons
Mediocre off-angle viewing experience.
2.Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED
Released in 2023, the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED is a premium 4K TV that comes in lower than the Samsung QN95C QLED. Although it shares more similarities with the Samsung QN85B QLED, it takes the place of the Samsung QN90B QLED in the range. With sizes ranging from 43 to 85 inches, there’s bound to be a fit for everyone. Powering it is Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor 4k, which debuted in 2022 and is optimized scene-by-scene to provide superior upscaling. It makes use of Samsung’s exclusive Tizen OS interface, which provides a wide range of apps and games, just like other Samsung TVs. It supports the Matter smart home standard and is compatible with the Bixby and Alexa speech assistants, allowing you to operate all of your Matter-compatible smart devices from your TV.
For the most part, the Samsung QN90C is an outstanding TV. Its high contrast ratio makes it great for gaming or viewing movies in a dark setting. Because of its high peak brightness and excellent reflection handling, it’s also a perfect option for bright rooms where glare won’t be a problem during daytime TV or sporting events. Because of its respectable viewing angle, you can watch something with a group of people or stroll around with the TV on without fearing that the image will become too blurry from the side views. Lastly, because of its fast response time, minimal input lag, and outstanding array of gaming capabilities, it’s fantastic for gaming.
During the day, the Samsung QN90C makes an excellent TV for viewing shows. It can easily overcome glare in a bright room thanks to its high peak brightness and excellent reflection control, and unlike earlier high-end Samsung TVs, there is no rainbow smearing. You can move around the room with the TV on and still see a reasonably consistent image because it has a respectable viewing angle. Without having to buy an external player, you can quickly and simply access your favorite shows thanks to its vast range of streaming apps and excellent smart features.
During the day, the Samsung QN90C is an excellent TV for sports viewing. It is a terrific option for a bright environment because of its high peak brightness and excellent reflection handling, which can quickly overcome glare and prevent irritating rainbow smears from bright lighting on the screen. Because to its good viewing angle and reasonably constant image, you can watch the game with many of friends without worrying about people fighting for the best place. Additionally, it has good uniformity, with very little dirty screen effect to annoy viewers of sports like hockey that have big patches of uniform color. Lastly, the TV’s quick response time reduces blur, making it simple to take action.
Pros
Incredibly high peak brightness so glare isn’t an issue.
Easy-to-use smart interface with a great selection of apps.
Cons
Can’t smooth out macro-blocking in low quality content.
3.Hisense U8/U8K
In 2023, the Hisense U8/U8K, a mid-range 4K TV, was introduced. It is positioned in the middle of Hisense’s flagship 2023 ULED model, between the high-end, limited-edition UX and the U7K. It takes the place of the Hisense U8/U8H, which is comparable but has two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports that support 4k @ 144Hz, more local dimming zones, and a more potent internal 5-speaker arrangement. It still offers all of the capabilities that gamers need, including support for variable refresh rates and Hisense’s Game Mode Pro gaming interface. It is certified as IMAX Enhanced, supports DTS and Dolby advanced audio formats, and works with Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+. It features an excellent selection and an easy-to-use Google TV interface of streaming apps. It comes in a wide range of sizes, from a 55-inch model to a massive 100-inch.
All things considered, the Hisense U8K is a great TV. It’s outstanding in any bright room environment because it’s incredibly bright in both HDR and SDR and has excellent reflection handling. Because of its exceptional black uniformity and contrast, it also appears fantastic in dimly lit spaces and makes highlights shine brilliantly in HDR videos and video games. It’s an excellent option for a home entertainment TV because it supports a wide range of modern audio and video codecs and has extremely high image processing overall. Its outstanding picture quality, incredibly low input latency, and fast response time make it an excellent choice for a gaming TV. It’s not a wonderful TV for any wide seating arrangement, like for watching TV shows or sports with friends, unfortunately, due to its poor viewing angle.
For TV shows, the Hisense U8K is fantastic. It can easily handle very bright spaces because of its excellent reflection handling and exceptional brightness in SDR. Because of its strong picture processing, low-bitrate streaming shows and low-resolution DVDs and cable boxes also look nice. Unfortunately, it’s not the finest TV for watching television while seated widely because of its poor viewing angle.
For the price, the Hisense U8K offers amazing performance. The Hisense’s main rival is the TCL QM8/QM850G QLED, which is brighter than the Hisense. However, the Hisense is somewhat superior since it is a far more accurate TV and has superior upscaling. Along with DTS and Dolby advanced audio formats, the Hisense is compatible with Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+. This undercuts the Sony X93L/X93CL and even the Sony X90L/X90CL, making it an excellent home theater TV at a significantly lower cost than its rivals. It also outperforms most models with comparable prices, such as the LG QNED80 2023.
Regrettably, the Hisense has a few glitches: occasionally, the brightness returns to its original setting, and the TV occasionally restarts into a diagnostic mode while adjusting some settings or starting a game. It’s a great performer, but it doesn’t feel as reliable as more expensive models from name brands and more expensive models, like the Sony X95L.
Pros
Exceptionally bright in both SDR and HDR.
Fantastic reflection handling.
Cons
Image degrades when viewed from the side.
4.TCL QM8/QM850G QLED
The flagship product for TCL in 2023 is the QM8/QM850G QLED. This Mini LED QLED TV has a backlight that can achieve extremely high brightness levels in both HDR and SDR modes. In addition, its larger sizes come with a local dimming capability that can have up to 2300 dimming zones. It supports all variable refresh rate (VRR) technologies, can display content at up to 144Hz at 1440p and 4k or 240Hz at 1080p, and has TCL’s Game Master overlay, which provides instant access to a wealth of gaming-related features. Moreover, it’s among the first TVs to be certified by IMAX Enhanced. Through its eARC HDMI connector, the TV supports DTS and Dolby advanced audio formats. It also supports advanced video formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It comes with the popular Google TV Smart OS, which is intuitive and easy to use, and it works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Homekit smart assistants. The TV is available in 4 sizes; 65-inch, 75-inch, 85-inch, and a huge 98-inch size.
