Best 55-inch TVs - Geek Tech Online

Televisions have come a long way over the past ten years and have practically lost their original

purpose - watching TV programs.Now online cinemas, Netflix, Youtube have come to the fore. Screen sizes are also constantly growing, today 55 inches is considered the best choice for a home, sizes smaller already seem too small for a living room, and TVs with large diagonals are still disproportionately expensive. We've handpicked the best 55-inch TVs to make your choice easier.

55-inch TV rating:

Sony KD-55XH8096
Samsung QE55QN90A
LG OLED55CX
Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 55 ″
LG 55NANO86
Samsung UE55TU8500
Philips 55OLED805
Samsung The Frame QE55LS03T
KIVI 55U600KD

Sony KD-55XH8096

Great picture and true HDR

Sony's mid-range model KD-55XH8096 is equipped with 4Ka screen that will allow you to enjoy the image without worrying about viewing angles. A feature of this model is backlighting, which gives uniform illumination of the matrix without glare, however, in contrast to this, the thickness of the TV suffered a little.

Buy

optimal choice
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Samsung QE55QN90A

The brightest TV in the area

Samsung flagship TV in 55 ”diagonal.Equipped with a Neo QLED display with Mini LED backlighting and an impressive peak brightness of 2000 cd / m². In a brightly lit room, you will immediately feel the difference with other TVs. There is also a 4.2 audio system and all the possible technologies that Samsung is capable of presenting on a TV.

Buy

best technology
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LG OLED55CX

Modern OLED TV with good sound

LG OLED55CX - premium OLED TVSouth Korean manufacturer. As expected, it is endowed with excellent characteristics: 4K resolution, full 10-bit color depth, 120 Hz frequency. A great choice if you are looking for an OLED TV for the Playstation 5 or the new Xbox.

Buy

best with OLED
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Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 55 ″

Android TV at a reasonable price

Nobody is indifferent to Xiaomi, is it good orbad, but devices from this manufacturer never go unnoticed. The Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 55 ″ is no exception. Balanced specs, proven Android TV firmware and low price have made the TV very popular.

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best-seller
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LG 55NANO86

Games of the highest standard

TV option with technologyquantum dots from LG, model 55NANO86. Thanks to its high-quality 120Hz matrix, it is perfect for both movie viewing and gaming on next-generation consoles that can be connected using the existing HDMI 2.1 ports.

Buy

for gamers
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Samsung UE55TU8500

Vibrant colors and deep blacks

A mid-range model from Samsung.VA screen with advanced Dual Led backlight technology with LEDs of different color temperatures, 4K resolution, powerful video processor and backlight control. There is also a game mode with a reduced response time.

Buy

with VA matrix
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Philips 55OLED805

Full immersion viewing

There is a special category of TVs - theyEquipped with Ambilight, which visually expands the boundaries of the screen. This technology is used by one manufacturer and Philips 55OLED805 is a bright representative of its class in every sense. In addition to customizable backlighting, the model is distinguished by an OLED matrix and excellent image processing algorithms. A good choice if image quality comes first.

Buy

with Ambilight
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Samsung The Frame QE55LS03T

Will fit into any interior

Samsung QE55LS03T - designer TV,made in the style of a picture, the "canvas" of which is an excellent QLED-display. This is not only a TV series viewer, but also an interior solution, the model's feature is interchangeable cover-frames of the case, which can be chosen to match the style of your living room. The design is also played up in software, paintings by famous artists can be displayed on the screen.

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TV picture
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KIVI 55U600KD

Budget TV 55 inches

Big TV for little money - short butcapacious description of the KIVI 55U600KD model. The device, although not expensive, is equipped with a 4K resolution matrix, which has good brightness. SmartTV, wireless Internet connection - everything you need for comfortable use.

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the most affordable
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Sony KD-55XH8096 - the best choice

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Japanese corporation Sony has always been famous forthe quality of their TVs, both due to reliability and high-quality image. The Sony KD-55XH8096 model is no exception - this is a solid TV for adequate money.

