The newest TVs have options past the same old high-res 4K image high quality, AI image enhancement, good TV platforms, and improved built-in audio system. They boast upgrades to afford seamless navigation, assist prolong the lifetime of the TV, and make them look (and sound) higher.
In case you’re shopping for a brand new TV in 2026 from among the best TV manufacturers, there are some options which might be nice-to-haves, like 144Hz variable refresh charge for avid gamers, good residence integration for many who want it, and AI options for each enhancing the image and sound and affording a handy chatbot proper out of your TV. Then there are must-haves to make sure you get the absolute best viewing expertise. For these upgrading this yr, it is sensible to discover a TV that possesses these options. Irrespective of which model or TV sort you are selecting, there are a couple of particular options it’s best to hunt down. They could name them completely different names, and every model has its personal method.
Associated
Before you purchase a brand new TV, do that one 10-second take a look at together with your cellphone
You do not wish to mount it and understand you made a mistake.
Pixel or panel shifting or refresh
Hold photos from burning in
Burn-in is when a static picture like a emblem on the nook of the display “burns into” the show and stays faintly seen completely. Assume a information community’s emblem or gaming badge. Burn-in has lengthy been a difficulty with OLED TVs. However when you’re shopping for a more recent mannequin OLED TV as we speak, there are various methods fashionable OLED TVs forestall burn-in. Pixel or panel refreshing allows you to reset pixels if vital. It is not suggested to make use of this function greater than as soon as per yr, but it surely’s a preventative measure for many who typically have the TV on for lengthy durations of time.
One other know-how that occurs within the background, and it’s best to verify for in a TV’s specs shifts the display so barely that it is unnoticeable, but it surely’s designed to stop burn-in. It runs at common intervals, guaranteeing {that a} static picture by no means stays on the identical a part of the display for too lengthy. LG calls this Display screen Shift, and Sony and Samsung name it Pixel Shift. It goes with out saying that the TV ought to have a built-in screensaver mode as properly, which most, if not all, do. Like together with your laptop computer, this forces the display out of a static picture right into a shifting screensaver if the identical picture stays on display for longer than about two minutes.
Mini LED or RGB backlighting
Newest and best
Provided by consumer (TCL)
In case you’re not going with an OLED that makes use of self-emissive pixels, take into account a brand new Mini-LED TV. Mini-LED TVs have ultra-small backlight LEDs, which affords extra exact dimming, higher distinction, and improved brightness. There are Micro LED TVs that work a lot the identical manner, besides the pixels are even tinier, guaranteeing a fair higher image. However these aren’t obtainable mass market but past huge screens that prices within the five-to-six figures. There are, nonetheless, RGB LED TVs coming to market. These substitute the white backlight with pink, inexperienced, and blue ones. Eradicating the filter layer behind the TV leads to extra exact, vibrant, trustworthy colour copy.
All the key producers confirmed micro RGB TVs coming in 2026 at CES earlier this yr, and chances are you’ll discover that they are definitely worth the wait, some already right here and others coming later in 2026. Whereas OLED stays the highest TV sort in relation to deep black ranges, distinction, and off-angle viewing, it is also an costly know-how. If you need one thing as shut as attainable to OLED with out paying OLED pricing, micro RGB TVs are a stable consideration.
Glare-free screens
Watch in shiny rooms
SamsungCredit: Samsung
An typically missed function of TVs is not only brightness but additionally glare. A number of the newest TVs from manufacturers like Samsung boast glare-free screens, which guarantee you can watch TV in brighter rooms with home windows with out worrying about reflections on the display. This additionally helps get rid of glare when trying off angle.
Samsung’s S95D OLED TV, for instance, was the primary to function the corporate’s personal matte, glare-free end. That firm’s The Body and The Body Professional TVs each function a glare-free design as properly, which works not solely whereas actively watching TV however when they’re in artwork mode as properly, so they honestly appear like work on the wall. The way in which these glare-free TVs work is thru a specialised coating that helps diffuse ambient gentle. This function isn’t an absolute necessity in case you are setting the TV up in a darkish room for cinematic viewing, like in a basement theater with no home windows. However for on a regular basis viewing in each gentle and darkish eventualities, it is a function that can repay in the long term.
HDMI eARC/ARC ports
Connecting a sound supply
Together with the TV supporting immersive sound codecs like Dolby Atmos and/or DTS:X, ensure that it has an HDMI eARC port. This stands for Enhanced Audio Return Channel, and it permits for transmitting uncompressed audio to your sound supply, like a soundbar, with out the necessity for a separate audio cable. This helps not solely enhance the audio output but additionally simplifies setup, making for a cleaner total look with fewer cables.
With this port and a appropriate cable, you need not use an optical cable to attach your TV to a separate sound supply, which you may wish to take pleasure in enhanced audio with motion motion pictures and gaming. The newest TVs usually have a number of HDMI ports for connecting varied sources, like a set-top field, media participant, gaming console, and extra on the similar time. However at the least a type of ports ought to be labeled ARC or eARC, the latter of which bumps bandwidth and pace for even larger high quality audio and ensures a smoother reference to a appropriate supply system. It is a small element that may make a world of distinction.
An intuitive good TV OS
It is your portal to content material
Except you are connecting a streaming stick, Apple TV, or different media system to your TV, you need an intuitive good TV OS. Each good TV OS has its pluses and minuses, and every operates barely otherwise from each other. LG’s webOS and Google TV are typically contemplating the very best good TV interfaces. Not everyone seems to be a fan of Samsung’s Tizen, although its TVs work seamlessly inside the Samsung good ecosystem by way of SmartThings. So, when you personal a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, smartwatch, or different system, you would possibly choose it.
There’s at all times a manner round a lackluster good TV interface by connecting an reasonably priced Amazon Fireplace TV Stick or Roku Streaming Stick, for instance. However put money into a TV you are snug utilizing by itself with out one. That is your portal to all of your streaming content material, doubtlessly even different apps and video games. So, you need it to be one that you simply discover straightforward to make use of and with which you might be snug.
