The Art of OLED TV Shootouts: A Review of the Best TVs of 2023

The world of OLED TVs has become increasingly saturated with high-quality options, making it challenging to decide which one is the best for you. As a hardcore nerd and TV reviewer, I've had the pleasure of testing some of the most advanced OLED TVs on the market. In this article, we'll explore my experience with three top-of-the-line OLED TVs: the Samsung QN90B, LG G3, and Sony A95L.

One of the key aspects of any TV shootout is immersion. When I'm watching a movie or playing a game on one of these TVs, I want to be completely absorbed in the visuals and audio. The screen should transport me to another world, and the sound should make me feel like I'm right there with the characters. To achieve this, it's essential to consider factors such as near-black chrominance overshoot, which can affect picture quality.

My research suggests that even when faced with technical issues, a great TV can still deliver an exceptional viewing experience. For instance, in the Germany TV shootout, the LG G3 emerged as the winner, and I must say that its performance was impressive. The TV's ability to overcome minor weaknesses and strengths makes it a net neutral choice – one that will appeal to a wide range of viewers.

However, when it comes to choosing the perfect TV for your needs, there are many factors to consider beyond technical specifications. A TV is more than just a display; it's an entertainment system that should cater to your unique preferences and viewing habits. For example, if you're someone who spends most of their time watching YouTube videos or live streams, a TV with excellent processing capabilities will be essential.

In my experience, the Sony A95L stands out as the ultimate OLED TV for me. Its exceptional picture quality, impressive sound system, and user-friendly interface make it an ideal choice for those who value image accuracy above all else. But what about you? Who among these three TVs do you think would suit your needs best?

The beauty of a TV shootout lies in its ability to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each model. By pitting one TV against another, we can identify areas where each excels or falls short. For instance, my friend who does a lot of video work and watches a significant amount of YouTube content found that the Sony A95L's processing capabilities made it the perfect choice for them.

On the other hand, someone who wants to experience the "Cutie OLED" look without breaking the bank might find the Samsung QN90B to be an excellent option. Its exceptional color accuracy and impressive brightness make it a standout in this regard.

At the end of the day, every TV has its unique strengths and weaknesses. While I argue that all three TVs are among the best on the market, I also acknowledge that not everyone will find the Sony A95L to be the perfect fit. The Samsung QN90B or LG G3 might suit your needs better.

As a hardcore nerd and TV reviewer, I appreciate the art of creating high-level standards for evaluating OLED TVs. These standards are based on an accurate representation of creator's intent – a cornerstone of my job that ensures accuracy is paramount.

However, I also recognize that not everyone will share my exact criteria. For most viewers, accuracy and adherence to creators' intent take a backseat to other factors such as price, features, and interface. All three TVs get remarkably close to upholding this standard, making it acceptable to set aside technical concerns for the time being.

Ultimately, all three OLED TVs – Samsung QN90B, LG G3, and Sony A95L – are at the top tier of what you can buy in 2023. I love each one for different reasons, just like my kids, and I hope you'll consider their unique qualities when choosing your next TV.

Whether you're a seasoned TV enthusiast or a newcomer to the world of OLED displays, I invite you to share your thoughts on these TVs in the comments section below. Which one do you think stands out from the rest? Do you have any concerns about near-black chrominance overshoot or other technical aspects that we didn't discuss here?

If so, please let us know! As always, don't forget to like and subscribe for more content, including reviews of the latest TVs and gadgets. In my next article, I'll be exploring another set of OLED TVs, so stay tuned for that as well.

