As a veteran TV industry analyst and self-confessed home theater nerd, friends are always asking me for advice on the endless array of television brands, models and specs when shopping time comes around.
There‘s lot of confusing marketing lingo thrown around – so here I‘ll cut through all that and rank all the major manufacturers still producing sets in 2023 strictly from worst to best.
My methodology boils down to five key scoring criteria:
- Picture quality
- Features & Innovation
- Smart TV & Gaming Performance
- Audio Capabilities
- Overall Value
Weighing up all those elements provides scores that determine my conclusive and fully objective rankings. I‘ll explain the pros and cons of each brand in plain English along the way too.
Let‘s start at the bottom with the least impressive options still just about surviving…
13. JVC
Once an innovative electronics pioneer behind the VHS format, how the mighty have fallen in JVC‘s case. This iconic Japanese brand was prominent across the early color TV era – but has since retreated majorly from the US market.
You‘ll barely find any models sold at Best Buy, Walmart or other major retailers now. Just a scant few cheaper 720p and 1080p sets bundled with Roku smarts floating around Amazon is all that remains.
Picture Quality – 2/10
With only HD resolution maximum and zero fancy display technologies like extended color, advanced LED dimming or high refresh rates, visual performance is very mediocre indeed.
Features & Innovation – 1/10
No smart functionality, HDR or next-gen gaming ports offered at all. JVC shows no signs of recovering or re-emerging as a serious American TV contender either.
Overall – 1.5/10
There‘s simply little reason left to seek out JVC over far superior established brands nowadays unless you literally only have a few hundred dollars to spend.
12. RCA
Dating way back to being a radio industry pioneer over 100 years ago, RCA has sadly also failed to stay relevant in the television world across the past decade.
It too has retreated to solely producing ultra-cheap, barebones sub-$500 1080p sets with no flashy extras. While these cater towards lower-income households, even then you absolutely get what you barely pay for.
Picture Quality – 3/10
Stuck at basic 60Hz refresh rates with no high dynamic range or advanced color capabilities, RCA‘s basic LED-backlit LCD panels render decent enough images but never stunning.
Smart Features – 1/10
Zero built-in streaming services or smart platforms are integrated into any models. Controls remain very basic remotes-only.
Gaming Performance – 1/10
Laggy response times well over 40ms and no HDMI 2.1 ports provided hamper RCA‘s meager gaming appeal.
Overall – 1.8/10
Technical faults and poor reliability seem commonplace for owners too based on reviews. RCA tries serving the ultra-budget demographic but still falls very well short of better value alternatives.
11. Westinghouse
Edging just ahead of RCA is Westinghouse – another vintage brand now licensed to Chinese OEMs for production. While prices stay low, both quality control and core technologies still lag behind rivals.
The lineup itself is extremely condensed – a mere 13 models, many of which are literally the same sets just in larger sizes.
Picture Quality – 3/10
You‘ll have to settle for Roku smarts and just a third of Westinghouse sets offer native 4K resolution – the rest remain stuck at 1080p still. HDR is missing in action too.
Features & Innovation – 3/10
No development of advanced display panel tech or next-gen HDMI 2.1 ports can be found. But the industrial designs themselves do tend to appear sleeker than RCA‘s offerings.
Overall – 2.3/10
There‘s very little for Westinghouse to boast about beyond barebones affordability. For better smart connectivity and genuine visual upgrades, other brands deserve your money more.
10. Insignia (Best Buy)
Securing the #10 spot is mass retailer Best Buy‘s exclusive in-house Insignia offshoot – which bursts onto our rankings by severally undercutting BBY‘s own official brand partners in pricing.
Almost the entire series runs on Fire TV ecosystem now for intuitive streaming capabilities and Alexa voice controls. Happily you‘re guaranteed 4K UHD resolution on every current model too.
Picture Quality – 4/10
Being locked at 60Hz and devoid of elite display technologies keeps Insignia cheap. But color and clarity still satisfy for casual TV usage.
Smart Features – 8/10
The deep Fire TV platform blesses all sets with thousands of apps plus voice control support – exceeding most budget rivals.
Overall – 4.8/10
When on sale, you‘ll struggle to find better overall value on a sub-$500 4K TV. Just don‘t expect enthusiast-grade performance.
9. Toshiba
This once legendary Japanese tech corporation behind everything from laptops to nuclear power plants was forced to sell off its TV unit a few years back due to crippling financial losses.
Now manufactured under license by Chinese giant Hisense, the Toshiba name still carries more global brand cachet – even if core technologies are derivative. Most current models concentrate on the hotly competitive mid-range 4K LED-LCD TV segment with aggressive pricing.
Picture Quality – 6/10
Toshiba‘s higher-end C350 and C430 series do stand out positively via full HDMI 2.1 ports enabling smoother 4K/120fps gaming and media playback. You can expect solid clarity and response times for the money spent.
