18th Annual Value Electronics TV Shootout

The 2022 TV Shootout took place on July 30 and 31, with judges granting awards for various settings and the coveted King of TV prize for both 4K and 8K entries. These judges spent hours each day inspecting technical and visual details among the product displays, testing various TV modes such as SDR, HDR and different levels of room light. As they tested these modes and settings, the judges marked thoughts and critiques on their ballots, eventually passing them on to vote counters. The ballots were tallied and the awards were announced.

The televisions involved in this year’s Shootout were from companies Sony, LG and Samsung, with each supplying new products in both the 4K and 8K competitions. In the 4K category, which took place on the first day of the Shootout, Samsung entered its QN65S95B and QN65QN95B, LG entered the OLED65G2PUA and Sony supplied its XR65A95K and XR65X95K. Each of those televisions were of 4K resolution, but not all were built the same. The Samsung QN65S95B, Sony XR65A95K and LG OLED65G2PUA are all OLED televisions, but the Sony XR65X95K is Mini LED and the Samsung QN65QN95B is QLED. There is variation in cost as well, but the judges were looking specifically at the technology and visuals in their considerations.

The Sony XR65A95K ended up taking home every prize on the 4K-centric first day of the Shootout. As well as gaining accolades like Best 4K Living Room TV, the judges crowned the Sony XR65A95K as 2022’s King of 4K TVs. The race was very tight, but from the beginning the judges knew that would be the case. Robert Zohn of Value Electronics said before the first day of competition started, “It’s hard to pick a winner. They’re all winners.” And while the LG and Samsung contenders were certainly strong competition, Sony was the big winner on the first day of the TV Shootout.

The second day was a fresh start of new televisions for consideration, but this time each product was 8K. Same as before, Sony, LG and Samsung were the companies putting forward TVs for inspection, but, due to the fact that 8K technology is not as presently widespread as 4K, there were less televisions. In the 4K category there were five TVs; in the 8K three were three. Those three were the LG OLED88Z2PUA, the Sony XR85Z9K and the Samsung QN85QN900B. The LG television is OLED, the Samsung is QLED and the Sony is Mini LED. That means that each 8K TV considered by the judges involves different technology in their displays.

The LG OLED88Z2PUA was the big winner on the second and final day of 2022’s TV Shootout, taking home the grand prize of King of 8K TVs. The television also won the subcategories of Best 8K Home Theater TV and Best 8K HDR TV, but it didn’t sweep like the Sony XR65A95K did the previous day in the 4K competition. Sony also managed to snag a subcategory prize, with its QLED XR85Z9K taking home the title of Best 8K HDR TV.

This demonstrates how tough the TV Shootout competition really is; on both days the margin of victory in various subcategories — and even the King of TVs award — was within decimal points. It also shows that even though there are winners among the competition’s televisions, each is capable of strong visual performance, especially in certain modes and settings. Among the products presented by LG, Sony and Samsung at this year’s TV Shootout, consumers searching for a great looking TV would certainly be able to find one that suits their personal taste and needs.

“TV Shootout” and “King of TVs” are registered trademarks of Robert Zohn.

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Shootout Backstage Candids: