Finding a suitable TV for your PlayStation or Xbox used to require a careful look at spec sheets. Today, however, the best TVs for gaming are usually the best TVs you can buy, period. While nobody needs a fancy TV in their living room to enjoy a good video game, the right set can help you maximize your gaming experience. If you’re unsure of where to start, we’ve laid out some helpful advice for buying the right model below, along with a few top picks for the best gaming TVs you can buy today.
What to look for in a gaming TV
Whether you use it for gaming or not, all good TVs are built on the same foundations. You want a 4K resolution (which is standard nowadays), sufficient brightness, high contrast ratios with deep and uniform black tones, colors that find the right balance between accuracy and saturation, and wide viewing angles. For video games specifically, you want a TV with minimal input lag and fast motion response, with no blur or other unwanted artifacts behind quick-moving objects. Of course, finding a set that ticks all those boxes and fits into your budget can be tricky.
For now, a top OLED TV will offer the best picture quality for gaming or otherwise. Good OLED TVs still tend to cost more than LED LCD alternatives, however, and some may not get bright enough for those who have their TV set in a particularly well-lit environment. If you opt for an LCD TV, an advanced backlight with mini-LEDs and effective full-array local dimming will usually improve contrast and lighting detail, while a quantum dot filter can enhance colors.
One thing you don’t need to worry about is 8K support. Although the PS5 and Xbox Series X are technically capable of outputting 8K video, very few games are made for that resolution, and 8K’s practical benefits are extremely minimal unless you plan on sitting unreasonably close to a massive TV. The few 8K TVs on the market are also very expensive.
All that said, there are a few terms you should look for in particular when buying a TV for your new game console or high-end graphics card.
HDMI 2.1
To get the most out of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, your TV should have full HDMI 2.1 support. This is the latest major update to the HDMI spec, enabling a higher maximum bandwidth – 48 gigabits per second, up from HDMI 2.0’s 18 Gbps – and a handful of features that are beneficial for gaming specifically. These include variable refresh rate (VRR) and automatic low latency mode (ALLM), which we detail further below.
Beyond that, perhaps the chief perk of HDMI 2.1 is its ability to transmit ultrasharp 4K video at up to a 120Hz refresh rate with modern consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, or up to 144Hz with a powerful gaming PC. Not every PS5 or Xbox Series X/S game supports frame rates that high – and some only do so at lower resolutions – but those that do will look and feel especially fluid in motion. HDMI 2.1 also brings support for Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC), which allows for higher-quality 5.1- and 7.1-channel audio from a source device connected to the TV to a compatible soundbar or receiver.
The more full HDMI 2.1 ports your TV has, the better. “Full” is the key word there. As reported by TFT Central, because HDMI 2.1 is backwards compatible with HDMI 2.0, TV and monitor manufacturers have been allowed to brand HDMI ports as “HDMI 2.1” even if they lack full (or any) support for the spec’s upgraded features. We recommend a few TVs below that have true HDMI 2.1 ports, but if you’re buying a new TV for gaming, make sure your chosen set isn’t trying to hide any capabilities you may consider essential.
HDR — High Dynamic Range
HDR refers to a TV’s ability to display a wider range between the darkest and brightest parts of a picture. This broader range can bring out details that would otherwise be missing on a standard dynamic range (SDR) TV, in both the very dark and, especially, the very bright areas of an image. HDR typically comes with an improvement to color reproduction as well, displaying a larger palette of more vibrant colors that brings content closer to its creator’s original vision.
To get an HDR picture, you need both content that is mastered to take advantage of the tech and a TV capable of displaying that content. HDR also comes in a variety of formats, which are generally split between those that utilize static metadata (e.g., HDR10) and those that utilize dynamic metadata (e.g., HDR10+, Dolby Vision). In short, the latter allows a TV to optimize its brightness and colors on a per-scene or even per-frame basis, while the former uses one set of optimized settings for the entirety of the given content. Support for these formats can differ depending on the TV, content and game console you use. The Xbox Series X and S, for example, support Dolby Vision for gaming, while the PS5 does not.
The good news is that most TVs you’d buy in 2023 are HDR-ready in some fashion, even on the budget end of the market. The catch is that some TVs are much better at getting the most out of HDR than others. The same goes for actual content mastered in HDR. With video games in particular, there aren’t as many games designed to take advantage of HDR as there are movies (though the number is growing), and the variance in quality tends to be wider.
HGiG — HDR Gaming Interest Group
HGiG stands for the HDR Gaming Interest Group. Sony and Microsoft are both members, as are many TV makers and game developers. What this means is that, ideally, all the groups communicate information so that you can start up a new game on a console or PC and have it automatically recognize your display. Once that happens, the game can adjust the internal settings to adjust for that display’s capabilities and give you the best picture quality possible, without losing details in the brightest or darkest areas of the screen. For example, daylight at the end of a dark tunnel may portray a brightly lit environment instead of looking like an overexposed white blob.