The screen of the device is made using IPS technology, ithas 4K resolution, supports HDR, 60 Hz. Direct LED backlight brightness is 400 cd / m², which is significantly better than in devices of the lower class. But because of the type of matrix, the contrast is not a record, 1000: 1. But the viewing angles are high - 178 ° vertically and horizontally.

The "heart" of the TV is a quad-coreMediatek processor based on ARM Cortex-A53 architecture, graphics accelerator - ARM Mali-G71, RAM is 3 GB, flash memory is 16 GB. The device is equipped with the Android TV 9 operating system with a huge variety of not only video viewing applications, but also many games. The interface is user-friendly and smart.

Black plastic TV case, legsplaced at the edges, spaced quite wide, the distance between them is about 100 cm, which must be taken into account if it is necessary to install it on furniture. Curiously, you can find the Sony KD-55XH8005 model, which is almost identical in characteristics, on sale (the only difference is in the frequency of the "float").

Samsung QE55QN90A - the best technology

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Samsung QE55QN90A - a top solution from one ofmajor TV manufacturers in the world. The screen of the Neo QLED device is a VA matrix with quantum dots. The backlight is made using Mini LED technology - under the screen there is an array of LEDs, each of which illuminates only a small part of the screen. Each LED is independently controlled to achieve a dynamic contrast ratio of 25,000: 1 and a maximum screen brightness of an incredible 2,000 cd / m². The refresh rate is 120 Hz. The screen has a special coating that prevents glare.

The device has a powerful processor for processing video Neo Quantum Processor 4K, there is support for HDR 10+ and the proprietary technology of the manufacturer Quantum HDR 32x.

Speaker power - 60 W, TVequipped with a low-frequency speaker, sound system 4.2. SpaceFit technology allows you to adjust the sound to the acoustic parameters of the room in an autonomous mode. Active Voice Amplifier technology - intelligent noise reduction, allows you to amplify the sound of speech.

The TV is very thin, only 27 mm, when installed on a leg, which is located in the middle of the case and resembles the leg of a computer monitor, the dimensions of the TV will be 1227 × 768 × 232 mm.

LG OLED55CX is a worthy alternative

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LG is the largest manufacturer of OLED TV screens today. These matrices are used not only by LG itself, but also sold to competitors.

The TV uses a 4K screen,3840 × 2160 120Hz refresh rate, full 10-bit allows the TV to play HDR content, the updated α9 Gen3 AI processor is responsible for upscaling video to 4K and improving playback quality. To watch films in the form the director intended, there is a special mode - it turns off all "float" and "improvement".

The sound on the TV did not disappoint either: it has two built-in speakers with a capacity of 10 watts each plus a 20-watt subwoofer.

TV display bezels are very thin, it is worthTV is very low. There is only one leg, but it is very wide; on the back there is a wide tray for laying wires. On the reverse side there are interface connectors, these are four HDMI 2.1, two USB 2.0, there are also audio outputs: analog 3.5 mm and optical.

Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 55 ″ - an inexpensive TV with Android TV

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Xiaomi TVs, like other devices of this brand, are famous for good quality and performance for little money. And the TV Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 55 ″ was no exception to the rule.

The device is built on an IPS matrix, the resolution of which is 3840 × 2160, the screen brightness is 300 cd / m². The backlighting of the screen is reversed, with good uniformity.

The screen bezels are thin, made of brusheddark gray metal. The TV legs are located at the edges of the cabinet. The dimensions of the device, when installed on the legs, are 1232 × 711 × 264 mm, the thickness of the TV is 83 mm.

The TV is equipped with a quad-core processorCortex-A55 architecture and Mali-470 MP video accelerator, the amount of RAM is 2 GB, flash memory is 8 GB. It runs pure Android TV 9, but doesn't have Netflix certification (in case it matters to you).

The device is equipped with a dual band adapterWiFi 2.4 / 5 GHz and Bluetooth. For wired connections, the TV is equipped with three USB 2.0 ports, three HDMI connectors, one of which supports the ARC protocol, and a composite video input. Using 3.5 mm, you can connect headphones or a speaker system. You can also use the optical audio output to output audio.

