After over 100 hours of researching the field and testing five finalists, we found that the Vizio M43-C1 is the best TV that costs around $500. It provides the best image quality under real-world viewing conditions. It produces contrast ratios that are twice as high as competing TVs’: its blacks are twice as dark as competitors, and its whites are brightest, handy for daytime use in rooms with window reflections. The TV has five HDMI inputs, two more than every other TV tested, and it generates the lowest input lag for the best videogaming performance as well. The fact that it offers Ultra HD (or 4K) resolution, instead of 1080p, is just an added bonus.