This is a good thing, but the reality is a bit more complicated. Not all TVs highlight HGiG compatibility in their settings menu, while only some PlayStation and Xbox games recognize and follow the guidelines. If an HGiG option is listed in your TV’s tone mapping settings, you should turn it on prior to running the console’s HDR settings. Then, if you’re playing a game that supports HDR and HGiG, you should be in good shape without having to adjust the various luminance levels again. Still, how all of this looks to you might differ depending on your TV and the game you’re playing. Owners of certain LG OLED models, for instance, may prefer their TV’s Dynamic Tone Mapping setting. Use whatever settings you think look best.
ALLM — Auto Low Latency Mode
ALLM allows a source (like your PS5 or Xbox) to tell the display to switch into a mode that reduces lag between receiving each frame of an image and displaying it on the TV. This cuts out additional processing that could be the milliseconds of difference between landing a precise input or not. A good modern TV can automatically switch to game mode, then back out when you’d rather watch a movie or TV show.
VRR — Variable Refresh Rate
VRR is a familiar feature to PC gamers, but it’s still relatively new for most TVs. Most players have experienced slowdown, screen tearing or stuttering as a system struggles to render each frame at the target speed, which is most commonly 30 or 60 fps on a TV. With VRR, everything stays in sync — your display won’t show the next frame until it’s ready, which can make things feel smoother and more responsive, even if the system fails to deliver on its target frame rate.
With VRR, however, everything stays in sync — your display won’t show the next frame until it’s ready, which can make things feel smoother and more responsive, even if the system fails to deliver on its target of 30, 60 or even 120 fps.
There are a few different implementations of VRR available, including Nvidia’s G-Sync, AMD’s FreeSync and the HDMI Forum’s VRR spec, which is part of the full HDMI 2.1 standard. Both a TV and an input device need to support the same VRR tech for it to work, and different devices may only support VRR within a specific refresh rate window. On a 120Hz display, for instance, the PS5’s VRR only works between 48Hz and 120Hz.
As a reminder, the PS5 supports HDMI Forum VRR, the Xbox Series X/S support HDMI Forum VRR and FreeSync, while gaming PCs may support G-Sync or FreeSync depending on whether they use a Nvidia or AMD graphics card. A great gaming TV supports all the big VRR formats, but missing, say, G-Sync, isn’t a killer if you only game on a PS5 or Xbox.
The best gaming TVs you can get right now
We’re updating this guide during a transitional period for the TV market, as most of the major brands began selling their newest TVs for 2023 relatively recently. That means the new sets’ prices are generally still higher than last year’s models, which manufacturers are selling for less to clear out inventory. Because some of those 2022 TVs are still excellent, they can offer strong value while they’re still available at a discount.
If you don’t care about paying more for the latest and greatest set, most 2023 TVs are technically better than their predecessors, as you’d expect.. If you want the most bang for your buck, however, a good set from last year should provide greater value while it’s still in stock. ThoughEngadget doesn’t formally review TVs, we’re confident in the recommendations below based on our own hands-on experience with some of them and the consensus from TV review sites we trust, such as Rtings, Wirecutter and CNET, among others.
LG C2 OLED
The LG C2’s OLED panel can’t get as bright as a QD-OLED TV like Samsung’s S95B, but it still performs excellently in terms of contrast, input lag, motion response and viewing angles. It’s just less ideal in a brightly-lit room. It follows the HGiG’s HDR guidelines, supports ALLM, works with all the major VRR formats and has four full HDMI 2.1 ports capable of outputting 4K 120Hz with a PS5, Xbox or PC. It also supports all the major HDR standards, including Dolby Vision, and it’s available in a wide variety of sizes, from a 42-inch model to an 83-inch one. It costs a bit less than many competing OLED TVs, too.
If the C2 goes out of stock, the LG C3 is said to offer similar performance, though it only looks to be a marginal improvement in general. The main upgrade is support for DTS audio.
Samsung S95B OLED
The aforementioned Samsung S95B has a QD-OLED display that combines an OLED panel with a layer of quantum dots. This allows it to display the high contrast and deep blacks of any good OLED TV without sacrificing as much in the way of peak brightness or color saturation. It should deliver consistently smooth motion, and it has four HDMI 2.1 ports that can play up to 4K 120Hz. It also supports ALLM, all the major VRR formats and HDR10 and HDR10+.
