The latest Value Electronics TV Shootout for 2024 has now established itself as one of the highlights in the AV calendar and just took place. And by far the biggest winner of the event’s new three-way competition was Sony.

The new format saw the Value Electronics 2024 TV Shootout divided into the categories of “King Of OLED TV”, “King Of MiniLED TV” and “Best Out-of-the-box Large TV”. Three TVs competed in each of the MiniLED and OLED categories, with large-screen models from each of the six OLED and Mini-LED ranges presented competing separately for the large TV award. And in all three categories, it was a Sony model that – perhaps a little surprisingly, at least in the case of the OLED category – emerged as the winner.

Looking first at the OLED category, the three 65-inch contenders (already shortlisted due to their critical acclaim and popularity with AV enthusiasts) were the LG OLED65G4, Samsung 65S95D and Sony 65A95L. The Sony 65A95L emerged victorious in four of the six categories considered, according to the judges’ results of the shootout: SDR reference performance, general HDR performance, HDR performance in bright scenes and streaming performance. The Samsung model won in the SDR bright room and HDR dark scenes categories, but the final overall score of 8.9 for Sony beat the 8.8 and 8.4 of the Samsung and LG OLED TVs.

The potential surprise here is the fact that the Sony 65A95L actually launched in 2023, and therefore doesn’t benefit from the latest Quantum Dot OLED panel used in the 2024-released Samsung 65S95D. The LG G4, on the other hand, is also a 2024 model, again using LG Displays’ latest generation of brightness-boosting microlens array technology. However, the judges clearly found in their testing that Sony’s expert control of the 65A95L’s aging panel still delivered the most accurate and effective picture quality results all around.

In the MiniLED category, the three contenders were again all 65-inch models from Sony, Samsung and LG. Sony’s model was the new “Bravia 9” K65XR90, Samsung provided the QN65QN95D and LG’s entry was the 65QNED90T. Again, the Sony model won in four of the six available categories: SDR reference, HDR general, HDR dark scenes and streaming. Samsung again won two categories: SDR bright room and HDR bright scenes, but the overall score was 8.1 for Sony, 8.0 for Samsung and 7.3 for LG.

The full results of the 65-inch OLED and MiniLED screen comparisons are shown below.

The King of OLED and King of MiniLED awards were both based on analysis of screens initially calibrated by respected professional calibrators DeWayne Davis (CEO of Audio Video Fidelity) and Cecil Meade of Classy Tech Calibrations, using two of Sony’s new BVM-HX3110 professional mastering monitors to provide a first-class frame of reference for the Shootout’s panel of AV industry luminaries.

For the final big-screen shootout, the judges only set each screen to what they thought was the best picture preset from the factory, rather than fully calibrating them all. This approach obviously represents the maximum amount of effort most TV buyers put into setting up their new TV! But it also offers insight into the picture attributes that different manufacturers prioritize when setting their TVs’ presets – and once again, the Sony A95L’s approach, this time with its 77-inch screen size, met the shootout judges’ needs better than any other entrant’s presets.

Second and third place in the large-screen shootout went to the 83-inch LG OLED83G4 and the 77-inch Samsung QN77S95D. This means that the three OLED competitors all finished ahead of the MiniLED models.

The judges for the Value Electronics TV Shootout 2024 were:

Robert ZohnFounder and President of Value Electronics and former TV broadcast systems engineer.

Jason DustalField Trainer and ISF Instructor at AVPro Global.

Richard DrutmanWriter/Producer/Director at Triode Pictures based in New York

Charlie Andersonaward-winning cinematographer with ten feature films and countless music videos and commercials to his credit.

David MackenzieCEO of Fidelity In Motion, a specialist in mastering films for home video formats including 4K Blu-ray.

David MedinaDirector of Encoding Services at Warner Bros Discovery.

Mike Osadciwone of Canada’s leading professional THX/ISF video calibrators with over 25 years of experience in consumer and professional video.

Kenneth AlmesticaSenior Director of Technical Operations at Paramount Brand Creative and Level III ISF Calibrator.

Nilay Pateltechnical journalist and co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Verge

John Reformationprofessional ISF Level 3 certified video calibrator and consultant and electrical engineer with 23 patents in telecommunications technology.

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