Podcast #906: The 7 Best LED LCD TVs - Summer 2019 (RTINGS.com)

The 7 Best LED LCD TVs - Summer 2019 (RTINGS.com)

The editors at RTINGS.com have just updated their Seven Best LED TVs for the Summer and we bring those to you. RTINGS.com is a great resource when you are looking to buy a new UHD TV. They have the most thorough reviews of any site on the Internet. All the TVs that we discuss come with an in depth review that can be found at the links below.

Best LED TV: Samsung Q90/Q90R QLED (65” Street Price $2500)

The best LED TV is the 2019 QLED Samsung Q90R. It has impressive quality and an excellent dark room performance, thanks to the deep blacks due to the native contrast ratio and very good local dimming support. This TV is suitable for a bright room, as it can get very bright and can easily fight glare. HDR content looks full of saturated colors and bright highlights thanks to the TV's wide color gamut and high HDR peak brightness. It has a very fast response time that delivers clear and crisp motion, which is great for watching sports or playing video games. The input lag is very low even with motion interpolation, and gamers will also appreciate the auto low latency mode and FreeSync variable refresh rate support. Full Review

Mixed Usage 8.7

Movies 8.6

TV Shows 8.6

Sports 8.6

Video Games 9.2

HDR Movies 8.5

HDR Gaming 8.9

PC Monitor 9.0

Pros:

Very bright both in SDR and HDR. Excellent low input lag and gaming features. Remarkable motion handling.

Cons: 

Some gray uniformity issues at the edges.

CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE: VIZIO P SERIES QUANTUM 2018 (65” Street Price$1500) Mixed usage rating of 8.6

Best LED TV for Color Accuracy: Sony X900F (65” Street Price $1500)

If you want the most accurate image, the Sony X900F is the best LED TV for color accuracy that we've tested so far. This TV delivers great picture quality, with an excellent contrast ratio, a decent full array local dimming feature, and great peak brightness. It also has outstanding accuracy out of the box and has a great wide color gamut, which is important for a good HDR experience.

This TV also has excellent motion handling, with an outstanding response time, a nearly flicker-free backlight, and a versatile motion interpolation feature. It also has an optional black frame insertion feature, but it can't flicker at 60Hz, so there are noticeable duplications when playing 60Hz content. Full Review

Mixed Usage 8.3

Movies 8.5

TV Shows 8.2

Sports 8.1

Video Games 8.6

HDR Movies 8.4

HDR Gaming 8.5

PC Monitor 8.3

Pros:

Deep and uniform blacks Excellent motion handling Bright HDR highlights

Cons: 

Picture quality degrades at an angle

CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE: VIZIO P SERIES 2018 (65” Street Price$1000) Mixed usage rating of 8.3

Best Budget LED TV: TCL 6 Series/R617 2018 (65” Street Price $750 if you can still find them)

If the Sony X900F is too expensive, the TCL 6 Series R617 is the best budget LED TV that we have reviewed. This TV delivers great performance for most uses. It has excellent dark room performance thanks to the deep contrast ratio and full-array local dimming system. It also has excellent low input lag, perfect for gaming or for use as a PC monitor.

Unfortunately, there have been widespread reports of gray uniformity issues with this TV which may or may not have been fixed, so sports fans might not be pleased with this model. Full Review

Mixed Usage 8.0

Movies 8.0

TV Shows 7.7

Sports 7.6

Video Games 8.6

HDR Movies 8.1

HDR Gaming 8.4

PC Monitor 8.3

Pros:

Very bright in HDR and SDR Excellent low input lag for gaming Good local dimming and native contrast produce deep blacks

Cons: 

Picture quality degrades at an angle Uniformity could be better

CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE: TCL 4 SERIES/S425 2019 (75” Street Price$1000) Mixed usage rating of 7.3

Notable Mentions Samsung Q80/Q80R QLED: Excellent TV; less expensive than the Q90R, but lacks the One Connect box and has less local dimming zones. See review Samsung Q9FN/Q9/Q9F QLED 2018: Excellent TV; worse viewing angles, but some large sizes are probably worth it over the Q90R. See review Sony Z9F: Great TV with great picture quality, but the Vizio P Series Quantum is better. See review Sony X950G: Great TV, but the X900F is less expensive and performs similarly. See review LG SK9500: Good TV with wide viewing angles, but not very competitive. See review Vizio M Series 2018: Good TV, but the TCL R617 is better and cheaper. See review TCL 5 Series/S517 2018: Decent versatile 4k TV, but more expensive than the TCL 4 Series S425 for similar performance. See review Vizio V Series 2019: Decent TV, but the TCL S425 has better smart features. See review Vizio P Series Quantum X 2019: Excellent TV, but not worth the price difference over the 2018 Vizio P Series Quantum. See review