List of recommended TVs for emulation

[Cyber]

TCL X11L

11,000+ Nits Peak Brightness, RGB Subpixel Layout, the closest LCD has come to OLED according to RTINGS and many other review outlets.

Here are some excerpts from RTINGS’ review of the set.

Note: Due to the high peak brightness of the TV, we had to use different measuring equipment for many of our tests, as the TV exceeds the peak luminance of our Colorimetry Research CR-100, which we normally use. As such, we combined our CR-100 with a Colorimetry Research CR-250 when necessary, as it’s designed for higher luminance measurements, but it’s not as sensitive as the CR-100 in low-light conditions.

11,000+ Nits Peak Brightness anyone?

HDR Brightness In Game Mode

Peak 2% Window    11,020 cd/m²
Peak 10% Window    4,547 cd/m²
Peak 25% Window    3,002 cd/m²
Peak 50% Window    1,571 cd/m²
Peak 100% Window    805 cd/m²
Sustained 2% Window    774 cd/m²
Sustained 10% Window    397 cd/m²
Sustained 25% Window    791 cd/m²
Sustained 50% Window    562 cd/m²
Sustained 100% Window    804 cd/m²

Content mastered in the BT.2020 color space is where the improved quantum dots on this TV really shines, and it has better coverage of the BT.2020 color space than any other LED TV tested up until now.

It displays dark, saturated colors well, and bright highlights aren’t washed out by whites at all.

Panel Technology

Panel Type: LCD

Sub-Type: VA

Subpixel Layout: RGB

The TCL X11L uses a combination of new panel technologies, including an improved color filter, a new WHVA 2.0 panel structure, and improved quantum dots, which TCL calls Super Quantum Dots.

The spectral power distribution shows the impact of the SQD layer. Compared to the TCL QM8K, we can see that there’s no change at all to the blue backlight, but the green peak has shifted 10 nm towards blue. The biggest change is with the reds, which are far more powerful and more precise, and the center wavelength has increased by 20 nm. This results in a far greater separation between green and red, resulting in more precise, saturated reds.

HDMI 4 (4x HDMI 2.1)

HDMI 2.1 Rated Speed 48 Gbps

ATSC Tuner 3.0 (NEXTGEN TV)

USB Ports3

USB 3.0 Yes (1)

Audio Out 3.5mm 0

Wi-FiYes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)

Ethernet Speed 100 Mbps

Composite In 0

Digital Optical Audio Out 1

The TCL X11L is the first TCL TV on the market to feature four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports. There’s also an additional USB port on the side bezel of the TV.

Running the AIDA64 app on the TV confirms that it’s powered by the new MediaTek Pentonic 800 chipset, with 2.5GB of RAM and 48GB of internal memory.

What do you think about TCL’s claim of “up to 100% BT.2020 coverage, with a possible deviation of ≤5%,” in relation to your measured results?

Exact copy and paste from their website: *100% BT.2020 refers to a typical value of the area ratio under the BT.2020 color gamut standard. The test data comes from TCL laboratories. Due to differences in test environments/test standards/test equipment, as well as other reasonable and objective factors such as different products/production batches, a deviation of ≤5% may occur.

That’s most likely referring to flat color gamut coverage, whereas our test looks at gamut rings instead. They’re not comparable. It’s not just different methodology or equipment; it’s a completely different test.

TCL X11L Review (75X11L, 85X11L, 98X11L)

[yepes]

While it sounds great on paper, I’ve read some concerns about this TV regarding input lag and motion blur. Do you think these two aspects could affect this TV’s potential as an emulation TV?

[Cyber]

@yepes

I’ve read some concerns about this TV regarding input lag and motion blur.

I don’t rush to believe everything I read or see in a review. I take stuff like that along with anecdotal accounts with a huge helping of salt. Sometimes it’s user error, laziness, a user just not understanding a new or different design choice from they were accustomed to, a firmware bug e.t.c.

So I try to look beyond stuff like that and see if there’s a fundamental issue with the hardware and technology itself that would be the underlying cause of such.

