Yearly updates to popular TV models don’t always offer huge performance and visual-quality upgrades—but they always come with huge price tags. Consumer product reviewer Jacob Palmer says that consumers can find TVs with broad color palettes, bright screens, deep darkness levels and excellent motion handling at reasonable prices.

You have probably seen comparisons between 4K TVs and OLEDs—and now QLEDs—but these comparisons are not comparing apples to apples.

4K is a measurement of a screen’s resolution, or how much information or detail can be displayed. Example: An HD TV has a resolution of 1,920 horizontal pixels by 1,080 vertical pixels, while a 4K TV has a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160—that’s quite an increase in detail for a 4K TV.

OLED TV screens are packed with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which use less energy and provide better contrast, blacker blacks and whiter whites than HD TVs and 4Ks. They can provide 4K resolution, but not all 4K TVs are OLEDs. And while non-OLED 4K TVs may not provide the image quality you can get with OLEDs, they still offer impressive viewing for most users for a fraction of the cost of a 4K OLED.

QLED, a new technology that competes with OLED and is better than standard 4K, is similar to an LED TV but with a built-in quantum dot layer that enhances colors and image brightness.

Some of the best TVs you can buy at good prices now…

4K OLED: Sony Bravia XR A90J 55-inch 4K HDR OLED TV ($2,198) features stunning 4K resolution and good audio. More affordable choice: LG C1 Series 55-inch 4K Smart OLED TV ($1,197), which offers a vibrant 4K TV-watching experience.

4K: Samsung 50-inch The Frame QLED 4K Smart TV ($950). Added feature: The screen doubles as an immense canvas when it’s in “Art Mode,” and for $5/month, you can display more than 1,400 works of art from world-class museums and galleries. More affordable choice: Samsung 43-inch Class Q60T QLED 4K UHD Smart TV ($530).

Best times to shop: Spring and early summer are great times to buy TVs—that’s when most manufacturers announce their new lineups and are trying to offload the previous year’s models. The older models often are nearly identical to the new ones and come at steep discounts.

If you want the newest

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