Bad idea to buy an 1080p TV instead of 4K?

[Bikerjon]

My trusty Pioneer plasma from years ago is being relegated to the spare room so I need to replace it. Budget is quite limited at £500 max and my first visit to look at some TV's in Currys convinced me that a 49" Sony HD at £480 could be the way to go. As a technology person (not AV) I realise this may seem a bit of an odd choice as a 4K TV can now just about be had for that budget, but the Sony really did seem to tick all the boxes and most importantly the picture did look good from what they were running on demo - just as good if not better that some of the more expensive 4K TV's in my opinion.

I don't have any 4K TV sources currently and if I'm perfectly honest the Pioneer really is still good enough for my needs, so should I worry about not going 4K with a TV?

[Bikerjon]

gizlaroc said:

Nothing wrong with buying a 1080 panel, but I wouldn't necessarily buy the £480 Sony.
I would want at least a decent local dimming panel if going LCD.

What's a decent local dimming panel?

As my budget is nothing to get too excited about my theory is it's better to get a good quality "old technology" TV than a newer unproven model i.e a cheap 4K. The mainstream retailers have obviously shifted almost completely towards 4K apart from a few models, so this has also made me question my choice too!

[Bikerjon]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

I have a 49" new Sony with SkyQ and 4K football. Struggle to tell the difference over standard HD. Very disappointing.

Sorry to hear that, but thanks anyway for confirming my suspicions! To my eyes the only significant upgrade seems to be OLED - cant fail to be impressed by the demo running on those screens. In a different league IMO.

[Bikerjon]

boyse7en said:

Why are you relegating your Plasma to buy a cheap replacement? The Plasma will give a better pic than most LED/LCD screens IMO

I was actually wondering that too! The plasma is 720p and may even be 10 years old? I can't remember exactly when I bought it, but it cost an arm and a leg! Maybe I should buy a cheap LCD for the spare room and keep the plasma where it is until I can afford OLED.

[Bikerjon]

gizlaroc said:

Are you wanting an upgrade, or just need a second TV as that one is going into the spare room?

The problem is, you are swapping a top end plasma for a a budget lcd.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't originally looking to upgrade but I assumed that in 10 years the technology must have moved the game along to the point where a £500 set must now be a better than my ageing plasma. I may just go for a new TV for the spare room and keep things how they are in the living room.

[Bikerjon]

As is often the way on PH I mulled over my original question and all the replies and then decided on a different option! I found a discount on a 43" 4K LG LCD and bought that for the spare room. If it actually turns out to be better than I first thought then I will do a swap around and relegate the plasma, but somehow I reckon I'll be shopping for an OLED at some point in the future.

Thanks for the replies, I know more than I did when I first started this search!