I have watched Star Wars so many times I’ve lost count. Yet, I’m also a bit of an art snob. For years, the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina’s World took a prominent place in my living room. Art televisions—the category of TV pioneered by Samsung's Frame and now
rapidly expanding with models from many of the major TV producers—combine my passion for movies and shows with an even greater interest in art and photography.
When it comes to their performance as televisions, even the best art TVs don't have quite the same punchy colors and speedy refresh rates found on similarly priced standard televisions. However, when the movie is finished, art TVs look a lot better in a room, displaying art and photos on a matte screen with a pristine clarity in a space otherwise wasted by a black box.
Art televisions are typically just a little more expensive than a normal 4K TV. The main players in this market are Samsung, Amazon, Hisense, and TCL, with prices ranging from $1,100 to $2,000. An art TV uses a matte finish and includes a few hundred (or even thousands) of art images and photographs. Some, like the new Amazon Ember Artline, include “moving artwork”—essentially, a painting that comes alive with subtle video elements.
There’s hidden cost savings here. Buying a framed painting, even as a photo print,
can easily cost $600 or more at the larger sizes. That’s also just one static painting. An art television can show Picasso one day and Andrew Wyeth the next. Want an actual oil painting from someone who is famous? That costs many thousands more. And, of course, no painting is capable of switching to Netflix to watch Rebel Moon.
The Best Art TV
WIRED
- Intuitive new OS.
- Excellent contrast and picture quality.
- Massive number of art images.
- Anti-glare coating actually works.
- High refresh rate for gaming.
TIRED
- Monthly subscription required to access most artwork.
I still remember the moment I realized Samsung’s The Frame Pro 2026 is the best art television around. I loaded Van Gogh’s The Starry Night painting with its various shades of blue. The masterpiece came alive with texture and realism thanks to the contrast ratio and clear picture quality. I marched friends and family members down to my office to gaze in wonder.
Installing The Frame Pro is a bit of a process, though. I ended up
watching a YouTube video for help. About an inch thin, this model sits mostly flush to the wall. Rather than connecting your streaming boxes directly to the TV, Samsung’s Wireless One Connect breakout box acts as a bridge. I connected my Xbox Series X and PC to the HDMI ports (there are four total) on the breakout box, which then connects to The Frame Pro using Wi-Fi 7 from across the room. Navigating The Frame Pro was also easy, thanks to the intuitive UI and the lightweight, long-lasting remote.
Free users have access to Samsung’s rotating catalog of 30 free images, but subscribers willing to pay $4.99 monthly will have access to 5,000 pieces of art. The Frame Pro 2026 has the widest variety of artwork, including hundreds of masterpieces, but I preferred Amazon's Ember Artline “moving artwork” feature better.
At $2,000, The Frame Pro is the most expensive option on our list, and it’s worth its price. Even though most manufacturers, Samsung included, don’t list specs for their art TVs, The Frame Pro 2026 displayed artwork and photos with the best contrast and picture quality.
I was blown away by the picture quality for movies. When viewing Netflix’s Awake, which displays a lot of night scenes, I was able to still see all of the action. In comparison, the same scenes looked muddy and dull on the
TCL NXTVISION and Amazon Ember Artline.
The 2026 model now supports high-fidelity gaming with a 240 Hz refresh rate when connected to a gaming computer (though it does lower the resolution). I played Crimson Desert and the main character—wearing a black suit of armor—moved realistically and responded quickly to my controller nudges.
For AI features, you have a few options. Samsung lets you pick from Alexa+ or Samsung's Bixby to control the volume by voice or ask about which thrillers came out this month. You can also use Microsoft Copilot or Perplexity. However, the Amazon Ember Artline was the only art television that let me generate AI artwork by voice.
The Frame Pro 2026 is my top pick for art TVs because paintings looked the most realistic. If you want the best quality and are willing to pay a higher price, it’s a phenomenal choice.
Best on a Budget
WIRED
- Design is beautiful, especially when mounted on a wall.
- One free set of bezels.
- Alexa+ is integrated and chatty.
- Video artwork looks stunning.
- Mounting is easy.
- Affordable price.
TIRED
- Picture quality is middling.
- Alexa+ is not quite as powerful as Google Gemini.