I’ve seen people say all sorts of things about certain TCL models, while other users have not had the same experiences.

Some TVs or systems in general may perform to one’s liking out of the box while others may need some adjustments.

I’m saying this also from the perspective of someone who has used high end and mid-range TVs from multiple manufacturers who now owns and uses a TCL QM751G as my daily driver.

Based on most of the reviews I looked at on YouTube, there doesn’t seem to be any cause for concern in that regard. There was one very vocal reviewer who had negative things to say about that one area you mentioned but what is the context of those statements?

Different people are sensitive to different things, firmware is still relatively early as well. I’ve had an extremely positive experience with the updates I’ve received on my QM751G over the last year and a half.

In closing, there was nothing in the RTINGS review which was any cause for concern especially when it came to motion and gaming performance.

“On paper” measurements are very important metrics as they help to rule out conclusions based on potentially subjective, biased and flawed testing.

Another thing about that TV and my reason for including it here is the mere fact that we have reached to this point in our history where we have more than enough brigtness headroom for accurate CRT emulation, in a TV with an R-G-B subpixel layout and probably the largest colour gamut, contrast and blooming performance of any LCD display before it!

Look at the price of that thing though. It’s hardly a mainstream offering. So I look forward to seeing what the QM8L and QM7L can bring to this space.

I also await more reviews and updates regarding RGB miniLED technology. One camp is saying that there are issues with colour crosstalk but Sony just revealed their offering and that phenomenon was nowhere in sight and those who witnessed it had nothing bad to say about that. If Sony can figure it out maybe other manufacturers can as well.

I’m sure you’re aware that TCL recently acquired Sony’s TV and consumer electronics business. So let’s see what that brings to the table in the not too distant future.

One thing I wanted to add, it’s TCL, a company known for making great budget TVs which gamers have enjoyed for over a decade which have excellent input lag. The TV uses the new MediaTek Pentonic 800 SOC which is a more powerful processing chip than the ones in its predecessors. We’ve seen WHVA 2.0 in action before in the QM8K and QM9K.

It’s input selection is finally on par with LG’s boating 4 full bandwidth 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports.

What would have to happen under the hood for it to have issues with input lag and motion blur?

The only thing that comes to mind besides immature firmware is probably heat. Maybe the internals get so hot that it can affect the SOC performance under certain conditions? Who knows? It’s still early days though and the vast majority of reviews didn’t seem to have any of those issues.

[Cyber]

More 2026 TCL Models dropping.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tcltvs/s/o9HFa75AMb

https://www.reddit.com/answers/123b3a06-fd87-4738-8e40-c9c33e2441ab?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1&q=tcl%20qm8l

https://www.reddit.com/r/tcltvs/s/vyhazG6vtN

TCL: SQD Is Superior, Here's A Radical RGB TV (QM8L, QM7L, RM9L)

TCL X11L Review: The Best Mini LED In Early 2026

PSA: Anyone looking to pickup one of these extremely bright QM8L TVs at launch, Best Buy and Amazon has the 75" on sale for US$1,000 and US$770 off respectively!

LG C6H OLED vs C6 OLED 2026: Which TV Is Better?

Some exerpts from the LG C6 vs LG C6H comparison

This made me replace my OLED

[Nesguy]

Hey guys. Is there a way to give ownership of a thread/post to another user? Cyber has posted here more times than I have and I’d be happy if he wanted to take it over.

@hunterk @Cyber

[hunterk]

The only thing that can be done, AFAIK, is granting someone overall moderation powers. You may be able to unsubscribe from the thread, even as the owner, though, if you’re just tired of notifications.

[Cyber]

Hey man, welcome back. Can you imagine we’re at the point of having over 11,000 nits TVs, that have awesome black levels, way better than the ones in your first post, much faster response times, no burn-in risk and R-G-B subpixel layout!

Even the lower models have >6,000 nits and >3,000!

I’m having a time with my 2024 QM751G which only has an advertised peak of about 2,400 nits.

