The best TVs of 2017: The complete buyer’s guide
BUYING A NEW TV IS MORE OF A MINEFIELD THAN EVER, SO WE’VE PUT TOGETHER THIS COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO EVERY MAJOR COMPANY’S OFFERINGS IN 2017 AND RECOMMENDED OUR FAVOURITE SETS AT A VARIETY OF PRICE POINTS.
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY IS one of the fastest developing segments in all of consumer electronics, and we’ve seen huge leaps in recent years. From higher resolutions to larger screen sizes, to new features like High Dynamic Range (HDR) colour, the evolution of TV technology has been incredibly fast. Best of all, it’s come at a reduced price, allowing consumers to upgrade to the latest and greatest without damaging their bank accounts. What follows is a snapshot of the TV industry in 2017, looking at the major brands, upcoming technologies and reviews of some of the various types of TVs on the market.
The biggest push in TV technology this year is the dominance of OLED TVs. First introduced several years ago, OLED was initially limited in availability due to the high cost of manufacturing, leading to only one major brand supporting it — LG. However, this year, we’re seeing many of the other brands releasing OLED TVs, where its brilliant colour accuracy and incredibly deep blacks enable features such as HDR. Nearly all new TVs are at 4K resolution, but to ensure they also support HDR, you’ll need to look for one of two logos — 4K Ultra Premium or Dolby Vision. This guarantees the set is both 4K and HDR-enabled.
The other major new feature this year is the improvement of LCD TVs with the continued development of Quantum Dot technology, which allows LCDs to compete with the quality of OLED. You can read more about that in the Samsung section, as it’s one of the main companies behind this technology.
Finally, we’re also seeing more affordable brands spring up, delivering 60-inch screens for a fraction of the price of several years ago. However, there is a catch, and we’ll delve into that in greater detail soon.
HOW WE TESTED
Each TV was run for 30 minutes prior to testing. We then used an i1 Display Pro colorimeter in conjunction with the i1 software, as well as DispCal to measure colour accuracy and contrast — all TVs were set as close to 120cd/m2 brightness, and cinema or THX mode. While the profiling was happening, we used a power meter to see how much electricity was being drawn from the wall socket. We then increased the brightness and backlight to maximum to test brightness using a lightmeter. Finally, we ran a series of 4K test videos for objective image quality testing, using HDR clips if the TV supported it.