Target Black Friday 2014 has three of the year's best TV deals

Based on the ads we've seen so far, it looks like we're in store for a record-breaking Black Friday for TV deals. Retailers are slashing TV prices at an aggressive pace, and already we've seen a handful of promos that absolutely demolish four out of our seven Black Friday TV predictions, which are based on careful trend and retailer behavior analysis over several years.

In fact, these four, lowest-of-the-low TV doorbusters have on average been about 22% lower than our predictions. Our 32" prediction was beaten by 20%, our 42" by 33%, our 46" by 21%, and our 60" plasma prediction was beaten by 12%, signaling that stores are making a bigger-than-ever push to lure customers with TVs. We've never seen stores so consistently undercut our TV predictions before, and we're still days away from the official start of many sales. It would thus seem that TVs are still the go-to item for stores to convince people to wait in line for Black Friday. (Although some people don't need deals at all, it seems.)

So what TV deals are we most excited about? We've rounded up the absolute best Black Friday TV ads we've seen to date, compared them to last year's Black Friday prices, and then compared them to each other. Keep in mind some prices may change, so we'll be updating this roundup in the coming days. But for the time being, here are the best Black Friday TV deals.

Best Black Friday TV Deals

Element 29" 1080p LCD HDTV for $79 at Target
Not everyone has the space for a massive living room TV. If you're in the market for a smaller set, Target has your back. It's offering this 29" Element for just $79. It's the cheapest 29" TV we've ever listed, $20 cheaper than our prediction for 32" sets, and it beats all 29" LCD TV deals we've seen this year by $51. Props to Target for offering a 1080p set when they could have cut corners and offered a 720p HDTV at this price instead.
32" LED LCD HDTV for $100 at Kohl's
There are a lot of details missing on this Kohl's deal, but assuming it's a 1080p set, it's just a buck shy of our Black Friday prediction for 32" 1080p HDTVs. Sure, the aforementioned Element costs $79, but for just $21 more you get a proper 32" screen. Even if we later learn this TV maxes out at 720p resolution, it's still within $2 of last Black Friday's low for a 32" off-brand 720p LCD HDTV.
Element 40" 1080p LCD HDTV for $119 at Target
Target is breathing new life into the 40" to 42" TV category. Not only does this deal destroy ourBlack Friday prediction for TVs in this size category by $59, but it's just $9 away from tying last year's best Black Friday price for a 32" TV. This is easily the star of Target's Black Friday ad and a strong contender for best HDTV deal of all-time. It even beats Best Buy's attempt, a 40" Insignia 1080p LCD HDTV at $180.
Seiki 40" 1080p LED LCD HDTV for $178 at hhgregg
This 40" TV isn't the cheapest HDTV we've seen in this size category; that honor goes to the above 40" Element 1080p LED LCD HDTV at $119. However, $178 is still a very respectable and hard-to-find price (we've only seen it once and that was during Black Friday 2013). Moreover, this is a WiFi-based Smart TV with support for app streaming, a rare feature for most budget TVs and even less common for TVs in this price range.
Panasonic 50" TC-50A400U 1080p LED LCD HDTV for $200 at Best Buy
Best Buy isn't going to let Target steal its thunder. The electronics retailer is offering this 2014 50" Panasonic 1080p LCD HDTV for just $200. To put things in perspective, last Black Friday's best TV deal offered a 40" 1080p Element for $178 (via Walmart). This year you're getting a 50" Panasonic for $200. This deal even beats Target's 48" Westinghouse 1080p LCD HDTV at $235 and Sam's Club's Sanyo FVD48P4 48" 1080p LED LCD HDTV for $298; both of which were deals we were excited about less than 24 hours ago. And if you're wondering what this Panasonic normally costs, well, this deal takes 53% off the normal "deal price" of the 50" A400U. A true doorbuster and another strong contender for best HDTV deal of the year.
Westinghouse 48" 1080p LCD HDTV for $235 at Target
This 48" Westinghouse undercuts every 46" to 47" TV deal we've seen, including our ownprediction by a whopping $64.
LG 60" 1080p Plasma HDTV for $488 at hhgregg
LG may be calling it quits on plasma, but hhgregg is making sure these TVs go out on a high note. It's offering the LG 60" PB5600 (a 2014 model) for $488. That blows away our prediction for 60" plasmas by $71 and makes it the cheapest 60" 1080p plasma we've ever seen trumping Black Friday 2013's price low for this category by an impressive $161.
Element 60" 1080p LED LCD HDTV for $498 at Walmart

This 60" Element is $78 above our TV prediction for this class, but it's $202 cheaper than thenext best Black Friday ad we've seen. Furthermore, it's the cheapest 60" 1080p TV we've seen by $2.

