LG TV

LG is currently the biggest player in the OLED arena. Panasonic also sells a couple of models through its website, and Samsung used to sell OLED TVs, but has stopped for now.

With any OLED TV, the picture quality you get is really stellar. Great contrast, minimal blur, and good uniformity are the rule. You unfortunately don’t get some of the goodies that high-end LED models have, like HDR, but most will probably find that a small sacrifice for now – the OLED experience makes up for it.

THE BEST HIGH-END LG TV

THE WINNER ISLG EG9600 CHECK PRICE 

SCORES ?

8.8 Overall

8.9 Movies & TV

9.3 Sports

8.8 Video Games

8.1 Living Room

7.5 Sound

The LG EG9600 is the top-of-the-line LG OLED model this year, and it’s definitely worth getting if you have the money. The blacks are perfect, because when a pixel is black, it emits no light. The speedy response time means there’s virtually no blurring on fast movement, and the uniformity of light colors is excellent – considerably better than even the best LED TVs. You also get the ability to display a wider range of colors, which will be useful for some of the upcoming UHD media.

There are a couple of downsides with OLED that you don’t get with LED. Static images can be retained for a few minutes, the color uniformity is worse with dark colors, and images composed primarily of bright color will see the overall luminosity drop. The EG9600 in particular also has somewhat higher input lag than is ideal – gamers would do better with the EF9500.

Aside from those minor downsides we outlined, there’s little that should discourage you from picking up this TV, or the LG EF9500, or the LG EG9100 (which is 1080p, but still great). OLED offers fabulous picture quality, and is definitely worth getting.

See our review

Mid-range LG TVs

LG’s LED models are a bit more problematic. Almost all of them use IPS panels, which means a wide viewing angle, but poor blacks. They at least have WebOS, which makes navigating inputs, apps, and the internet a pleasant experience.

THE BEST MID-RANGE LG LED TV

THE WINNER ISLG UF8500 CHECK PRICE 

SCORES ?

6.8 Overall

6.3 Movies & TV

7.1 Sports

7.6 Video Games

6.9 Living Room

6.1 Sound

In the mid-price-range, the best performer we have seen from LG is the LG UF8500. It has the aforementioned wide viewing angle, and poor blacks, but it doesn’t have much blur on fast movement, so it’s a decent choice for watching sports.

There’s a bit more input lag here than is ideal, but this is unfortunately the case with all the LG LED models in this price range. If you’re a serious gamer, you should consider going with a different brand.

Overall, not the best purchase unless you need to be able to watch your TV from off to the side.

See our review

Budget LG TVs

LG’s budget line of TVs is very inexpensive. You don’t get smart features or any other extras, but if you don’t need that and just want a cheap TV that doesn’t lose its picture quality when viewed at a wide angle, a budget LG TV is the way to go.

THE BEST BUDGET LG LED TV

THE WINNER ISLG LF6100 CHECK PRICE 

SCORES ?

6.5 Overall

6.6 Movies & TV

6.5 Sports

6.4 Video Games

6.7 Living Room

6.4 Sound

The LG LF6100 is an exception to the rule of LG LED TVs, in that it has a VA panel. That means it doesn’t have the wide viewing angle you get with most LG TVs, and instead has deep, more uniform blacks. From a picture quality standpoint, it’s better than most of the other budget (and even mid-range) LG models.

There’s a bit more blur than ideal, here, so this isn’t a great TV for watching sports or playing video games. The good upscaling you get with this model makes the LF6100 a decent choice all-around for movies and TV shows. That said, you don’t get WebOS with this TV, but there are at least some basic smart features.

We don’t recommend getting this TV over some of the similarly-priced (and sometimes cheaper) models on offer by the competition, but if you see this going for a particularly good price, it might be worth a look.

See our review