best gaming TVs
While finding the right gaming TV can feel overwhelming, focusing on a few key features can streamline your search. Prioritize a high refresh rate for the smoothest gameplay. Then, consider your preferences for display type (LED, OLED, Mini LED) and screen size based on your needs and budget. By keeping these key factors in mind, you'll be well on your way to scoring the ultimate gaming TV for your setup.
The BestReviews Testing Lab researched and evaluated the top models on the market to find the best gaming TVs for every situation. Our overall best TV for gaming is the Samsung S90C, which hits all of our benchmarks in features, picture and price.
Which TV is best for gaming?
Samsung S90C
Best of the best
Product Specifications
Display Type: OLED | Screen Size: 77” | Resolution: 4K | Refresh Rate: 144 hertz | Connectivity: Four HDMI ports, two USB ports, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
The Samsung S90C might be the most affordable option in Samsung's high-end QD-OLED lineup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it packs all the bells and whistles a serious gamer could want. While not exactly budget-friendly, it delivers a significant leap in quality compared to traditional LED TVs for gaming. Our Test Team was impressed by its exceptional brightness, top-notch refresh rate and premium design. If you're looking for the best balance of price, features and performance in a gaming TV, the S90C is an excellent option.
The Samsung S90C includes a suite of gaming features that cater to the needs of avid gamers seeking a premium experience. In our testing, the high-resolution OLED display dazzled with its deep blacks and vibrant colors for an immersive experience. With a fast refresh rate and low input lag, this TV ensures smooth and responsive gameplay — crucial for those looking to up their competitive gaming, where split-second reactions can make all the difference. Additionally, the Samsung S90C supports a variable refresh rate (VRR), reducing screen tearing and stuttering for a seamless gaming experience, even during high-action sequences.
There were a few drawbacks we found during testing, including minor annoyances with Samsung’s Tizen user interface, the lack of Dolby Vision support and subpar sound. However, we found these cons to be forgivable, as the Samsung S90C delivers an exceptional blend of stunning visuals, responsive gaming and cutting-edge features that will satisfy even the most demanding gamers.
TCL Q6
Best Bang for the Buck
Product Specifications
Display Type: QLED | Screen Size: 55 inches | Resolution: 4K | Refresh Rate: 120 hertz | Connectivity: Three HDMI ports (one eARC), one USB port, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
The TCL Q6 is the best gaming TV for budget-conscious players. It delivers stunning 4K visuals brought to life with Dolby Vision and prioritizes performance better than the competition with a blazing-fast refresh rate and ultra-low input lag.
As a value proposition, it’s hard to beat the TCL Q6. Despite its budget-friendly price, this TV doesn't skimp on gaming performance or features. The Q6 includes an Auto Game Mode that automatically optimizes settings for gaming, eliminating the hassle of manual adjustments. Additionally, support for VRR technology minimizes screen tearing and stuttering, providing a fluid gaming experience. The TCL Q6's Game Enhancer feature further enhances visuals, sharpening details and improving contrast to give gamers a competitive advantage.
The TCL Q6 TV walks a fine line between performance and affordability, making it an appealing option for those looking to upgrade their TV for a next-gen console. Boasting an impressive array of gaming features alongside a stunning display and smooth refresh rate, the TCL Q6 appeals to both casual and hardcore gamers seeking an elevated experience.
LG C3 Series OLED TV
Best for Movies
Product Specifications
Display Type: OLED | Screen Size: 55 inches | Resolution: 4K | Refresh Rate: 120 hertz | Connectivity: Four HDMI ports (one eARC), three USB Ports, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
Are you a cinephile who dabbles in gaming? The LG C3 Series stands out as a top choice for someone who prioritizes visuals on game consoles and video players. With its OLED display, the C3 Series delivers deep blacks and vibrant colors, creating rich images that enhance every frame of a movie. Thanks to support for HDR formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10, you’ll be able to experience movies with improved detail in stunning 4K resolution.
Beyond its exceptional movie-watching capabilities, the LG C3 Series offers impressive gaming features. With its low input lag and high refresh rate of 120 hertz, this TV ensures smooth and responsive gameplay. The C3 Series also supports VRR technology, reducing screen tearing and stuttering for a more seamless gaming experience.
The LG C3 Series is a versatile TV that delivers when you’re watching a movie and when you’re gaming. It’s a super choice for buyers who want a well-rounded TV. Whether you're settling in for a movie night or diving into the latest video game release, we can’t recommend the LG C3 Series enough.
Hisense Class U7 Series
Best Mid-Range Gaming TV
Product Specifications
Display Type: Mini LED | Screen Size: 55 inches | Resolution: 4K | Refresh Rate: 144 hertz | Connectivity: Four HDMI ports (one eARC), two USB ports, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
This Mini-LED TV has crystal-clear visuals with stunning detail and clarity. Coupled with Dolby Vision support, the U7 Series delivers vibrant colors and deep contrast, enhancing the gaming experience.
The Hisense U7 Series includes gaming-specific features such as Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM) and VRR support. ALLM automatically enables game mode when a compatible console or device is detected, optimizing settings for gaming performance. VRR technology reduces screen tearing and stuttering, resulting in a smoother and more enjoyable gaming experience. For a TV in this price range, its 144-hertz frame rate is impressive, matching the frame rate of high-end TVs including our top option, the Samsung S90C.
With its combination of impressive visuals, responsive performance and gaming-focused features, the Hisense U7 Series stands out as a compelling mid-range option for gamers who prioritize quality and value in their gaming setup.
Sony X93L Series
Best for Bright Rooms
Product Specifications
Display Type: Mini LED | Screen Size: 65 inches | Resolution: 4k | Refresh Rate: 120 hertz | Connectivity: Four HDMI (one eARC), two USB ports, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
A bright room hinders the performance of a TV, causing a washed-out screen. This can impact all entertainment options, especially gaming. The Sony X93L TV stands as a great choice for those seeking a premium viewing experience in bright rooms free from glare, thanks to its innovative, advanced display technologies and features.
Equipped with Sony's proprietary Full-Array LED backlighting and X-Wide Angle technology, the X93L excels in maintaining exceptional brightness and contrast, even in brightly lit environments. Content remains vivid and detailed with minimal glare and washout, making it superb for living rooms with several windows and well-lit streaming setups.
With its low input lag and high refresh rate, this TV is packed with the features needed for next-gen gaming. Sony's Motionflow XR technology further enhances motion handling, reducing blur and judder during fast-paced gaming sequences and ensuring that every moment is displayed with clarity and smoothness. Overall, the Sony X93L TV is a versatile choice that excels in bright-room viewing and gaming applications.
Samsung S95C OLED TV
Best Big Screen TV
Product Specifications
Display Type: OLED | Screen Size: 77 inches | Resolution: 4K | Refresh Rate: 144 hertz | Connectivity: Four HDMI ports (1 eARC), three USB ports, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
If expense isn’t a concern and you’re looking for the biggest, brightest TV around, look no further than the Samsung S95C OLED TV. The S95C represents the best of large-screen viewing experiences, offering a combination of cutting-edge technology and stunning design that sets it apart as a standout option for those who want an exceptional big-screen TV.
When we tested this TV, we felt it was the definition of premium. With a 144-hertz refresh rate, it’s fantastic for gaming. Like all good gaming TVs, the S95C supports VRR technology, which synchronizes the refresh rate of the TV with the frame rate outputted by the gaming console or PC. The immersive picture is coupled with a buttery-smooth, low-input lag, taking your next-gen gaming console of choice to the next level.
While testing, we loved the intuitive OneConnect box offered by Samsung, which makes all the HDMI and USB inputs external from the TV itself. This comes in handy for people who connect several devices to their TVs and for people who wall-mount their TVs and want to minimize cord clutter. Although we wish it were cheaper, if you’re in search of a jaw-dropping TV that does it all, you won’t be disappointed.
Roku Select Series
Best Small TV
Product Specifications
Display Type: LED | Screen Size: 32 inches | Resolution: 720p HD | Refresh Rate: 60 hertz | Connectivity: Two HDMI ports (1 eARC), one USB port, enabled for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
If size and expense are a factor, we recommend looking at the Roku Select Series for your gaming needs. The Select Series offers an easy-to-use interface and a solid picture for a TV of this size.
While the Select Series won’t maximize the potential of next-gen consoles, it will produce a good picture for a lower-powered console like the Nintendo Switch. However, the Select Series does boast an impressive input lag and very good response time. And at this size, the resolution doesn’t matter as much, making the 720p-picture absolutely adequate.
Although the Roku Select Series isn’t as flashy or feature-filled as competing models, for a small TV, it packs a big punch and is a great option for folks who are tight on space.
What to consider when buying a gaming TV
There are several factors to consider when shopping for a gaming TV. The most important of these are input lag, screen size, display technology, compatibility and price.
