The 2025 Value Electronics TV Shootout just wrapped up, and this year’s winner is the Sony Bravia 8 II OLED (model K65XR80M2), earning the title of “King of TV.” But while Sony came out on top, the competition was tight—and the results tell a bigger story than just who walked away with the crown.

Curious if we agree with the results? Check out Connor TheDisplayGuy’s take in our article on the Best TV of 2025.

Now in its 21st year, the shootout has become a go-to event for anyone seriously into TVs. Hosted at Value Electronics’ showroom in Scarsdale, New York, it’s a chance to see some of the best TVs on the market go head-to-head—under the same lighting, playing the same content, and after professional calibration to make sure everything’s fair. No flashy presentations, no marketing fluff—just real-world picture quality comparisons.

This year’s event focused exclusively on OLED TVs, with no separate category for LCDs. Here are the four models that went up against each other:

• Sony Bravia 8 II ($3,499.99 at Amazon)
• Samsung S95F ($3,297.99 at Amazon)
• Panasonic Z95B ($3,399.99 at Amazon)
• LG G5 ($3,396.99 at Amazon)

These are all flagship models from major brands, and each was professionally calibrated before the event started. Two Sony mastering monitors—basically the gold standard for video professionals—were used as references to judge how well each TV reproduced accurate color, contrast, and other visual qualities.

A panel of video experts and imaging scientists handled the scoring. They looked at both SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) performance, judging a handful of key picture attributes:

• Color accuracy
• Contrast
• EOTF (how accurately the TV maps signal brightness)
• Processing
• Bright-room performance

Each TV was rated out of 5 points in each category. Once all the scores were tallied, an overall average was calculated for SDR, HDR, and then both combined to decide the winner.

Sony came out strong in the SDR round, winning two out of four categories and finishing with the highest overall score in that segment. Samsung’s S95F wasn’t far behind, followed by Panasonic’s Z95B, and finally LG’s G5.

That top SDR score turned out to be a key factor in Sony taking the overall win.

HDR was a much tighter race. Panasonic’s Z95B edged out a win here, scoring just 0.01 points higher on average than Samsung’s S95F. Both TVs split the category wins with two each. Sony landed in third, and LG remained in fourth.

This marked a notable comeback for Panasonic, which had skipped last year’s shootout but made a strong return in 2025. It’s also worth noting that despite its solid specs, the LG G5 struggled in nearly every category—especially color and EOTF accuracy.

When SDR and HDR scores were combined, Sony’s consistent performance—especially its SDR dominance—gave it the edge overall. Here’s how things stacked up:

1. Sony Bravia 8 II  – 2025 “King of TV”
2. Samsung S95F
3. Panasonic Z95B
4. LG G5

Sony has now taken the top spot at the Shootout in some capacity for more than seven years running, whether in the OLED or LCD categories. This year, without a separate LCD competition, all eyes were on OLED—and Sony managed to hold onto its winning streak.

So what should you take away from all this if you’re in the market for a new TV? The Shootout is less about declaring one “perfect” TV and more about showing how these top models perform when everything is equal—same room, same content, same setup.

Sony’s win shows it’s still a strong player, especially for SDR performance, but Samsung and Panasonic proved they’re right up there in terms of HDR. Depending on your preferences—whether you mostly watch in bright rooms, care about color accuracy, or just want great movie performance—there’s more than one good option here.

If you're shopping for a high-end OLED, the Shootout offers a clear look at how these TVs stack up in real-world testing. And if you want the fine details, Value Electronics has posted the full score breakdown online.

Sony might have walked away with the crown, but the competition made it clear there’s no shortage of excellent OLED options in 2025.

For a deeper dive into how these flagship models compare—including hands-on impressions, detailed analysis, and whether he agrees with the Shootout results—check out Connor TheDisplayGuy’s article on the Best TV of 2025.