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Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
Does your OLED TV look funny? Here are 5 common issues and how to diagnose them
OLED TVs aren't perfect. Despite their reputation of being some of the best TVs money can buy, OLED displays are susceptible to some odd visual quirks that range from minor blemishes like color banding to major issues like image retention. Having been in the TV-testing business for over a decade, I've seen everything from the earliest OLED models all the way up to the latest and best OLEDs on the market today and have needed to troubleshoot a fair number of them over the years. Here's a list of the strange oddities you might encounter with an OLED TV and whether or not they're worth worrying about. Though not a prevalent issue in recent years, some OLED TVs — particularly WOLED TVs used by LG and Sony — demonstrate minor color tinting when viewed a few feet away from a head-on position. Typically, the effect is most pronounced when the screen displays white a or near-white picture, like during the broadcast of a hockey game. The white portions of the picture will subtly shift into a pale pink or green, shifting as the viewer moves. As mentioned, it's been a few years since I've seen this issue, but folks with OLED TVs from around 2021 to 2023 might notice it from time to time. The cause of the tinting isn't one for concern. Fortunately, the cause of the tinting isn't one for concern, most likely having to do with variance in manufacturing. Based on reports across the web, the severity of the issue appears to be random, and I can personally attest that I've never witnessed a case so severe as to compromise the picture entirely. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. While the above photo has been edited to illustrate the issue, it's plain to see that the OLED depicted is struggling to display a dark gray screen without saddling the left and right sides of the picture with a bold, pink column. Unfortunately, in my experience, this visual artifact tends to be more noticeable than the off-axis tint detailed above. This is because it tends to rear its head during any dark scene with low color saturation. In other words, a background wall doesn't need to be gray for the discoloration to appear. Black-and-white content will bring it out almost immediately. Much like the off-axis color tinting, this problem affects OLED TVs seemingly at random. However, not once have I seen the issue manifest on quantum dot-enhanced OLEDs like Samsung's excellent flagship, the S95D OLED TV. This leads me to believe that QD-OLEDs aren't as susceptible to the root cause. In my experience, QD-OLED TVs like the Samsung S95D tend to exhibit fewer visual quirks than TVs with WOLED panels. The S95D (one of our favorite OLEDs of its year) delivers an incredible picture and a sensational suite of features for gaming, streaming and beyond. To check your OLED TV for this issue, switch off your lights and, on your OLED, pull up this Dirty Screen Effect YouTube video uploaded by Sunil Raman. This short clip will start with a 100% black screen and gradually move up the grayscale until it displays 100% white. The dark gray-colored slides at 5% to 20% are particularly useful at coaxing out the pink tint. As far as I know, if you do discover pink-colored blotches, it can't be addressed outside of replacing the TV. Above is a close-up of a QD-OLED TV panel displaying a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. If you look along the edges of the black squares, you'll notice green- and magenta-colored rows of pixels. This is a result of QD-OLED's triangular subpixel structure, which places the green subpixel above red and blue. Fortunately, this minor, near-imperceptible color fringing is not a substantial mark against QD-OLED TVs. In general, you're most likely to notice this fringing when light-colored title cards or subtitles are on screen. Unless you intend on using a QD-OLED display as a monitor (or if you plan on regularly sitting very close to a QD-OLED TV), it's not a cause for concern. On rare occasions, I've seen OLED TVs arrive out of the box with vertical or horizontal banding across most or all of the screen. They usually manifest as straight lines of varying widths. Like the localized pink tint, this banding is most noticeable when large portions of the picture are white or gray. In my experience, OLED banding tends to work itself out after about five to ten hours of use. While it's frustrating to see these imperfections shortly after setting up a brand-new TV, I've got some good news: In my experience, OLED banding tends to work itself out after about five to ten hours of use. In the past, when I've reached out to LG about one of its TVs exhibiting this banding, a representative has recommended that I run the display's pixel refresher. Known as Pixel Cleaning on LG OLEDs (or Pixel Refresh on Samsung OLEDS), this process automatically adjusts the luminance of pixels depending on whether or not an unevenness is detected. Be warned, however: I would not manually run these pixel-cleaning features with any regularity. They can be aggressive over time — akin to scouring your display — and there's a good chance your OLED TV is already running a lighter, preventative version of the feature automatically when it's off. If none of these measures eliminates the TV's banding issue, I would brush up on the warranty and reach out to customer service. Burn-in is the only one of these issues that happens as a direct result of how an OLED TV is used. It describes the ghostly image of previously viewed content, now embedded within the display after many hours of use. Due to the organic nature of OLED displays, they're particularly susceptible to burn-in — or at least they were. Burn-in was something of an OLED boogeyman in the early days of the technology, but brands have built up plenty of defense against the issue in the years since. For instance, all major OLED-makers offer a pixel-shifting feature that occasionally (and subtly) moves the picture to ensure that each pixel is switching things up from time to time. The aforementioned pixel refreshing cycle remains an option, too, if you're noticing some image retention taking place. In general, the OLED TVs of today are far better equipped to prevent burn-in than earlier models. In general, the OLED TVs of today are far better equipped to prevent burn-in than earlier models. However, it still wouldn't hurt to give your TV a rest every now and then, particularly if you play games with static HUDs, or watch content with chyrons and/or tickers. If your OLED TV is exhibiting burn-in, it might be covered by the brand's standard warranty. LG, for instance, offers a one-year warranty on most of its OLED TVs which ought to cover burn-in, but the likelihood that you'll be dealing with OLED burn-in that soon is very, very low. Personally, I wouldn't let the prospect of burn-in stop me from shopping for an OLED TV. Nor would I let any of these issues dissuade me. The truth is, no TV is perfect — regardless of display technology. Due to the nature of their hardware, OLED TVs certainly need to be coddled a bit more relative to their LCD/LED counterparts, but those TVs come with their own potential quirks, too.