Vizio 65" 1080p Smart LED LCD HDTV for $648 at Walmart
If you happen to find yourself at a Walmart on Thanksgiving day, this 65" Smart TV doorbuster is spectacular. Starting at 6 pm local time, in-store shoppers can grab this set for $648, which is a whopping $102 less than the best price we've ever seen for any 65" HDTV, even refurbs.

Best Black Friday 4K TV Deals

Samsung 55" 4K Ultra HDTV for $900 at Best Buy
Put aside your feelings on 4K for awhile because this deal blindsided even our best expectations. It's without a doubt the cheapest 55" name-brand 4K TV we've seen, but as we stated in our predictions, there are some questions you'll want to ask before pulling the trigger on any discounted 4K TV. Does it support the latest HDMI 2.0 spec and does it support the HEVC codec (required for 4K Ultra Netflix streaming)? If neither matters to you, then this might be the best name-brand 4K TV deal you see this Black Friday.
Samsung 55" 4K LED-Backlit LCD Smart Ultra HD Television with a $50 Gift Card for $1,198 at hhgregg
4K fans will have a lot of options this Black Friday, so if you happen to miss the aforementioned deal at Best Buy, hhgregg is offering the second-best 4K HDTV deal of the month. It'll cost you $298 more, but hhgregg throws in a $50 gift card with your purchase. (The $50 gift card applies to all hhgregg TV purchases of $799 or more.) Additionally, this TV supports HEVC decoding, which means it can stream 4K Netflix content.
Samsung 55" 4K Curved LED-Backlit LCD Smart Ultra HD Television for $1,278 at Sam's Club
If you don't mind paying a few hundred bucks more for the luxury of owning a curved 4K TV, Sam's Club offers this beauty for $1,278. It's the cheapest curved 4K HDTV we've seen in this size range by about $240. Just remember that Best Buy is offering a similar-sized Samsung 4K TV sans curved screen for $378 less (mentioned above).
Samsung 55" 4K Curved LED-Backlit LCD Smart Ultra HD Television with a $50 Gift Cardfor $1,298 at hhgregg
To date, Sam's Club has the best 4K Curved HDTV deal we've seen. However, if you're not a Sam's Club member, hhgregg comes in at a close second. It's offering this Samsung 55" Curved 4K HDTV for $1,298 with a $50 hhgregg gift card. That's just $20 over Sam's Club's price, but if you factor in the gift card it's actually $30 cheaper. Both deals are solid, so it really comes down to store preference.
Vizio 55" P-Series 240Hz 2160p 4K Ultra LED HDTV for $1,300 at Best Buy
Although it's a modest $50 off and you can find cheaper 55" 4K HDTVs elsewhere, few of them will pack the features and quality of Vizio's P-series. Serious A/V fans may want to give this TV, which got an overall respectable review from CNET, a good look before settling for any cheaper models.
LG 55" 120Hz 2160p 4K Ultra LED HDTV for $1,300 at Best Buy
Best Buy isn't releasing the precise model of this TV just yet, but it's priced on par with the above-mentioned Vizio offering 55" of 4K glory. Regardless of the model, at $1,300 it'll be the cheapest 55" LG 4K HDTV we've ever seen.

There are dozens of additional Black Friday HDTV deals, but these are the ones setting the bar in terms of pricing. Big-screen TVs (60"+) have yet to make a big splash. Best Buy had a number of name-brand 60" and 70" sets, but when compared to deals we've already seen this year, prices were on the high side (with the exception we included above). However, this could change as Walmart and Amazon begin to release their major deals.

Lastly, the number of name-brand and 4K HDTV deals we're seeing is taking even us by surprise. 4K TV deals are still a tricky proposition (in terms of whether your TV will support the latest 4K specs), so make sure to fully research any models you're interested in. Also, if name-brand 4K TVs have already hit $900, off-brand 4K TVs are likely to offer even greater savings.

Excited for Black Friday deals? Consider subscribing to the DealNews Select Newsletter to get a daily recap of all our deals; you never know when a Black Friday price will be released! You can alsodownload the DealNews app, check out the latest Black Friday ads, or read more buying advice.

Louis Ramirez is a features writer for Dealnews.com, where this article first appeared.