And finally, before I sign off, I want to thank you for watching this video on OLED TV shootouts. It's been a pleasure sharing my expertise with you, and I look forward to your feedback in the comments section below.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThe best OLED TVs in 2023 have now been pitted against each other in three organized shootout  events so what in the world could I possibly add to the conversation at this point well how about  a different perspective welcome back everyone I'm Caleb Denison and I've been looking forward  to making this video for a long long time now not just because I knew it would be fun but  because I've been sitting on some things I want to say about the best OLED TVs of 2023 for well  several weeks at this point but I'm glad I waited and you'll soon know why I'm going to go out on a  limb here and bet that many of you are here because you're still trying to decide which  one of these amazing TVs is best for you some of you are here because you already bought one of  these TVs and maybe you're curious to hear what I have to say about your choice and and some of  you may have just decided that you're going to buy one of the best TVs made in 2023 you're just  getting up to speed and realizing there is just a ridiculous amount of content that's been made  about these TVs and you're hoping this video will tell you everything you need to know no matter  why you're here a thanks for being here and B I can't promise that I'm going to give all of you  exactly what you're hoping to see but what I can promise you is that I'm going to take this from a  different perspective than you're likely to get elsewhere at least that's my hope I spent a lot  of time thinking about this and this is the OLED versus video I really thought would be the most  valuable to the most people so with that in mind let's have some fun on the left of our  setup we have the Samsung S95C in the middle we have the Sony A95L on the right is the LG  G3 and down below is the Sony A95K which I've tossed in because it was my top pick for 2022  and I thought it would be interesting to see how things progressed year-over-year now quick note  do your best not to freak out about how the LG appears to have a green cast to it it does but it  isn't as severe as it appears on camera partially because Sony cameras themselves like our fx3 have  a slight green bias but also because QD-OLED TVs actually skew magenta and they are in the  majority on this video kind of ganging up on the LG just remember all the wrgb oleds we've loved  for years are just like this including the Sony A8L now for those of you unfamiliar there have  indeed been three TV shootout events in which all three of these TVs have competed and been judged  by industry professionals professionals including some other TV reviewers yes but mostly content  creation professionals the unsung heroes who make the movies and video that we watch folks who know  what content should look like and have keen eyes for details that many of us common folk just don't  have people for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect I make note of who has judged these  events for a reason and I'll be getting back to that as well so let's talk about those shootout  events and the winner of each of them real quick first there was the value Electronics king of TV  shootout which took place in October of 2023 I was the MC at this event which meant that I spent  most of my time trying to keep things organized and moving and trying to keep the event fun and  engaging I did get to see all the TVs together in one room and I got to see them compared to an  expensive Sony reference monitor but believe it or not I didn't have much time to really dig in  and make critical comparisons uh the winner of that shootout was the Sony A95L the next event  I'll mention is the HiFi.DE shootout in Germany this was a blind shootout and the LG G3 won this  event interestingly the A95L which won the Value Electronics shootout came in last against the LG  Panasonic and Samsung in Germany's rendition and finally there was the HDTV test shootout hosted  by Vincent Teoh this was also a double blind test and what I appreciate about Vincent's methodology  was that he did not allow the judges to be in the room when content was changed up so there was no  way to guess which TV was which and he didn't allow the judges to discuss their observations  so there was no way for one judge to mention something that a bunch of other judges would  naturally glom on to even with all those controls in place the Sony A95L came out on top overall but  was not the top performer in every category in fact all of the TVs took at least a couple of  top spots in various categories so what do I think of these TVs when compared to each other I'll tell  you shortly first let me explain some of the key differences among these TVs for anyone unfamiliar  or or maybe for anyone just lost because so many of these videos can get to be a bit much the LG  G3 here uses LG displays WRGB OLED panel with MLA technology wrgb OLED and no I will never  speak the word WOLED again past that mention right there because just no WRGB OLED uses a  white sub pixel to boost the brightness of the TV the LG G3 also has micro lens Ray technology or  MLA for short that makes sure more of the