It’s early days for 2026 TVs, with some manufacturers (Sony, for one) but to reveal their full ranges – however I’ve already noticed a front-runner for TV of the 12 months, and it’s most likely not the mannequin you’re anticipating.
The mannequin I’m speaking about is the Philips OLED951.
In image phrases, this is Philips’ flagship TV for 2026, and whereas many manufacturers appear to be taking a reasonably evolutionary strategy to their OLEDs this 12 months, Philips is actually pushing the boat out.
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Of course, there’s no assure that the on-paper promise will translate to real-world perfection, and we’ll have to conduct a full evaluation earlier than we will ship our verdict on that.
But, having now briefly seen it in motion, I believe there’s an excellent probability the OLED951 can actually ship.
It’s an OLED
An apparent one this, however the Philips OLED951 is… properly… an OLED.
That’s an excellent factor in my e-book. The RGB Mini LED invasion is upon us, and there are some superb RGB Mini LEDs already out and on the means (including one from Philips), however I’m but to see any proof that the know-how’s numerous strengths are a match for the pixel-level distinction management of OLED.
Perfect black pixels subsequent to brilliant white or colored ones make for unbeatable distinction, which has advantages proper throughout the image, notably in phrases of solidity and perceived three-dimensionality.
An OLED-beating RGB Mini LED TV would possibly at some point materialise – I’m open to that – however I predict that in 2026, no less than, the best TV will be an OLED.
Brighter than the LG G6
We’ve written loads of occasions about how brightness is a great distance from the most vital factor for a TV to ship.
Still, tons of brightness headroom can be helpful for a TV to ship the items in a brightly lit room. It additionally provides a level of future-proofing, simply in case Hollywood out of the blue begins mastering tons of motion pictures to 4000 nits (one thing I see little or no proof of, for what it’s value).
Brightness isn’t going to be a difficulty for the OLED951, although, as a result of Philips claims it may hit a peak brightness determine of 4500 nits, and a full-screen brightness of 400 nits.
Those are enhancements over final 12 months’s already very brilliant OLED950 of 800 and 50 nits, respectively.
Those figures, if achieved, can even make the OLED951 an excellent deal brighter than the LG G6, which shares a ‘Meta 4.0’ Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel with it – one thing that Philips says is down to its distinctive image engine.
But will these figures be achieved? Having seen the OLED951 working towards the OLED950 (see the picture above), it definitely appears to be like prefer it. The OLED951 regarded a lot brighter that the figures given really appear conservative.
And this isn’t simply brightness for the sake of brightness, both, as a result of, as we’ve seen in our personal testing, when elevated brightness is mixed with OLED’s excellent black and pixel-level gentle management, the result’s even higher distinction, which, as talked about above, tends to make pictures look extra strong and three-dimensional.
That was definitely the case in the side-by-side demo – the OLED951 actually popped.
Four HDMI 2.1 sockets and customized settings for each sport
Finally, Philips’ flagship OLEDs (and most of its different fashions, in truth) can have 4 HDMI 2.1 sockets.
These will all be in a position to settle for gaming alerts of up to 4K/165Hz, full with VRR and HDR, together with in the Dolby Vision format.
Sure, LG and Samsung have been providing OLEDs with 4 HDMI 2.1 sockets for years, however when mixed with every thing else the OLED951 provides (extra of which I’ll get to), that also makes it a tantalising proposition for avid gamers.
Another characteristic that may attraction to avid gamers like me is the capability to customise settings for particular person titles.
These settings can be designed to enhance the image (further brightness and vibrancy for Rocket League, maybe, and a darker, broodier presentation for Alan Wake II), offer you a bonus over on-line rivals (via an onscreen crosshair or enhanced shadow element, as an example), or ship geeky gaming information akin to the present body fee.
If you’re a gaming image high quality obsessive, that’s very neat.
Ambilight and AmbiScape
Look, I do know it’s not to everybody’s style, and I definitely don’t suppose it is smart for all content material, however Ambilight – which extends the onscreen motion onto the wall round the TV in the type of colored gentle – stays a spectacular characteristic.
