The best TVs for picture quality in 2026

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As a professional TV reviewer, I've tested tons of displays over the years. And when you've seen as many TVs as I have, it can be hard for specific models to stand out. But once in a while, a few high-end TVs come along that rise above the pack, delivering industry-leading image performance. If budget isn't a concern and you want the absolute best picture quality available, these are the TVs I recommend above all others.

The best TVs for picture quality all aced my team's rigorous review process, not just with meters and test patterns, but with real-world content. After all, what good are impressive numbers if they don't translate to a consistently great home theater experience when you actually sit down to watch TV? For this guide, I've recommended picks from each major brand, highlighting each company's best premium TV. For instance, if you're considering an LG TV, the G5 OLED is the display to beat. And if you're looking for a more affordable high-end offering from a value-forward brand like TCL, I suggest the QM8K QLED.

All of my picks are available in several screen sizes. Though I've linked out to the 65-inch model by default, you can choose other sizes on each Amazon listing. Some models are even available in up to 100 inches, making them killer options for big sports events like the Super Bowl.

Our top picks for the best TVs for picture quality

Best from LG: G5 OLED 4K TV - See at Amazon

Best from Samsung: S95F OLED 4K TV - See at Amazon

Best from Sony: Bravia 8 II OLED 4K TV - See at Amazon

Best from TCL: QM8K QLED 4K TV - See at Amazon

Best from Hisense: U8QG QLED 4K TV - See at Amazon

Best from LG

If pure picture quality is your top priority, the G5 is LG's most jaw-dropping TV right now. In fact, it stands out as the best-looking display I've reviewed from any brand, beating heavy hitters from Sony and Samsung by a hair.

The G5 uses LG's high-end four-stack OLED panel, which enables a brighter image than a standard OLED while still offering pixel-level contrast control for perfect black levels. On paper, the numbers are impressive. In its most accurate picture mode, I measured roughly 2,400 nits of peak brightness using a standard 10% HDR test window. That's an OLED brightness record and around 1,000 nits brighter than many midrange models. But what really matters is how the G5 looks when watching actual movies and shows — and that's where the TV truly shines.

High-brightness HDR content is stunning. Action-heavy films like "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Aquaman" explode with intense highlights, deep shadows, and incredible depth. The combination of high peak brightness and infinite contrast gives images a level of realism and punch I've rarely seen on a consumer TV. Colors remain vibrant without looking overcooked, and the G5's wide viewing angles keep the picture stable even when you're sitting off to the side. Gamers also get a bonus here, with support for up to a 165Hz refresh rate when connected to a PC, enabling ultra-smooth motion.

The G5 isn't flawless, though. Early units showed some banding (blocky rather than smooth color transitions) in isolated HDR scenes, but firmware updates have largely fixed this. During weeks of testing, it popped up so infrequently that it didn't meaningfully detract from the experience. If you're extremely sensitive to that issue, alternative OLEDs in this guide, like the Samsung S95F or Sony Bravia 8 II, may be a better option.

Beyond picture quality, the G5 is also just a great smart TV. LG's webOS platform is solid, if not my favorite, and the TV's sleek, gallery-style design looks fantastic on the wall — though you'll need to buy a stand separately if wall mounting isn't an option. The G5 is available in 55, 65, 77, 83, and 97 inches. However, note that the 97-inch model uses a standard OLED panel, so it can't get as bright as the smaller editions.

Check out our LG G5 TV review.

Visit our guides to the best TVs, best LG TVs, and best OLED TVs.

Best from Samsung

Samsung's S95F is the company's most impressive display to date, and it earns a spot among the very best TVs for picture quality. It doesn't come cheap, but what you get in return is a bright QD-OLED display that delivers serious HDR punch while offering the most effective anti-glare screen technology I've seen.

Compared with Samsung's more affordable S90F OLED, the S95F takes brightness to another level. In its most accurate HDR mode, I measured a peak of around 2,170 nits — nearly 1,000 nits brighter than the S90F. That places it among the brightest OLED TVs available, trailing only LG's G5. The extra brightness makes a difference with HDR movies and shows, where highlights pop off the screen and scenes feel more dynamic and lifelike.

Another defining feature of the S95F is Samsung's latest anti-glare matte screen. If you watch TV in a bright room, this can be a game changer. Reflections are dramatically reduced, eliminating the mirror-like effect that can impact every other TV in this guide. This makes the S95F an excellent choice for bright-room viewing. Sports fans, in particular, will appreciate how well the TV handles daytime games without distracting glare from windows or lamps.

