Recently, a range of clever technologies have been used for better contrast (blacker blacks and whiter whites) by controlling individual pixels.
Yet the backlight display behind the pixels is always on, so even if pixels are completely turned off they are never truly dark. It’s like holding a black blanket over an open window during the day. The light behind the blanket always shows through a bit.
Product trainer Peter Huang in front of Samsung’s 115-inch Micro RGB TV.
Micro RGB TVs replace a uniform white or blue backlight with mini (as in microscopic scale) red, green and blue backlights.
There are millions of inorganic gallium-nitride LEDs, each of which can be individually controlled. The result is brilliant contrast and the most realistic and vivid colours ever produced by a TV technology.
A Samsung prop showing the evolution of LED displays.
Micro RGB is also immune to the “burn-in” that other LED technologies can suffer over time, where you get a ghost image, or shadowing can be caused by some pixels getting “stuck” or degrading faster than others.
Micro RGB is also a cut above a second new technology, Mini RGB. The former features LEDs fewer than 100 microns wide, or thinner than a human hair (a micron is a 1000th of a millimetre). The latter features 400-micron diodes, or the size of a grain of beach sand.
Will I have to pay a lot for a Micro RGB TV?
“Samsung’s 115‑inch Micro RGB TV has colours so good, I briefly considered selling a kidney to afford one,” said one reviewer.
And indeed, to have bragging rights for the best TV on the block, you will have to pay top dollar (and in the context that technologies always get cheaper as they filter down into the mass market).
But although it’s the most advanced technology, Micro RGB is also easier than its predecessors to apply across a huge screen, so we’re seeing super-size models at half the price you might expect for cutting-edge technology – even if they still cost the same as a mid-size car.
Samsung’s flagship Micro RGB TV, the 115-inch MR95F, is selling for $42,999.
From there, there are step-down models, including 85-inch ($15,499), 75-inch ($7999), 65-inch ($5799) and 55-inch ($4699) models.
What about other display technologies?
OLED (organic light-emitting diode). Each diode produces its own colour and light, meaning no backlight is required. That allows for super-thin TVs and makes OLED the only technology that can display a pure black without any risk of “blooming”. It also has an exceptional viewing angle. A favourite with critics and also the most expensive option outside Micro RGB.
QLED (quantum dot LED) uses a pure blue backlight that shines through a filter of sub-atomic scale quantum dots (yes, actually quantum level, it’s not marketing hype) to produce pure greens and reds, producing more vibrant colours than a standard LED TV. Costs less than OLED, but is generally brighter.
Neo LED trades a traditional single backlight for thousands of mini LEDs for better control over local dimming. More expensive than standard Mini LED, but cheaper than QLED.
Is it worth paying extra for anti-glare technology?
Some models feature a matte anti-glare or reflection coating, or have that option if you pay a bit more.
It’s worth it if your TV is in a brightly lit or sun-drenched room, and your partner is just down with shifting it to a dark cave.
I set up a review unit of Samsung’s S95D – an OLED mode with anti-glare on our TV cabinet, which sits next to a floor-to-ceiling, north-facing glass ranch slider that makes for glorious sun-drenched winter afternoons – and infuriating reflections when you try to watch a game with 3pm kick off on the telly.
Simply put, it was the best anti-glare technology I’ve ever seen on a TV (it’s now been superseded by the S95H)
You can happily watch in full sunlight, with barely a hint of reflection. And even if you stand nose-to-nose and shine your smartphone torch directly into it, there’s scant reflection.
The anti-glare options with the latest Sony Bravias have also had rave reviews (as has the new nano-texture anti-glare glass option with the latest MacBook Pro).
Optimal TV viewing distance.
What’s the right size of TV for my living room?
Historically, the formula has been: you should sit at a distance of 1.6x the size of your TV screen (which, by a persistent industry convention, is usually marketed in inches and always measured on the diagonal).
As screen displays have got better, some have shrunk the ratio to 1.2x.
So if you’ve got a 75-inch (190cm) telly, your viewing space should allow you to sit 2.3m from the screen.
But Samsung product trainer Peter Huang says you don’t need to get hung up on formulas.
Earlier in the evolution of big flat screens, it was crucial to sit far from the display. Too close, and the picture could start to look pixelated.
But with the latest 4K or 8K TVs, you have to literally stick your nose to the screen before you can see individual pixels – and even then, maybe only if you’re a dog or a teenager.
So now it’s really up to you – whatever you think looks or feels right. Huang suggests you’ve probably only overdone it if you have to move your head from side to side to follow the action onscreen.
Do I need 8K?
The last really big leap forward in TV display technology was when standard high definition (HD, or a picture made from two million pixels) was superseded by 4K or Ultra High Definition, which fit four times as many pixels (that is, eight million) into the same size screen.