LG 55NANO86 - TV for PS5

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LG Nanocell series uses technologyquantum dots - special nanoparticles filter part of the spectrum between green and red, thus achieving more accurate color reproduction. This model is priced slightly above average, but it has a good set of features, from support for Dolby Vision to HDMI 2.1 ports. Thanks to the latter, we get an excellent TV for the Playstation 5. Of course, if you can buy a hard-to-find console.

The IPS matrix of this device has a depthcolors in 10 bits (achieved by FRC). The refresh rate is 120 Hz, the manufacturer does not indicate the maximum brightness, but it is at least no worse than that of previous models (up to 500 cd / m² when viewing HDR content). Local dimming technology has also been implemented, but due to the small number of zones on the screen, dark and light stripes may be noticeable. However, the function can be turned off or reduced in intensity in the settings.

Smart TV on all LG TVs works onits own operating system webOS, in this case - the recently introduced sixth version with a completely redesigned interface, a more convenient settings menu and recommendation ribbons. For comfortable work with the OS, the package includes a remote control with a Magic remote gyroscope ("air mouse").

On the back side of the case there is a panel withinterface connectors among which: two HDMI 2.1 and two HDMI version 2.0, three USB 2.0, component and composite video inputs, two TV tuner inputs and an optical audio output.

Samsung UE55TU8500 - bright and contrasting colors

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Samsung is one of the world leaders in manufacturingTVs in the line of which there are models for almost every taste and wallet. This model belongs to the line of Crystal UHD which provide excellent image quality using the proprietary Dynamic Crystal Display technology. The manufacturer does not go into details, but we can say with confidence that the older models of the series (including the UE55TU8500) really have a wider color gamut.

The device is equipped with a screenthe capacity of which is 3840 × 2160 pixels, the refresh rate is 60 Hz. The matrix is made using VA technology, it is eight-bit, but with the use of FRC technology, the TV supports HDR 10+ technology. A feature of this model is the Dual LED backlight technology, which combines LEDs with different color temperatures and controls their light intensity depending on the picture on the screen, this approach improves the quality of displaying colors and the level of contrast.

The TV operates under the control of the operating roomTizen system from Samsung, which provides access to online services for watching videos, IPTV, games. The OS contains an interesting Ambient mode: when the TV is not used for its intended purpose, it can act as a “digital frame” for displaying photographs, paintings or simply beautiful images. Thus, adding variety to the interior of the room. MultiView is a kind of picture-in-picture feature, but redesigned in a new way. It allows the display to display simultaneously the picture from the TV itself and from your mobile device. AirPlay 2 is also supported. If you plan to watch video from a flash drive, recall that recent Samsung models do not support DivX / Xvid codecs, and therefore will not play avi files from old movie collections.

Game Mode minimizes latency by disabling Image Optimization, making your TV a great choice for connecting to your Playstation 4 or Xbox One S.

Screen bezels are very thin on three sides,we can say frameless. The TV is installed on one leg, which is also used as a cable management tray to hide them from view. The thickness of the TV is 57 mm, dimensions when installed on a stand: 1230 × 793 × 340 mm.

Philips 55OLED805 - total immersion with Ambilight

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Philips 55OLED805 is an OLED TV with a resolution of 3840x2160. The screen refresh rate is 60 Hz. The TV supports HDR10 + and Dolby Vision standards.

The TV is equipped with a P5 Pro Perfect processorPicture, which uses artificial intelligence to process and "melt" the image. There is also a "Director's Mode" on the TV, which displays a picture on the screen without processing, as intended by the creators.

Ambilight is located onthe back of the TV on three sides: top and side. This backlight visually enlarges the screen and enhances the already high contrast of the OLED panel, and thanks to Ambilight, it reduces the strain on your eyes when watching TV in a dark room.

This Philips TV uses AndroidTV, not Saphi's own development. The capabilities of the Google operating system are much broader, since the user is not limited to applications of only the most popular streaming services.

The set of interface connectors includes 4HDMI 2.0 and 2 USB, optical audio output. The TV is not equipped with HDMI 2.1, which is why it is not so interesting for gaming on new generation consoles, but it is a great TV for watching movies and TV shows.

