Good 55" TV not 4K..............LG OLED the way to go ?

Good 55" TV not 4K..............LG OLED the way to go ?

Author
Discussion

Grey Ghost

Original Poster:

4,583 posts

219 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
Looking for a bit of help with my planned TV upgrade. I currently have a 42" Panasonic V series that does a good job but I now want a larger screen and better picture quality. Maximum size is 55" given room layout and space to place the screen, I don't worry about sound quality as I use my AV and surround sound system and have no interest in 4K whatsoever until the major players announce full broadcast schedules for this resolution.......years away.

So, with the above in mind is the LG55EC930 as good a piece of kit that the reviews suggest it is ?

Looks to have the best OLED picture without the 4K facility and is a great piece of furniture with minimal bezel and general ergonomics.

Anything else in same screen size I should have a look at ?

garreth64

663 posts

220 months

Wednesday 26th August 2015
quotequote all
I bought one a couple of months ago to replace my Plasma that died, and can only describe it as stunning. When you see black that is 100% black and the amazing levels of contrast achievable , it puts LED TVs in the shade. As you say it is also a good looking set and the screen is incredibly thin. I still turn it on and watch it and am often thinking wow look at that picture when watching something, when I should be concentrating on the film/programme!

I wasn't keen on curved TVs initially, but the the LG seems less curved than the Samsung's and you don't notice it when watching it especially from head on which we do. It also does have good viewing angles if watching from an offset position as well.

I read lots of reviews and saw as many as I could in showrooms before making my mind up, but when we saw the OLED running it's demo it was hard not to be swayed.

It's not perfect, and if you read the long thread on AV forums you may be put off buying one with people complaining about certain things, however to me none of these are important compared with the picture quality but I guess you need to make your own mind up. Things I am aware of are, Dimples in the curved screen - yes I have a few in mine but can only see them from the side when the TV is off and the light reflects on the screen so no issue for me. Dead pixels - I don't have any. Pinkish tinge on a fully white screen, I do notice this on the side of the screen, but it's fairly rare to have a fully white screen so I can live with this as not a big issue, and have also read it may fade over time.

The LG WebOS is great even though I don't use it much, as like you I play it through my AV amp and use other sources. It is a little bit slow but i've read it will be getting an update for WebOS2 at some point.

All in all a fantastic screen, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it, especially if you like watching movies with a lot of dark scenes (Sci-fi etc). It really needs HD content though to show it off. The only set I would swap it for is the 65" 4k OLED in a few years time when they have come down in price. It does need some fiddling with the settings to get the best picture, but there are lots of recommendations available on line especially on AV Forums or you can even pay to get it calibrated if you think it's worthwhile.

I got mine from Costco, but both they and John Lewis do a 5 year guarantee which is worth it with a set like this, even if you can get it a bit cheaper online. Costco also have a no quibble 90 day exchange, which I'm probably still inside off but it's not going back! I did notice the other week that it has gone up £100 in JL from the price I paid.




garreth64

663 posts

220 months

Wednesday 26th August 2015
quotequote all
Forgot to put a link to AV Forums thread: https://www.avforums.com/threads/lg-55ec930v-oled-...

Also, I have wall mounted mine using the previous wall bracket I had, but it doesn't take a standard VESA mount as the screen only has two holes on the back which seems a bit odd. There is a dedicated mount you can buy but it is about £100.

A few more links but you may have already seen these:

http://www.whathifi.com/lg/55ec930v/review

http://www.stuff.tv/lg/55ec930v/review

http://www.trustedreviews.com/lg-55ec930v-review

http://www.digitalversus.com/tv-television/lg-55ec...

Grey Ghost

Original Poster:

4,583 posts

219 months

Wednesday 26th August 2015
quotequote all
Cheers for that, very much appreciated. I tend not to take too much notice of the AV forums as there are an awful lot of people there with opinions that just are not relevant in the real world biggrin

I'm going to make the effort to see the set in at least 2 or 3 different places before I pull the trigger but the more generic reviews you provided links to told me all I need to know thumbup

Cool Tamora by the way yes

varsas

4,004 posts

201 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
I understand that LG are launching a new range of 4k OLED screens very soon, see here:

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/55ef950v-2015082641...

even if you don't want one of those maybe prices for the current models will drop?

Zingari

902 posts

172 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
quotequote all
I've just bought one of these sets from Selfridges. Went in to buy a Panasonic LED and came out with the LG. Totally knocked spots off all the other TVs in terms of colour and definition after the salesman proved to me the sets were all receiving a HD signal from a single Sky box split 16 ways!

Didn't really want a curved set but this is much shallower than the other offerings.

