We lab-tested 7 TVs for color accuracy - and the winners weren't Sony or Samsung

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The first commercial TVs were five to seven inches long and displayed grainy black-and-white pictures. Now, the best TVs can reach a whopping 98 inches (or more) and feature color technology that creates rich, realistic images with individual pixels, AI processors, and even ambient light adaptation to make your movie nights feel immersive.

TVs are only getting better and better in color and picture every year, so we decided to put them to the test. ZDNET tested seven flagship TVs from popular brands like Samsung , LG , and TCL in our Louisville-based lab . The lab team's goal was to evaluate each TV's color reproduction in different picture modes using the industry-standard display color calibration software, Calman.

The TVs that stood out above the rest were the LG C6 for the most accurate SDR color reproduction and the Hisense U8 for the most accurate HDR color reproduction. We chose to separate these awards and TVs because SDR and HDR are two distinct picture formats that are calculated slightly differently, so we wanted to designate a winner for each.

We tested the TVs in our lab using Portrait Displays' Calman software , the industry standard used by Hollywood film studios, broadcast networks, and more to validate color accuracy. The lab team chose two different ways to test each TV's color: color gamut and color accuracy.