Digital Trends
12-05-2025
- Business
- Digital Trends
Samsung's best OLED TV for 2024 is on sale this week
We all know Samsung makes some of the best QLED TVs on the market in 2025, but the company also makes some of the best OLED TVs. As luck would have it, one of the top models of 2024 is still available brand-new, and it's on sale this week. For a limited time, you'll be able to grab the Samsung 77-inch S95D 4K OLED for only $3,000. That's a $1,600 markdown from its $4,600 MSRP, according to Samsung, and $800 off according to Best Buy. Why you should buy the Samsung S95D 4K OLED Bar none, the Samsung S95D is one of the most gorgeous TVs ever made. It's no ordinary OLED — Samsung opted for QD-OLED panel tech, resulting in vivid and rich colors, near-perfect black levels, and phenomenal HDR performance. But the thrills continue with SDR content, too, as the S95D is also bright enough to combat glare in well-lit spaces! HDMI 2.1 connectivity, a native 144Hz refresh rate, and a Game Mode preset for reduced lag, the S95D is one of the best TVs for gaming. And thanks to ALLM support, all you have to do is turn on your PS5 or Xbox, and the TV auto-optimizes for your console. Samsung's longstanding partnership with Tizen continues with the S95D. Once connected to the internet, Tizen OS unlocks access to Samsung's smart hub. Enjoy hundreds of streaming apps, free live TV stations, screen mirroring, and so much more. It's hard to say how long this markdown is going to stick around, but here's hoping we start to see lower prices on this set going forward (especially since the next-gen S95F is already available). Save $1,600 on the Samsung 77-inch S95D 4K OLED when you purchase today. For even more TV recommendations, you may also want to take a look at our lists of the best Samsung TV deals, best 75-inch TV deals, and best OLED TV deals.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I was this close to awarding the LG G5 five stars – until I spotted this major issue
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The launch of new OLED TVs has become the highlight of my year – I'll leave you to decide if that's a bit sad or not. Regardless, I have spent the majority of my year trudging through Heathrow airport at the break of dawn to fly out to events hosted by some of the biggest TV companies in the world, in order to see their flashy new OLED sets before they are released to the public. While I have thoroughly enjoyed ogling the likes of the Samsung S95D, Philips OLED910, and Panasonic Z95B, it is the LG G5 that I have been eagerly awaiting after spending a brief moment with the TV at CES 2025, and an extended demo day held in London. My patience paid off. I have spent the past week testing LG's new flagship OLED TV; and, for the majority of that week, I was convinced it was the best TV I have ever seen. Seriously, having played a hand in reviewing some of the previous TVs that took that title, such as the Sony A95L and even LG's last flagship OLED TV, the G4, I truly believed that the G5 was the new acme of picture performance. Simply put, it hits the pillars of what makes a great-looking TV, and most importantly, it addresses the widespread concerns of OLED head-on. Now, there's no getting around it, TV manufacturers have become absolutely obsessed with brightness; and certain brands hail Mini LED as the only viable solution to the unavoidable fact that OLED simply can't reach the same peak-brightness levels. TCL, for instance, is brazen in its approach, exclaiming "Mini LED is the best TV technology", with an emphasis on how bright its TV can go. LG's response to all that is the G5. And it had me and fellow Team AV members Tom Parsons (TV and AV editor) and Alastair Stevenson (editor in chief) shielding our eyes from the dazzling peak brightness. LG Display hints towards an upper limit of 4000 nits, which, if true, would put it on par with the likes of Sony's Bravia 9 Mini LED TV – well, on paper at least. Realistically, most people won't hit the upper limit of the G5's brightness capabilities, unless they are sadistic enough to watch 2015's Pan frequently. However, as we have demonstrated before, you will still see the benefit on content that isn't pushing brightness boundaries. Brightness isn't the full picture, though; I also had plenty of nice things to say regarding how the G5 handles motion and colours. This is easily one of the most robust TVs I have seen when it comes to motion handling, with LG's clever Cinematic Movement TruMotion setting being one of the few TV motion settings I'm willing to use. It adds minimal processing that is designed to address 24fps judder specifically, and it does so impressively well. Furthermore, I can't help but mention the colours on this TV. Broadly speaking, I liked Micro Lens Array OLED as it did a stellar job of boosting brightness. But I found that on the TVs that I had a hand in testing or spent extensive time with – namely the Philips OLED909, Panasonic MZ2000, and LG G4 – the technology tended to look a little bit