...I admittedly was so hung up on maximum nits for HDR that I always ignored the affordable OLED’s and today I learned that’s a very small component of what’s important in a tv’s performance.
This is something that often isn't discussed on some of the websites out there, but there is no question that contrast is king, and you don't get that with brighter whites, but with better black levels. This is why JVC reigns supreme in the front projector market with LCoS, and why LG reigns supreme with OLED. Plasma (Pioneer!) had an amazing run for a while, but OLED is the new king in town and worth the cost of entry. Even the lesser expensive models aren't exactly 'cheap' TVs, but anything that says OLED at this point is going to look pretty darn good.
There are still rooms which need more light output for convenience, but a room without a ton of bright windows and daylight should always be looking at getting a OLED first whenever possible.