And now your room lights can be synchronised with what you’re watching extra simply, too. This isn’t a wholly new characteristic, however beforehand, you wanted Hue bulbs.
Now, thanks to the new AmbiScape characteristic, lights that conform to the Matter customary will be supported – and there are masses of these. That will make it much more reasonably priced and versatile to get your lounge lights in on the Ambilight motion.
Again, this gained’t be an improve for all content material, however play the aforementioned Rocket League, and it’s unimaginable not to get an additional thrill when a aim creates a flash of sensible color proper throughout your room. It works brilliantly for vibrant animated motion pictures, too, akin to the Spider-Verse sequence.
Dolby Vision 2
Will Dolby Vision 2 be an enormous deal in 2026? There’s a robust risk it gained’t be, as we’ve nonetheless had no information on precise content material in the format.
It is coming sooner or later, although, and our first appears to be like at it in motion have been very spectacular, so for those who’re shopping for a TV this 12 months, it’s properly value contemplating going for a mannequin that helps the format.
That makes Philips’ new OLED951, OLED911 and OLED811 notably interesting, as a result of they are going to be the first OLED TVs to help Dolby Vision 2. In truth, they can even help the much more superior Dolby Vision 2 Max, which provides, amongst different issues, the very attention-grabbing Authentic Motion characteristic.
The Dolby Vision 2 and 2 Max help will be added through a post-launch software program replace (October is the present ETA), however don’t go considering that 2026 OLEDs from different manufacturers will comply with swimsuit: Dolby Vision 2 additionally wants to be baked into the {hardware}, and based mostly on what we’ve been informed thus far, this hasn’t been performed in the case of, for instance, LG’s new fashions.
Excellent anti-reflection tech
Fighting reflections is a key theme in present TV improvement.
It’s most likely honest to say that Samsung is best at it: its prime OLEDs suppress reflections extremely successfully.
But it does this by utilizing a matte panel, and that tends to make blacks look fairly gray in a well-lit room.
The new Meta 4.0 OLED panel from LG Display, although, suppresses extra reflections than the earlier model whereas nonetheless retaining the shiny end that enables it to produce virtually excellent blacks, even in robust ambient gentle.
According to official figures, the reflectance has been decreased from 0.6 per cent to 0.3 per cent. That doesn’t sound like an enormous change, however in actuality, it makes a transparent distinction.
We first noticed this new anti-reflection tech in the G6, which massively impressed us with its mixture of reflection suppression and deep blacks, and it regarded equally glorious in the demo of the OLED951 towards final 12 months’s OLED950.
This is one of these issues that basically comes down to style, with some folks being completely proud of the matte look of the Samsung fashions. I personally favor the shiny look, although, and the new panel in the LG G6 and Philips OLED951 strikes the best stability of anti-reflectivity and black efficiency that I’ve thus far seen.
Dual Engine image processing
Those already in the learn about Philips’ 2026 TV lineup would possibly be questioning why I’m getting all enthusiastic about the OLED951 reasonably than the OLED911.
After all, every thing I’ve written thus far additionally applies to the OLED911, and the OLED911 additionally has a Bowers & Wilkins sound system that, if type is to be believed, will make it one of, if not the, best-sounding TV in its class.
The cause is that the OLED951 has the Dual Engine model of Philips’ new tenth Gen P5 AI processor, whereas the OLED911 has the single-chip model. This unlocks some further image processing options that ought to additional enhance sure issues, akin to brilliant particulars and banding suppression.
The distinction maybe gained’t be large – we’ll want to absolutely check each fashions to discover out – however as somebody who subscribes to the ‘all TVs should be partnered with a dedicated sound system’ philosophy, I’ll all the time select the potential for higher image high quality over a greater sound system.
You could really feel in a different way, of course, and that’s tremendous. If that’s the case, I strongly suggest you learn Lewis Empson’s Philips OLED911 hands-on.
That additionally appears to be like like a superb TV – however on paper (and from what I’ve seen of it thus far), the OLED951 is the one which ticks each field for me.
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