Samsung The Frame QE55LS03T - design TV picture

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Samsung has introduced several TVs with a lot of emphasis on design, the QE55LS03T being one of them.

The TV is equipped with a VA-matrix with a frequency of 120 Hz and10-bit color depth, using FRC technology. Screen resolution 4K, 3840 × 2160 pixels. The backlight uses QLED and Dual LED quantum dot technologies to deliver brilliant images with accurate color reproduction and wide color gamut. Maximum screen brightness 500 cd / m², static contrast 8000: 1.

This TV, like all Samsung models,runs under the operating system Tizen. The OS has an extensive library of applications for all cases, in addition to this, it has a nice and productive interface. Among the additional features, Ambient + is worth highlighting. This mode allows you to change the screen view of the "off" TV, for example, it can display weather information or a background application to match the wall. A separate Art Mode is provided to display photographs and works of famous artists. It has an ambient light sensor that adjusts the brightness to the external conditions, and a motion sensor to turn off the screen when there is no one in the room (this is done in order to reduce power consumption).

As mentioned above, design takes an importantpart in this TV, and the main design feature of the series is interchangeable screen frames. They can be easily removed and installed on the TV, and are held in place with magnets. The color and texture of the frames can be selected in such a way that they are harmoniously combined with the interior of the room. Since the frames are sold separately, you don't have to worry that after renovation or moving to another home, the TV will not fit the new interior.

You can install the TV on legs or hang iton the bracket that comes with the TV. With its help, you can hang the TV close to the wall, without a gap, but at the same time its angle of inclination is adjustable.

KIVI 55U600KD - the most affordable

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KIVI is a fairly young TV manufacturer, but has managed to gain popularity due to its budget price and good performance.

Model 55U600KD is equipped with an ASV screen, this is a subspeciesVA dies made by Japanese SHARP. The TV screen has a resolution of 3840 × 2160, a maximum brightness of 500 cd / m², a contrast ratio of 8600: 1. The backlighting of the screen is made using Direct LED technology, which means that the LEDs are located behind the screen, and not along its edges, this improves the quality of the picture display. Declared support for HDR 10 based on an eight-bit matrix using FRC technology.

Smart device functionality is built onthe Android 9 operating system with the Kivi Vision shell installed, which allows you to customize the system interface. The device has 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of permanent memory.

The design of the TV is simple and laconic: small black frames and legs around the edges of the device. The dimensions of the device on the stand are 1238 × 776 × 269 mm, the thickness of the TV is 61 mm.

The TV is equipped with WiFi 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth 4.1 wireless interfaces.

For a wired connection, the TV is equipped with three HDMI 2.0 connectors with support for ARC and CEC technologies, two USB 2.0. For sound output, you can use 3.5 mm Mini Jack or optical output.

What you need to know before buying a TV

Smart TV and operating systems

Smart tv - the general name of televisions that havean operating system that allows you to install additional applications and, by connecting to the World Wide Web, use online services: play IPTV streams, work with online cinemas and YouTube, provide a banal weather forecast for the day.

There are many operating systems for TV on the market, almost every manufacturer has their own developments, but only three systems have become popular: Tizen, WebOS and Android TV.

Tizen - the operating system, the development of whichis handled by Samsung and installed on the TVs of this manufacturer. The system is minimalistic, comfortable and well adapted. On any TV where it is installed, it will work great.

WebOS - the brainchild of LG corporation, in fact, functionalityat the level of a competitor in the face of Tizen: a large app store, excellent optimization and a minimalistic interface. Most but the most affordable models also come with a Magic Remote for cursor navigation. LG updated the OS interface this year and began licensing webOS to other brands.

Android TV - Google development, in fact, is the sameAndroid, which is familiar to all of us thanks to smartphones. This OS is installed on their TVs by Sony, Xiaomi, Philips, Kivi and many other manufacturers. The main feature of the system is the ability to install a wide range of applications. Almost any application that is available on smartphones will work on Android TV. However, the “TV” version of the Google Play Store only contains applications that are designed to be displayed on a TV screen. The rest can be installed manually using the apk file. On budget TVs, due to the low performance of the hardware, Android can slow down. If the performance of the TV is high, then it will even be possible to run games on it. True, you will need a Bluetooth gamepad to control it.

