Best TVs for Xbox Series X / S (Gaming, 4K, 8K, HDMI 2.1) in

Which best tv for next-gen gaming 4K TVs best convey the strengths of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S? We recommend the best gaming TVs from low budget to high end. Gamers have different demands on a new 4K TV. Here we also present the best gaming TVs, from cheap to high end.

4K TVs for Xbox Series X and S

Which 4K TV is the best for gaming? The question depends, among other things, on the console used. The Xbox One X creates native 4K, the PS4 Pro can extrapolate from lower resolutions. Even PS4 Slim and Xbox One S can benefit from features like HDR. For PS5, Xbox Series X, and S 4K will no longer be a problem anyway.

Here we recommend what we believe to be the best 4K gaming televisions from entry-level to high-end TVs. We are guided by numerous tests and personal experiences.

With 4K at 120 fps and, for the first time, gaming in 8K, the new consoles will enable gaming in unprecedented resolution. Speaking of fps : What is meant here is not “first person shooter”, but frames per second – images per second. Both devices will also support the HDMI standard 2.1 and thus, among other things, the Auto Low Latency Mode ALLM and the Variable Refresh Rate VRR . The Playstation will probably rely on the HDR standard HDR10, while the Xbox Series X will even have Dolby Vision on board.

8K TV For Xbox Series X and S

Both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X support 8K resolution and 120 fps at 4K. Whether and with which games it will actually be possible to take advantage of this is currently still completely open. If you want to be prepared for any eventuality, you should still make sure to choose a device that is future-proof when buying your next television.

That means: You not only need a TV that has a display with the said resolution and a refresh rate of 120 Hz, but also an HMDI 2.1 connection. In this article we introduce you to some of the best models in various price ranges and also explain what HDMI 2.1 is all about.

What does HDMI 2.1 bring for gaming?

HDMI 2.1 has a bandwidth of 48 Gbit / s compared to 18 Gbit / s with HDMI 2.0b. In principle, this enables the playback of 8K content at 60 fps or 4K content at up to 120 fps. For TVs with HDMI 2.0, only 60 fps at 4K are possible. While gaming with 8K resolution currently sounds rather unrealistic, it seems quite possible that at least less complex titles can achieve more than 60 fps at 4K.

The following features are also often associated with HDMI 2.1:

• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR): With VRR, the TV can adapt to the frame rate of the console. This prevents screen tearing when playing and reduces input lag.
• Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM): ALLM enables the console to automatically switch the television to the mode with the lowest latency, thus ensuring low input lag.
• Enhanced Audio Return Chanel (eARC): eARC enables the television to transmit high-bandwidth sound to external sound systems. Formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS: X can be played back uncompressed, which is particularly important for complex surround sound systems.

These three features are in principle also possible without real HDMI 2.1 and should therefore not be understood as proof that the television in question actually has a connection with the full bandwidth of 48 Gbit / s.

By the way: If you choose the Xbox Series S, you don’t need HDMI 2.1. The console is designed to play at 1440p at up to 120 fps, which is also possible in principle with HDMI 2.0b, which is now standard. However, you should inform yourself carefully before buying whether the selected television actually supports this combination of frame rate and resolution.

Which TVs support HDMI 2.1?

This question is not so easy to answer, especially since some televisions support certain features, but still do not fully comply with the HDMI 2.1 standard. For this reason, we explain below in more detail what you can expect from which manufacturer.

In general, you will only find TVs display with HDMI 2.1 in mid-range and upper-class 4K televisions that have a 100/120 Hertz display. Televisions that only come to 1080p or have a 50/60 Hertz panel do not use the bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 anyway. For 8K televisions, however, HDMI 2.1 is the norm.

List of Best TVs for Xbox Series X / S

Below are our top picks for good quality best tv for xbox series x / s gaming 4K, 8K, HDMI 2.1 in 2021.