That matte finish does come with a tradeoff, though. In brighter rooms, black levels can appear elevated, which takes away some of the inky depth OLEDs are famous for. Dark scenes just don't look as rich with the lights on as they do on glossy TVs, like the G5. In a dim room, however, black levels snap back to perfection, and the TV's contrast looks fantastic. Whether this matters will largely depend on your room and whether you favor reflection handling over contrast.

In addition to great performance with movies and shows, the S95F is also an excellent gaming TV. Like the LG G5, it supports refresh rates up to 165Hz when paired with a PC. The design is sleek and premium, with a super-thin panel made possible by Samsung's external One Connect Box, which neatly houses all of the TV's ports. For viewers who want an OLED that excels in bright rooms without sacrificing top-tier image quality, the S95F is a compelling choice.

This model is sold in 55-, 65-, 77-, and 83-inch screen sizes. Though the 83-inch model does not use a QD-OLED panel, it offers comparable brightness performance to its smaller counterparts.

Check out our Samsung S95F TV review.

Visit our guides to the best Samsung TVs, best sports TVs, and best gaming TVs.

Best from Sony

Sony has long been known for its premium image quality, and the Bravia 8 II is the brand at its absolute finest. This is the company's latest flagship OLED, and it earns its place among the very best high-end TVs thanks to its superb balance of contrast, color, brightness, and processing.

At the heart of the Bravia 8 II is a QD-OLED panel that combines OLED's pixel-level contrast with quantum-dot color technology. The result is a display that delivers perfect black levels in a dark room while producing bright, richly saturated colors that look natural rather than exaggerated. Highlights stand out with incredible precision, and dark scenes retain deep shadow detail without blooming or haloing.

HDR content, in particular, looks fantastic. Movies and shows pop with bold highlights, refined textures, and excellent color accuracy. In testing, the Bravia 8 II reached around 1,560 nits of peak brightness on a standard 10% HDR window, with smaller highlights approaching 1,900 nits. While that doesn't quite match rivals like Samsung's S95F or LG's G5, it's still one of the brightest OLED TVs you can buy.

Where the Bravia 8 II separates itself is in image processing. Sony's video processing is among the best in the industry, delivering a remarkably accurate picture and doing an exceptional job cleaning up lower-quality sources through top-tier upscaling. Streaming content, cable TV, and older movies simply look better here than on most competing OLEDs.

There is a minor tradeoff. Like other QD-OLED displays, black levels can slightly lift when the screen is exposed to ambient light. In practice, the effect is subtle and far less noticeable than on matte-screen TVs like the Samsung S95F. I'm usually very picky about black levels, but during normal viewing, it never felt distracting.

The Bravia 8 II runs Google TV, offering smooth navigation and access to all major streaming apps. That said, the included remote has lost some premium touches, like a backlight, found on earlier Sony flagships. This model is also limited to just 55- and 65-inch sizes, which may be a dealbreaker for shoppers seeking a larger screen. Still, for viewers who prioritize natural color, refined processing, and overall image accuracy, the Bravia 8 II is easily one of the best TVs for picture quality you can buy.

Check out our guide to all the best Sony TVs.

Best from TCL

If you want high-end performance without paying flagship OLED prices, TCL's QM8K QLED is a standout. It genuinely goes head-to-head with far more expensive QLED models from brands like Sony and Samsung while getting brighter than any OLED display.

The QM8K is TCL's top upper-midrange TV, built around a QLED panel paired with a Mini LED backlight and full-array local dimming. This setup allows the TV to control light across various zones, brightening and dimming specific areas to boost contrast. Compared with TCL's lower-tier models, the QM8K features more dimming zones, resulting in deeper black levels and dramatically higher brightness.

And that brightness is the QM8K's calling card. In its most accurate picture mode, it reached a fantastic 3,648 nits on a standard 10% HDR test window. That's an exceptional result, putting it among the brightest TVs available at any price. In real-world viewing, this means HDR content looks incredibly punchy, and glare is far less of an issue in bright rooms. Explosions, lightning strikes, reflections on water, and other intense highlights burst off the screen with clarity and detail, rather than looking dull or blown out.

Mini LED TVs like this often struggle with blooming and haloing around bright objects, but the QM8K handles these issues remarkably well. During testing, backlight artifacts such as halos and crushed shadows were incredibly rare, besting the performance of premium Mini LED models from Samsung. While the QM8K still can't quite match the pixel-level precision of an OLED, it comes impressively close for an LCD-based display.

Viewing angles are also improved over previous TCL sets, with less contrast and color loss when sitting off-center. Again, OLEDs still offer wider viewing angles, but the QM8K is no slouch. Add in Google TV, solid gaming support up to 144Hz, and a sleek "ZeroBorder" design that minimizes visible framing, and the QM8K becomes an easy recommendation. Available in sizes ranging from 65 to 98 inches, it's a compelling option for anyone chasing big-screen brightness and top-tier picture quality.

TCL does technically offer two step-up TV models as well, the QM9K and X11K, which can get even brighter. However, both are harder to find in stock and are available in fewer sizes. And given their higher prices, their improvement over the QM8K is fairly small. As it stands, the QM8K is the top TCL model I recommend to enthusiasts.

Check out our TCL QM8K TV review.

Visit our guides to the best TCL TVs and best smart TVs.

Best from Hisense

The Hisense U8QG is one of the most impressive QLED TVs available, and it holds its own well against TCL's QM8K. It's Hisense's current flagship TV, delivering the kind of brightness and HDR impact that immediately grabs your attention, especially in rooms with lots of ambient light.

Like the TCL QM8K, the Hisense U8QG uses a QLED panel paired with a Mini LED backlight and full-array local dimming. This allows it to hit eye-watering brightness levels while still maintaining strong contrast. In testing, it beat the TCL QM8K's already impressive brightness, pushing beyond 5,000 nits in HDR — among the highest measurements our reviewer has seen. That kind of output gives HDR movies, shows, and games a level of intensity that's hard to miss, with highlights that look genuinely dazzling even during daytime viewing.

Importantly, the U8QG isn't just about raw brightness. Its local dimming system does a good job of minimizing blooming, so bright objects rarely spill light into surrounding dark areas. TCL's QM8K does have a slight edge in backlight control, but the U8QG is still easily among the best LCD-based TVs in this regard.

There are some tradeoffs, though. The TV can occasionally crush shadow detail, and reds are pushed a bit aggressively, making explosions and warm tones look slightly oversaturated at times. Still, overall color coverage is wide, skin tones remain natural, and most content looks bold and engaging.

The U8QG is also well equipped for gaming, with HDMI 2.1 support, low input lag, VRR, and refresh rates up to 120Hz for consoles and 165Hz for PCs, along with Dolby Vision gaming and a handy on-screen game bar. However, connectivity is one weak spot: the TV has only three HDMI ports, with the fourth input replaced by a USB-C DisplayPort for PCs that most users won't find useful.

Google TV handles smart features smoothly, and while the design is thicker than ultra-slim rivals, that extra depth allows for a decent built-in speaker system. Just note that picture performance varies by size: the 65- and 85-inch models use higher-contrast VA panels, while the 55- and 75-inch versions reportedly use ADS Pro panels with better viewing angles but weaker contrast. Based on that, the VA-equipped sizes should deliver better overall picture quality.

Check out our review of the Hisense U8QG TV.

How we test TVs for picture quality

To find the best TVs for picture quality, our team conducted extensive hands-on testing backed by more than a decade of experience reviewing home entertainment gear. We don't just glance at spec sheets — every TV recommended in this guide was evaluated across a wide range of real-world performance factors, with a focus on picture quality.

Each display is assessed for image clarity, contrast, HDR performance, peak brightness, color range, and viewing angles. We use professional meters to measure brightness and rely on industry-standard test patterns to objectively evaluate a TV's technical capabilities.

Of course, numbers only tell part of the story. To understand how a TV actually performs in everyday use, we spend hours watching real movies and TV shows. We carefully select scenes that stress different aspects of image quality, such as deep black levels, intense highlights, fine detail, and color accuracy. Content is viewed across a mix of resolutions — including Ultra HD (4K), HD, and SD — to see how well each TV handles upscaling from streaming services, cable feeds, and Blu-ray players.

Viewing tests are conducted in both dark, theater-like environments and brighter rooms to account for different lighting conditions. We also evaluate gaming performance using multiple consoles, including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch, paying close attention to motion clarity and supported gaming features.

