Mid-range marvels

Quality sets that offer a great bang for your buck

While Samsung’s QE55Q70T shows how good edge-lit LED TVs can get, some AV fans prefer direct LED lighting – where the LEDs sit directly behind the screen – as this approach tends to improve

contrast and colour control.

Cue Sony’s 55X85G. This combines direct lighting with a local dimming system, where separate parts of the backlight can be illuminated independently of each other – the first time such a backlight system has appeared at such an affordable level of Sony’s TV range. The direct backlighting also unlocks the brand’s X-Motion Clarity feature, which manipulates brightness frame by frame and even image element by image element to improve motion sharpness. Smart features come courtesy of Android 9.0 (or Pie, if you prefer a food name). There’s plenty of content on there – and it delivers built-in Google Assistant voice control support, too.

$1,499, sony.com.au

While LG’s OLED TVs are routinely hard to resist, its LCD TVs have historically not fared as well. Their preference for IPS technology over the rival VA approach has caused distracting contrast and backlight problems that IPS’s advantage of wider viewing angles hasn’t provided enough compensation for. The 55NANO906, though, finally combines IPS’s viewing angle advantage with a truly effective backlight system. By greatly improving how power is distributed around the image, dark scenes and areas now look much less grey and flat than they did on 2019’s equivalent LG model. You can see far more details in dark areas, too.

Black colours can still get deeper on the best VA panels. For its money, though, the 55NANO906 is a game-changer for LG, and a brilliant option for anyone with a big household or awkwardly shaped room where ‘head on’ viewing isn’t always an option.

$TBA (approx $2,500 expected), lg.com