Getting the best TV for your buck

Looking to buy a big-screen set for the big game? Consumer Reports put together some general guidelines to help you understand what features to expect within three budgets.

Budget TVs

40” to 43”: $170 to $400

49” to 55”: $250 to $700

60” and up: $500 to $1,100

Don’t need a super-fancy TV loaded with features? You can still get a basic set that delivers great picture quality at a surprisingly low price. The key with an entry-level set is to focus on the few features you care about and understand what you can live without.

What you get: Unless you’re shopping for the largest screen sizes, you’ll probably be choosing a regular 1080p high-definition screen rather than a higher-resolution 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV. Which is fine, because that extra resolution isn’t really noticeable until you get into the jumbo sizes – 65 inches or larger.

What you don’t get: If you do manage to score a 4K TV at a budget price, its performance will probably be lower than that of a higher-priced set. Entry-level televisions may also lack the more advanced color- and picture-processing technologies found in more sophisticated sets. And some don’t come with smart TV capability.

Midlevel TVs

40” to 43”: $350 to $550

49” to 55”: $650 to $1,200

60” and up: $950 to $2,300

Midpriced sets almost by definition represent the sweet spot of the market. These models usually offer the best balance of price, performance and features.

What you get: High-resolution 4K screens are common on mainstream sets. You can also expect some level of high dynamic range (HDR) capability, technology that boosts the contrast between the lightest and darkest images a TV can produce with HDR-enabled content. On pricier sets, Consumer Reports’ testers have found that HDR can reveal richer detail and more dramatic highlights, but the results aren’t always so impressive in this price tier.

Most TVs 40 inches and larger are smart TVs and come with built-in Wi-Fi for connecting to home networks.

What you don’t get: Companies reserve their highest performance features for top-of-the-line models. So sets in this range usually don’t have very effective HDR performance, precise local dimming or the most advanced video processing.

Top-Tier TVs

40” to 43”: $400 to $800

49” to 55”: $750 to $3,000

60” and up: $1,600 to $6,000

These TVs are the priciest in a company’s lineup and offer the best performance and all the latest features. Many also have slim profiles and designs with ultra-thin bezels.

What you get: This year, sets from major manufacturers are all 4K models with 120Hz refresh rates and bright screens that highlight HDR content. You’ll also get more of those contrast-enriching local dimming zones as well as the brand’s most sophisticated video processing, which can produce sharper images and better results when converting lower-resolution 1080p content to 4K resolution. Consumer Reports notes that top-tier sets are where manufacturers roll out their most sophisticated smart TV systems and more advanced remote controls. These remotes often have built-in microphones for voice-controlled searches.

What you don’t get: You get everything – except a low price.

To learn more, visit ConsumerReports.org.

2017 Consumers Union, Inc.

Distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication for UFS