1. LG B9 Series 65″ 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED Gaming TV
2. SAMSUNG 65-inch Class QLED Q70T Series
3. LG 55UN7300PUF Alexa Built-In UHD 73 Series 55″ 4K Smart UHD TV
4. LG C9 Series Smart OLED TV – 65″ 4K Ultra HD with Alexa Built-in
5. The LG OLED65CXPUA 65 inch CX 4K Smart OLED TV with AI ThinQ
6. LG SIGNATURE Alexa Built-In ZX 77″ 8K Smart OLED TV
7. SAMSUNG 55-inch Class QLED Q80T Series
8. Samsung 8K TV for Xbox Series X 65-inch Class QLED Q800T Series
9. Sony X900H 55 Inch TV: 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV with HDR

1. LG B9 Series 65″ 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED Gaming TV

The LG OLED B9 is available in 55, 65 or 77 inches. The latter variant has been added with this generation. Also new in comparison to the B8 is the HDMI 2.1 connection, which should enable high frame rate content with up to 120 Hz in 4K in the future, as well as the support of VRR.

The more expensive C9, to which the B9 is otherwise very similar, also has all these features. There is almost no difference in image quality. It is very high on both models, thanks to the good contrast and the fantastic black levels that you can expect from an OLED TV. There is no difference in sound either. Both have a 2.2 sound system with an output of 40 watts. The peak brightness of 600 cd / m² is a bit lower for the B9.

Otherwise, the only difference is the B9’s slower processor. At the moment, the resulting advantage of the C9 is hardly noticeable. That could change at some point if the possibilities of HDMI 2.1 are fully exploited and the processor has to deal with said HFR content in 4K. It is difficult to predict whether the difference will actually be big enough to justify the surcharge.

The successor to the B9, which will be released in 2021, will be called LG OLED BX . Its new processor should be a bit more powerful, it should also have two (albeit slightly limited) HDMI 2.1 connections and support the new Dolby Vision IQ. The latter adjusts the brightness of the display to the brightness of the room. If you want to connect a PC with an NVIDIA graphics card, you can also look forward to G-Sync. The new black frame insertion, on the other hand, will probably only be used in more expensive models such as the CX.

Among the 4K TVs of the upper class, the comparatively inexpensive B9 has a very good price-performance ratio. With its more powerful processor, the C9 offers a little more security for the future, but thanks to HDMI 2.1 and VRR, the B9 should also be equipped for the coming years, especially since the progress made with the successor is likely to be limited. There is nothing to complain about in terms of image quality, but that was also the case with the predecessor.

2. SAMSUNG 65-inch Class QLED Q70T Series

The Samsung Q70T already offers pretty much everything gamers need in the mid-range. HDMI 2.1 is also included, at least in a reduced form.

The Q70T hardly differs from the cheaper Q60T in terms of most features . In contrast and peak brightness, for example, it is only slightly better. At least that doesn’t matter when it comes to contrast, because this is also excellent on the Q60T. The brightness should be a bit higher with a VA-LED of this price range and there is no local dimming either. The Q80T already offers significantly more.

The two biggest advantages of the Q70T compared to the cheaper model are the 100/120 Hz panel, which ensures smoother movement display, and the support for HDMI 2.1 features. As with all 4K QLEDs from Samsung from the Q70T upwards, this is not a full HDMI 2.1, but a slightly limited version that can deliver 120 fps at 4K. However, this only works on port 4.

Like all current QLEDs from Samsung, the Q70T is also ideal for gaming. The input lag is around 10 ms at 60 Hz, at 120 Hz it even drops to 6 ms. Otherwise, the Q70T offers the quality that can be expected from other Samsung TVs, with a clear operating system, many apps and satisfactory, if not particularly powerful, speakers.

The picture quality may not be much higher than the Q60T, but with its 120 Hz panel and at least limited HDMI 2.1, the Q70T provides two features that are particularly important for gaming. The surcharge can be worthwhile for gamers, especially since there are currently hardly any cheaper alternatives if you want HDMI 2.1. In the meantime, the price, which was still too high at the time of the release, has fallen so far that you can safely recommend a purchase.

3. LG 55UN7300PUF Alexa Built-In UHD 73 Series 55″ 4K Smart UHD TV

The LG UN7300 is available in sizes 50, 55 and 65 inches. Apart from design and sizes, it differs only slightly from the LG UN7100 and LG UN7400. As in previous years, there are big differences between the sizes: With the UN7300, only the 50-inch version has a VA panel. The larger variants have IPS panels with less viewing angle dependency, but much lower contrast.

The contrast of the IPS panels has even decreased a little compared to the predecessor. The peak brightness is also a little lower at 284 cd / m² in SDR and 354 cd / m ² in HDR. That hardly makes a difference and the values ​​are even a little better than most other TVs in this price range. Still, these are sobering data for those who had hoped for improvement.

