The best current picture on any new TV.

[gizlaroc]

There are no really good 46" sets to be honest.

The problem is, if you're going to go LCD you need a VA panel, and they all seem to be IPS these days, with the exception of a couple.

Sony 49XF9005 is probably you're best bet.

I don't want to sound rude, but I never thought the D8000 was any good, so far behind Sony 46" W90 I had at the time, and that was behind the Pioneer 500M I also had and was already 4 years old.

OLED will wipe the floor with what you have now, but too big.

The LCD based units I would buy is as I said the Sony XF9005 or a used B&0 Beovision 11, but that wouldn't suit your current layout because of the design.

The industry is simply not interested in putting the best tech into 'small' screens. By small I mean less than 55".


I'm a massive fan of Sony LCD tech, their colours and motion are superb, I have the 49XE9005 and it is a cracking set, I tried a few LCDs recently as I wanted a smaller set, ideally 43", but in the end none did it for me so went back to the Sony and lived with 49".

I run an LG B7 OLED as well, the Sony is not as good overall, but it does do some things better.
The colours can look more natural (both calibrated) the motion is better, the image is sharper and wows more often, however it is still a backlit tech and therefore darker scenes are not as good and there isn't that 3D depth to an image you get when a display can do true blacks. But to get that into perspective it does black very, very well for an LCD and I never feel I'm missing out compared to the OLED, if you don't live with both you wouldn't really know what is missing.

The XE and XF 9005 are zoned backlit models, so they can turn off the backlight when needed.

There is probably an XG90 now too?

Having said all that, I have been so impressed with the XE9005 that I am actually considering swapping my OLED for a Sony 55XE9305, which does blacks and scenes with dark and light areas, I had one before for a while. Main reason is it would probably suit my room better and I watch Sky News for hours and that bloody yellow ticker tape is not good for screen burn on OLEDs.


I paid £600 for my XE9005 from Hughes outlet on eBay by the way.

IMHO there is no better sub 50" TV you can buy still, the XF is a small change, not read reviews of the 2019 models.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

gizlaroc said:

There are no really good 46" sets to be honest.

The problem is, if you're going to go LCD you need a VA panel, and they all seem to be IPS these days, with the exception of a couple.

Sony 49XF9005 is probably you're best bet.

I don't want to sound rude, but I never thought the D8000 was any good, so far behind Sony 46" W90 I had at the time, and that was behind the Pioneer 500M I also had and was already 4 years old.

OLED will wipe the floor with what you have now, but too big.

The LCD based units I would buy is as I said the Sony XF9005 or a used B&0 Beovision 11, but that wouldn't suit your current layout because of the design.

The industry is simply not interested in putting the best tech into 'small' screens. By small I mean less than 55".


I'm a massive fan of Sony LCD tech, their colours and motion are superb, I have the 49XE9005 and it is a cracking set, I tried a few LCDs recently as I wanted a smaller set, ideally 43", but in the end none did it for me so went back to the Sony and lived with 49".

I run an LG B7 OLED as well, the Sony is not as good overall, but it does do some things better.
The colours can look more natural (both calibrated) the motion is better, the image is sharper and wows more often, however it is still a backlit tech and therefore darker scenes are not as good and there isn't that 3D depth to an image you get when a display can do true blacks. But to get that into perspective it does black very, very well for an LCD and I never feel I'm missing out compared to the OLED, if you don't live with both you wouldn't really know what is missing.

The XE and XF 9005 are zoned backlit models, so they can turn off the backlight when needed.

There is probably an XG90 now too?

Having said all that, I have been so impressed with the XE9005 that I am actually considering swapping my OLED for a Sony 55XE9305, which does blacks and scenes with dark and light areas, I had one before for a while. Main reason is it would probably suit my room better and I watch Sky News for hours and that bloody yellow ticker tape is not good for screen burn on OLEDs.


I paid £600 for my XE9005 from Hughes outlet on eBay by the way.

IMHO there is no better sub 50" TV you can buy still, the XF is a small change, not read reviews of the 2019 models.

The D8000 no good?! It wiped the floor with anything at the time, and I spent a long time looking and trying to convince myself that a cheaper model would be good enough. Even today the sheer clarity on a decent Blu Ray will impress me. The biggest (unforgivable) failing is its sound quality, it's as thin as paper, but irrelevant in our set up.

I think anything sub 50" could work in the front. The 55" was just that tad bit too big, not massively over sized. I'll take a gander at the Sony.

