The past few months have seen some pretty seismic shifts in the TV landscape.
The 4K screen market has continued to enjoy massive success, aided and abetted by growing awareness of the high dynamic range technology that now partners most 4K TVs. OLED screens have suddenly risen to prominence at the high end of the market on the back of much more aggressive pricing and the adoption of the technology by a much wider range of brands.
LCD TVs for their part, though, have continued to deliver lots of HDR-friendly brightness at prices far lower than anything OLED can manage.
In other words, there’s a lot for any prospective TV buyer to get their head round right now. So to help you out, here’s my list of what I believe to be the best TVs of 2017, based on the time I’ve spent testing dozens of models over the course of the past 12 months.
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1. LG OLED55C7
While the ability of LG’s OLED TV technology to deliver much deeper, richer black colors than LCD TV technology has never been in doubt, OLED TVs have been compromised in previous years by not being able to get bright enough to do justice to the new high dynamic range picture format.
However, the 55-inch OLED55C7 – along with all other 2017 LG OLED TVs – delivers a 15-20% increase in brightness over previous OLED generations, and this has a huge impact on its HDR capabilities.
HDR sources now look truly HDR, as blazingly intense white and color peaks sit right alongside those gorgeous, consistent black colors for which OLED is justly famed.
You could argue there’s still not quite enough brightness to fully unlock HDR’s potential, especially if you usually watch TV in a bright room. But if you’re a serious TV series and, especially, movie fan, the OLED55C7 delivers pictures that are far more consistently majestic than you’ve any right to expect for its money.
2. Sony XBR-75X940E
While 65-inch TVs are all very nice and everything, if you want to step up to a bona fide home cinema experience, you need to think about a 75-inch TV. And if you’re going to think about a 75-inch TV, Sony’s 75X940E is tough to beat.
For starters it uses a direct LED lighting system (where the lights sit directly behind the screen) controlled by superb local dimming management, where different sections of the LEDs can output different amounts of light. This helps it combine brilliantly punchy HDR highlights with some of the deepest and most consistent black colours the LCD world has to offer.
It also enjoys gorgeously refined, rich colours thanks to Sony’s Triluminos technology. These join with the high level of brightness in giving you a much more authentic HDR experience than any home cinema projector currently can.
3. Sony XBR-55X900E
It’s proving painfully difficult for relatively affordable TVs to make a great job of HDR. Chiefly because they struggle a) to get bright enough, and/or b) to deliver HDR-friendly levels of brightness without uncomfortably compromising their black level performance.
The 55X900E, though, gets the balance right – not least because, unusually for a 55-inch 4K TV currently selling for less than $1,000, it uses a direct LED lighting system, where the LEDs sit behind the screen. This helps it hold on to unusually rich, deep black levels while still giving enough brightness to create an engaging HDR experience.
There are brighter screens around for the same money, to be clear, But if you tend to watch TV in a fairly dark room, or you like to dim the lights for serious movie viewing sessions, the 55X900E’s black level refinement helps it really stand out from the pack.
4. Samsung QN55Q7F
While Samsung has not, overall, had a vintage 2017 by its own high standards, the QN55Q7F thoroughly deserves a place on this recommendation list.
Yes, it can’t deliver the black level prowess you get with rival OLED TVs. However, it’s phenomenally bright, and uses some stunningly good screen filtering to combat reflections. This makes it unprecedentedly easy and rewarding to watch in the sort of bright rooms that most typical households spend the vast majority of their viewing time in.
Its sharpness, brightness, rich colors and fast response time also make it a formidable gaming monitor.
5. LG OLED65E7
If you’re interested in LG’s 2017 OLED picture quality alone, you might as well save a chunk of cash and get the already-listed OLED55C7 instead. If you want to partner the same gorgeous pictures with much improved sound and a sensational ‘pixels on glass’ design, though, then you’ll need to step up to the E7 range.
The OLED65E7’s 65-inch screen looks particularly spectacular, and its full-width soundbar serves up a more powerful, bass-heavy sound than you get with the vast majority of TVs.
6. Samsung UN49MU8000
While this 49-inch TV doesn’t benefit from the color and brightness enhancements of Samsung’s QLED TVS, it’s still a ridiculously accomplished HDR performer for its money. The main reason for this is that it produces much more brightness than any other LCD TV in the same price ball park, enabling it to get more punch and detail out of today’s glorious HDR sources. Its 4K pictures are also sharp and clean, and its design is crisp. Just note that its use of legs under each corner of the screen might make it awkward to place on a narrow piece of furniture.
7. Sony XBR-65Z9D
This 65-inch TV was actually launched in 2016. But it’s still available, and still more than good enough to warrant a place on this best TV list. In fact, it’s more than good; its use of a direct lighting system with around 600 individually controllable dimming ‘zones’ helps it deliver simply the most dramatic HDR pictures the TV world has seen so far. Truly gob-smacking stuff.
While still likely beyond the budget of most TV buyers, the 65Z9D is also a lot more affordable now than it was in 2016.
8. LG OLED65B7A
The third LG OLED on this list takes us back to the value end of the brand’s range. For while I suspect most people will probably plump for the 55-inch OLED55C7 given its combination of price and more manageable size, I personally think the OLED65B7A for $2,299.99 is the all-round best deal in LG’s range right now. After all, the B7A still enjoys the same picture quality as LG’s more premium OLED sets for 2017, and being able to get another 10-inches of those lovely OLED pictures for $600 more is a hugely tempting proposition. Just bear in mind that unlike the original B7 OLED TVs (which remain the only option outside the US), the B7A doesn’t have Dolby Atmos audio decoding.
9. Sony XBR-55A1E
The OLED theme continues with this stunning Sony set. Despite representing the brand’s first dabble in big-screen OLED technology, the A1E is stunning in every way. Its unique design, for instance, uses an innovative ‘lean on’ stand to create a screen only impression when you’re watching the set from the front.
It also uniquely uses its own screen to produce its (excellent) sound, using a system of ‘exciters’ built into the TV’s rear. Best of all, the combination of Sony’s latest video processing prowess with OLED technology delivers pictures you just can’t tear your eyes from.
10. Samsung UN50MU6300
Inevitably given how affordable it is, the UN50MU6300 is the least impressive performer on this list. So why have I included it? Because while it may struggle against high-end company, it’s quite comfortably the most impressive performer with 4K and HDR sources of any TV in its price bracket.
The main reason for this is that it’s able to deliver at least a feeling of HDR’s enhanced brightness and color intensity while also retaining credible black levels – a combination that pretty much completely eludes the vast majority of its similarly affordable rivals.
11. Panasonic TX-55EZ952
As this set isn’t available in the US, I didn’t want to use up a space in a ‘top 10’ with it. For European readers, though, the 55EZ952 absolutely has to be included.
Representing Panasonic’s second generation of OLED TV technology, the 55EZ952 combines OLED’s innate cinematic advantages with exceptional video processing prowess developed in partnership with Panasonic’s renowned Hollywood Laboratory.
It’s not quite as bright and punchy with HDR as other OLEDs this year, but its pictures are so natural and precise that they really do seem to live up to the set’s promise of showing you exactly what directors intended you to see.
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If you liked this article, you might also like these:
Samsung’s 2017 TV Range Explained
Sony’s 2017 TV Range Explained
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