It looks a bit better with input lag. This is now below 10 ms, but was already very low with the predecessor at 11 ms. There is still no complaint about the operating system. It’s reliable, easy to use, and supports a ton of apps. You don’t get that with all TVs in the lower price range.

Like its predecessors from the UM series, the LG UN7300 is also a good low-budget television and well worth the money. Unfortunately, there has been next to no progress this year. On the contrary: The UN7300 is even slightly worse than the LG UM7300. That makes it a bit of a disappointment, even if it is still well suited for gamers due to its low input lag.

4. LG C9 Series Smart OLED TV – 65″ 4K Ultra HD with Alexa Built-in

LG currently offers the largest selection of TVs with HDMI 2.1 support. The high-quality OLED TVs already met the standard in 2019, as did the best normal LEDs such as the SM9000 and SM9500. In the meantime, HDMI 2.1 has also arrived in some mid-range models: The NANO series, the successor to the SM series from 2019, supports HDMI 2.1 from the NANO85 upwards.

LG justifies the savings not entirely without good reason by the fact that there is currently no content that uses the full bandwidth anyway. If you still don’t want to do without full-fledged HDMI 2.1, you just have to resort to the 8K models such as the Z9 or ZX or the 4k TVs from 2019 such as the C9 or the SM9000.

As with all LG OLEDs from 2019, all four HDMI ports of the C9 have full HDMI 2.1 support with 48 Gbit / s. You couldn’t be better equipped for the new generation of consoles. The image quality is excellent due to the deep black and the resulting high contrast that OLEDs always offer. The peak brightness is generally somewhat lower with OLEDs, but with the C9 it is still quite high at around 850 cd / m².

The C9 is also very suitable for gamers thanks to the low input lag of 14 ms or 7 ms with VRR. It is also characterized by the strong Alpha 9 image processor, while the cheaper LG OLED B9 has to be satisfied with the weaker Alpha 7. The difference is not too noticeable in practice, which is why the B9 is a good alternative.

5. LG OLED65CXPUA 65 inch CX 4K Smart OLED TV with AI ThinQ

The successor to the C9 only has limited HDMI 2.1 with approx. 40 Gbit / s, which is available on all four ports. In terms of quality, the CX hardly differs from the C9. The biggest advance is that it supports black frame insertion at 120 Hz. Moving black images appear even more fluid, but at the expense of the peak brightness. BFI is not an essential feature, especially since you would have to do without VRR in games.

The input lag is around 14 ms at 60Hz, a good 7 ms at 120 Hz, which is roughly the same as the C9. Since the CX is currently significantly more expensive, it makes more sense to use the C9 for the time being. The LG OLED BX, which is a cheaper alternative in the long term, was only released recently and is therefore even more expensive in comparison.

6. LG SIGNATURE Alexa Built-In ZX 77″ 8K Smart OLED TV

The LG OLED ZX9 combines some of the best, but also most expensive features of current televisions and has a correspondingly high price.

The LG OLED ZX or ZX9 is the most expensive model on our list at almost 20,000 dollarss for the smallest variant (77 inches). This is no wonder, as it combines three properties with 8K resolution, OLED display and huge screen diagonal that have their price.

Of course, there is no shortage of equipment in this price range. For example, it has an integrated 4.2 sound system. We don’t have any precise data on the input lag, but we assume that it will be as low as in other LG models. In principle, the ZX should be very suitable for gamers, but of course it offers a lot more than you need for the new consoles.

7. SAMSUNG 55-inch Class QLED Q80T Series

The Samsung Q80T offers significantly higher image quality than the Q70T and represents a good compromise between price and performance.

The Samsung Q80T is a good compromise between price and performance. With a peak brightness of over 700 cd / m ² , it can make better use of HDR than the Q70T, although it is far from the blinding brightness of the Q90T. In contrast to the Q70T, just like the Q90T, it also has full array local dimming.

There are no notable differences in gaming properties compared to other QLEDs from Samsung. With an input lag of around 10 ms at 60 Hz and 5 to 6 ms at 120 Hz, it is just as ideal for gaming as the Q70T.

8. Samsung 8K TV for Xbox Series X 65-inch Class QLED Q800T Series

The Samsung Q800T is quite cheap for an 8K TV, but still costs a lot of money. Cheaper, but not cheap. The Q800T is Samsung’s cheapest 8K TV from 2020 and therefore also the cheapest model with full HDMI 2.1. At well over 3,000 dollars in the smallest variant (65 inches), it still has a steep price.