Edit - it seems What Hi-Fi agree with you - https://www.whathifi.com/sony/kd-49xf9005/review

There's one on the bay at £928, so given a year or two we could hope that would come down to about £500.

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Sunday 19th May 13:25

[gizlaroc]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

The D8000 no good?! It wiped the floor with anything at the time, and I spent a long time looking and trying to convince myself that a cheaper model would be good enough. Even today the sheer clarity on a decent Blu Ray will impress me. The biggest (unforgivable) failing is its sound quality, it's as thin as paper, but irrelevant in our set up.

I think anything sub 50" could work in the front. The 55" was just that tad bit too big, not massively over sized. I'll take a gander at the Sony.

Edit - it seems What Hi-Fi agree with you - https://www.whathifi.com/sony/kd-49xf9005/review

There's one on the bay at £928, so given a year or two we could hope that would come down to about £500.

The D8000 just didn't impress me at all, I calibrated one and the black levels were poor and at that point I lost interest.
It was nice and bright, colours good when the blue push was dialled out of it, and it was nice and sharp, but compared to the Sony 46W90 I was running it didn't come close, and that was quite a way behind the Pioneer Kuro I has as my main set.

What I'm trying to say is sets like the 49XE9005 or XF9005 will be on another level.

They are £850 new at the moment, but will probably run out soon, the XG9005 has dropped the 49" from the look of things.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

gizlaroc said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

The D8000 no good?! It wiped the floor with anything at the time, and I spent a long time looking and trying to convince myself that a cheaper model would be good enough. Even today the sheer clarity on a decent Blu Ray will impress me. The biggest (unforgivable) failing is its sound quality, it's as thin as paper, but irrelevant in our set up.

I think anything sub 50" could work in the front. The 55" was just that tad bit too big, not massively over sized. I'll take a gander at the Sony.

Edit - it seems What Hi-Fi agree with you - https://www.whathifi.com/sony/kd-49xf9005/review

There's one on the bay at £928, so given a year or two we could hope that would come down to about £500.

The D8000 just didn't impress me at all, I calibrated one and the black levels were poor and at that point I lost interest.
It was nice and bright, colours good when the blue push was dialled out of it, and it was nice and sharp, but compared to the Sony 46W90 I was running it didn't come close, and that was quite a way behind the Pioneer Kuro I has as my main set.

What I'm trying to say is sets like the 49XE9005 or XF9005 will be on another level.

They are £850 new at the moment, but will probably run out soon, the XG9005 has dropped the 49" from the look of things.

The XF maybe the one to keep an eye out for down the line then. I concede that some others to blacks better than ours.

[Evolved]

I run a VT65, had it calibrated and it still amazes with the quality and black levels. There’s a reason it had the crown for so long after the KURO’s were pulled from market.

If I were to buy today, it’s be the Pany OLED or the LG. I’d probably opt for the Panasonic though.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Evolved said:

I run a VT65, had it calibrated and it still amazes with the quality and black levels. There’s a reason it had the crown for so long after the KURO’s were pulled from market.

If I were to buy today, it’s be the Pany OLED or the LG. I’d probably opt for the Panasonic though.

I do like Panasonic sets, a Panasonic holds the title of the longest I've owned one set, 11 years. One of these -



IIRC the first CRT with a 100% flat screen, and 100hz, which was good back then! £849 some 20 years ago, I really liked that set.

[Badda]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I don't know the dimensions, but as a visual this is the room the 46" lives. We tried the 55" in here (as it's where I watch my films, with the hi-fi set up) but it just took over the room. When we swapped it back to the 46" it was immediately apparent that it is a better fit. NB, it's the 46" in the photo.

That is a tiny room! Off topic but I've always wondered the point of hifi in a house like yours? Surely it's like having a fast car on average speed limit roads.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Badda said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I don't know the dimensions, but as a visual this is the room the 46" lives. We tried the 55" in here (as it's where I watch my films, with the hi-fi set up) but it just took over the room. When we swapped it back to the 46" it was immediately apparent that it is a better fit. NB, it's the 46" in the photo.

That is a tiny room! Off topic but I've always wondered the point of hifi in a house like yours? Surely it's like having a fast car on average speed limit roads.

