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How to choose a TV: size, panel, gaming and the small print

Almost every TV sold today is 4K, so resolution no longer separates a good TV from a mediocre one. What does: the right size for your room, the panel type, how bright it gets, the connections for a console and the software you'll use every day.

1. Size: bigger than you think

Most people who upgrade wish they had gone one size bigger. A simple rule for 4K: divide the distance from your sofa to the screen (in centimetres) by about 1.2 to 1.5 to get the screen diagonal in centimetres, then divide by 2.54 for inches.

About 2 metres away: 55 inch.
About 2.5 metres: 65 inch.
3 metres or more: 75 inch and up.

43 and 50 inch suit bedrooms, kitchens and small rooms. Check the width of your TV furniture and the position of the feet: some models have feet at the far edges.

2. Panel type: what you actually see

LED (LCD): the budget option. Fine in a bright living room, but blacks look grey in the dark and contrast is limited.
QLED: an LED TV with a quantum-dot layer for richer colours and more brightness. A good middle ground; in cheaper models the contrast is still that of a basic LED TV.
Mini LED: thousands of tiny backlights that dim and brighten zone by zone. Very bright, with deep blacks: the best choice for a bright room and for HDR.
OLED and QD-OLED: every pixel makes its own light, so blacks are perfect and the picture looks great from any angle. The best choice for films in a dim room. Less bright than Mini LED overall, and static logos on screen for many hours a day can slowly burn in.

3. Brightness and HDR

HDR (high dynamic range) only looks impressive when the TV is bright enough. Cheap TVs accept HDR signals but can't show the highlights, so the picture looks flat or dark. If you watch a lot in daylight, prioritise brightness: that usually means Mini LED or a good QLED. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are the two premium HDR formats; Netflix and Disney+ mostly use Dolby Vision, and some brands (notably Samsung) support only HDR10+.

4. Gaming: what a console needs

For a PS5 or Xbox Series X:

HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K at 120 Hz. Many TVs have only two, and one of them may be shared with the soundbar connection (eARC).
120 Hz or more native refresh rate. Be wary of "Motion Rate" or similar numbers that double the real figure.
VRR (variable refresh rate) and ALLM (automatic game mode) for smooth, low-lag play.

For a PC, look at 144 Hz models with G-Sync or FreeSync support.

5. The smart TV system

You'll use the software every day, so it matters. Google TV has the biggest app choice; webOS (LG) and Tizen (Samsung) are quick and polished; Titan OS (Philips) and VIDAA (Hisense) are simpler and have a smaller app choice. If an app you rely on is missing, a streaming stick solves it for little money.

6. Sound

Thin TVs have small speakers. For films and series, even a basic soundbar is a bigger upgrade than paying more for the TV's built-in sound. Use the HDMI eARC port to connect it, so the TV remote controls the volume.

7. What to spend

Under €500: good 43–55 inch LED and QLED TVs for everyday viewing.
€500–1,000: 55–65 inch Mini LED and entry OLED, often with full gaming features.
€1,000 and up: large Mini LED, top OLED models, 75 inch and bigger.

8. Model years and real deals

TV brands launch new models every spring, and last year's model often drops sharply in price while being nearly identical. That is usually a better buy than the newest model at full price. Check the price history on each product page: a real deal is low compared with the last weeks, not just compared with the list price.