The contrast is not as high as normally with a VA panel because Samsung uses a filter layer that reduces the dependence on the viewing angle. However, it compensates for this with very good full array local dimming with 480 zones and a high peak brightness of over 1,300 cd / m ².

The input lag of around 10 ms at 60 Hz and just under 6 ms at 120 Hz is just as low as with the 4K QLEDS. Apart from the 8K resolution, the overall picture quality is not better than that of the Q80T or Q90T. Since you will hardly benefit from 8K when gaming for the foreseeable future, the hefty surcharge is not worth it if you are primarily interested in a television for gaming.

9. Sony X900H 55 Inch TV: 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV with HDR

The Sony XH90 in its various variants (e.g. XH9005, XH9077, XH9096) is Sony’s only 4K TV with HDMI 2.1 in 2021.

The XH9005, like the technically almost identical variants (XH9077, XH9096, XH9288, XH9299), is roughly on par with the Samsung Q80T in terms of image quality. Like this one, it has full array local dimming. The entire display is divided into zones, the brightness of which is individually adapted to the scene.

The contrast of 4267: 1 or 4786: 1 with local dimming is even a lot higher than the more expensive XH9505. In contrast, it is inferior in terms of peak brightness, but still does well with almost 740 cd / m ² .

The input lag is a good 15 ms at 60 Hz and around 7 ms at 120 Hz. This makes the Sony XH90 very suitable for gaming. In this respect, too, it is superior to the more expensive XH9505 (19 ms at 60 Hz, 11 ms at 120 Hz).

No wonder then that Sony is promoting this model as the only one of its 4K televisions with the slogan “Ready for PlayStation 5”. However, it is not really ready yet, you have to wait for the necessary firmware update for HDMI 2.1.

What you need to know when buying a 4K TV

We explain the most important terms and tell you what you as a gamer should look out for when buying a 4K TV. We answer these frequently asked questions.

What does 4K bring in gaming?

Televisions with a resolution of 3,840×2,160 pixels are summarized under the term UHD TV or 4K TV. It took a while for 4K / UHD to actually catch on in the market. For a long time, the Full HD resolution (1,920×1,080 pixels) was considered sufficient, especially for gaming, since the PlayStation 4 Slim and Xbox One S only calculate the games in Full HD anyway.

That changed with the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. The Xbox One X manages the calculation of images in native 4K, provided that the games offer this resolution at all. Games that only offer 1080p can be upscaled. The PS4 Pro usually has to extrapolate the images. Which native resolution is used depends on the game. Sometimes upscaling to full 4K is dispensed with and instead you get a resolution of, for example, 1440p or 1080p, which is still a significant improvement over full HD resolution (1080p).

The Xbox One s and PS4 Slim do not benefit directly from the 4K resolution, but most modern UHD televisions offer another purchase argument that also benefits the weaker consoles: HDR or High Dynamic Range.

What is HDR?

High dynamic range describes the television’s ability to display images with particularly high contrasts. What doesn’t sound very spectacular at first, can provide significantly enhanced graphics, especially for games – and that also with Playstation 4 Slim and Xbox One S, since HDR hardly costs any performance. How good HDR actually looks, however, depends heavily on the brightness and black levels of the TV and also on the implementation in the respective game.

PS4 and Xbox One both support HDR, but the PS4 only manages the lower quality HDR10. Since an update in 2018, Xbox One S and Xbox One X even support Dolby Vision, which has so far only been used in a few games, for example in current titles based on the Frostbyte engine from Electronic Arts. If the television is only used for gaming, the higher quality Dolby Vision does not necessarily have to be on board, especially since corresponding TVs are usually noticeably more expensive than pure HDR10 models.

• HDR – HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a high contrast mode for additional levels of brightness. If HDR is supported, this does not automatically mean an impressive picture. It depends on the maximum brightness, which is why not every HDR television is also well suited for HDR (see our note below).
• 10 bit – For a long time, many televisions only differentiated a maximum of 256 brightness levels (8 bit); in contrast to HDR, this is called LDR (Low Dynamic Range). HDR playback requires 10 bits and thus 1024 levels of brightness. This HDR mode is now not only supported by many televisions, but also consoles such as Sony’s Playstation 4 (Slim) and Playstation 4 Pro as well as Microsoft’s Xbox One S and Xbox One X.