The TCL QM8 is a great TV overall. It’s a fantastic gaming TV as it supports up to 4k @ 144Hz , is compatible with every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology for nearly tear-free gaming, and its brightness is stellar in both SDR and HDR so all games look bright and vibrant. It also has incredibly low input lag in Game Mode. Its response time is also excellent, which is great for games but also for sports, as any fast-moving action is mostly blur-free. HDR content looks amazing on the TCL, as its HDR peak brightness is extremely high. The TV’s contrast is excellent, so HDR movies look punchy and vivid in a dark room. Unfortunately, the TV’s viewing angle is disappointing, so it’s not great for watching sports and TV shows with many people sitting around it.
It’s a great experience to watch TV with the TCL QM8. With its exceptional SDR peak brightness and reflection control, you can watch your shows in the middle of the brightest days with all of the lights on and the material will still look colorful. Sadly, the TV’s viewing angle is unsatisfactory because the image becomes inconsistent when seen from different angles. For this reason, it’s not a recommended option if you enjoy watching programs where a large number of people are gathered around the TV. TV shows don’t look their best after being upscaled to the TV’s native 4k resolution because the sharpness processing on the TV is only passable while upscaling lower-quality content. Thankfully, its poor quality material smoothing is excellent, so TV series seen at high resolutions from streaming services look quite good.
The TCL QM8 is a fantastic gaming TV. Because of its excellent contrast in game mode, games appear sharp and detailed even when played in dimly lit areas. The TV’s outstanding SDR peak brightness and reflection control make it bright and lively even with a few lights on, with no discernible reflections. In game mode, it has very little input latency, thus your inputs are quick and accurate. Lastly, because of its outstanding response speed, rapid action occurs without undue motion blur.
Pros
Exceptionally bright in HDR and SDR
Cons
Inadequate viewing angle.
5.Hisense U6/U6K
The Hisense U6/U6K is a 4k TV that is affordable. It is the entry-level model for 2023 in Hisense’s premier ULED portfolio, and unlike conventional TVs, it displays a wider variety of colors thanks to quantum dot technology. It is positioned below the more expensive Hisense U7K and U8/U8K and replaces the Hisense U6/U6H. Since it’s a low-cost TV, it doesn’t have the same gaming features as Hisense’s higher-end models, such as a 120Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, but it does support all VRR technologies, so you can play games almost without tears. With microphones in the remote and the TV for hands-free voice control, it has the user-friendly Google TV 11 interface and supports voice commands from Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. Three sizes are offered: 55, 65, and 75 inches.
Overall, the Hisense U6K is a respectable TV. It appears nice when watching HDR video in dimly lit spaces because it has high contrast and sufficient HDR brightness. It manages bright spaces effectively because it has good reflection handling and brightness in SDR as well. Unfortunately, the TV’s viewing angle is too small, making it an unsuitable option for large seating arrangements, such as those used for watching movies or sports with friends. Its decent low-resolution upscaling makes it suitable for watching video on physical media, but its limited ability to smooth low-quality content makes it less suitable for streaming platforms. Ultimately, this model is an excellent gaming TV due to its excellent response speed and excellent input lag.
One excellent TV for HDR gaming is the Hisense U6K. Even though the TV’s HDR brightness in Game Mode is only passably high, its outstanding contrast ratio makes it look fantastic in low light. Regretfully, you are unable to activate both local dimming and VRR at the same time in Game Mode, so you will have to decide between having superior contrast and playing games that are almost tear-free. Because of the excellent input latency of the TV, your inputs are fast and sensitive. Blur is only apparent in games with rapid motion because of its generally good response time. But this isn’t the ideal TV for horror games—in dark material, its response time is notably poorer.
A nice TV to use as a PC monitor is the Hisense U6K. It performs effectively in bright offices thanks to its strong SDR brightness and respectable reflection handling. Unfortunately, when you sit close to the TV, the sides of the screen appear washed out due to its poor viewing angle. Nevertheless, the TV uses true 4:4:4 chroma in game mode to provide you with the crispest text and the least amount of input lag. Although there is some blur if you quickly move windows around, especially if your operating system is in dark mode, the TV’s response time is generally good. This is because the TV reacts more slowly when it comes out of dark states.
Pros
Bright enough to fight glare in SDR.
Good response time with most content
Cons
Narrow viewing angle.
Which is better, OLED or LED?
OLED TVs, or organic light-emitting diode TVs, have consistently produced higher-quality pictures in our reviews than LED TVs, which are basically LCD TVs with LED backlights. Better contrast and pop are primarily caused by OLED TVs’ ability to generate a flawlessly dark shade of black without any stray illumination or blooming. Compared to OLED TVs, LED TVs typically cost less and can get brighter.
What is the best smart TV system for streaming?
Due to its simplicity, Samsung is our favorite, but other platforms, such as Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung, and LG, offer varying advantages, especially when it comes to voice commands. To be honest, we don’t think the integrated smart TV system is all that significant because you can attach a streaming device to any TV.
How do I get the best TV sound?
Most TVs sound terrible because their thin cabinets don’t have room for decent-sized speakers or a bass. If you want to get good sound you should buy an external audio system. Even an inexpensive soundbar will deliver much better audio quality than a TV’s built-in speakers.