New TV disappointment
Discussion
Hi all, we're extending our house and so thought we'd put a new telly in the extension. I'm totally out of the loop with what's around these days, the last one I bought was a Panasonic plasma which still works very well, no screen burn or anything like that. I think it's about 50".
Anyway I know you can't get plasma anymore so went and had a look at the latest stuff in John Lewis and I have to say that everything looked a bit average, even the expensive OLED ones. To my eyes they all seemed a bit pixelly, particularly on moving things (and I like watching car racing so that's not good!) The sales guy showed us the different set ups like vivid etc which were kind of impressive but so bright as to look totally unreal, almost like a computer game.
Bearing in mind I'm only after a similar sized 50" set for about £600 I can't help but feel I'm going to be disappointed.
Hopefully this doesn't come across as a 'everything was better in the old days' type grumble, I was just genuinely unimpressed and so was Mrs Stinkyspanner (not for the first time it has to be said)
Could it have just been John Lewis 'showroom' environment, were we too close to the screen?
Anyway I know you can't get plasma anymore so went and had a look at the latest stuff in John Lewis and I have to say that everything looked a bit average, even the expensive OLED ones. To my eyes they all seemed a bit pixelly, particularly on moving things (and I like watching car racing so that's not good!) The sales guy showed us the different set ups like vivid etc which were kind of impressive but so bright as to look totally unreal, almost like a computer game.
Bearing in mind I'm only after a similar sized 50" set for about £600 I can't help but feel I'm going to be disappointed.
Hopefully this doesn't come across as a 'everything was better in the old days' type grumble, I was just genuinely unimpressed and so was Mrs Stinkyspanner (not for the first time it has to be said)
Could it have just been John Lewis 'showroom' environment, were we too close to the screen?
The Showroom environment is pretty horrible for setting up a telly and most places don't have the time or wherewithal to actually do it properly anyway.
That begin said John Lewis are normally better than most and their guarantee is certainly worth having but Currys and Richer sounds are offering similar now also.
These days going by reviews and forum posts from owners seems to be the best way to go. I used that research to narrow down my short list then made the chap in Currys give me the remote controls for the ones I was interested in and I spent some time switching all the gizmos off and setting them up properly so I could do an objective review from a usb stick file.
When you drop £1600 on a telly you want it to be right. Of course the telly is now worth £600 but that's the way it goes.
I'd suggest paying a visit to AVforums.com if advertising another forum isn't against rules?
That begin said John Lewis are normally better than most and their guarantee is certainly worth having but Currys and Richer sounds are offering similar now also.
These days going by reviews and forum posts from owners seems to be the best way to go. I used that research to narrow down my short list then made the chap in Currys give me the remote controls for the ones I was interested in and I spent some time switching all the gizmos off and setting them up properly so I could do an objective review from a usb stick file.
When you drop £1600 on a telly you want it to be right. Of course the telly is now worth £600 but that's the way it goes.
I'd suggest paying a visit to AVforums.com if advertising another forum isn't against rules?
Edited by hornmeister on Monday 10th September 13:41
I'd echo the comments above - in store, they're setup terribly. I viewed my TV in John Lewis before buying. SD content was being played and it looked atrocious.
Once it was home, set up properly (you'll be able to find guides specific to your TV with a good set of settings to use) it looked really good. Even SD content looked semi-watchable, despite looking rubbish in store.
Image quality is not one of those things you go in store to check. Even ones playing those ridiculously vibrant colourful loops of 4K content don't really show how it will look at home; they tend to leave them in vivid mode which you do not want at home.
Once it was home, set up properly (you'll be able to find guides specific to your TV with a good set of settings to use) it looked really good. Even SD content looked semi-watchable, despite looking rubbish in store.
Image quality is not one of those things you go in store to check. Even ones playing those ridiculously vibrant colourful loops of 4K content don't really show how it will look at home; they tend to leave them in vivid mode which you do not want at home.
Tony1963 said:
If the picture was "pixely" then they must have been showing programme in standard definition. HD looks very good indeed on most modern screens, 4K UHD is simply stunning.
Do you have any friends with a newish 50" or larger telly? Might be worth have a look.
I went for a 43", because I like to actually be able to get out of my patio door, so a bog standard 4k TV. You have to pretty much stick your nose against the screen to see any sort of pixilation when displaying a 4k source.Do you have any friends with a newish 50" or larger telly? Might be worth have a look.
ks, amazing TV. stinkyspanner said:
Thanks all, I think what I'm talking about is motion blur rather than pixellation.. To my eyes they all had it to a greater or lesser extent
I'll go to Richer sounds and see what they say
Bring your own content so you can do a direct comparison. Also get them to turn off all the extra processing crap, and set the brightness/contrast to "cinema". Image might look duller in a bright store, but more accurate.I'll go to Richer sounds and see what they say
Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff