Televisions

Philips' 800 Series OLED TV adds top-drawer gaming to excellent picture quality, discovers John Archer

Philips' ability to harness its potent video processing to the innate precision of OLED display technology has, over the last half-a-decade or so, given the brand a new lease of life, and one that's seen it claim an ever-growing slice of the premium TV market in the face of competition from both established brands and aggressive newcomers. And I can't see it losing its grip if it continues to make TVs like those in its OLED806 range.

Sony's smallest ever OLED TV won't excite the gaming console cognoscenti, but its images still make a big impression on John Archer

The general TV trend these days is towards ever bigger screens. An interesting exception to this rule has emerged in recent months, though, in the comely shape of 48in OLED TVs.

While premium LCD TVs have long had brightness on their 
side, they’ve always had trouble controlling exactly where that brightness goes, something that's arguably become more of 
a picture quality concern with the step up to HDR content. 
Enter Samsung's QE65QN95A, the brand's first TV to utilise Mini LED backlight technology.

Philips hits the right notes with this stylish smallscreen OLED. But is 48in big enough for Steve May?

You might be forgiven for expecting smallscreen OLED TVs to be a budget punt, stripped of extraneous frippery in order to better bring OLED technology to the mainstream. But there's no sense of any such cost-cutting compromise with this Philips, which uses the new smaller panel for a downsized version of its flagship 935 model, complete with Bowers and Wilkins sound system. Is this move inspired or a marketing misstep?

John Archer explains why Sony's latest mid-range LED LCD TV is arguably better for next-gen console gamers than its flagship models

While the original PS4 and Xbox One consoles trailed behind TV technology when they first came out, the Xbox Series X and PS5 are running ahead of most 2020 TVs. Graphics features such as 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates and automatic low latency mode switching have caught the vast majority of this year's displays on the hop, including many of Sony's own models. Oddly, the only game-friendly exception in its range isn't some high-flying, megabucks flagship, but the mid-range XH9005 series.

Panasonic's Professional Edition OLED panel gets an IQ upgrade and the result is dazzling, says Steve May

There's never been a better time to invest in premium home theatre, now that multiplex screens have lost their silvery allure and cinema concessions now come with a side order of anxiety. Stepping up your AV game is the only sensible solution, and Panasonic's flagship HZ2000 is perhaps the ultimate flatscreen upgrade. Okay, it's not 8K, but for the movie sources of the here and now, it's unbeatable.