However, the S95B doesn’t work with Dolby Vision HDR, and it’s only available in 55- and 65-inch sizes. Beyond that, some S95B owners have complained about issues with the TV’s picture quality while in “Game Mode” after firmware updates. This shouldn’t make the S95B anywhere close to a poor TV, and it can still be worth it if you play in a bright room. But we’re a little more hesitant to recommend it over the LG C2 for gaming specifically.
If it falls into the S95B’s price range, the new Samsung S90C should be a better buy. Its panel appears to be extremely similar to the S95B, but it adds (official) 4K 144Hz support, which is nice if you ever want to hook up a gaming PC. It’s also available in 77- and 83-inch sizes. It costs a few hundred dollars more than the S95B as of this writing, though. For most people, the differences don’t appear to be stark enough to warrant the upgrade.
This year’s Samsung S95C, meanwhile, is the actual follow-up to the S95B. It, too, can play in 4K at 144Hz, and some reviews say it can get a bit brighter than either the S95B or S90C in HDR. Since it runs its ports through an external box, the actual TV hardware is thinner, plus it’s available in 77 inches on top of the usual 55- and 65-inch size options. It’s even pricier than the S90C right now, however, so it’s harder to justify unless money is no object.
Sony A95K OLED
Sony’s A95K is another well-regarded QD-OLED TV that does support Dolby Vision. It doesn’t work with HDR10+, though, and it only has two full HDMI 2.1 ports. It’s typically priced much higher than the C2 or S95B as well. The upcoming A95L is worth monitoring, as it’ll be one of the first TVs to support Dolby Vision at 4K 120Hz.
Samsung QN90B
If you’d prefer the extra brightness of a LCD TV, or if you think you might play one game (extremely) long enough to worry about burn-in, consider Samsung’s QN90B. It can’t match the contrast, response time or viewing angles of a good OLED TV, but its Mini LED backlighting and quantum dot color should make for richer image quality than most LCD TVs, particularly in HDR. Its motion and input lag shouldn’t cause problems, either, and it can get much brighter than the models above. Like other Samsung TVs, it doesn’t support Dolby Vision, but it has four full HDMI 2.1 ports, ALLM and all the major VRR formats. It also comes in several screen sizes, with the 43- and 50-inch models capable of hitting a 144Hz refresh rate. The rest go up to 120Hz, which is the max for a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S.
If the QN90B becomes unavailable by the time you read this, the newer Samsung QN90C looks to be another incremental upgrade that should offer similar performance. In either case, note that the 43- and 50-inch versions of these TVs top out at 144Hz instead of 120Hz. They also use VA panels, which should result in better contrast but worse viewing angles.
Hisense U8H
Those Samsung TVs aren’t cheap, though. For those on a tighter budget, the Hisense U8H should work fine. It’s a step down from the QN90B, as it has worse viewing angles and only two full HDMI 2.1 ports, but it should still look good in any environment, with low input lag, good brightness, support for all the main HDR and VRR technologies, and 4K 120Hz support. Motion won’t look quite as smooth as it would on a good OLED TV, however.
The 2023 version of this TV, the Hisense U8K, promises a faster 144Hz refresh rate and more full-array local dimming zones to help with contrast. Reviews are still scarce as of this writing, but if you see it for around the same price as the U8H, it should be an upgrade.
We’ve previously highlighted TCL’s 6-Series (R655) TV in this spot. That one also supports 4K at 144Hz, but it appears to be fully out of stock, and TCL’s 2023 TV lineup doesn’t have a true like-for-like replacement with Mini LED backlighting in the same price range.
Vizio MQX
Vizio’s M-Series Quantum X, on the other hand, doesn’t look as nice, but for frame rate junkies it supports a 120Hz refresh rate, with its 50-inch model capable of reaching 240Hz, albeit at a 1080p resolution. For PC gamers who want to dabble in competitive shooters like Counter-Strike, it’s an outlier for a big display in this price range.
TCL 5-Series
On the lower end, TCL’s 5-Series (S555) is a highly-rated QLED TV with low lag, HDR, local dimming and solid contrast for the money. It technically supports VRR, too, but like many cheaper TVs, it’s limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and lacks HDMI 2.1.
This is another 2022 TV that looks to be flickering out of stock, though. If you can afford to pay a little bit more (for now), the Hisense U6K looks like a strong alternative for 2023. Like the 5-Series, it’s stuck at 60Hz and doesn’t include HDMI 2.1 ports, but it does have a Mini LED backlight, which is uncommon for a lower-budget TV. Recent reviews say it delivers better contrast and color volume than most options in this part of the market as a result. It technically supports the most prominent HDR standards as well.
Richard Lawler contributed to this report.
Source link: https://www.engadget.com/best-tvs-for-gaming-180033983.html?src=rss
