For now, OLED remains the gold standard for TV picture quality. This is because unlike LCDs, OLED sets can turn individual pixels on and off, resulting in perfect contrast and more accurate colors. Technologies like RGB mini-LED and MicroLED are poised to unseat OLED from its throne, but it’ll be a while before prices become reasonable for the average human being.

It can be tempting to buy the cheapest OLED you can afford. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that — “cheap” is a relative term, and you may even be pleasantly surprised if you’re not expecting all the newest bells and whistles. It’s just that you need to be on your guard, especially if you’re buying a used or discontinued model. There are risks unique to the OLED platform.

What are the main worries about buying a cheap OLED?

A matter of prevention

To be clear, this isn’t about preferring specific brands. The only significant OLED makers in the North American market are LG, Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic — all reputable names. Sony is handing its Bravia TV business over to TCL, well-known as a budget option, but even that company has some solid mini-LEDs in its lineup.

Rather, there are general concerns about longevity and the measures available to extend it. The “O” in OLED refers to an organic electroluminescent layer. This material is more prone to decay than the synthetic components in other panel technologies — so while an OLED set can potentially last longer than an LCD, up to 100,000 hours, it’s possible to fall well short of that under the wrong circumstances.

On the shorter end of the spectrum, a cheap OLED might run for as little as 30,000 hours, roughly three years of non-stop viewing. That might well last you until your next upgrade, but it’s going to be disheartening if you want a TV you can hand down to your child, or sell to someone else at a good price. More expensive sets should (in theory) have superior build quality that pushes them closer to the 100,000-hour mark.

Regardless of build quality, all OLEDs are vulnerable to burn-in — “ghost” images caused by static images left onscreen for too long, such as news channel logos and in-game status bars. Also, after five years or so, the brightness of an OLED may become weaker and weaker to the point that automatic power adjustments can’t fully compensate. That second point makes it important to consider not just build quality, but initial brightness levels. If a TV is merely adequate right now, it may be flat out disappointing by the time you’re done with it.

To combat the risk of burn-in and other forms of uneven decay, more recent sets have implemented several automatic measures. Pixel shifting, for instance, can displace an entire image slightly. Logo brightness adjustment detects static content and reduces its intensity. More important in the long run are whole-screen pixel refreshes, triggered whenever a TV is expected to be idle.

With older OLEDs, there’s the potential for one or more of these mitigation features being absent. The likelihood is shrinking every day, naturally — but this is one of the reasons you should stay clear of used or discontinued products unless you’re willing to do your homework.

Speaking of homework, it’s important to know the history of used models. A set that’s been on for a few hours a day for several years is probably fine, but could still have some mild burn-in, depending on the original owner’s habits. You should avoid anything that’s been around for nearly a decade or more, or served as the demo unit at a store. Demo systems might hypothetically run for 12 to 24 hours a day, accelerating their decline, and increasing the risk of burn-in if staff aren’t careful about the content they’re showing. If you’re willing to take a gamble in exchange for a bargain, ask questions first.

Are there any other problems with cheap OLEDs?

Moving into safer territory

Thankfully, the other watchpoints on my list involve performance, rather than screens degrading prematurely. Let’s return to brightness for a second — even if you’re not worried about a set becoming unusable over time, OLED already tends to be dimmer than QLED, never mind mini-LED or MicroLED. Cheap OLEDs are a poor choice if you expect to do a lot daylight viewing. Indeed, some people prefer mini-LEDs over OLEDs, since the intense brightness can add a lot of vibrancy to colors.

Keep an eye on compatible HDR (high dynamic range) standards. If you go too cheap, you may end up sacrificing one or more of the formats featured by the streaming services or Blu-ray discs you care about. Anything you buy in 2026 should at least support one or both of the main dynamic HDR standards: Dolby Vision and HDR10+. In fact, we’re on the verge of getting the first products with Dolby Vision 2 and HDR10+ Advanced, though it’ll probably be a while before those become commonplace or have much in the way of native content.

If you can, it’s also wise to avoid sets with 60Hz refresh rates, and/or no port technology later than HDMI 2.0. 60Hz can be fine for movies and TV shows — but not PCs and game consoles running apps over 60 frames per second. You’ll want a 120Hz panel or better. HDMI 2.1, meanwhile, enables technologies like VRR (variable refresh rate), the dynamic HDR standards I mentioned, and eARC audio. eARC isn’t critical, since it mostly enables the lossless versions of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, but it’s a bit backwards to be stuck with ARC alone.

Lastly, cheap sets may have fewer ports than you’d like, or subpar processors. There are two potential consequences for a weak chip. In some cases it may lead to a sluggish user interface, or an inability to access newer software features, like Google Gemini. The other is image processing — while you’ll be hard-pressed to find an OLED with ugly rendering, advanced processors can sometimes deliver more consistent image quality.

Is the threat that serious?

Some final thoughts

I don’t mean to exaggerate the danger that much. OLED is a mature technology, and like I said, its biggest backers in North America are reputable. Furthermore, the newest OLED TVs tend to slot in at price points where buyers expect a certain baseline of quality. I can’t imagine anyone selling a 2026 model limited to the basic version of HDR10, for example.

Just keep an eye out for the hazards I’ve highlighted, and you should be okay. As RGB mini-LED and MicroLED gain ground, it may even become easier to find “premium” features on entry-level OLEDs. If we’re all lucky, some patience will make this guide irrelevant.