You rarely buy a new TV, but if you watch a lot, a premium TV isn’t a bad idea. We’d like to think with you: We think these are the best TVs out there right now.

You like to buy the best logical product. “Best” is of course an opinion, and in this case ours. With Bright Stuff, we base that opinion on a few things. In this list: televisions. Then the premium TVs, the best TVs for most people, with prices over a thousand euros. Not cheap, but very good. That’s why we only recommend two devices, and it’s no coincidence that they’re both OLED TVs.

Why OLED?

Oled has been hailed by enthusiasts for years as the best technology in television today. This is mainly due to the variance. With LCD technology, which is the technology found in most TVs, you’re dealing with backlighting. This backlight is a separate panel that glows brighter or less brightly as a whole. This doesn’t really make black black, at most gray.

TV makers have increasingly solved this shortcoming in more expensive models by breaking the backlight into ever smaller pieces. But it still doesn’t reach OLED. Because with OLED, the color LEDs that produce the pixels also give off their own light. And when such a pixel goes out, it remains pure black.

This ensures that contrasts with OLED TVs are exceptional. This guarantees more realistic images, because black is really black. HDR is also more convincing on OLED: a bright white moon against a pitch-black sky, for example. A nice plus of OLED: Because of the lack of backlighting, the screens are very thin, so they look better flat on a wall.

When it comes to OLED TVs, we think these models are the best out there right now:

LG OLED evo C3 / G3

LG is the largest maker of OLED screens for TVs: not only its own screens, but also those of other brands. LG TVs themselves are among the best out there, and they’re getting a little better every year. First of all, this is only because of the screen. The C3 also has a great screen, of course with those deep blacks, but also wide color reproduction. The TV’s peak brightness has also improved over previous years. This ensures that HDR images can contain more differences in brightness. The sun, for example, can then be made almost dazzling.

The C3 also supports Dolby Vision, the most popular HDR standard. In this area, LG has an advantage over Samsung which uses HDR10+. However, most streaming services and Blu-Rays use Dolby Vision. If you watch a lot of movies and series, you might be better off with LG. But the TV does well in other areas, from fast-paced sports to upscaling regular 1080p TV pictures.

LG also offers the amazing WebOS operating system. It is updated frequently and offers apps from just about any streaming service you could want. For gamers, there is an excellent auto game mode, which ensures the lowest possible input lag. This ensures that there is no noticeable delay between pressing the button and an action on the screen. The TV also has 120Hz and VRR.

Directly above the C3 is the G3, the same screen in many areas, but with a few differences. The biggest is the shape: the G3 was designed specifically for wall mounting, and even without a base. The TV is remarkably slim, and it comes with a special wall mount that disappears into the back of the screen. Then it hangs tightly on the wall, which looks nice. Moreover, the G3 has a higher brightness on paper. However, that’s about peak brightness: in normal use, the difference is minimal in most cases.

The LG C3 is available in sizes from 42 to 83 inches. The most popular 55-inch model is available from around €2,000. The LG G3 is available in 55, 65, 77 and 83 inches, and its price starts at 2,600 euros. Tip: While supplies last, consider last year’s C2 and G2 models. A little less bright, a little less new, but now a lot cheaper.

Samsung S95C

For years, Samsung had to watch wistfully as arch-rival LG swooped in with all the TV praise. Samsung hasn’t been making OLED TVs for a long time, but it has been doing so since last year. This year’s new models promise to be better, brighter, and apparently without the burn-in issues that last year’s TVs sometimes suffered from.

The S95C is the top model, and in many ways comparable to popular LG TVs. Great contrast here too, but Samsung wins in terms of color and brightness. Thanks to quantum dot technology, which was developed in part to push LCD TVs closer to OLED, this OLED screen just got even hotter. However, this is especially easy to see next to each other, but those who like full, saturated colors have come to the right place with Samsung.

This Samsung is also much brighter, especially outside of game mode. So if you often look during the day, or with the lights on, it’s best to choose Samsung if in doubt. The gamer has come to the right place with LG, because LG TVs have a wider choice of game settings.

Then there’s Dolby Vision: the standard by which most streaming services work. This Samsung device supports HDR10 + which is technically comparable. Technically comparable, but less available in practice. And so you can see your HDR photos in the less advanced HDR10. This is at the expense of Dolby Vision’s well-adjusted HDR lighting.

Via both Dolby Vision and HDR10 (+), film and series makers tell the TV how to illuminate a scene. With Dolby Vision, more information can be transmitted, which often results in a better picture, and better illustrates how the designer intended it.

Available in 55, 65 and 75 inches, the Samsung S95C is available from €2,699.

See also: This is how you choose a new TV

You can find more tools we recommend at Bright Stuff.