Buying a new tv? Here are the phrases you need to know

OLED, QLED AND MINI LED REFER TO LIGHTING TECHNOLOGY Instead of a light-emitting diode (LED)-backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) television — the most popular type of panel today — some TVs

use OLED (pronounced “oh-led”) screens for a superior image. LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio all make OLED TVs. Televisions packed with organic light-emitting diodes are incredibly thin because

each pixel is its own light source; therefore, no backlighting is required. Along with sharp color and contrast with super-dark blacks, these televisions are more energy efficient than

other TV types. But expect to pay a premium for these televisions. Other TV makers are offering televisions powered by quantum dot technology, microscopic dots as small as one-billionth of a

meter that make up the picture. These TVs generally deliver a wide, more true-to-life color palette than TVs without this technology. While not quite as thin, quantum dot TVs generally

don’t cost as much as OLED TVs. Some TV makers may brand their quantum dot TVs as QLED, such as models from Samsung, TCL and Vizio. One more lighting-related phrase that has become a big

deal is mini LED, which you might see styled as mini-LED or MiniLED. As its name suggests, mini LED televisions house tens of thousands of tiny lights behind the screen to produce a bright

and even picture. More lights packed into a small space result in more precise control of lighting levels. So you won’t see “blooming” issues the way you do with some other TV technologies,

when part of a screen that’s supposed to be dark is lit up because a nearby element is brighter. Mini LED TVs maintain their brightness even in a well-lit room and have a high contrast ratio

— the difference between the least bright areas of a monitor and the brightest. Many have a “low latency” mode for smoother rendering of fast-moving scenes in action movies, sports and

video games. TV manufacturers that offer mini LED TVs include Hisense, LG, Sony and TCL. HDR OFFERS BRIGHTER WHITES, DARKER BLACKS While 4K or 8K refers to the resolution of the television

picture, that isn’t the whole story. Many of today’s televisions also offer high dynamic range (HDR), which reproduces a wider range of brightness levels, has richer and more realistic

colors, and features higher contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks. When seen side by side with non-HDR content, HDR-enhanced video is incredibly bright and vibrant.

You also might see more televisions branded with technologies called HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, which are two improved types of HDR.