On TVs of previous years of release or budgetmodels can be found and other operating systems, they often do not differ in a large set of functions, speed and number of supported formats, it happens that there are no "smart" functions at all. In any case, if you are not satisfied with the number of applications on your device, the speed of work or the quality of displaying streaming video, there is always a simple way out - buy an external Smart TV set-top box, for example, the super popular Xiaomi Mi Box S.

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Matrix types

LCD, which stands for Liquid CrystalDisplay, aka liquid crystal display, is familiar to everyone. Matrices of this type have a huge number of variations: the screen of the Casio F-91W watch, the Motorola C360 mobile phone and the modern huge TV are built using the same technology, but they are at different stages of the evolution of this technology.

LCD screen is composed of pixels, in the case of 4Kscreens, the number of pixels on the screen reaches almost 8.5 million. Each pixel, in turn, is made up of three subpixels: red, green, and blue. When all three are highlighted (it is important to underline this word, since they themselves do not glow) with the same brightness, the pixel gives white.

Liquid crystals are just used toto change the color of the pixel. Each subpixel is a "sandwich" consisting of vertical and horizontal polarizing filters: installed in series, they block light, but between them is the very liquid crystals controlled by electrical impulses. They can refract light by rotating the plane of its polarization by a certain angle. Thus, you can pass the required amount of light through the second filter, changing the intensity of the subpixel luminescence (the color of the subpixel is determined by the color filter):

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Illustration: Wikipedia

By adjusting the brightness of each sub-pixel separately, you can set each pixel the color required to create an image.

TN - the oldest of the technologies used incolor displays. The crystal in such a display has the form of a spiral; in the "off" state it is twisted at 90 ° and transmits light between two layers of polarizing filters. When voltage is applied to the sub-pixel electrodes, the crystal straightens, blocking the passage of light.

Such matrices have a short response time (athat's why they are still found in gaming monitors), but have mediocre color display and small viewing angles. Because of this, they are practically not used in TVs.

IPS Is a matrix in which LC molecules are ordered ina horizontal line without letting light through. When a signal is applied to the subpixel electrodes, the crystals do not just rotate, letting in light, they can flip over a predetermined angle, thereby adjusting the brightness of each subpixel. The advantages of this screen design are excellent viewing angles and very good color characteristics, IPS screens can have a color depth of 10 bits. The disadvantages include low contrast and response time.

VA - type of matrix with vertically orientedcrystals that are better at blocking light in the "off" state. When an electrical signal hits them, they tilt to let light through. These matrices have a higher contrast value than IPS and TN, and a high quality display of colors at the level of 8 bits, which are converted into 10 bits using FRC technology. But the viewing angles of such a matrix are slightly lower than those of IPS (in TVs it is partially solved by installing additional filters).

QLED - LCD screen, the characteristics of which are improved byusing quantum dots - nanocrystals that emit light under the influence of blue LED backlight. The color of the color emitted by quantum dots depends on the size of these particles, in televisions it is red and green, while blue is emitted by backlight LEDs. Thanks to this design, screens using quantum dots have a wider color gamut and a higher level of brightness.

OLED - screen type built on organicLEDs. Unlike LCD screens, such matrices do not need a backlight, and there are no liquid crystals themselves, since each subpixel itself emits light. Due to the fact that LEDs can be simply turned off to display black color, such matrices have a very high level of contrast and depth of black color, which cannot be compared with TVs made using other technologies. In addition, the strengths of OLED TVs are wide viewing angles and overall high picture quality.

As for the shortcomings, in addition to the highThere is a problem of pixel burnout: when the TV is operating at maximum brightness for a long time, static elements such as the logo of the TV channel or parts of the interface of a computer game may be imprinted on the screen. Manufacturers use several techniques to reduce the effect of this effect, this is both a decrease in the brightness of stationary objects, and an almost imperceptible pixel shift in such areas.

