Can you trust cheap big-screen Black Friday TVs? As a TV expert, I’d pick these 6
This year’s Black Friday deals provide an excellent opportunity to super-size your TV, with great deals to be had across a range of retailers on 75-inch and even larger screens. But not all TVs offer the same level of performance, and that’s something that can become painfully obvious when you’re watching movies on an ultra-large TV.
Regular LED and QLED TVs can now be found in 98-inch and even larger screen sizes. I’ve spotted 98-inch QLED TVs selling for under $1,000 in the Black Friday sales – an astonishingly low price for such a big screen.
Huge screen TV Black Friday deals – quick links
- 85-inch Hisense U75QG: was
$2,498now $1,297.99 at Amazon - 85-inch Samsung QN90F: was
$4,499.99now $2,299.99 at Samsung - 85-inch Samsung The Frame Pro: was
$4,299.99now $3,299.99 at Samsung - 98-inch TCL QM7K: was
$3,999.99now $1,999.99 at Best Buy - 98-inch TCL QM8K: was
$4,999.99now $2,999.99 at Best Buy - 100-inch Hisense U8QG: was
$4,999.99now $3,497.99 at Amazon
There are a few things to consider before pulling the trigger on that type of deal, however. The main one is that all LED and QLED TVs feature a backlight with local dimming capability, and that’s particularly the case with budget models. Local dimming varies the brightness level of the TV’s backlight on a zone-by-zone basis, making black parts of the picture darker and highlight areas brighter.
The benefit here is an improvement in the overall picture contrast. TVs that lack local dimming – and if the specifications for a TV don’t list local dimming, it very likely doesn’t provide that feature – can have murky, uneven-looking blacks when watching movies, and the effect will be even worse at a large screen size.
Even if a TV does have local dimming, and most QLED TVs with a mini-LED backlight do, the number of local dimming zones in the backlight can also affect contrast and black uniformity. Generally, the higher the number, the better, with some premium mini-LED models providing 5,000 or more local dimming zones.
Beyond local dimming and black uniformity, ultra-large TVs can be more revealing of picture noise and motion artifacts than smaller screens, essentially amplifying those issues. Some TV manufacturers provide special processing to minimize picture noise and refine detail at 85-inch and up screen sizes, such as Samsung with its Supersize Picture Enhancer.
Premium TVs like Samsung’s higher-end mini-LED (Neo QLED) models also excel at motion handling, and they provide fine settings to adjust motion handling to taste – something that’s important for movie viewing. TVs with a 120Hz refresh rate are generally a better bet for big screen viewing, because they allow for better motion processing and also provide compatibility with gaming consoles that support a 120Hz output.
I’ve created a list of TVs that I’d trust to look good at an ultra-large screen size below. All of them are mini-LED models, and many are getting great Black Friday deals!
Today’s best Huge screen TV Black Friday deals
Today’s best Black Friday deals – quick links
- Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
- Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $119
- Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
- Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
- Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
- Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
- Lowe’s: up to 30% off appliances, holiday decor & tools
- Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
- Target: 40% off Christmas decor, clothing & furniture
- T-Mobile: up to $1,100 off latest iPhone 17
- Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
- Wayfair: 54% off Christmas, furniture & decor
This year’s Black Friday deals provide an excellent opportunity to super-size your TV, with great deals to be had across a range of retailers on 75-inch and even larger screens. But not all TVs offer the same level of performance, and that’s something that can become painfully obvious when you’re…