I was doing some additional tweaking and testing, finally lowered the brightness to 60 from 100 on all modes where I don’t use the built-in BFI and adjusted the tonemapping settings and Gamma in the ones that I do use BFI to further compensate for the reduces brightness. I was able to achieve a quite noticeable jump in brightness. Maybe I can go back to using some mid to lower TVL masks now.

Even with the brightness reduction to 60 on the other mode, the TV is still very bright and brighter than the modes with BFI on and it’s a bit easier on the eyes I guess.

I reckon that anyone with a QM8K, QM9K, X11K, QM8L, X11L are in for an immaculate CRT shader experience. The only reason I didn’t include the QM851G was due to it having a BGR subpixel layout.

I also tested ShaderBeam. I think it’s a game changer. It worked for me where the CRT Beam Shader didn’t. I guess it’s easier to setup and probably less likely to have issues with other RetroArch settings messing things up and the instructions are very detailed and the GUI is simple.

My next stop might have to be a GPU upgrade in order to fully tap into 4K HDR +120Hz+ refresh rate and it’s benefits. Right now I’m stuck at 100Hz.

[Cyber]

Meet the Hisense UR9 RGB miniLED TV. RGB miniLED plus 180Hz panel refresh rate!

The Hisense UR9 (2026) is a flagship RGB Mini-LED TV featuring 4K resolution, 180Hz native refresh rate, and up to 5,000 nits peak brightness, designed to compete with high-end OLEDs. Key specs include 4.1.2-channel Devialet audio, three HDMI 2.1 ports, dedicated USB-C DisplayPort (180Hz), and Google TV with Gemini AI, available in 65–100 inch sizes.

Hisense UR9S Series | 180Hz Hi-View AI Engine RGB MiniLED TV

This is PEAK Couch PC Gaming - Hisense UR9 RGB MiniLED TV

The Hisense UR9 is a great first shot against OLED’s bow

Hisense UR9 RGB MiniLED TV: OLED Killer?

Updated TCL X11L Review:

Really The Best? - TCL X11L Review (3 Months Later)

The TCL QM8L is Awesome… & Disappointing (Review)

https://www.youtube.com/live/kbaz29rwbQM?si=taVMWv4ALzMHlmqZ

https://youtube.com/shorts/B3XIaGEOvgQ?si=h3B_wtU0jIpnkQ5k

Disappointing - Sony Bravia 9 II Review

[Nesguy]

Remember, the spec we are looking for is sustained full screen brightness.

There still aren’t that many TVs that can sustain 900+ nits in a 100% window (the minimum for HDR1400)

Plenty can reach 1,000+ for a brief period in a small window, but that’s not what’s needed for CRT shaders.

[Cyber]

@Nesguy

Remember, the spec we are looking for is sustained full screen brightness.

There still aren’t that many TVs that can sustain 900+ nits in a 100% window (the minimum for HDR1400)

For the purposes of these recommendations, I was going with this criteria, which I think all of these modern high brightness TVs should easily meet or surpass.

These TVs are the brightest of the brightest available today and all surpass my TCLQM751G’s abilities and I do enjoy a wonderful experience with that even with BFI on.

I would think that almost any TV which is a tier or above that would be a good TV for CRT Emulation and I have looked at specs and/or watched reviews before adding, unless I added something as a sort of preview of some upcoming tech or model that might be a game changer or at least looks like it has some exciting promise for what we are doing.

@Nesguy

Criteria:

For emulating retro games, you want to match a CRT’s performance as much as possible. To match or exceed a CRT’s performance on a modern display, you need the following:

-next frame input response (<16ms input lag) at 60fps. 
-black frame insertion and/or 120+ Hz refresh rates.
-very high sustained SDR brightness (at least 500 cd/m2)
-black level that is equal to or less than a CRT's (~0.5 cd/m2 is typical)
-contrast ratio close to or greater than a CRT's (~15,000:1)
-wide color gamut 
-good color accuracy

@Nesguy

There still aren’t that many TVs that can sustain 900+ nits in a 100% window (the minimum for HDR1400)

Plenty can reach 1,000+ for a brief period in a small window, but that’s not what’s needed for CRT shaders.

