What is ATSC 3.0? ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV, is a suite of standards that will support the world’s first IP-based TV system, which marries broadband and broadcast to deliver cord-free television. Once it goes live fully, it will offer 4K over-the-air broadcasts, better sound quality, multi-language closed captioning and a number of other outstanding features. The technology is still in its infancy with broadcasters slowly ramping up to the full suite of features, but buying an ATSC 3.0-compatible TV means that you’ll be ready to jump on-board the ATSC 3.0 train when it comes to your area.
What are the best TVs with ATSC 3.0?
Unfortunately, not every TV maker is putting ATSC 3.0 hardware into new TVs. In fact, among the best TV brands, the only ones offering TVs with the new ATC 3.0 tuners are LG, Samsung and Sony, though Hisense announced at CES 2022 that it would be including ATSC 3.0 hardware in some of this year’s models. While most TV manufacturers have only a few ATSC 3.0-compatible models, they include some of the best TVs you can buy. Our favorite is the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV, but it’s hardly the only Samsung model. Samsung’s entire 8K lineup also includes ATSC 3.0 tuners built-in — not that we’d necessarily recommend you buy that just yet. Sony is bringing ATSC 3.0 to every TV range announced so far in 2022, following on from considerable support last year. That means you can expect it in all of its TVs including Bravia LCD (X80K, X85K, X90K and X95K), the Master Series OLEDs (A80K and A90K) and the Master Series Z9K 8K. You’ll find last year’s Sony A80J in our list here - a superb 2021 OLED that is still well worth a look. LG gets an incredible two mentions on the list, one for the LG G1 OLED TV, and one for the newest iteration, the LG G2 OLED. LG’s Z1 8K OLED model also has it on board. You can expect 2022’s G2 and Z2 to feature the tech too.
The best TVs with ATSC 3.0 tuners
Our favorite TV with ATSC 3.0 hardware is the Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV. Using a combination of Samsung’s highly refined quantum dot technology with the tight control of mini-LED backlighting, the QN90A is one of the best TVs we’ve ever seen. In our testing, we found its brilliant color handling and unmatched brightness make for a superb performance, and Samsung pairs that with a bounty of smart TV functions and genuinely intelligent features. We particularly love the solar-powered remote control that eliminates the need to swap out batteries – delivering eco-friendly design and unbeaten convenience at the same time. The whole thing is packed into a gorgeous 1-inch-thick design that contains a huge array of smart features, potent Dolby Atmos sound and some of the best performance we’ve ever seen. HDMI 2.1 connectivity comes standard, along with gamer-friendly features and impressive 12.6-millisecond lag time for an unparalleled gaming experience. It was the winner of the 2021 Tom’s Guide Award for Best TV, and a second award as the best gaming TV of the year. Read our full Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV review. The 2022 version of LG’s premium G-series OLED TVs is here — and it’s brilliant. The LG G2 OLED improves upon last year’s G1 in almost every regard to up the game when it comes to the screen tech. Brightness has been a long-time OLED shortcoming, but in our testing we found that the LG G2 reached 590.54 nits — way above the G1’s 412.05, albeit not quite on a par with the Sony A80J’s 713.65 result. And brightness is just one aspect of its performance that impressed us, with color accuracy, color gamut and lag times all faring well in our testing. And of course you get the deep blacks we’ve come to expect from OLED. This being one of LG’s ‘Gallery’ series TVs, its design is also something to behold, with a minimalistic silver frame that gives it a near-bezel-less appearance. It’s also well equipped with ports, sounds better than almost any OLED we’ve ever heard and offers a full-featured smart TV platform that should satisfy most households, without quite being the best. The LG C2, which we’re currently testing, may end being a better purchase for most people, but until then this is the best OLED TV you can buy. Read our full LG G2 OLED TV review A NextGen TV tuner is just one of the cutting edge technologies built into the Sony Bravia XR A80J. This 4K OLED TV has HDR, a 120 Hz refresh rate, Google TV software and Sony’s own Bravia Core streaming service, Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology… the list goes on. Sure, not everyone will need everything here, but it’s nice to have the option. Just as importantly, it also excels at the basics. Our testing found that contrast is superb, colors are rich and varied, viewing angles are impressive and it handles upscaling well. Sound is also excellent and Google TV is a big upgrade on the older Android TV. Against that, the XR A80J requires a little more tweaking in order to look its best; it’s fine out of the box, but to really reach its full potential, you’ll want to play around with various modes. It’s not the cheapest and other sets beat it purely based on picture quality, but as an all-round package the A80J is a great choice. Read our full Sony Bravia XR A80J review. The Hisense U8H Mini-LED TV is all about bringing high-end features to a mid-level price bracket. To wit, it’s packing a light sensor for Dolby Vision IQ that can raise or lower the brightness to match the ambient light in the room and a Mini-LED panel that has up to 528 local dimming zones. Its peak brightness exceeds any TV around that price, and its color reproduction is as good as some of this year’s best TVs. Not only does it have some smart-looking specs under its belt, it has some killer additional features — there’s two HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K@120Hz and on-board Google TV 11 with Chromecast Built-in. Around back you’ll find a hefty sound system that delivers bass in spades, though it could be a bit stronger in the mid-range. Of course, there’s also an ATSC 3.0 tuner inside, too. The bad news? As powerful as a TV as this is, Hisense’s upscaling and motion processing skills aren’t on par with that of LG, Samsung or Sony’s, which means some scenes you’re going to notice poor motion smoothing and color banding. If those terms don’t mean much to you, these issues won’t ruin your experience — but videophiles might notice them and they can turn an otherwise positive experience into a sub-par one. Read our full Hisense U8H review. The LG G1 OLED TV is the updated version of LG’s superb Gallery GX OLED, boasting a premium 20 millimeter-thick design and sleek flush-to-the-wall mounting setup. A lot goes unchanged, like the impressive profile and built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner. The design is impeccable – enough to win best TV design in the 2021 Tom’s Guide Awards. It’s still the best 4K OLED TV we’ve seen from LG, but as the first TV with LG’s second-gen OLED evo technology, our tests found it falls short of some claimed performance improvements we were pretty excited for. That said, the LG G1 OLED is still an impressive OLED set, and LG has even knocked the price down a bit, while updating almost everything else about the set. The slim OLED features more comfortable remote control, enhanced gaming features, and the latest version of webOS, all while delivering the same excellent picture quality and impeccable sound that we expect from LG’s best OLED models. The LG G1 OLED TV stands as a reminder of just how far modern TV technology has come — we just hope it hasn’t plateaued. Read our full LG G1 OLED TV review.
What is NextGen TV?
NextGen TV is the marketing name for the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, which combines traditional over-the-air broadcasting and improved digital signal encoding with internet connectivity, opening up all sorts of possibilities that were previously unimagined for free broadcast television. (Read our full article ATSC 3.0 explained: How NextGen TV delivers 4K HDR broadcasts for free to learn more.) Highlights of the features promised by ATSC 3.0 include: Better signal quality with less interference Thanks to a move toward UHF signal, it’s less prone to interference from obstructions, like buildings or trees, and adds orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), the same technology behind the latest Wi-Fi and mobile wireless technologies. It’s a much more robust method for transmitting digital information, and the move will further bolster the signal quality with ATSC 3.0. Higher resolution for over-the-air broadcast With a bitrate of up to 57 Mbps – nearly three times as much as the older ATSC 1.0 standard – and support for H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2 codecs, the new standard can deliver much higher video quality, including HDR metadata. Broadcasts in 4K resolution are already possible, with potential for 8K broadcasts in the future. Combines broadcast TV with broadband internet This leverages the connected nature of smart TVs to have a dedicated return channel – an active stream of data back to the broadcaster – which makes the new broadcast system a two-way IP-based standard. That could allow broadcasters to pair their traditional content with streaming capabilities, allow for cloud DVR functions, video-on-demand and more targeted advertising. Available on many more devices Thanks to the more robust signal quality and the data-connected aspects of the new standard, it will offer better reception for portable and vehicle-bound TVs – two categories that have fallen off sharply since the more fragile digital TV of the ATSC 1.0 standard took effect. You could even get ATSC 3.0 on your phone, provided phone makers opt to add the necessary hardware. The bottom line is that ATSC 3.0 is aptly named NextGen TV, because it brings several new capabilities and features to broadcast TV.
Do I need a NextGen TV tuner?
At the moment, probably not. NextGen TV is still early in its rollout, and any stations you might be able to get with the new tuner you can get on the older ATSC 1.0 standard anyway. But, if you want the potential to receive 4K signals over the air, or to take advantage of any of the proposed features that are likely to be implemented as NextGen TV rolls out, you will need a new tuner. While the TVs listed above have ATC 3.0 tuners built in, there are also separate tuner boxes selling now or coming to market in the near future.
How we test TVs
In our TV test space, we submit every TV to a number of lab tests, using industry-standard equipment, such as a calibrated spectrophotometer, calibration software and a dedicated test pattern generator. We measure for several indicators of picture quality, but these are the main metrics used in all of our reviews: Color gamut, which measures how much color a given TV can produce. Expressed as a percentage rating, most OLED TVs meet or exceed 100% of the Rec709 color space. Color accuracy, which measures the average deviation from perfect accuracy, expressed as a number (Delta-E), with higher numbers indicating less accurate color. Contrast, measuring the difference between the darkest darks and brightest brights that a TV can produce, which is expressed as a ratio. Brightness, measuring the peak luminance of a panel or display. This measure is reported in nits, an industry term for candela per square meter (cd/m2). Lag time is the interval between a signal, such as button press on a game console, and the subsequent change registering on-screen. Measured with a Leo Bodnar Video Signal Input Lag Tester, this is measured in milliseconds, and provides a good indicator of how well-suited a TV is to modern gaming. We pair this lab testing with hands-on time, viewing video samples and movies to see how these numbers translate into real-world performance. With that information, we can tell you which TVs look best, sound best and offer the best viewing experience. Finally, we also evaluate the smart TV software and menus, getting a feel for the navigation and functions of each TV. We look at everything from the remote control design to the voice interaction to let us meaningfully talk about the smart features and overall ease-of-use for a smart TV. If you’ve narrowed down your TV shopping by brand, price range or screen size, check out our picks for the best TVs in each. Best TVs | Best 4K TVs | Best smart TVs for streaming | Best TVs for gaming The best TVs under $1000 | The best TVs under $500 Best TV brands | Best Samsung TVs | Best TCL TVs | Best LG TVs | Best Roku TVs | Best OLED TVs | Best QLED TVs | Best 8K TVs | Best HDMI 2.1 TV | Best TVs with ATSC 3.0 | Best TVs with Chromecast The smallest smart TVs | Best 43-inch TVs | Best 50-inch TVs | Best 55-inch TVs | Best 65-inch TVs | Best 70-inch TVs | Best 75-inch TVs | Best 85-inch TVs And don’t forget to watch out for the latest TV reviews.
