Telling one large, black rectangle from another isnβt always easy when looking for your next TV. Especially now, when they all come with various AI features, ambient picture frame modes, smart home stuff, voice control and whatever else. But at the core of it all, the basics remain the same: picture quality (brightness, colour, contrast), compatibility (formats and inputs) and performance (gaming, processing).
It used to be that OLED was considered the premium option, while LCD cost less, but new technologies (micro-LED, RGB backlit) have brought them much closer in price and capabilities. Most major TV-makers currently have both OLED and LCD models, so your choice is based more on your preferences than anything else. OLEDs have thinner designs, perfect blacks and less blurring in fast scenes, while a good LCD can get brighter, is available in bigger sizes and has less judder in panning shots.
For this comparison Iβve tested four excellent 2026 TVs, two of each panel type, from four brands. None of them are the absolute top of the line price-wise but they exemplify our three quality goals. All the specs and prices are for the 65-inch (165-centimetre) version of the TVs. Note that all these sets (and many others) are at a deep discount right now for EOFY sales but Iβve listed the RRP.
The definitive all-rounder
LG has defended its top spot in the OLED stakes by pushing its panels brighter every year and retaining near-exhaustive support for all formats and standards. Its software is the nicest on the market to use, and its C-series in particular (which is a step down from its most premium model) has forced the rest of the industry to embrace a more generous hardware platform and wider availability of smaller OLED sizes. So itβs not surprising that this yearβs C6 is a go-to recommendation.
This TV does everything exceptionally well, from cinematic modes to cutting-edge gaming to smooth upscaling of lower-resolution content. Itβs brighter than last yearβs model, with even better colour and contrast, and itβs easier than ever to dial in the settings you want, thanks to innovations like ambient light compensation in filmmaker mode, and LGβs overall coherent webOS interface. The pointer-style Magic Remote remains a plus as well, even if itβs lost its input button in favour of an βAIβ button, which lets you search with your voice.
In a dim or dark room, TVs currently donβt get much better than this, with incredible detail and highlights in HDR and Dolby Vision content. For gaming, the C-series remains the gold standard, natively supporting everything the current consoles can throw at it, with 4K at 120Hz in HDR or Dolby Vision on any of its four HDMI 2.1 ports. If you have a PC it supports up to 165Hz in VRR (variable refresh rate) of either the AMD or Nvidia variety, at any aspect ratio and any resolution. And it has the fastest response times you can get.
Whether youβre watching movies or sports or games, the C6βs incredible performance is helped along by OLEDβs instant motion and infinite contrast. But the C6 is saddled with OLEDβs key weakness as well, being that it canβt get as bright as an LCD. LG has stuck with a clear glossy surface on the TV, which helps maximise wow factor in the dark. But if you have bright reflections directly opposite, like a window in the middle of the day, it can become an annoying distraction. Changing to a less-accurate high brightness setting, or getting up to close the curtains when youβre watching, are trade-offs youβll need to accept.
The open-blinds OLED
Samsungβs 2026 TV line-up is immense, with a big range of OLEDs and LCDs. At the top theyβre evenly matched for specs and price, so you can just choose which panel type you like better. But the S90H seems like the obvious recommendation to me, inheriting so many nice features usually reserved for the highest-end sets and matching the high points of LGβs C-series as closely as possible, while combating its key weakness.
The S90H, like its more expensive sibling the S95H, comes with a matte finish that is extremely effective at cutting down on glare. Combined with great brightness, this unlocks the ability to watch clearly at any time of day with no reflections, even with your curtains open. I had overhead lights on, glass and mirrors behind me β no visible reflections. I even shined a torch right at it and only got diffuse glare. Does the finish come with trade-offs? Of course. When viewed in the dark youβre not going to get the same contrast or colour punch as on the C6. But itβs subtle, and will be worth it if you often watch with the lights on.
Meanwhile the S90H now all but matches the C6 for gaming prowess, certified for AMD and Nvidia VRR with support for up to 165GHz, full-speed HDMI on all four ports, and a suite of AI-powered settings and assists that claim to act as one-touch settings for folks who donβt want to delve into the menus. The Samsung doesnβt get quite as bright in HDR, and that matte coating loses you some contrast when playing in the dark, but itβs otherwise solid.