- Refresh rate is low.
I wasn’t sure about the Amazon Ember Artline at first. Having tested several Amazon Fire TV televisions over the years, I knew the screen tech was roughly the same as those models with average contrast ratio and middling picture quality. Yet, I was won over by the design aesthetics, an option for a free bezel, and support for unique AI features.
A little thicker than The Frame Pro at 1.5 inches, the Amazon Ember Artline still looks stunning with the brown bezels I selected. Like The Frame Pro, the Ember Artline sits mostly flush against the wall once mounted.
The install process was easier than any of the art televisions I tested, mostly because there is one bracket to screw into the wall and super-clear instructions. There isn’t a breakout box to connect peripherals, but you can easily access the four HDMI ports by gently pulling the TV out from the wall mount. The familiar Amazon remote has a big blue button for Alexa+ and it’s intuitive to use.
Amazon includes 2,000 free art images and photos. I was impressed by what I’m calling moving artwork—paintings and photos that have subtle animations and video elements. One scene involves a mountain vista with smoke gently rising in the background. The Frame Pro requires a paid subscription for most art but has more masterpieces—and around 5,000 images total.
Picture quality is about average for a QLED television and better than the TCL NXTVISION. All of the paintings and photos appear clear and crisp, even in a sunny room. I streamed Game of Thrones from the HBO Max app and felt the contrast was a bit of a problem for some dimly lit scenes with a fire raging in the background. The Frame Pro has better picture fidelity and contrast—the same scenes were much easier to see.
With a refresh rate of 60 Hz, gamers will want to pass on the Ember Artline. Playing Forza Horizon 6 on a high-end Acer Nitro gaming computer felt a bit laggy at times. On the gacha role-playing game NTE, the bright colors had a vibrancy that won me over a bit more, even if Crimson Desert didn’t look that realistic. If you’re looking for an art television that will work for games, the higher refresh rates of The Frame Pro (at 240 Hz) and the TCL NXTVISION (at 144 Hz) will be better options.
Where the Ember Artline shines, though, is with AI features. I discovered that Alexa+ can generate an AI image by voice. Speaking “Create an image of cows in a farm field with a sunset in the background” actually worked. The other art TVs did not allow that. A nifty feature called Omnisense turns the display off when you are not in the room, then resumes when you return. However, it didn’t always work during my testing period. Another AI feature lets you snap pictures with your phone and have Alexa generate art with similar tones.
Overall, these AI features helped me (mostly) overcome my doubts about the picture quality. I was even more convinced by the fact that this art TV costs $900 less than The Frame Pro. While the Hisense Canvas TV cost roughly the same, the Artline is a smarter buy.
Best for Gaming
WIRED
- Matte display looks incredible with great color accuracy.
- High refresh rate for gaming.
- Game Master mode improves contrast and brightness and reduces lag.
TIRED
- Poor contrast ratio and brightness made movies and shows look dull.
- AI relies on older Google Assistant model.
Typically priced at about $1,300, the TCL NXTVISION is a solid art television that can’t quite match the picture quality of Samsung’s The Frame Pro or Amazon’s Ember Arline’s AI features. But for gamers, a unique Game Master mode and a high 144 Hz refresh rate makes the NXTVISION a more compelling choice.
I liked that TCL includes one set of brown bezels for free in the box. (If you order the Amazon Ember Artline, you select from 10 free bezels but the box arrives separately.) The mounting process is slightly cumbersome. There’s a template to help you mark the holes for drilling, but the instructions are somewhat confusing. I preferred the mounting instructions for the Ember Artline that even includes a helpful installation video. Another ding is that the NXTVISION ports (including four for HDMI) are all facing down so they are impossible to access after mounting the TV. You have to unmount the TV to access them.
TCL only includes 350 art images and photos with the NXTVISION, but you can generate AI images using keywords, similar to The Frame Pro. Amazon upped the ante with Alexa+ on the Ember Artline and how you can generate AI artwork by voice. Like the Ember Artline, the NXTVISION also supports moving video artwork, but the result isn’t quite as stunning or realistic. The NXTVISION has accurate color replication. With the brightness dimmed, the art and photos I tested look realistic and even slightly textured.