• Dolby Vision – Dolby Vision supports brightness levels in 12 bit, i.e. with 4096 levels. Ideally, the HDR effect is much more noticeable. In addition, Dolby Vision dynamically adapts to the scene, so the television can react to changing light conditions with every new picture. Only the Xbox One currently supports Dolby Vision.
• Dolby Vision IQ – The Dolby Vision IQ, released in 2020, is a further development of Dolby Vision. It enables the brightness of the room to be measured using sensors and the brightness of the screen to be adjusted accordingly.
• HDR10 + – Dolby Vision is very expensive due to license fees. The license-free HDR10 + was developed as a cheap alternative by Samsung and Panasonic, among others. It uses some techniques similar to Dolby Vision and is actually a significant improvement over regular HDR10, but doesn’t quite come close to Dolby Vision.
• Ultra HD Premium – Some TVs have the Ultra HD Premium logo on them. You have to meet a few criteria for high-quality HDR playback: In addition to the UHD resolution of 3,840×2,160 pixels and a color depth of 10 bits, the BT 2020 color space (with high color depth) must be supported. The brightness achieved and the black level are also subject to strict rules. If you want a really suitable HDR television, you should pay attention to this seal.

Important note: Current low-budget UHD televisions mostly officially support HDR or even HDR +, but they do not have the necessary properties to be able to use this technology properly. The peak brightness in particular is often too low. But where there is no brightness, it is logically of no use to graduate it. If you really want to benefit from HDR, you need at least a mid-range 4K TV.

What is the difference between LED, OLED and QLED?

LED TVs are televisions with standard LCD screens and an LED backlight. Because LCD screens absolutely need this backlight, these televisions are poor at displaying dark images. To display a black screen, a black filter is simply placed over the lighting, through which light still penetrates, almost like a lampshade.

OLED TVs are more complex to manufacture and therefore expensive, but have a significantly higher picture quality. They don’t need a backlight and can therefore reproduce a really dark black. Although many LCD televisions offer higher brightness, HDR usually works best with OLED due to the good black value.

In addition, there is a low input lag thanks to the very good response times of the OLEDs. For this reason, ghosting, the after-radiation of the background lighting during fast movements, hardly occurs with OLEDs. The same applies to the dreaded backlight bleeding, in which the liquid crystals let light through in places where it is not wanted, i.e. in dark scenes in films or games.

But there is a low risk of burn-in . Bright picture elements that are always in the same place (such as logos from TV channels or UI elements in games) could theoretically burn themselves into the panel. There are also protective mechanisms in current OLEDs. In an emergency, for example, they can shift the image by a few pixels and thus change the position of bright elements or automatically recognize logos and reduce their brightness.

QLED TVs , also known as Nano Cell Displays or Triluminos TVs, are classic LCD TVs whose panels have been provided with a layer of nanoparticles in order to achieve better picture quality. In fact, the color rendering is improved by these quantum dots, so that, in the best case, the image impression can almost come close to that of an OLED. Real OLEDs still offer the best quality overall.

What is input lag?

The input lag of many televisions is rarely designed to meet the requirements of best next gen console gaming in the delivery state. The picture enhancement functions of the respective television ensure that the TV picture is sometimes prettier, but they also delay the playback of the console picture and thus sometimes cause noticeable delays on controller inputs (called: »input lag«).

Gaming mode : Especially with fast shooters or racing games, milliseconds are important, which can be saved by switching off these parameters. The current TV generation therefore usually comes with a preset gaming mode in which the input lag is as low as possible. With this, many of the image enhancement systems are simply switched off. Ideally, you can readjust yourself and switch functions on or off as required.

Satisfactory up to 40 ms: In our comparison, we rated input lags between 10 and 20 ms as very good, input lags between 20 and 30 ms are considered good. An input lag of 30 to 40 ms is still in an acceptable range for gamers. What lies above is usually still reasonable, at least in single-player games. Still, you can expect more these days. Input lags of less than 10 ms are currently only possible with FreeSync (see below).

Very subjective: How much the differences affect the input lag is very subjective. Some players hardly notice even input lags of 100 ms. In general, if you only play single-player games anyway, it is easier to accept a higher input lag. In very fast multiplayer games, a few hundredths of a second can make a big difference.

