4 warnings about budget OLED TVs you shouldn’t ignore ‣ Diverse Daily

The TV industry is at a unique threshold. The top end is transitioning to technologies like RGB mini-LED and MicroLED, and could soon knock OLED off its throne. That and the rise of mini-LED is putting a lot of pressure on OLED prices, making it plausible to think about buying one as a “budget” option that nevertheless offers excellent picture quality. I use quotes because that is, of course, a relative term — you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything recent for less than $700.

If you’re considering buying one of the cheaper OLED TVs out there, be cautious. You can potentially get a great deal — but moreso than any other panel technology, if you make a mistake, you can end up deeply regretting your purchase. There are several major concerns that should be on your radar.

Brightness levels may be extremely limiting

Buy a TV for the real world, not a perfect one

Predator: Badlands on a Samsung OLED TV.

This should probably be your leading worry. While a lot of advancements have been made in OLED brightness over the years, if you’re shopping for a budget TV, you’re not getting the newest developments, and brightness has always been OLED’s sore spot.

Whereas some high-end OLEDs offer peak brightness over 2,000 nits, budget models can top out as low as 600 to 650 nits. That’s not much brighter than an LCD monitor, meaning that highlights are going to be weaker. And since overall brightness is inevitably below peak, budget OLEDs are best viewed in dim or completely dark rooms. That can be a dealkiller if you want any sunlight in your space, or plan to leave the lamps up high enough to share a room for other activities, like reading. It’s why mini-LED is winning over some people regardless of budget — you don’t have to spend much to get a TV that’s watchable in all conditions.

The highlight issue shouldn’t be undersold. One of the reasons people choose OLED in the first place is its intense contrast, which can make HDR content pop even harder than it does on mini-LED. But if those highlights barely stand out, you’re going to wonder what all the hype is for.

There may be too few HDMI 2.1 ports

Why so stingy?

TV makers are notoriously cheap when it comes to connectivity. There’s a chance that your current TV has 100Mbps Ethernet, despite the fact that gigabit Ethernet is the norm elsewhere. Heck, your TV might still have USB 2.0, despite USB 3.1 being around since 2013, and USB 4 being increasingly common on computers and tablets.

A budget OLED may include just one or two HDMI 2.1 ports, relegating any other AV inputs to HDMI 2.0. That matters because 2.0 is severely limited from a modern perspective — it doesn’t support 4K refresh rates over 60Hz, and it’s missing VRR, which syncs refresh rates to framerates to avoid glitches like screen tearing. It also doesn’t support ALLM for PCs and consoles, or eARC for speakers and receivers. You can still get Dolby Atmos over a vanilla ARC port, but only in its compressed form, which may be disappointing if you have a Blu-ray player and high-end audio gear.

If you expect to rely mostly on your TV’s preloaded apps, this could be a minor issue. Simply by adding a soundbar and a game console, though, you can already find yourself out of 2.1 ports, never mind connecting things like a media streamer or a cable box. You might get away with plugging that cable box into a 2.0 port — but to make the most out of your TV, don’t be surprised if you end up buying an HDMI 2.1 switch.

Highlight and shadow details may be flat

A problem you may not catch in specs

I’ve already addressed the possibility of low peak brightness on budget OLEDs, but even if brightness is reasonable, some models may fall prey to an aggressive Auto Brightness Limiter. This becomes necessary if a TV doesn’t have the best cooling, since excessive heat will not only shorten an OLED panel’s lifespan, but increase the risk of burn-in. If the ABL is too quick to kick in, you’ll end up with flat or dim images just as sure as if peak brightness was low to begin with.

As for shadows, the concern here is processing. Cheaper TVs may have less advanced processors that have trouble rendering near-black pixels accurately. If so, you could end up with “crushed” shadows that are uniformly black. This is more serious than you might think, considering how many movies, shows, and games now make realistic lighting a selling point. You’ll be kicking yourself if it’s not any easier to make out night scenes in The Witch or Cyberpunk 2077 than on the LCD you upgraded from.

The tricky part is that you can’t identify any of these problems simply by looking at a spec sheet. You’ll have to read pro reviews, or even spend some time testing a TV yourself. Consider buying from a local store if you’re willing to take a gamble but would rather have the option of an easy return.

You might not like the built-in OS

No cash savings in the end?

If you’re relatively new to smart TVs or just a casual buyer, you might not give much thought to the platform a TV uses — especially if the price is right. But in the long run, software matters a great deal. Minor interface quirks will eventually become constant irritations, and in some circumstances, choosing the wrong platform can result in performance or compatibility problems.

Mainly I’m thinking of Amazon’s Fire OS. While it recently got an overhaul, you’ll have to check whether a TV supports the new version. If it doesn’t, it may not perform that well out of the box, and could get progressively slower over time. Amazon also tends to put Prime Video in the spotlight, which can become annoying regardless of how much content you stream from the service.

In the long run, software matters a great deal. Minor interface quirks will eventually become constant irritations, and in some circumstances, choosing the wrong platform can result in performance or compatibility problems.

On the compatibility front, it’s important to check which AV and smart home standards a TV can handle. Samsung products, for example, don’t support Dolby Vision — the most they offer is HDR10+ or HDR10+ Advanced. That may be fine, particularly on a budget OLED, but it could limit the quality of your HDR in some situations.

The gist is that it can sometimes be worth spending more to get an OS you prefer. If you don’t like the software, you’ll need an add-on media streamer. That is a viable route, mind you. Some people hook up the likes of an Apple TV 4K right away, barely spending more than a few minutes with a TV’s native interface.