Input lag or latency
The input lag, or latency, of a gaming TV may be considered the most important measure of how well it performs with games. A gaming TV’s input lag reflects the amount of time between a command being issued — a keyboard tap, mouse move or controller twitch — and the screen response.
Input lag is measured in milliseconds (ms). The lower the input lag, the lower the latency, and the faster and more responsive the action. Generally, TVs offer refresh rates of 120 or 144 hertz, the highest you’ll typically see for multipurpose TVs.
Size
Another key consideration when choosing a gaming TV is screen size. Console gamers usually sit much farther from their displays than desktop gamers, and the rules that apply to passive TV-watching still apply to gaming TVs: The farther you sit from the screen, the bigger the screen needs to be.
You can use an online calculator for TV size and viewing distance to find the best distance for your viewing room.
Display technology
The majority of flat-screen TVs available use LED or OLED displays. While the names sound similar, these are two different technologies.
LED/QLED
LED (light-emitting diode) screens use an LED backlight to illuminate the pixels of an LCD (liquid-crystal display) screen. LCD has been a ubiquitous display technology for decades, and LED screens can be considered part of LCD technology’s evolution.
A further advance in LED and LCD technology, developed and popularized by Samsung, is QLED (quantum-dot LED TV), where the light from the LED backlight passes through a layer of so-called “quantum dots” that generate color before continuing through an LCD and out to the eye. LED and QLED TVs are often brighter with more vivid color than OLED TVs.
OLED
OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens have pixels that emit colored light without the need for a backlight or LCD. OLED has sharper, clearer and more defined contrast and black levels and essentially uniform viewing angles — the picture looks good from any angle, which is not often true of LED/LCD screens. OLED doesn’t currently get as bright as LED’s backlight, though, and can suffer from burn-in like old CRTs.
All things being equal, OLED is more often recommended for gaming TVs thanks to its speedier response to input, although QLED TVs can hold their own. OLED technology, in contrast to LED, can turn single pixels on and off, so OLED TVs have a near-instant response time. A newer technology called microLED, with millions of microscopic individual OLEDs, avoids burn-in and may become more common soon.
Console
Game consoles have been known for pushing the envelope in terms of technological demands since their debut. The latest generation of gaming consoles, such as Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox X, have capabilities that would be wasted or unused if you were to connect them to a non-gaming-optimized TV or display.
For example, the PS5 can output a refresh rate of 120 hertz on 4K displays, creating a smooth and fluid gaming experience. If you pick a TV with a refresh rate lower than 120 hertz, you are missing out on one of the key features of the PS5. Typically, higher-end TVs have gaming-specific screen modes that will optimize the TV with the next-gen console.
Gaming TV features
Not all TVs are built for the high-speed demands of gaming. When shopping for a gaming TV, seek out these essential features for the most enjoyable experience.
Refresh rate
Refresh rate is the measure of how often the screen is updated. Look for gaming TVs with refresh rates that can go to 120 hertz or that advertise compatibility with a variable refresh rate (VRR), where the display can change its refresh rate to match the frame rate (fps) of a console game. This will minimize screen tearing, meaning fast-paced gaming moments will look smooth and seamless.
G-Sync by Nvidia and FreeSync by AMD are two VRR technologies you’re likely to see advertised on gaming TVs, including the Samsung S90C and the Hisense U7H.
Response time
Response time refers to how fast a display’s pixels can change color. It’s measured in milliseconds gray-to-gray (ms GtG). A slow response time leads to ghosting, blurring and smearing of the image in high-paced gameplay. A gaming TV should have a response time of below 6 ms GtG, and OLED TVs may have response times of 2 ms GtG or better.
Resolution
Resolution refers to the number of pixels in a display screen. When it comes to gaming, a very high resolution may not always be best, as high resolution often has higher input lag, lower refresh rates and slower response times. For gaming resolution, 1080p remains a standard. However, 4K resolution TVs for gaming are becoming not just common but also capable thanks to advances in console power and connectivity.
HDMI 2.1
Gaming TVs connect to consoles typically by HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface). The version of HDMI a gaming TV uses allows it to take advantage of more recent features. Look for TVs with HDMI connections marked HDMI 2.1, which allows for huge amounts of information and commands to pass through its cables.
Gaming mode
If your TV has a gaming mode, activate it. Gaming mode is a setting that activates all the features and adjustments available for gameplay optimization. Resolution, refresh rate, variable refresh, input lag and latency, color, brightness and more can be set to gaming-optimized values in a single command with gaming mode. In fact, some gaming TVs can switch to gaming mode automatically when commanded by a console. This is called Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM), featured on the Hisense U7H and Samsung S90C.