Though the focus of this guide is picture quality, we also test each TV's smart platform for speed, stability, and ease of use. App load times, menu responsiveness, voice search reliability, and digital assistant features are all factored into our evaluations, along with additional perks such as design touches, ambient modes, smart home controls, and cloud gaming support.

FAQs

What makes a TV's image quality good or bad?

Great image quality comes down to a few core factors working together. Contrast is one of the most important elements: the wider the gap between the brightest highlights and the deepest black levels, the more realistic and punchy an image looks. TVs with low contrast appear cloudy and washed out with patchy brightness. This can be especially distracting when watching TV in a dark room. The best TVs for picture quality either use an OLED panel or a local-dimming backlight to achieve high contrast, providing deep black levels and a greater sense of dimension.

Raw brightness matters too, especially for HDR content and rooms with lots of ambient light. Color accuracy and color range affect how accurate and natural (or exaggerated) images appear, while processing determines how well a TV handles motion, upscaling, and lower-quality content. Viewing angles also matter, since many QLED and LED TVs distort contrast and color when you sit off-center. When any of these elements falls short, the overall picture can look inaccurate, flat, or overly harsh.

Do OLED or QLED TVs have better image quality?

OLED TVs generally offer the best overall image quality, thanks to their pixel-level contrast and perfect black levels. This makes them especially impressive for movies and TV shows watched in darker rooms. QLED TVs (which are LCD TVs with quantum dots) can't match OLED's contrast, but high-end Mini LED QLED models can get brighter than most OLEDs, making them better suited for rooms with lots of light during daytime viewing. Both technologies can deliver excellent results — it just comes down to your viewing environment and priorities.

You can learn more in our QLED vs. OLED comparison.

What about Micro RGB TVs?

This year, several companies will release TV models that use a new display technology called Micro RGB or RGB Mini LED (depending on the brand). These TVs have LCD panels and Mini LED backlights, just like many QLED TVs. But instead of using a blue or white backlight with a color filter, Micro RGB TVs use separate red, blue, and green LEDs in their backlights. This eliminates the need for a filter and has the potential to produce a wider, brighter, and more accurate color range.

Right now, the only Micro RGB/RGB Mini LED TVs available are a massive 116-inch Hisense model and a 115-inch Samsung model, which cost an equally massive $20,000 to $30,000 each. However, more consumer-friendly models are in the works from Samsung, Hisense, TCL, and LG. Once they're available, we'll review them for consideration in this guide. You can learn more in our 2026 CES TV roundup.

Which TV brand offers the best picture quality?

There's no single brand that wins in every category, but a few consistently stand out. LG, Samsung, and Sony all offer excellent high-end OLED TV models with image quality that ranks among the best you can buy. Sony's top models are known for their excellent image processing and color accuracy, while premium OLEDs from LG and Samsung have an edge in brightness. Brands like TCL and Hisense have also closed the gap. Though they don't offer OLED models, they sell impressive QLED TVs with Mini LED backlights that rival much pricier models.

How much should I spend on a high-end TV?

If you're shopping for top-tier picture quality, expect to spend at least $1,000 for a 65-inch TV. QLED models tend to be more affordable, but flagship 65-inch OLEDs are pricier, with top options costing around $2,000 to $3,000.

What size TV is best for picture quality?

There's no single best size for TV image quality. Instead, the optimal size for your needs largely depends on how far you plan to sit from your screen and your personal preferences.

Bigger TVs can deliver a more immersive sense of scope because they fill more of your field of view, making details pop more while offering a more cinematic experience. However, sitting too close to an extra-large screen can negatively impact picture quality, making the image feel overwhelming and making imperfections easier to spot. Meanwhile, if you sit too far from a small TV, you're likely to miss fine details.

A good rule of thumb is to sit at a distance of about one to 1.5 times the size of your TV. So, for a 65-inch TV, a good distance would be around 5.4 and 8.1 feet. TVs larger than 65 inches are a good fit if you plan to sit farther than eight feet from the screen.

When shopping for a high-end display, it's also important to note that the best premium TV models are often only sold in larger sizes. All of our picks in this guide start at 55 inches, and it's rare to find flagship models that are smaller.

For TV recommendations specific to different sizes, check out our various guides:

• Best 100-inch TVs
• Best 85-inch TVs
• Best 75-inch TVs
• Best 65-inch TVs
• Best 55-inch TVs
• Best 50-inch TVs
• Best 43-inch TVs