light created by the TV makes it to your eyes as such  the LG G3 is the brightest looking OLED TV of this Bunch it also carries another inherent advantage  in that it tends to come out of black better than the other TVs so it's a bit better when  it comes to showing Shadow detail but speaking of low light performance the LG G3 struggles  a little bit with darker colors compared to the other two TVs here but just a little bit the the  other two TVs the Samsung S95C and Sony A95L use QD-OLED or Quantum do OLED panels they do not use  a white sub pixel instead they have one blue OLED pixel and then the red and green colors  are made by tiny nano particles called Quantum dots these TVs have a tougher time coming out of  black so they aren't as good at Shadow detail as the LG but they do low-level color just fine and  they have higher color purity and higher color brightness which means they can make colors that  the LG can't here's a good example you'll notice both the Samsung and Sony are able to reproduce  the correct shade of red in this cactus while the LG isn't but color like we're seeing here in this  demo footage rarely pops up in the content that we get at home today though my hope is that we'll see  more of this extended color range in the years to come now since the Samsung and Sony both use  the same panel the key difference in the pictures they produce comes down down to picture processing  which is extremely important picture processing is what makes a brand's TV look the way it does it's  the reason why so many TVs use the same panels but still manage to have very distinctive looks  and there are some other differences between these TVs that are not related to picture quality each  of them has an advanced audio system the Samsung has a bunch of bass transducers on the back while  the LG has a more conventional audio system with down firing speakers but still manages to sound  pretty good but the Sony bests them all because it's got Bas drivers on the back and the screen  itself makes sound so the sound seems to come from objects on the screen because it literally  is the remotes are also different Samsung's is rechargeable and has solar cells on the back LG's  is the Wii style magic motion remote and Sony's is pretty conventional but at least it's back lit and  then there's the way that we use and interact with the TVs the Samsung uses Samsung's tyen interface  the LG uses LG's WebOS interface and the Sony uses Google TV so we've got those things going on for  each of the three TVs let's add some more unique features to each television the LG comes with a  no gap gallery Mount in the box but no tabletop stand you can buy a stand for it from LG and it  rotates but it also rakes the TV back a little bit third party stands can also be used also the  G3 supports everything right free sync gsync and all the HDR formats the Samsung comes with a one  connect box that lets you attach everything to the one box then run a single cable up to the TV also  the Samsung offers some unique integration with Samsung Soundbars including Wireless Dolby Atmos  signal delivery for cable connection as well as Q Symphony sound which coordinates the TV  speakers with the Samsung soundbar systems also the S95C is the only one of these TVs that will  support 14 44 HZ for PC gaming the Sony comes with a Bravia Cam that lets you use the TV for  video meetings and video calls plus a bunch of other clever video related features plus it can  access Bravia core which offers the best streaming movie quality available even if it only has movies  under the Sony Pictures umbrella the Sony is my top pick for just about every nonp picture quality  element I prefer its audio by a fair bit it's remote by a little and it's Google TV interface  by a lot the LG and Samsung do have something going for them that the Sony doesn't though and  that's for HDMI 2.1 inputs now most folks don't need more than two HDMI 2.1 inputs and Sony's  got that many but folks do need to have two free HDMI 2.1 inputs if they want to connect both an  Xbox series X and a PlayStation 5 or one of those consoles and a gaming PC and also use a soundbar  or AV receiver and because the Sony occupies one of its HDMI 2.1 ports as the EC Port that means  you can't have a soundbar or AV receiver connected and also connect to NextGen game consoles directly  to the TV very specific limitation but really how many folks will this very specifically negatively  affect on the whole not that many but it is a specific enough limitation that Sony is going  to be immediately eliminated as an option for those very specific folks okay so that's all the  not picture quality related stuff that I think is worth mentioning and removing picture quality I  personally prefer the Sony for the reasons I just explained your priorities however may have you  feeling different already but now finally we have to bring in the picture quality element so what's  the verdict when we compare these TVs well if we pick them apart nit by nit literally nitpick  we can hardcore nerd out and talk for hours about the differences but that's been done over and over  and over I'm not here to do that today I'm here to deliver the message that is just not getting  across through all this deliberation among video professionals who are understandably mired in the  details