Audio – 7/10
Another advantage comes via proprietary Onkyo audio components integrated across the range for better-than-average sound amplification.
Overall – 6/10
Undercutting close rivals on price while retaining premium features like Dolby Vision keeps Toshiba TVs best suited for frugal shoppers wanting fuller smart connectivity and pictures beyond base entry levels.
8. Philips
This Dutch technology trailblazer dating way back to 1891 still manages to keep churning out competitively-performing and priced televisions globally thanks to its pioneering spirit.
While Philips‘ more premium OLED and mini-LED display models stake its claim among discerning home cinema fans, the brand excels best at value-focused lower mid-range price brackets.
One unique Philips hallmark are warm Ambilight mood lighting zones – LED strips wrapping around the set‘s edges for a more immersive viewing atmosphere. Fancy!
Features & Innovation – 8/10
Smart TV platform duties get shared here between Android TV and Roku OS – both very polished systems. I‘m also continually impressed by Philips Hue HDMI Sync compatibility for syncing ambient room lighting with on-screen colors and dynamics.
Overall – 6.5/10
Philips may no longer manufacture the flashiest flagship or best-performing TVs that dominate technical benchmark tests. However, coupled with extensive European distribution, it does reliably keep delivering innovation and respectable cost-to-performance ratios across its broad catalog.
7. Amazon Fire TV
The e-commerce and cloud computing juggernaut took its smash-hit Fire TV streaming platform to the next level over the past few years by launching an entire line of smart televisions directly integrated with Alexa voice controls plus access to an exhaustive array of apps and services.
Progressively expanding its lineup scope, Amazon TVs now scale all the way to 75-inch models – all ticking the right boxes for core resolutions, HDR support and next-gen HDMI 2.1 ports even at entry pricing tiers.
The Fire TV interface itself remains best-in-class for ubiquitous content and simplicity. For Prime subscribers especially, the front-end convenience and ecosystem connectivity will neatly complete your existing Alexa-enabled living room.
Features & Innovation – 9/10
Effortless usability for access to virtually any streaming media platform you can think of is the Fire TV Edition‘s clearest edge.
Overall – 7/10
Customer satisfaction runs high for these feature-packed sets according to ReviewTrackers. If already invested in Amazon services, skipping ads offers solid deals.
6. Vizio
Initially starting off selling cheap PC monitors, Vizio has gradually transformed across the past decade into one of the largest and most innovative television manufacturers based in the US now – all the while keeping costs mostly lower than close rivals.
Punching well above its weight, Vizio TV technologies incorporate leading innovations like quantum dot LED backlights for vivid colors and impressive brightness – even beating out comparable OLED models that achieve deeper blacks but less peak luminance.
IHrubecx/Shutterstock.com
Picture Quality – 8/10
Reviewers consistently praise Vizio‘s picture processing algorithms too for effectively upscaling and smoothing clarity across HD to 4K content.
Smart Features – 8/10
The SmartCast streaming platform receives frequent feature injections too like integrated Apple AirPlay and Chromecast abilities. Support for voice assistants, gaming-friendly extras like VRR and latest Dolby Vision HDR keep Vizio bang up to date.
Overall – 7.6/10
For the money, Vizio TVs tick all boxes. No wonder it ships over 8 million display units yearly now, gobbling up ever more US market share.
5. TCL
Probably the single standout TV brand across the past 5 years has been Chinese manufacturing giant TCL. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, it has completely exploded onto the US scene to establish itself as the market‘s value leader.
How? By generously cramming premium display technologies like quantum dot and mini-LED backlighting into very reasonably-priced Roku smart TVs even at mid-range pricing tiers.
Picture Quality – 8/10
Reviewers praise TCL 6-Series mini-LED models in particular for their sensational contrast and brightness capacities that outshine any LED-LCD rivals under $1500. Expect excellent clarity and colors – albeit not quite matching self-emitting OLED.
Features & Innovation – 9/10
I‘m also highly anticipating TCL‘s incoming OD Zero mini-LED iteration for potentially superior dimming and black level depth. Elsewhere Roku TV retains my favorite smart platform for sheer usability.
Overall – 8.4/10
With outstanding quality relative to price across the catalog, TCL unsurprisingly seized over 13% of US TV market share in 2022 – and shows no signs of slowing momentum.
4. Hisense
This fast-rising player has been the world‘s top TV manufacturer in its native China since 2004. But now through intensified R&D and international expansion efforts across Australia, the EU and particularly here in the US, Hisense is also quickly emerging as an aspiring budget-premium crossover brand globally.
And deservedly so based on a stunning salvo of ambitious early 2023 product launches…
Features & Innovation – 9/10
I‘m awestruck by Hisense‘s proprietary ULED X mini-LED technology manifesting through the flagship 85U800GR 8K model – able to selectively dim over 5,000 zones for pinpoint light control and searing 4,000 nit peak brightness.