Response time: You shouldn’t confuse the input lag with the response time ! The response time is the time that a pixel needs to change its state. It is measured either in black-white-time (BWT) or gray-to-gray-time (GTG) and is often a few milliseconds. Even if a fast response time is of course good when gaming, it does not mean that the television reacts quickly to your inputs.

Which connections do I need?

HDMI 2.0: HDMI 2.0 is currently still the measure of all things when it comes to the connection between console and television. For UHD content with HDR it has to be HDMI 2.0, the Playstation 4 Slim can only handle Full HD with HDR without HDMI 2.0.

HDMI 2.0 also supports modern audio features such as Dolby Atmos and DTS X (but only in compressed form, in contrast to HDMI 2.1) as well as HDCP 2.2 copy protection, which is important for streaming and films. Attention: Some televisions do not support HDMI 2.0 on every connection, this requires a little attention when buying. At least if a newer type of AV receiver is not used anyway.

HDMI 2.1: 4K TVs with HDMI 2.1 connections will appear in 2019. These connections have a much higher bandwidth (48 Gbit / s instead of 18 Gbit / s with HDMI 2.0b) and in theory allow the playback of 8K content at 60 fps or high frame rate content at 120 fps in 4K. Televisions from 2018 such as the LG OLED C8 can partially do the latter, just not via HDMI.

At the moment, however, you hardly benefit from the high bandwidth, because 8K content is rare and the current consoles manage 60 fps at best anyway. But that should change with the new PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. If you want to be prepared for the future, you can already pay attention to HDMI 2.1.

However, it is often not easy to see which televisions have the new connection, as many manufacturers advertise with HDMI 2.1 features (e.g. VRR, ALLM or eARC), although the televisions do not have a full HDMI 2.1. It is important to get detailed information here. If the manufacturer promises 120 fps at 4K, one can assume that it is at least approximately full HDMI 2.1 of approx. 40 Gbit / s or better.

50 or 100 Hz?

These 50 Hz televisions also achieve 60 fps. When asked whether a 50 Hz display is sufficient for gaming, a common misunderstanding must first be cleared up: If the frame rate of a television is specified as 50 Hz, this does not mean that it can only reproduce 50 frames per second. “50 Hz” or “100 Hz” refer to the power grid frequency, which is 50 Hz in this country, but 60 Hz in North America and Japan. However, the televisions can handle both frequencies and switch over as required. The refresh rate is therefore occasionally given as “50/60 Hz” or “100/120 Hz”.

Better for the eye: the higher the refresh rate, the smoother fast movements can be displayed. One might think that a 50/60 Hz television would be completely sufficient for gaming, since the console delivers a maximum of 60 frames per second anyway. But that’s only true to a limited extent. In fact, a quick sequence of images always seems more fluid to the human eye, even if the image does not change at all.

In some cases, manufacturers therefore also trick a little by making the background lighting on LEDs blink and thus simulating a more fluid scrolling to the eye, as do modern cinema projectors, which throw each individual image onto the screen several times in a row. Incidentally, the larger the television, the less fluid the movements appear. Therefore, you should pay attention to a high frame rate, especially with very large televisions.

Interframe calculation: Thanks to the so-called interframe calculation, also known as motion interpolation, 100 Hz televisions are not dependent on the source supplying them with material in 100 Hz. With 50 Hz input, you can easily calculate and insert an intermediate image from successive images. In other words, the television doubles the number of images by creating new images from the existing material.

However, this process is very complex and increases the input lag, which is why it is usually switched off in gaming mode. Thanks to powerful processors, high-quality models often create an input lag even with interframe computation, which is reasonably acceptable at least in single-player games. Gamers can also benefit from this feature.

Console and TV are out of sync: Also, be aware that the frame rate of the TV is not synchronized with the frame rate of the console (unless the FreeSync explained below is used). This means that the television stubbornly displays its 60 frames per second, regardless of when the console delivers a new image. If the console delivers a new picture immediately after the television, it takes up to 16.7 ms at 60 Hz for the television to display this. That doesn’t sound like much, but you have to keep in mind that this delay is in addition to the time it takes to process your input while gaming anyway. With a 120 Hz display, the delay is of course a maximum of half as long.

Very subjective: The extent to which such small differences affect the gaming experience depends very much on subjective perception, similar to input lag. Some players hardly notice the difference, others are very sensitive to the smallest delays. But that there is a difference cannot be denied.

