If you’re thinking about upgrading your TV in time for the World Cup, you may already be discovering that the world of TVs is incredibly confusing these days. With different screen technology options, a wide range of sizes, and prices ranging from a few hundred dollars or pounds to several thousand, making a decision is not simple.
Don’t worry, because we are here to help you. Our team of reviewers tested the best TVs on the market, paying particular attention to sports viewing because live sports demand smooth handling of fast-paced action. And in this guide, I will explain the most important features when buying a TV for sports and why they are important.
Note that not everything you need to consider will be listed on the box. I’ve highlighted the key things to look out for, but much of this information is more likely to be found in online store reviews and descriptions, rather than on the packaging itself.
Good scaling and motion handling
Technically two features, but scaling and motion handling go hand in hand to provide clarity when watching sports – and if only one of the two is good, you’ll end up disappointed.
Upscaling is the process by which a 4K TV takes a low-resolution video and transforms it into a higher-resolution video to fill all of its pixels. Most people won’t be able to watch the World Cup in 4K natively, so upscaling will be necessary. There are many ways for TVs to do this, and these days many models advertise themselves as using AI-assisted upscaling.
Motion management is a similar process but for the movement of objects on the screen. A television will modify the image to improve the appearance of moving objects, because in digital video, the rapid movement of an object like a kicked ball is difficult for video encoders to track. This means it can lose a lot of detail in motion, making fast-moving objects, like a football, blurry or smeared, or even leaving ghostly trails behind.
Motion management is designed to track fast-moving elements such as the ball and players, then process them to reduce blur and other motion issues so that the action is clear and easier for the viewer to follow. Some TVs can even generate new frames, creating the impression of a higher frame rate and smoother motion.
The downside of poorly implemented motion management – in some cheaper models, for example – is that such changes can appear strange and unnatural. The ball may have a strange halo around it, players will appear strangely tough, and the overall look will be very artificial, instead of naturally more detailed.
And that’s why motion management and scaling technology need to work together to achieve the best results. For example, higher upscaling can add a lot of detail, but if the motion processing is poor, that detail can become blurry in fast-action shots and hard to see. Likewise, if the motion processing is great but the upscaler adds weird edges to the ball, it will again undo the hard work.
LG’s OLED TVs, such as the LG C5 or LG G6, are excellent at upscaling and motion, as are Samsung’s high-end TVs, including the Samsung QN90F and Samsung S95F. Sony TVs have had a great reputation for years, but more recently we’ve found LG and Samsung to be superior. TCL and Hisense TVs generally handle these elements well in mid-range models, with the Hisense U8QG and TCL QM7K (both US models) being particularly impressive for their respective prices. Amazon’s Ember QLED TV is also decent compared to most budget TVs, as is the Roku Plus series in the US.
Good screen uniformity
You may have heard of the “dirty screen effect.” Basically, screen uniformity is the ability of a TV to display an evenly lit image across the entire screen, without areas that appear darker. This is a problem that mainly affects LCD TVs, including LED, QLED, mini-LED, and RGB models.
LCD TVs work by shining a backlight made up of LEDs through a grid of pixels, and the design of this backlight plays a major role in the uniformity of the screen. If the LEDs are unevenly arranged or lit, some areas of the screen may appear slightly darker or brighter than others. This is especially noticeable in scenes with large areas of solid color – the grass on a football field, for example.
If the uniformity of your TV screen is poor, you will see strange dark spots rippling across the field as the camera tracks the ball. Some people might mistake it for dust, hence its informal name.
The larger a TV, the more susceptible it may be to the dirty screen effect, simply because there is a larger area that needs to be illuminated evenly. This is why opting for a very high budget model can sometimes work against you, as they are less likely to feature the higher quality backlighting required to maintain consistent screen uniformity.
While you can’t know for sure how a particular TV will perform, you can get an idea by considering the number of “dimming zones” listed in a TV’s specifications. In general, more dimming zones means more control over the backlight, which often goes hand-in-hand with a higher number of LEDs in the panel and better screen uniformity. It’s also worth checking out reviews where people discuss screen uniformity.