too cool for my liking. This was, most likely, in part due to how MLA OLED achieved the higher brightness – by boosting the output of white light towards the viewers using the microscopic lenses. Primary RGB Tandem OLED takes this issue head on, as it features separate red and green OLED layers, sandwiched between blue layers to boost light output. In layman's terms, the G5's colours feel richer and punchier, while also looking exceptionally balanced. Add in an excellent specification sheet, which includes four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets capable of handling up to 4K/165Hz gaming with VRR and ALLM, as well as a fully featured smart platform and a sleek design – surely the G5 is destined for five-star glory. However, fairly late on in our testing procedure, we stumbled across a truly gutting TV-busting bug. Streaming Alien Romulus on the TV in Dolby Vision, we found a picture-ruining issue that resulted in us knocking a star off the review. The sequence that involves a spaceship slowly approaching from the infinite void of space had lifted black levels, a strange blocky appearance to the picture, and a lot of fuzz around the edges of the picture itself and of objects on screen, such as a window of the spacecraft. Here's what I say in the full LG G5 review: "The scene opens to a blocky ripple effect, which then highlights patchy areas of the image and lots of image noise along the borders of the display. Furthermore, the infinite void of space is presented in an off-putting greyish hue, and when the shot approaches the window of the spacecraft, the image is overlaid with a purple-looking visual filter." We tried bypassing the internal streaming apps with a Google TV Streamer; the issue persisted until we manually disabled Dolby Vision on the streamer and played the film in HDR10. While that is something of a solution, it's a compromise you shouldn't have to make on a TV that costs £3299 / $3399 / AU$5299 (for the 65-inch version we tested), especially when Dolby Vision is a much-valued feature. Furthermore, we're willing to bet that many people will stream content on this TV, and will do so using the built-in webOS 25 smart platform. The problem there is that you can't disable Dolby Vision directly on the TV, so any content that you watch in Dolby Vision that features dark sequences – including practically any sci-fi or horror movie – will make this issue visible. The problem doesn't present itself via Blu-ray, which tells us that it's a low-bitrate Dolby Vision streaming issue. But that's an issue; the large majority of content that is currently consumed is via the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus and Apple TV, so it's an unavoidable sticking point. As previously mentioned, I had been practically convinced that the G5 was going to snatch the position of best TV in my own personal rankings; but this bug has proved to be its undoing. The good news is that, to our knowledge, LG is aware of the issue and is working on a fix; though it has not yet shared an official statement. In the meantime, I will wait patiently to see if LG can course correct, so that the G5 can get the five-star accolade that it truly deserves. MORE: Read our full LG G5 OLED TV review And check out our picks for the best OLED TV As well as more information on LG's 2025 OLED TV lineup
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
I review TVs for a living, and here are the 3 best TVs you can buy today
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. One big benefit to being a full-time TV reviewer is hands-on experience with all the best TVs. That level of access, of course, helps immensely when gauging the performance level and feature set of top models from the most established brands, but also sets a benchmark for evaluating all manner of TVs, from mid-range to budget models. Of the 30-plus TVs TechRadar reviewed in 2024, three stood out and captured my attention. Not surprisingly, these three were flagship models for their respective brands and, also not surprisingly, they are priced above what most people would consider paying for a TV. What did come as a surprise? A mini-LED model made my top three list. In the past, any list of top TVs would be dominated by the best OLED TVs, mainly because of their ability to reliably deliver pictures with infinite contrast, detailed shadows, and rich, eye-catching color. But today's best mini-LED TVs are catching up with OLED TVs on those picture quality fronts, and they additionally provide high brightness, making them a great option for not only movies and gaming but also daytime sports viewing. I've been impressed by the mini-LED TVs I've tested over the years, and have even given some of them five-star picture quality ratings. But of all those TVs, the Sony Bravia 9 is the first mini-LED model I've reviewed that approached OLED-like performance when it came to rendering shadows in dark movie scenes, and its picture was virtually free of any backlight 'blooming' effects. Having lived with Bravia 9 for