TV model number lookup
Every TV carries a code on a label on its back, and that code is not random. It states the screen size, the model year, where the set sits in its range, and which market it was built for. Type it in below and we read it back to you, and say plainly what it cannot tell you.
Look up a model number
This lookup needs JavaScript to run. The guides linked below explain how to read a model number by hand, so the page is useful either way.
Type your model number
Samsung and LG are read in full. It is worked out in your browser: the code is never sent anywhere.
Quick answer
A TV model number encodes the screen size, the model year, the series or tier within the brand's range, and the market the set was built for. Samsung and LG both follow fixed patterns that can be read character by character, and from the model year you also get the platform version and browser engine the set launched with. What a model number cannot tell you is what the television can do today: firmware, HDR formats and app support depend on updates and on the individual set, not on its name.
What each brand's number tells you
How much a model number gives away depends on the brand. Two spell it out in full. Two tell you only part of the story.
Samsung
Everything you need. The panel type, the market, the screen size, the range and the year are all in there, and Samsung publishes which browser engine each year's sets use. One catch: the year letter has run through the alphabet twice, so the same letter can mean two different years.
LG
Everything you need, with one trap. LG writes the year as a digit on OLED sets but as a letter on QNED, NanoCell and LED sets, so it is easy to read the wrong one and land several years out. LG publishes its browser engine per year too.
Sony
Most of it. Size, range and year are all readable, and from 2024 the year letter moved to the front of the code. Sony's 4K sets run Android TV, or Google TV since 2021, while the cheapest Full HD sets ran a simpler system with a fixed set of apps that cannot be changed. The TV Cast receiver by 2kit ships in that set in several countries, the United States among them.
Hisense
Less than you would hope. Hisense publishes no key to its own numbering, and the thing most people want to know is not in the code at all: the same television is sold as Google TV in the United States and as VIDAA in Australia. Recent US models do end in a letter for the system, G for Google TV, F for Fire TV, V for VIDAA and R for Roku.
What a model number can and cannot tell you
A code names a model. It does not describe the television standing in your room.
Yes, on Samsung and LG. These are stated outright by the code and do not change over the life of the set.
Yes, where the full code is present. Shops usually drop the market letters, so a short listing cannot say. This matters most for a used or imported set, because the tuner, the app region and the warranty all follow the market.
Only what it launched with. We report the platform and browser engine for that model year. A set that has taken updates may be well ahead of it, and one that never went online may be behind.
No. HDR formats, codecs and copy protection depend on firmware and on the app, not on the name. Our TV Capability Test reads that from the set itself.
No. Two sets of the same model can differ, and no code captures that. Only looking at the screen does.
Where to find your model number
Every brand prints it on a label on the back of the set, and usually along the bottom edge on thin panels. In the menu the path differs:
Samsung
Settings, then All Settings, then Support, then About This TV. Older sets: Menu, Support, Contact Samsung. On many remotes, holding Play/Pause for about five seconds shows the same screen.
LG
Settings, then All Settings, then Support, then TV Information. Before roughly 2019: All Settings, General, About This TV. On 2018 and newer sets, pressing Mute three times shows it.
Sony
On Android and Google TV: the HELP button, then System information. Older non-Android sets: HOME, then Settings, then System Settings or Product Support.
Hisense
Hisense documents the label on the back or the side of the set. There is no official menu path published, so the label is the dependable route.
Keep testing
What TV Do I Have?Or jump straight to another test:
Questions people ask
How do I find out what year my TV is?
On Samsung and LG the model year is in the model number. Samsung uses a letter after the series, such as the C in QN65QN90C for 2023. LG uses a digit on OLED sets, so OLED65C3 is 2023, and a letter on QNED, NanoCell and LED sets. Type the code into the lookup above and it reports the year directly.
Can I tell which operating system a TV runs from its model number?
On Samsung and LG, yes, because each brand uses only its own platform: Tizen and webOS. On Sony it depends on the line, since the 4K sets run Android TV or Google TV while the cheapest Full HD sets ran a simpler system with a fixed set of apps that cannot be added to. On Hisense the model number does not reliably say, because the same hardware ships with different systems in different countries.
Is this the same as the What TV Do I Have test?
No, they work from opposite ends. This page reads a number you type, so it works on any device and tells you about the model. What TV Do I Have reads the television's own browser, so it has to be opened on the TV, and it reports what that particular set is running right now.
My model number is not recognised. Why?
The lookup covers Samsung and LG. It also needs enough of the code: a short form such as QN90C gives the year and series but not the market, because shops drop those letters. Check the code against the label on the back of the set, and note that a letter O in a model number is almost always a zero.
Does the model number tell me if a TV is worth buying?
It tells you the year, the tier and the market, which is most of what you need to compare two listings fairly, especially second hand. It does not tell you picture quality, panel condition or what the set supports today. For that, run the TV Capability Test on the television itself.
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