Meanwhile the U8H 4K wields a breakthrough dual LCD layer construction that enhances contrast ratios nearer to OLED levels. Augmented by quantum dots, Dolby Vision IQ HDR, IMAX Enhanced certification and 1000+ local dimming zones, pictures pop with detail.
guteksk7/Shutterstock.com
Gaming Performance – 8/10
For gaming, Hisense‘s sets synergize perfectly with Xbox Series X|S consoles via Dolby Vision gaming integration, ALLM and 4K/120Hz HDMI 2.1 support.
Overall – 8.6/10
Under CEO David Gold, the company is clearly determined investing substantial resources into display innovation. Expect Hisense‘s value-conscious but quality-first mission making serious high-end inroads.
3. Sony
Despite being a comparative minnow by shipment volumes against Samsung and LG, Sony continues behaving as an absolute apex TV predator that‘s never far from pushing technological boundaries across multiple fronts.
Effortlessly alternating from dazzling cognitive X1 processors unleashing superior upscaling for cinematic clarity regardless of content quality, to immersive Acoustic Surface Audio sending vibrations directly through the panel itself – Sony in 2023 remains an uncompromising tour de force.
Picture Quality – 10/10
It retains an iron grip over coveted IMAX Enhanced certification too thanks to the industry‘s best contrast and color accuracy. Having co-pioneered early large commercial OLED manufacturing, Sony‘s subsequent refinements like XR OLED Contrast Pro for brighter highlights keep it the enthusiast‘s gold standard display brand for films and streaming.
Gaming Performance – 9/10
Gaming prowess also excels courtesy of dedicated input lag reduction down to 8.5ms, HDMI 2.1/VRR implementation and official PlayStation 5 optimization.
Overall – 9.4/10
While lofty pricing places flagship models beyond casual buyers, Sony continues redefining elite TV benchmark performance year-in, year-out.
2. LG
I‘d almost describe LG as the ‘Apple of television tech‘ these days for its successful track record of taking hitherto niche display inventions firmly into the mainstream while advancing internal components too.
Picture Quality – 10/10
It all stems from LG‘s prolific in-house OLED panel production, enabling essentially infinite per-pixel illumination control for unprecedented black levels and gorgeous uniform colors in all brightness conditions.
webOS smart platforms and Magic Remotes keep navigating LG TVs an intuitive delight too compared to some rival‘s clumsy attempts cough Samsung cough. Whether appeasing demanding cinema buffs, sports spectators, gamers or interior design aesthetes, very few displays can outgun LG‘s commercialized arsenal of big-screen wizardry nowadays.
Paired with extensive processor engineering like the new brighter Evo iteration, LG confidently stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Sony for best-in-class visual performance year after year.
Innovation – 10/10
Yet the scariest aspect is how LG still appears just warming up – recently pioneering radical flexible bendable OLED and transparent commercial models by exploiting its industry-leading self-emitting pixel production techniques. Expect crazier form factors soon!
Overall – 9.8/10
I‘d contend LG is already at the Mount Olympus summit of TV achievement along with…
1. Samsung
The planet‘s leading TV retailer for 15 years running just refuses to loosen its vice-like stranglehold over the industry – perpetually holding off LG and Sony‘s relentless assaults.
Samsung shifts over 50 million units annually covering every price segment. It proudly sits upon its QLED quantum dot throne to produce brighter peak outputs and subjectively more dazzling colors than rival OLED tech, even while OLED maintains commanding contrast advantages…for now anyway.
Samsung
Mini-LED backlight layering introduced into its Neo QLED lineup has narrowed critical black level differences though, as have proprietary anti-reflection and local dimming algorithms. Meanwhile gaming credentials like 4K/120Hz HDMI 2.1 readiness and HGiG profile support match LG.
Smart Features – 10/10
The user-friendly Tizen smart platform offers unlimited streaming functionality too. And existing Galaxy/Note smartphone owners gain invaluable cross-device ecosystem integration.
While high-end costs can prove eye-watering, downright amazing innovation endures across Samsung‘s extensive model hierarchy encompassing:
Multiple display technologies like QD-OLED, Mini-LED and 135-inch MicroLED walls
8K resolution rollouts reaching realistic consumer pricing
Bezel-less ‘Infinity‘ designs
Solar-powered remote controls!
With vast semiconductor fabrication expertise also funneled into further advancing its self-emissive quantum dot roadmap, Samsung looks certain to maintain overall TV domination through at least 2025.
In conclusion, while vigorous rivalry continues raging among the top brands, Samsung and LG stand out as today‘s joint definitive TV titans to my eyes. Trailing just behind, Sony retains enviable prestige for uncompromising performance perfectionists. Further down, ascendant players like TCL and Hisense have strategically shaken up the mid-tier landscape over recent years – and appear set to stay REALLY hot choices when balancing visual thrills against sensible budgets.
I hope this complete 2023 TV brand breakdown helps explain the complicated playing field! Please comment any other questions.