a few weeks while testing it, I can honestly say I admired its picture as much as the other two models in this list, the Samsung S95D and LG G4 OLED TVs. Sony created something of a stir when it announced it would switch from OLED to mini-LED for its only new flagship TV in 2024. But in initial demonstrations of the Bravia 9, the company made an effective case for the new XR Backlight Master Drive with High Peak Luminance tech, which uses a highly miniaturized 22-bit LED driver (other TVs typically use 10- or 12-bit drivers) for enhanced local dimming – something also helped by a 325% increase in local dimming zones over Sony's previous top mini-LED TV. What does this mean for you? A screen that's brighter for stunning colors and HDR, but with the super-cinematic dark tones and contrast of OLED. I measured the peak HDR brightness at 2,280 nits (in Standard mode), meaning the Bravia 9 is capable of rendering the full range of highlight detail in movies with high dynamic range, and its ability to also display detailed shadows is second to none for a mini-LED TV. I was also impressed with the X-Wide Angle feature that ensures pictures look uniformly good over a wide viewing arc, so it doesn't matter if you're sitting way off center. On top of that, there's a 2.2.2-channel, 70-watt speaker system with 'Frame' tweeters positioned in the sides of the TV's frame and 'Beam' tweeters located at the top for audio performance that's as good as basically any TV I've heard, meaning the Bravia 9 qualifies as a complete premium TV package, as I said in my full Sony Bravia 9 review. Samsung's top OLED TV made its mark as the brightest OLED TV we've ever measured, thanks to a QD-OLED panel working in tandem with clever AI processing that optimizes HDR handling plus detail and color enhancement. It also uses the company's Glare Free tech to virtually eliminate screen reflections in bright rooms – a traditional pain point for OLED TVs due to their limited fullscreen brightness compared to LED models. Sick of seeing mirror-like image of yourself or windows on your TV? Thanks to a matte screen here, you literally can't – we were so impressed by the difference in our full Samsung S95D review. Our review praised the bright and rich colors, the very impressive texture and lifelike realism to images, and the supreme contrast that OLED TVs are known for – having seen it in person, I can attest to all this. The Samsung S95D was our pick for best TV in the TechRadar Choice Awards 2024 mainly owing to its fantastic overall picture quality. But that's not all you get with Samsung's flagship OLED TV. Its 4.2.2-channel, 70W built-in speakers deliver immersive, yet precise sound with powerful bass. It also has a slim, elegant design with an external One Connect Box handling all inputs to the TV, meaning that only a single cable goes into the screen itself, so it's very tidy. The box can be hidden away somewhere else. It also an unbeatable set of gaming features, including four HDMI 2.1 ports with 4K 144Hz support and Samsung's Gaming Hub for cloud-based gaming. The LG G4 is the company's brightest OLED TV yet, an advancement made possible by a new generation of LG's OLED evo display panel with Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech, which uses microscopic lens elements to enhance picture brightness. Not only does this panel design boost brightness, but colors are also elevated with a more robust, detailed look, which gives the G4 a notable picture quality edge over the also impressive LG C4 OLED TV. Our brightness measurements for the G4 weren't as high as the S95D above, but in our full LG G4 review, we noted that this doesn't really matter so much in practice. We found that it delivers a beautiful and well-layered image, with super-accurate colors out of the box, and we said it's a "a master at picking out detail in darker areas of an image", which is exactly what you want from a cinematic OLED screen. The G4's exceptionally slim design makes it a perfect choice for wall mounting, and there's a custom bracket that means it sits totally flush to the wall. It also comes with a table stand for the 55- and 65-inch models. LG's flagship OLED TV is packed with gaming features, including 4K 120Hz (and up to 144Hz for PC gaming) across all four HDMI 2.1 ports, along with 4K 120Hz Dolby Vision gaming. Despite its slim frame, the G4 also has strong onboard sound, with a 4.2-channel speaker system and an AI Sound Pro mode that upmixes audio to 11.1.2-channel virtual surround sound – though other two TVs I've picked here offer better built-in sound overall. Obviously, my picks here are all pretty high-end – but it's the expensive stuff that tends to be the best, naturally! If you want something more mid-range, I can strongly recommend the Hisense U8N mini-LED TV, or the TCL QM851G mini-LED TV for US buyers. At the more budget end, we rate the Hisense U7N mini-LED TV, or I also highly recommend the Roku Pro Series mini-LED TV. The best TVs for gaming The best TVs for sport The best TVs for sound
