The company has announced the first “Netflix Recommended” 2018 TVs. Models from LG and Sony have passed the “rigorous testing to ensure great performance and easy access to Netflix”.

TVs must start up instantly
There are many established methods of evaluating and quantifying good picture quality, says Netflix, but it is harder for buyers to know if a TV offers a good user interface and performance.

- ”From surveying our members, we know that people buying a smart TV care most about price, picture quality, screen size, and ease of use. While some of this is easy to research, it’s hard to know about things like device performance and ease of use. So, we want to shine a light on these important aspects,” said Brady Gunderson, Director of Product Management, Netflix.

In order to receive the designation, a TV must pass at least 5 out of 7 criteria that Netflix has defined here. These criteria are updated annually as TVs become faster and more capable. Specifically, the company focuses on:
The TV starts up instantly and gets to Netflix (or other internet TV services) within just a few seconds
The TV allows users to move quickly and easily between apps
The TV comes with the latest version of Netflix
The TV can support newer, more immersive Netflix browsing experiences, like video previews

All of the Netflix Recommended TVs also include a dedicated Netflix button on the remote control. The company has released this video to show us how quickly one of the 2018 models can power on, switch to Netflix, and start playing a video stream.



Netflix recommends LG and Sony TV
The first wave of TVs to receive Netflix’s recommendation are all of LG’s 2018 TVs running the latest version of webOS (version 4.0), including the new OLED TVs, as well as Sony’s W800F (WF80) series running Android TV.

Here are the TVs that Netflix recommended in 2017. The company will continue to evaluate more TVs as they become available in the market place.

- “We test all TVs that carry Netflix and will continue to report new designations throughout the year as new devices become available or get updated,” the company said.

Netflix started testing TVs in 2015 to help improve the Smart TV user experience, saying back then that it should be just as fast and easy to open an app on a TV as it is to turn on and watch a TV channel. So, now you know what Netflix thinks. Here is what we think.

Netflix 2018 Recommended TVs
 
 
 LG 2018 4K TVs with webOS 4.0
W8 - G8 - E8 - C8 - SK9500 - SK8500 - SK8100 - SKL8000 - UK7500 - UK7000 - UK6900 - UK6700 - UK6500 - UK6400 - UK6300 - UK6200
 
 Sony 2018 Android TVs
 W800F / WF800 series