I wasn’t impressed by the picture quality for movies and shows, though it’s on par with the Amazon Ember Artline. QLED is not as vibrant and bright as more expensive OLED panels, but the matte finish on the NXTVISION gives video content a more moody, cinematic look. Most of the movies and shows I tested looked washed out, almost like there’s a thin grey coating over the screen. Pumping up the brightness didn't help enliven a movie like Awake or improve details during dark scenes on Game of Thrones.
Gaming is the saving grace of this TV. I connected an Acer Nitro gaming desktop to the TCL NXTVISION and suddenly the screen looked bright, my controller felt more responsive, and the OS software (switching into Game Master mode) helped reduce lag. Crimson Desert looked glorious at the 144 Hz refresh rate, aided by Game Master tweaks to help with latency.
The AI features can’t compare to either The Frame Pro or the Ember Artline. Unlike several Google TV-powered projectors like the
Epson Lifestudio Grand Plus that support Gemini, the NXTVISION uses the outdated Google Assistant. When I asked the bot to show me movies from 2026 with an 80 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes or higher, it didn’t work. Gemini on televisions and projectors can create slideshows and even help kids with their homework.
While the TCL NXTVISION is a great option for gamers, it feels more limited when it comes to artwork. And even though movies and shows don't look as bright and colorful, I still like the design, and frequent sales of the NXTVISION make this a reasonable option for the price.
Best For a Bedroom
WIRED
- Single-piece bracket makes mounting easy and includes magnetic teak bezel
- Library of 1,000+ pieces of art included
- Multiple-size options available, including bedroom-friendly 50- and 55-inch options and a massive 85-incher
TIRED
- Standard power cable will either be visible on the wall, or you'll need to drill into the wall and hide it
- Extremely heavy, so you should have two people to get it mounted
Getting Hisense's 50-inch CanvasTV onto my wall only required a tad more sweat and hassle than all the thrift store Western paintings and Patrick Nagel prints I've hung. Hisense's art TV, which debuted in 2024 and recently expanded to include bedroom-friendly sizes, comes out of the box with everything you need to get it onto the wall and looking like art.
You can have the CanvasTV leveled on the wall with the single-piece mounting bracket within an hour and have it beaming out one of 1,000 pieces of art or photos from your Google account a few minutes later. You get the same experience as other Hisense TVs, with its intuitive and highly functional brushed nickel remote and built-in Google TV operating system.
Hisense is playing in the value space here, as the CanvasTV is typically priced around $800 for a 50-inch model. Buyers on a budget will find further value with the inclusion of the free magnetic bezel and enough artwork choices to satisfy most (Samsung will charge you $150 for the bezel and a monthly fee for art options beyond a handful of options). Gamers, however, will be limited by the 60 Hz refresh rates on the smaller 50-inch option. I have it hung in my bedroom and mostly use it to watch YouTube, where it performs well. It also supports AirPlay so you can stream from your iPhone.
The one reason to prefer the Frame TV, for me, would be its discreet invisible cable, which connects to Samsung's Connect Box. This has a standard power cord which blends in relatively well with my white wall. But you don't have an option of connecting an Apple TV or DVD player without having another cable visible or drilling holes in your wall.
FAQs
Why Choose an Art TV Over Other Models?
One trip to Walmart and you will discover that 4K televisions cost about $500 for a low-end model, but most fall into the same price range as an art television—around $1,000 or so. A good question to ask is, if a normal 4K model costs about the same, why bother with an art television? I’m here to tell you they are worth every penny. When you are sitting with your family eating dinner or flipping through a book, an art television still has a function. Because the 4K resolution is so crisp, and some models, like the Samsung The Frame Pro 2026 (link), have excellent contrast and color that will have you believing you’re looking at an actual painting. Most art televisions use a matte finish to reduce glare and can automatically dim the display so the art or photography looks less like a screensaver and more like a real painting.
How did you test art TVs?
My testing regimen involved consuming quite a bit of popcorn as I’ve watched entire seasons of Apple TV shows like Severance, suffered through grindy shock thrillers on Netflix like Thrash, and played over 100 hours of the video game Crimson Desert—all for the lofty purpose of checking picture quality, the built-in audio, and if Van Gogh’s The Starry Night looks realistic.
<small>Source: Wired</small>
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