Refresh rate and float

Refresh rate (sweep) - characteristicTV screen, which reflects the number of frames it can display in one second, expressed in hertz. The higher the frequency of the matrix, the clearer and smoother the video sequence will be displayed. Displays with a frequency of 60 and 120 Hz are now available. However, often in the characteristics of TVs from different manufacturers, you can see the numbers 240, 400, 600 Hz - this is rather a marketing name for frame interpolation technology, which is also called "float".

On the one hand, such systems really help to make dynamic scenes clearer, but on the other hand, if the settings are incorrect, the effect of a “soap opera” appears:

HDMI and everything connected with it

HDMI is the main connection methodmultimedia devices among themselves: TVs, soundbars, game consoles, multimedia players and satellite signal receivers. Interface versions 2.0, revisions "a" and "b", and 2.1 are considered relevant, these versions support 4K signal with dynamic HDR and a frequency of 60 Hz, HDMI 2.1 version supports 120 Hz at a resolution of 4K and even 8K, but with a frequency 60 Hz.

Of particular interest is HDMI 2.1 for gamers, since it is in modern games on new platforms that there is a need to transfer a very large amount of data to be displayed on a 4K screen at a frequency of 120 Hz. New technologies in this version of the standard are also of interest to players. For example, the VRR function adjusts the screen rate in real time to match the frame rate of the video output from your PC or console. This reduces the latency and makes the picture smoother.

You can read more about HDMI 2.1 and the history of the development of the standard in our material.

Unlike connectors, which have a digital display of their version and of which there are already more than a dozen, there are only three versions of HDMI cables: Standard, High Speed and Ultra High Speed.

Standart is an absolutely outdated format, transmitted information at a speed of up to 4.9 Gbps, supported 720p, 1080i resolutions.
High Speed - the version of the cable that willyou need to connect devices with HDMI 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0b and all previous ones. This is the most common version of the cable in stores. The bandwidth of such a cable is 10.2 Gbps, which is enough to transfer 1080p and 4K video at 60 Hz, HDR, 3D.
Ultra High Speed - the most modern standardcables with a bandwidth of up to 48 Gb / s. It supports 4K video transmission at 120 Hz, which is becoming necessary for the next-generation PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X game consoles. This bandwidth is also sufficient for 8K, 60 Hz playback.

HDMI-CEC - the protocol provided by the HDMI standard,allowing you to synchronously control several devices using the remote control of one of them: simultaneously turn on and off the TV along with turning on the game console or set-top box, simultaneously adjust the sound, including on external devices (soundbar), switch the TV image to the input on which it appeared the signal from the switched on device, and so on. In real life, things are not so smooth with devices from different manufacturers: not all functions can be synchronized and controlled correctly, in some cases the function may not work at all.

HDMI-ARC - HDMI function, the name of whichtranslates as "Reverse audio channel". HDMI-ARC allows you to transfer audio signal via cable not only to the TV, but also from it, to the AV receiver, using one HDMI cable without using additional audio wires, for further playback on an external speaker system.

Answers to popular questions

How do I mount my TV and soundbar to the wall?

For mounting TVs are usedspecial brackets, they can be thin, almost invisible, inclined or equipped with a swivel mechanism, but then the thickness of the bracket will be several centimeters. To select a mount, you need to look at the instructions for your TV and find out what size mount it is equipped with. These dimensions are in accordance with the VESA FDMI standard. The mount is already included with the Samsung The Frame QE55LS03T TV-picture, so the task is simplified. If necessary, the soundbar is attached to the TV through an additional bracket.

Which TV to choose for the Playstation 5?

For use with next generation consolesget a 4K TV with 120Hz refresh rate. It is imperative to make sure that the TV is equipped with an HDMI 2.1 connector, because it is he who has the bandwidth sufficient to transmit such a signal volume. This requirement is met by LG 55NANO86, as well as flagship models from LG and Samsung.

What is the best distance to watch 55 ”TV?

This question cannot be answered unequivocally, it israther, it depends on your preferences and the content you are viewing. The better its quality, the closer you can get to the screen. Although the film and television engineering community recommends that the TV should fill a 30 ° field of view, for a 55 ”screen this would be 235 cm.