8K ramps the quality up by another factor of four to 32 million pixels.
But it’s a moot point whether most people can perceive the extra pixels, especially on a sub-75-inch TV (and note that the premium Micro RGB models name-checked above are all 4K).
More to the point, there’s nearly no 8K content, bar some showpony reels on YouTube. The global streamers were talking up an upgrade to 8K content, but with their post-Covid hangover and new focus on profit, those plans have evaporated for now.
Locally, Sky has only just begun to offer limited sports content in 4K (more than a decade after the format was introduced), while free-to-air broadcasters are still stuck on standard HD, with a lot of older content broadcast at even lower resolution – which looks worse, the larger your TV.
Give it a swerve, for now.
Which flavour of HDR is best?
You don’t need to ask, do I need 4K? You’re getting it regardless. After years in the market, it’s filtered down to even the cheapest models (and probably even your phone), even if local broadcasters and streamers haven’t added it after more than a decade (bar a smattering of 4K content on Sky Sport, which has plans to add more).
But to get the full benefit of 4K, you need a companion technology called HDR (high dynamic range), which helps a telly display a wider range of colours and contrast without over-egging it on dimmness or brightness.
Again, HDR is going to be around for years and has become a standard feature in its basic version, HDR10, which is supported by all of the international streamers.
Two enhanced versions of HDR have been released in recent years:
HDR10+, developed by Samsung and Panasonic as an open, royalty-free standard, that’s also been adopted by other TV makers, including Hisense and TCL; and
Dolby Vision, used in televisions made by LG, Sony, Visio and others. It was developed by Dolby and is proprietary, meaning TV makers have to pay for it.
Each has a slight edge in different technical areas, but experts say the human eye can’t tell HDR10+ and Dolby Vision apart.
Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ and Netflix support both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.
For a while, it was a case of pick-a-side, but the general trend more recently has been for all of the global streamers to support both standards. But there are still two exceptions:
YouTube only supports HDR10+.HBO Max only offers Dolby Vision. If your TV doesn’t support that standard, it will default to standard HRD10.
Unfortunately, neither TVNZ nor Sky nor any other local player is using even basic HDR10 for streaming (or its equivalent technology for broadcast), let alone HDR10+ or Dolby Vision.. Sky had the opportunity to add it when it introduced limited 4K content for sport earlier this year, but passed.
A Sky spokeswoman said, “This option [HDR] adds additional complexity to our technical setup, so it was not included at the launch of our 4K UHD offering. We welcome customer feedback on this, as it may be an option for the future.”
What should gamers look for?
If you’re a console junky, look for a TV with a dedicated gaming mode, lots of HDMI ports (to plug in more than one console) and a high refresh rate for smoother gameplay.
Standard Ts have a 60Hz refresh rate, meaning the screen is redrawn 60 times per second.
Premium models offer 120Hz or 144Hz frame rate options as well when you plug in a PS5, Xbox or gaming PC.
To get 4K resolution at 120Hz, you must have the latest type of HDMI port, which is HDMI 2.1 (and be aware that sometimes a TV might have multiple ports, but not all are 2.1).
Another factor: A number of TVs now put HDMI ports and other connectors onto a separate box, which can be tucked into a wall or alcove, then connected to your TV via a single cable or even wi-fi. Outsourcing functions to a connect box makes for a thinner TV, and is easier if you want it flush against the wall. But hardcore gamers are wary of wireless connect boxes, given they can produce a lag – even if it’s barely or totally imperceptible for most.
What do I want from a smart TV?
To be able to load all of your favourite streaming apps – or, better, have them all pre-installed.
There are no technical barriers, but there are commercial and geopolitical ones – and in the going US-China barny, they can be a moving feast – so check the model you’re after can load all the streaming services you follow.
What’s the story with AI?
All TV makers now boast that their models use AI for a range of features, including helping you pick the best mode for the type of content you’re watching, auto-adjusting brightness and other features, and upscaling – where lower resolution content can be made to look better by your TV using a best-guess to add extra pixels.
As in every arena, good AI takes grunt. As a rule of thumb, the more expensive a TV, the more processing power it’ll pack, and the better it will be for AI.
What’s happening in the TV market?
On the local scene, the biggest change this year has been Panasonic’s exit from our television market. The Japanese giant re-entered in September 2024 with new models that ran on Amazon’s Fire TV software, but pulled out again in March this year (you’ll still see some Panasonic TVs in stores as stocks wind down).
Globally, the biggest news has been Japanese icon Sony selling a 51% stake in its TV and home audio business to China’s TCL (which, along with fellow Chinese company Hisense, has shaken up the market with keenly-priced TVs).
The latest crop of Bravia models will be the last under the standalone Sony TV operation (although TCL will likely maintain the branding). The Sony-TCL deal was signed in March this year. It’ll come into force in April next year.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.