I’ve talked a lot about LED TVs here, but what about OLED? In theory, OLED TVs have screen uniformity issues because each pixel is its own LED. OLEDs can have issues with picture smoothness, but this is more likely to be the result of an actual defect rather than just a poor quality TV.
An anti-glare screen
Watching sports usually means a lot of viewing during the day, which usually means a lot of light. Even if you are watching in the evening, there may be many lights on in your room. The glossy screens of most TVs reflect like a mirror, making it difficult to see what’s on the screen.
Mirror-like reflections are particularly distracting, not only because they distract your attention from the game, but also because your eyes will naturally try to focus on the reflection rather than the image on the TV. Since the reflection appears to be at a different distance from the TV image, constant refocusing between the two can cause eye strain.
TVs use several methods to reduce reflections, and almost all TVs come with a built-in polarizer to help control how light passes through the panel. However, on budget TVs this can be very basic and so doesn’t seem to make a huge difference in bright rooms.
So on a more affordable TV, higher brightness can often be the best method to counteract glare. Mini-LED TVs excel here because they use a large number of tiny LEDs, allowing them to produce much higher brightness across the entire screen than OLED TVs can achieve.
Some televisions also have specific anti-reflective layers. Samsung’s high-end mini-LED and OLED TVs feature a “Glare Free” coating, which is essentially a matte layer that diffuses light rather than reflecting it. Any reflections appear more like a faint haze rather than an object in focus, making them easier to manage by the TV’s brightness and therefore less distracting to the viewer. Hisense has also added a less aggressive matte layer to its high-end and mid-range mini-LED TVs. The LG G6 OLED TV includes a very impressive layer that significantly reduces the brightness of mirror-like reflections.
Basically, if you’re watching your TV in a bright room, the higher the brightness level on your TV, the better – and a high-end TV with an extra anti-glare layer will help even more.
Sound that extends beyond the screen
When you watch the World Cup, you want to feel immersed in the atmosphere of the event, and sound plays a major role in that. While crowd noise seems confined to the TV itself, it’s hard to forget that you’re simply watching a screen. But when the sound seems to come from beyond the beaten path, you’ll feel more like you’re part of the action.
Likewise, sound with deeper bass and clearer highs will provide a more immersive feel, as the drums, stamping, vocals, and roars of an entire crowd will sound fuller and more realistic.
Again, while there’s no way to know for sure from specs alone whether a TV will deliver a decent result, you can make an educated guess.
Budget TVs are likely to have a very basic speaker system, usually comprising just two small downward-pointing speakers. As such, their ability to engulf you in audio will be limited. If a TV only has a 2.0 channel speaker system, chances are it will sound weak.
A TV with front- or side-facing speakers is much more likely to deliver rich sound. Look for models whose specifications include a bass system (either a subwoofer or simply passive bass radiators), which helps achieve bass sound much more complete.
The good news is that mid-range and above TVs are increasingly capable of delivering full, well-managed sound right out of the box. Models like the TCL QM7K and Hisense U7 perform well in this area, but upgrade to the TCL QM8K, Hisense U8, or especially the Samsung QN90F, and you’ll experience a much larger and more spacious feel.
Of course, another way to ensure superb sound quality is to use a soundbar or speaker system. At this time of year, you’ll find plenty of TV deals with soundbars built in or offered at low prices, so stay tuned. It’s possible that a mid-priced TV with an affordable soundbar will prove to be the most beneficial combination for mixing a big screen with powerful sound.
A large screen size balanced with the price
Many people looking to buy a TV to watch the World Cup will be tempted to go for the largest screen possible, and many huge sizes available for little more than the cost of a 65-inch model, which will further encourage people to think big.
But bigger isn’t necessarily better, because of all the factors I mentioned above. All the potential dangers I mentioned. Poor motion handling, weak detail, uneven screen uniformity, distracting reflections, and limited sound are all more noticeable on a larger screen, where flaws have nowhere to hide.
If you have a budget of $1,000 to spend, you can buy a basic 85-inch TV, or a good 75-inch model, or a better quality 65-inch TV. How you balance size, quality, and budget is ultimately a personal choice, but it’s important to note that unless your budget increases along with screen size, you’ll generally be trading performance for square footage.
If you’re wondering what the “right” screen size is for your particular setup, check out this calculator to help you figure it out:
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