What do VRR and FreeSync mean?

VRR stands for Variable Refresh Rate and means exactly what it says: The television can vary its frame rate. FreeSync means that it can, within certain limits, synchronize it with the frame rate of the source, e.g. the game console. On the one hand, this can improve the input lag. On the other hand, the so-called screen tearing is avoided, in which images are put together from several successive frames and therefore appear torn.

However, FreeSync only works if the source supports the technology developed by AMD. Although the PS5 also uses AMD hardware, it does not yet support FreeSync. This is all the stranger since even Nvidia graphics cards have recently allowed the competitor’s feature to be used in FreeSync monitors. Sony may improve sooner or later with an update, but maybe we will only experience FreeSync on the PlayStation 5.

Which brands should you buy?

The market leaders: The answer to this question depends very much on the specific model and your own wishes, but some general statements can be made. LG and Samsung are currently the market leaders in 4K TVs. When it comes to high-quality smart TVs over  $1000, LG is currently the front runner in terms of price-performance ratio, as our comparison has already shown. But other manufacturers are catching up.

Reliable: In general, besides Samsung and LG, other major manufacturers such as Sony , Panasonic and Philips also offer reliable quality. Even the 4K TVs from the Chinese manufacturers Hisense and TCL , which are sometimes criticized as cheap products, generally meet the expectations that one can have of a UHD television today.

Outliers down: Caution is advised, however, with cheap offers from brands such as Toshiba, Sharp, Hitachi. Some of these names have a long tradition, but some of them have long since been backed by completely different companies than those who made the brand great. This does not mean that televisions from these brands are generally useless. Many models are well worth the money. But there are downward outliers. That is why you should be particularly well informed about the respective model with these brands before buying.

Pay attention to input lag: This is especially true for gamers, because often the input lag is not paid attention to with cheap products of these brands, as this is not relevant for the average customer. With such a slow reaction to our input, it doesn’t help that this model has a 100 Hz panel.

Which is the right size?

Which display size makes sense for a UHD / 4K TV for gaming or not depends largely on the available space, the distance between the seats and the TV and of course on personal taste. We do not want to make any general statements here, but we do want to say a word of warning: You are not doing yourself a favor with a large TV if you do not have the space to keep enough seat distance! If you’re too close to the screen, you’ll have to keep turning your head to see what’s going on around the edges.

This is not so much of a problem with films, because here the camera is usually aimed directly at the center of the action, so that you get the most important thing if you just concentrate on the center of the picture. This is not the case with games. Not only can you overlook an opponent at the edge of the picture at any time, you may also not have a correct view of important elements of the user interface such as the life or ammunition display. Especially in heated multiplayer battles this can be a significant disadvantage.

Conclusion: The Best Gaming TVs For Xbox Series X / S 2021?

Of course, all gaming TVs that we have presented to you here are recommended, but can we choose a “winner” in different categories? We have drawn a short summary and summarize:

Best affordable gaming TV

There are only a few models in the lower price range and it is really difficult to find good gaming TVs here. The Hisense model wins the race here, as it is simply outrageously cheap at around $400 for a 55 “television at the time of this comparison. Of course, there are compromises in image quality, but perfection is also not the requirement for this television Recommendation for bargain hunters as an entry-level model in the 4K gaming TV world.

Best midrange gaming TV – price performance

It gets more difficult here because there is a lot to choose from. We’d say the Samsung Q60R stands out here. You get top image quality, HDR support and a low input lag make it a very good choice for us gamers. And all for less than $700.

Best OLED high-end gaming TV

If we had to award a title for the “best high-end gaming TV” at the moment, the LG OLED B8 comes into question. Because the B8 is simply a great 4K OLED TV with excellent picture quality. Here you get everything: perfect black tones (excellent for dark rooms), rich colors and your picture remains accurate even when viewed from an angle (perfect for everyone with a wide sofa). Of course, the B8 is also perfect for HDR content, as it can produce very bright and saturated details. Motion handling and input lag are also excellent, which makes the LG B8 perfect for TV gamers or PC users. If you want to venture into OLED TVs, then do it with the B8.

Best TVs for Xbox Series X Black Friday Deals 2021

We have created a list of the most discounted cheap and best TVs for Xbox Series X Black Friday deals and TVs for Xbox Series S Cyber Monday deals for this year’s holiday season 2021.