$1,497.99
$1,697.99
Amazon
$1,499.99
$1,799.99
Best Buy
$1,499.99
$1,799.99
Samsung
No one really wants a TV
At least, most people I know don’t. The rise of the "art TV" proves it.
All the technology that makes an art TV look like art makes shows and movies look worse.
Edge-lit lighting is much dimmer, lower contrast and less fine-tunable than lighting on a traditional LED or OLED TV. The color black, in particular, doesn’t look very dark, and the color contrast is muddier and less vibrant. Art TVs’ low screen brightness exacerbates the issue — in well-lit rooms, colors and contrast look even worse.
Art TVs are super-thin, which means their built-in audio is lackluster compared to a thicker TV with more powerful built-in speakers (though I’d still recommend a soundbar for either).
Art TVs look worse when watching your favorite TV shows and movies. But that brings me back to my original point: are you really watching TV? How closely? Are you watching the latest “Shrinking” episode, or is it background noise you’re tuning in and out of as you scroll on your phone or do the dishes?
Look: I’m a TV person: If I am watching a show or a movie, I’m sitting on the couch and giving it my attention. That’s why I appreciate the vibrant colors, contrast, brightness and consistency of a premium LED or OLED TV.
But I feel increasingly in the minority. 43 percent of Gen Z prefer YouTube and TikTok to traditional TV and streaming, according to Activate Consulting’s Technology & Media Outlook 2026. Limiting the data to TV screen time, YouTube remains the top-watched TV streaming platform, with no close competitors.
An Art TV is a great option for sometimes-TV people: people who want to watch the occasional movie or awards show, but otherwise have their TV turned off in favor of other, smaller screens. And if your TV is off most of the time, would you rather have a convincing piece or art on the wall, or a shiny black monolith dominating the room?
Burn-in, sometimes called a ghost image, is visible marks or discoloration on a screen that can occur after a static image is displayed, unchanged, for too long. The marks remain on the screen even after you replace the image. Burn-in is most common on OLED TVs and much older plasma and CRT TVs.
Despite showing still images for hours at a time, art TVs rarely get screen burn-in. The combination of edge-lit lighting, low brightness and automatic shutdown features (often using motion sensors) prevents burn-in that may occur when using something like art mode on an OLED TV.
I’m a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology, fitness and deals including stories on smartwatches, running shoes, wireless earbuds and more. I’ve covered TVs, TV brands and TV accessories for years, including stories on streaming devices, soundbars and TV mounting kits. For this piece, I relied on my experience reporting on TVs, including years of speaking with industry experts about TV technologies and trends.
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