because that's their job so here's that message all three of these TVs are spectacular  really they are all just superb the likelihood that you buy anyone of these three TVs get it  home and are anything less than just thrilled slim to none and the differences among them they are so  specific and minute that unless you're a video professional you'd never know in fact I almost  hate stacking these TVs side by side here because the differences are a distraction to most folks  you're going to see things in a comparison like this that you would never be aware of when just  sitting at home and watching TV another thing I don't think is being talked about enough is that  the scores I'd give these TVs the differences are going to be out in the H hundredth decimal place  the Samsung S95C gets so dang close to the Sony A95L that honestly I have to look at the price  difference and say that if you want a QD-OLED the Samsung S95C makes way more sense for most  folks as a matter of fact the step down model the S90C that QD-OLED 100% makes the most sense  for most people no the Samsung does not have Dolby Vision but I'm struggling to find real  world examples of when not having DolbyVvision is actually a disadvantage in real world viewing  LG3 also gorgeous and it has slightly brighter appeal that a lot of folks are going to like  it's slightly better in the shadow details too are lowlevel colors less saturated sure you're going  to notice that I highly doubt it the brightness boost kind of makes up for it we also know the  LG G3 has trouble with something called near black chrominance overshoot which in compressed content  like what you get from Netflix looks like banding and noise in really dark scenes where you have  like a candle flickering in a dark room video experts are quick to notice this will you and  if you do will it bother you I highly doubt it what do you watch TV for the the story getting  immersed in the visuals and the audio and the story together maybe that's going to happen and  you aren't going to have time to worry about near black chrominance overshoot that kind of thing  should not sway your decision you know who else's decision it did not sway all the folks in the  Germany TV shootout they voted the G3 number one you're starting to get where I'm going with this  they are all winners you'll be proud to own any of them and for every little tiny weakness that each  of these TVs has there's a little tiny strength that offsets it for me it's a net neutral and  for you I think it'll be be the same ultimately it's going to come down to price and features  and interface and a bunch of other little unique touch points that make a TV what you need it to be  that's what you should focus on for example I had somebody reach out to me who was having trouble  deciding between getting the LG G3 along with a Sennheiser Ambeo Plus Soundbar that combo and the  Sony A95L on its own for about the same price at the end of the day audio was a big enough deal to  this person that the G3 and Ambeo plus combo was the smarter buy so that's what he went with and  he's going to be thrilled I have another friend who does a lot of video work and who watches a lot  of YouTube and live streaming TV this is someone who is pretty picky about picture quality can't  afford to get a professional calibration on top of the price of the TV and they benefit from the best  possible processing so that person is going to get the Sony A95L and then I have another cohort who  really wants the Cutie OLED look but frankly is not so picky that they are going to need to spend  all the extra money they would have to spend to get the Sony for that person the Samsung is 100%  the smart call so guys hopefully I've made my point here is the Sony A95L my favorite TV yes  because I'm a hardcore nerd and a TV reviewer and that's the one that suits me best is it  categorically the best TV of 2023 for me it is is it the best TV of 2023 for you maybe it is maybe  it isn't the best OLED TV of 2023 for you might be the S95C and it might be the LG G3 OLED folks it's  fun to get buried in the minutia but at some point we need to stop pretending like there's a one-size  fits-all set of criteria for judging what's best for you I appreciate the shootouts because it's a  highlevel analysis of the TVs according to some very elevated standards and we need that those  standards are based on accurate representation of creator's intent or accuracy and that is vital  hell it's a cornerstone of my job but accuracy and adherence to creators intent isn't the number one  priority for most folks and I would argue that all three of these TVs get so close to upholding  that standard anyway that even video files can set that concern aside at the end of the day all three  of these TVs are at the very top tier of what you can buy and I love all of them and I love  them for different reasons because they are all special in their own way just like my kids and I  hope you'll consider thinking of it in the same way too thanks as always for watching Everybody  what do you think of my OLED TV versus this year please reain the comments down in the comment  section I can't wait to read them don't forget to like And subscribe I'll see you on the next one  and until then here's two other videos I think you might likeand I forgot to write an outro\n"