One key element Samsung is still missing is support for Dolby Vision. It does use rival format HDR10+ but support for that is a lot spottier, particularly when it comes to 4K Blu-ray discs. And although itβs improved, I find the Tizen operating system a bit cluttered and obtuse. The on-board Bixby AI has now been evolved to use Google Gemini LLMs and you can prompt it by talking into your remote if you like. It can even use what youβre watching as part of the prompt, though not with most apps, for copyright reasons.
The light-friendly cinema
Sonyβs big push this year is for what it calls True RGB, a technology similar to what others have called mini-LED. Thousands of tiny and individually controlled red, green and blue lights sit behind the LCD panel, allowing for maximum brightness while maintaining vibrancy. The idea is to enable brighter panels than OLED with comparable contrast and colour, and thatβs certainly true of the Bravia 7 II. In a well-lit room and tuned to watch movies in accurate colour, it makes the above OLEDs look dim.
The movie-watching experience is the highlight of this TV; if you have high-quality sources to watch from, it could be enough to pull a cinephile away from OLEDs altogether. In a dim room the HDR is staggering and the distracting βbloomβ of earlier LCDs hardly ever perceivable, with excellent contrast and very dark blacks. In daylight the higher brightness fights back against glare and reflections, though they are still apparent in dark scenes. And I love the TVβs My Cinema mode, which lets you calibrate multiple profiles (i.e. one for dark rooms and one for bright) that you can switch between while minimising unnecessary processing. Sonyβs upscaling is class-leading, without relying on the kind of generative AI inventions seen in Samsungβs offerings.
Unfortunately, Sony is behind when it comes to its wider tech platform, sticking with an older processing pipeline that comes with some notable shortcomings. Most egregious, at least for gamers or anyone with numerous devices to plug in, is that only two of the four input ports support full HDMI 2.1 speeds, and one of them is the eARC port youβll want to reserve for your soundbar. Thatβs inconvenient if you have more than one gaming device. The set also doesnβt support the 1440p resolution at all, which maybe only I care about but itβs an odd omission.
The Google TV interface also hitches in places, and certain apps stream less smoothly here than on other new TVs. There were occasions when the image was displaying perfectly in my preferred dark room settings but subtitles would appear in eye-searing full brightness. Which is all to say that Sony has handed in an immaculate TV for anyone who cares about image quality, clarity and accuracy in all lighting conditions, but its tech and Googleβs software are not so unassailable.
The high-spec challenger
The general pitch for TCLβs upper-end TVs is simple. Theyβre cheaper than the more prestigious brands and theyβre good enough that most people canβt tell the difference. And looking at the C8L, which is an LCD of the mini-LED variety, itβs tough to argue against that point. On the spec sheet alone it ticks all the boxes, and in person its incredible brightness is enough to overwhelm any room. Plus you still great colour, contrast and processing.
The huge amount of brightness here makes HDR scenes extra dramatic and impressive, and though it may be redundant I appreciate the support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. TCL also supports both Dolby and DTS sounds formats, though not as completely as Sony. Itβs tough to sniff at the support for gaming features, either, with four HDMI 2.1 ports supporting up to 4K at 144Hz, and if you donβt mind some resolution trade-off up to 288Hz in VRR. In short, the TV offers significant bang for your buck if you like to watch in a bright room or youβre interested in gaming.
So what do you miss out on if you go for the C8L over a TV that costs $1000 more? Well, even with 2000 dimming zones it canβt match the perfect contrast of an OLED, or Sonyβs set-up, so you do get some glowing halos, for example, on bright colours against a dark background. Upscaling of lower resolution content is also good but not in the same league, and while punchy, vibrant colour modes at high brightness impress, it struggles in more accuracy-focused cinema viewing. The nature of this particular LCD panel means less-than-ideal motion handling, so fast-moving action scenes or video games appear blurry, which some people are more sensitive to than others.
Smarts and software is once again handed over to Google, so you can talk to Gemini to ask questions and change settings.
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Tim Biggs is a writer covering consumer technology, gadgets and video games.Connect via X or email.