Spring is here and the sun has shown its face once more. Cue the desire to revamp our homes, gardens and, with the timing just perfect, our home entertainment experience too. March is an excellent time to buy a new TV and take your gaming set-up to the next level.
March provides the perfect moment in the year to reach higher to that upper-end set that you thought you couldn't afford, and get the best graphical and gameplay experience of any virtual world.
It's around now that you'll get the best prices of the year. So, if you've always fancied an OLED TV, then your moment has just arrived. No need to settle for that midrange panel. Spend a little more right now and you'll reap the returns in performance for years.
Low prices in March
LG OLEDs are arguably the best specified gaming TVs you can buy, and should be of particular interest to anyone with a PS5 or Xbox Series X. They’re right up to the very latest gaming technologies thanks to their four HDMI 2.1 ports.
These ports bring access to standards such as 4K@120Hz (also known as HFR), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) – all designed to give top quality, smooth running, fully-immersive gaming action with a super-low input lag of around 13ms. Those ports are also eARC-enabled (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) and that opens up the possibilities to the very best quality through full-fat, non-compressed surround sound and Dolby Atmos streams – just perfect for putting yourself at the heart of the action.
New TVs are announced at the beginning of each year but it's not until Spring that they arrive on our shelves for sale. That means that from around March time, shops are looking to make room for the incoming sets, and, to get the job done, they offer some very tasty discounts.
Take the LG OLED55CX5LB, for example. It's a 55in OLED TV from LG, featuring alpha 9 (a9) Gen 3 processor – the top performing picture processor of the LG OLED range. At launch, this OLED TV was £1799 but it's just hit £1299 in the March savings. That's £500 off the original price and incredible value for what is a What Hi-Fi? five-star reviewed TV.
The LG OLED55CX5LB is a very fully-featured TV. It's already fitted with the most important HDR standards (Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG) and that means watching the latest film and TV releases with the highest levels of realism and excitement. It also has a superb smart platform, in the shape of LG's webOS, which offers an excellent suite of all your favourite streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, BBC iPlayer and Disney+.
The a9 Gen 3 chip also comes with LG's AI Sound Pro technology which helps to create a virtual 5.1 surround sound experience from the LG OLED55CX5LB's 2.2. channel speaker arrangement. There's a Dolby Atmos mode too to help add some spaciousness to the audio and Dolby Atmos passthrough in case you'd like to add an Atmos soundbar for that real step up in audio.
Other great features include Bluetooth 5.0 support, for wireless headphones TV watching, and Apple AirPlay 2.
OLED is worth the extra
OLED TVs represent the top TV technology for most manufacturers' ranges, and there's a plenty of good reason for that. OLED has proved to be a real crowd-pleaser with its stunning colours, unbeatable viewing angles and inky deep blacks which other TVs struggle to produce. The result is some really punchy and exciting gameplay action.
The C-class LG OLEDs are always a great example. The LG OLED55CX5LB included, they feature LG's top picture processors. That means the best motion handling and HD upscaling as well as top notch 4K HDR performance.
LG's OLEDs have been streets ahead of the company's LCD-based Nanocell TVs in recent years despite often only small differences in price which can amount to as little as £100. If you can trade-up to OLED, its leap in performance far outstrips the small extra cost.
Bigger is usually better
Buying a 55inTV can be quite frightening. It looks like a large number on paper but going bigger is usually better when it comes to TVs. Smaller TVs have a higher pixel density. There are more pixels per square inch and that gives a sharp look but a bigger screen with the same performance will always look more cinematic.
Not only does that extra screen real estate offer a more immersive sense of scale to gaming but, with more space to breathe, the image takes on an improved three-dimensional feel. It brings an added sense of depth to your virtual world which makes the gameplay often more involving, believable and, ultimately, enjoyable.
Of course, there are limitations. So, do your measurements and make sure that you can fit a 55in, or bigger TV, into your life. Cut out a piece of cardboard to represent the panel size, pop it in the proposed site and see how it looks. Give yourself a chance to get used to it. While it might seem large to begin with, you'll be amazed how quickly you'll adjust. That goes for you and doubly so for anyone else in your house who might be less keen on a new big screen TV.
Shop online with confidence
You don't need us to tell you that a trip to the shops isn't necessarily the best idea at the moment. Fortunately, there are many online TV retailers who are just as trustworthy as those with high street presence.
AO is one of the brands trusted by Future Publishing (the parent company of What Hi-Fi?). The online tech retailer promises to price match any retailer. It offers next-day delivery, seven days a week, and that includes the option of specific time slots so that you don't have to spend your day sat by the front door.
Best of all AO offers free returns for within 100 days of purchase. So, if for whatever reason there's a problem, or you change your mind, then you can get your money back. The over 200,000 five-star Trust Pilot reviews for AO should help ease your mind too.
Shop all of LG TV’s at AO.