The only 'picture' that was better was a Samsung set but that was 'displaying' their 4K demo video as they are not allowed to demo it from a 'normal' source. 4K is years away in terms of offering it across standard broadcast networks and to my mind not necessary yet.

varsas

4,004 posts

201 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
quotequote all
Zingari said:
I've just bought one of these sets from Selfridges. Went in to buy a Panasonic LED and came out with the LG. Totally knocked spots off all the other TVs in terms of colour and definition after the salesman proved to me the sets were all receiving a HD signal from a single Sky box split 16 ways!

Didn't really want a curved set but this is much shallower than the other offerings.

The only 'picture' that was better was a Samsung set but that was 'displaying' their 4K demo video as they are not allowed to demo it from a 'normal' source. 4K is years away in terms of offering it across standard broadcast networks and to my mind not necessary yet.
LED TV's always do well in showroom settings. This is because the high ambiant light hides the poor black levels on such TV's. And yes, of course their own demo material will be choosen to show off their own set! Rest assured, in a typical home environment, esepcially if you dim the lights, your OLED will look fantastic, even next to the 'better' Samsung. One day I'll have my flat, 55 inch OLED...

Grey Ghost

Original Poster:

4,583 posts

219 months

Monday 5th October 2015
quotequote all
varsas said:
Rest assured, in a typical home environment, esepcially if you dim the lights, your OLED will look fantastic, even next to the 'better' Samsung. One day I'll have my flat, 55 inch OLED...
Glad this thread has resurfaced. I'm probably going to order the LG55EC930V next weekend and John Lewis are offering a £300 trade-in for an old set of 32" or over.............I have such a "thing" in one of the spare bedrooms thumbup

Shilvers

597 posts

206 months

Thursday 8th October 2015
quotequote all
Grey Ghost said:
Glad this thread has resurfaced. I'm probably going to order the LG55EC930V next weekend and John Lewis are offering a £300 trade-in for an old set of 32" or over.............I have such a "thing" in one of the spare bedrooms thumbup
Read up of the uniformity/tint problem before you pull the trigger. Plenty of info. on AVforums. Mine went back as it was unacceptable for a tv of that price to show noticeable shades of purple and green on normal content. Once you see it it's hard to unsee. It does a lot of stuff very well, but you pay the price for being an early adopter. The later 4k ones are fairing better, but of course there's a price jump there. You pays your money you takes your choice.

PeterTTT

69 posts

125 months

Friday 9th October 2015
quotequote all
I bought one 3 weeks ago. Really pleased with mine but I am not an AV fanatic. Once I saw it in the shops compared with others it was an easy choice. No idea if there is any banding/tinting or anything else .. its just a great picture! (don't read avforums or else you would never buy any screen!)
Sound is bit thin though from the built in speakers but I have a speaker bar so its not a problem for me.

Grey Ghost

Original Poster:

4,583 posts

219 months

Monday 12th October 2015
quotequote all
PeterTTT said:
I bought one 3 weeks ago. Really pleased with mine but I am not an AV fanatic. Once I saw it in the shops compared with others it was an easy choice. No idea if there is any banding/tinting or anything else .. its just a great picture! (don't read avforums or else you would never buy any screen!)
Sound is bit thin though from the built in speakers but I have a speaker bar so its not a problem for me.
Same here with regard to AV forums etc. just too much information and depth for me as I'm not an expert in any way. TV ordered and being delivered this Thursday. Having seen it in 3 different places using demo input and SKY input I'm very happy with the purchase. I'm only using it as a screen with the sound going through my Yamaha AV into KEF speakers thumbup

Zingari

902 posts

172 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
quotequote all
Shilvers said:
Grey Ghost said:
Glad this thread has resurfaced. I'm probably going to order the LG55EC930V next weekend and John Lewis are offering a £300 trade-in for an old set of 32" or over.............I have such a "thing" in one of the spare bedrooms thumbup
Read up of the uniformity/tint problem before you pull the trigger. Plenty of info. on AVforums. Mine went back as it was unacceptable for a tv of that price to show noticeable shades of purple and green on normal content. Once you see it it's hard to unsee. It does a lot of stuff very well, but you pay the price for being an early adopter. The later 4k ones are fairing better, but of course there's a price jump there. You pays your money you takes your choice.
I've not seen the issues you mention (perhaps other than a low res recording on catch up) and for me it's the dogs gonads. The blacks are, well, very very black. Normal signal is OK but HD makes the difference.

Wish I'd know about the John Lewis exchange to off-load my 42" Panny Plasma for £300 rather than order a block and tackle to try and get it upstairs to a spare room

Grey Ghost

Original Poster:

4,583 posts

219 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
quotequote all
Zingari said:
Wish I'd know about the John Lewis exchange to off-load my 42" Panny Plasma for £300 rather than order a block and tackle to try and get it upstairs to a spare room
That's what finally swung it for me. The 42" Panasonic V Series goes up to spare room (via swearing and muscle spasm probably), LG takes it's place and fossilized Panasonic 32" from spare room gets taken away by men from John Lewis biggrin