Good point, but I would argue that in my use doing these things using my miniLED TV, I don’t play retrogames stretched to 16:9 full screen.

I also don’t usually play at “FullScreen” 4:3 either due to the size of the screen and that’s a 55".

All of these miniLED TVs I posted here start at 65".

As I have mentioned before and experienced, at smaller window sizes Peak and Sustained brightness increases and in some cases significantly so I would argue that although we should aim to look at the sustained full screen brightness, smaller window sizes between 50 - 100% are also an important criteria because in the real world at least users like myself would be using larger displays at smaller window sizes when playing.

Feel free to update the first post if you think that the criteria should be updated for modern times after so much has been learned and experience has been gained.

[Cyber]

The 2024 QM751G keeps taking names! Look at the motion performance compared to OLED plus the newer miniLED TVs.

Best Cheap Mini LED TV - 2026 TCL QM7L Review

Best Cheap Mini LED TV - 2026 TCL QM7L Review

You can pause to view the graphs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWe7w3Qeiw

[yepes]

I might be entering dangerous territory here, but… are there any projectors that actually work well for retro emulation?

I’m guessing some top-tier models with low input lag could do the trick, but I honestly know next to nothing about them.

[Cyber]

@yepes

are there any projectors that actually work well for retro emulation?

I really don’t know.

@yepes

I’m guessing some top-tier models with low input lag could do the trick, but I honestly know next to nothing about them.

Maybe you can start here:

https://share.google/aimode/YvzSdJHBoZMFfVBde

https://share.google/aimode/8L0wDaD6ZCIF0zkaf

[PU786]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ3fGt-UUqQ

[Cyber]

List of recommended TVs for emulation

Remember, the spec we are looking for is sustained full screen brightness. There still aren’t that many TVs that can sustain 900+ nits in a 100% window (the minimum for HDR1400) Plenty can reach 1,000+ for a brief period in a small window, but that’s not what’s needed for CRT shaders.

Besides the brightness imitations. This new subpixel structure has to be field tested before any conclusions can be drawn. You see, unlike LG Display’s purported white subpixel-less RGB striped Tandem OLED display’s striped subpixel arrangement, in which all subpixels are of the same height, all of the promo material for the new Samsung Display subpixel structure point to a configuration where the red subpixel is taller than the green subpixel and the green subpixel is taller than the blue subpixel. I’m not getting my hopes up for that arrangement being mappable to a CRT’s Phosphor and Mask structure.

So time will tell.

On another note, with clever SubFrame BFI approaches like Adaptive-Strobe-Koko, we might be able to get away with slightly dimmer displays and still meet the requirements for brightness, mask accuracy and motion clarity.

I’ve been doing some more testing and it’s the real deal with virtually no brightness loss. You just need to ensure smooth frame pacing, like it is with any other software BFI solution.

[PU786]

Do you want to test one of the curved 34 inch models currently available??? If I send you one via Amazon I trust you can return it before the return window is up?

[Cyber]

I’m sure someone who owns one or buys one will eventually show up and might be interested in doing some testing.

[PU786]

TBH it seems like it should be someone experienced who knows what they’re looking at though.
Discerning eyes and also the energy and motivation are integral and hard to find all in one person.

[Cyber]

I understand what you’re saying but we must still have faith in community and collective action. It is what has brought us to this point and might be our greatest strength.

I’ve learned quite a bit from my readings of these forums.

[yepes]

Hello there, fellow enthusiasts.

What’s your opinion on the Samsung R95H TV? I’m still looking for a great TV for emulation and this one seems close to what I want, but there may be something I have overlooked.

What do you guys think? @Cyber specially

EDIT: Dang, I thought it was an RGB panel, but in this video, at 2:38 you can see clearly that it’s BGR. We’ll keep on searching, then…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvR-0FHOIsI