3rd
BEST ON
TEST52 T3 AUGUST 2020
State of the Art
1st
2nd
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST TV FOR YOU
WE’RE IMPRESSED Extremely
punchy HDR pictures, dynamic
sound and decent value.
WE’D IMPROVE No HDR10+,
lacks some gaming features and
backlight blooming issues.
THE LAST WORD Its subtly but
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spectacularly revamped sound
make it an often pretty
sensational performer.wWE’RE IMPRESSED Beautiful
colours, strong brightness and
contrast, great gaming chops,
fantastic upscaling.
WE’D IMPROVE No Freeview
Play, no Dolby Vision, some
blooming from backlight.
THE LAST WORD Despite
handling movies and games well,
its next-gen gaming features are
still no match for the costlier CX.SONY XH9505
£1,199, sony.co.uk
SAMSUNG Q80T
£1,299, samsung.com01 GO BIG AND
67$<b+20(
As we move from HD to 4K,
screen size becomes a key
consideration. To see
incremental differences in
resolution, you’ll probably need
to buy a bigger screen than you
had previously, or move your
seating closer. Long story short:
think big, then buy bigger.
02 THE NOT-SO-
DISTANT FUTURE
Counter intuitive it may well be,
but ultra-large screens are
perfect for smaller rooms, if
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drop of detail. Everything you
think you know about viewing
distances is changing...03 STRIKING THE
LIGHT BALANCE
Then there’s viewing
environment. If you tend to
watch in high ambient lighting,
or during daytime, an LED or
QLED screen will typically tend
to serve you better. If you
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lighting, an OLED will delivergreater subjective contrast and
shadow detail.04 THE DYNAMIC DUO
With high dynamic range (HDR),
TVs are able to show a broader
range of colours and brightness.
But while the standard HDR10
is widely supported, the ones
you really want to watch out for
are rival formats Dolby Vision
and HDR10+, as they optimise
HDR characteristics on a
scene-by-scene basis. Dolby
Vision is the more widely used
DQGIDYRXUHGE\1HWćL[Disney+, Apple TV/iTunes and
UHD Blu-ray. HDR10+ appears
on some discs, but is more
commonly used by Amazon
Prime. Currently, most
manufacturers support one or
the other; a few (Panasonic,
Philips) favour both.05 CHANGE OF SMART
Smart platforms are no longer a
decisive reason to buy. All TVs
are smart these days, and the
choice of apps ubiquitous –
focus on image quality, price and
any other features you like.LG CX
From £1,499, lg.comTHE OVERALL
WINNER IS...
VERDICT:
WE’RE IMPRESSED Gorgeous
picture quality, thrilling gaming
features and affordability (by
OLED standards) make this an
eminently appealing 4K set.
WE’D IMPROVE It struggles
with bass. Also, the lack of
HDR10+ support and potential
for image retention aren’t ideal.
THE LAST WORD The LG CX’s
combination of exquisite
pictures, cinematic nuance and
all-round solid features at a
comparatively low price make it
LG’s most irresistible OLED TV
yet – and, indeed, the most
tempting in its bracket. However,
its problems handling the bass
parts of big movie soundtracks
may force you to add a soundbar.