Gaming TV accessories
If you want to improve your gaming experience even more, a few well-chosen accessories can help make you feel like you’re right in the center of the action.
HDMI 2.1 cables
Good HDMI cables can transmit big data loads between high-end consoles and gaming TVs. Get quality HDMI cables that match the inputs and outputs of your TV and console. If you have a gaming TV and console that both support HDMI 2.1, get HDMI 2.1 cables.
Headsets and speakers
The display and images of a video game are enhanced by the ability to hear and appreciate a game’s sounds, its sound effects, dialogue and score. A good gaming headset, sound bar, floor-standing speakers or surround-sound system compatible with your gaming TV or console go a long way toward creating a completely immersive gaming experience.
How much do gaming TVs cost?
Gaming TVs, and TVs in general, vary in cost. How much to spend comes down to the features you can and can’t live without and what kind of content you’ll be consuming.
Inexpensive
The most affordable gaming TVs cost between $300 and $600. Gaming TVs in this price range have smaller screen sizes and lack QLED or OLED screens, but they still have good input lag and response times and solid performance in refresh rates and resolutions. Some are highly competitive in terms of game-mode features, ALLM and VRR standards, not to mention good picture quality.
Mid-range
The mid-range of gaming TV prices hovers between $600 and $1,200. In this price range, you’ll find the best and most popular gaming TVs with high-quality QLED and OLED screens; low latency; variable refresh rates with G-Sync, FrameSync or both; HDMI 2.1 and ALLM; and more. These TVs come with 1080p and 4K resolutions and generous screen sizes and are excellent all-around TVs.
Expensive
Expensive gaming TVs cost $1,200 and above. Look for exceptional latency numbers, high refresh rates at high resolutions and high-end features in picture and audio quality, including 8K resolutions and Micro-LED technology.
Gaming TV tips
- Turn your sharpness down. High sharpness settings on a TV can add unpleasant artifacts to sharp edges in games.
- Keep your brightness medium. Games may have their own brightness settings that interact with your TV’s brightness, so keep your brightness in the middle until you perceive what level works best for you.
- Unlock your frame rate. Some TVs keep the frame rate consistent or locked to upgrade the look of older media, but in gameplay, this may increase lag.
- Turn off dynamic or auto-contrast to maximize visual detail in realistic games.
How we analyzed
Finding the best TVs for gaming was no easy task. We took our time thoroughly testing and/or researching more than 20 TVs to find the best models that would provide the ultimate gaming experience. Factors such as display type, screen size, resolution, refresh rate and connectivity all played a big role in our decision-making process.
FAQ
Q. Is it better to use a monitor or a TV for gaming?
A. The answer to this question greatly depends on how you game — at a desk or on the couch. Monitors tend to offer better game performance than TVs, but TVs have better image quality and larger sizes.
Generally speaking, desktop gamers should use game monitors, and console gamers will get the most bang for their buck with gaming TVs.
Q. Why do TVs cost less than monitors?
A. While monitors are specialized peripherals that emphasize display accuracy and TVs are entertainment devices, a big factor in price disparity is simply having different markets. TVs, as mass consumer products, are often priced lower than monitors at similar screen sizes because that’s what the market expects and can support.
Q. What are the disadvantages of using a TV as a monitor?
A. To date, TVs have had bigger pixels than monitors. A 55-inch TV and a 24-inch monitor may have the same resolution of 1080p, but on a monitor, it’s sharper because it has more dots per inch (DPI) than the TV. Refresh rate and input lag are also typically better on monitors.
Q. Do you need a 4K TV to enjoy the PS5?
A. Yes. If you don’t have a 4K TV paired with your PS5, you are not getting your money’s worth. The PS5 was built with high-end 4K TVs in mind. While you don’t have to spend a fortune to get the most out of a PS5, if you haven’t upgraded your TV in over five years, we recommend looking into TVs with high-resolution and low-latency gaming features.
Q. Will OLED TVs burn-in when gaming?
A. While burn-in was a concern when OLEDs were first introduced, the issue has largely become a thing of the past. Technology keeps getting better, making burn-in highly unlikely. With that said, burn-in can be caused by leaving static images on your screen, so it’s smart to turn off the TV when not in use.
Normal gaming sessions will not cause burn-in. Most displays are rated for over 100,000 hours before burn-in is an issue. If burn-in happens before 100,000 hours, you may be entitled to a replacement under the manufacturer’s warranty.