I wouldn't say tiny, but it is on the small side. It does get used, and in fairness the neighbour is also a hi-fi junkie with Cyrus set up, so we both tolerate each other when we have a session with our hi-fi's. Never full whack, but plenty loud enough to enjoy. It is a bit of an overkill, the amps have a combined 1200watts RMS, but I've always wanted a Tag McLaren set up, and the 7 channel amp (the big silver one) lends itself beautifully to the Pro-Logic.

[Evolved]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Evolved said:

I run a VT65, had it calibrated and it still amazes with the quality and black levels. There’s a reason it had the crown for so long after the KURO’s were pulled from market.

If I were to buy today, it’s be the Pany OLED or the LG. I’d probably opt for the Panasonic though.

I do like Panasonic sets, a Panasonic holds the title of the longest I've owned one set, 11 years. One of these -



IIRC the first CRT with a 100% flat screen, and 100hz, which was good back then! £849 some 20 years ago, I really liked that set.

100hz was the holy grail along with the flat panel.

I have been following various threads for a while to get upto speed and I do think the Pany would win out still. It’s more expensive but they just make things that last and work very well.

[crmcatee]

RammyMP said:

I’ve not got the speakers fitted to it, the sound comes through surround sound speakers with the amp in another room. Recently the remote to change the volume has stopped working so instead of a short walk to adjust the volume or fix the remote, a new tv with speakers is in order!

Is it the Pioneer remote that's broke ? I might have one in the loft - can't remember what I did with it.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

crmcatee said:

RammyMP said:

I’ve not got the speakers fitted to it, the sound comes through surround sound speakers with the amp in another room. Recently the remote to change the volume has stopped working so instead of a short walk to adjust the volume or fix the remote, a new tv with speakers is in order!

Is it the Pioneer remote that's broke ? I might have one in the loft - can't remember what I did with it.

I may be wrong, but I read it as the remote for the surround amp?

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Evolved said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Evolved said:

I run a VT65, had it calibrated and it still amazes with the quality and black levels. There’s a reason it had the crown for so long after the KURO’s were pulled from market.

If I were to buy today, it’s be the Pany OLED or the LG. I’d probably opt for the Panasonic though.

I do like Panasonic sets, a Panasonic holds the title of the longest I've owned one set, 11 years. One of these -



IIRC the first CRT with a 100% flat screen, and 100hz, which was good back then! £849 some 20 years ago, I really liked that set.

100hz was the holy grail along with the flat panel.

I have been following various threads for a while to get upto speed and I do think the Pany would win out still. It’s more expensive but they just make things that last and work very well.

I may have missed, but any model for the Pany, and as a 46 or 55"?

[gizlaroc]

All OLEDs are 55, 65, 77 currently.

LG have said they are going to start producing 44" panels, design for commercial multiscreen really but is a demand for a smaller screen.

[RammyMP]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

crmcatee said:

RammyMP said:

I’ve not got the speakers fitted to it, the sound comes through surround sound speakers with the amp in another room. Recently the remote to change the volume has stopped working so instead of a short walk to adjust the volume or fix the remote, a new tv with speakers is in order!

Is it the Pioneer remote that's broke ? I might have one in the loft - can't remember what I did with it.

I may be wrong, but I read it as the remote for the surround amp?

Yes, it’s for the amp. I’ve got a spare ir extender as the one in the living room has packed up, that’s the problem, I can sort it, just can’t be arsed.

Thanks for the offer, by the way!

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

gizlaroc said:

All OLEDs are 55, 65, 77 currently.

LG have said they are going to start producing 44" panels, design for commercial multiscreen really but is a demand for a smaller screen.

Thanks for confirming my suspicion. I'll keep an eye out for the hinted arrival on the LG 49, as that size would work, and also have some good info/models from the rest of you so thanks for that.

One other question. Armed with a list of model numbers suggested, if I headed to (say) Dixons to view them, should I trust my eyes if I think any others are better, or could they be run from a certain source or setting which could skew the result?

[gizlaroc]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Thanks for confirming my suspicion. I'll keep an eye out for the hinted arrival on the LG 49, as that size would work, and also have some good info/models from the rest of you so thanks for that.

One other question. Armed with a list of model numbers suggested, if I headed to (say) Dixons to view them, should I trust my eyes if I think any others are better, or could they be run from a certain source or setting which could skew the result?

No shop will show you a decent image imho.

A well calibrated, or even a well set up, TV would look pretty lifeless and dull in a store next to a TV in torch mode.

The problem you have got is, each year or two the decent tech is only getting put in the bigger screens.


Of course OLED is the best picture, and there are 48" screens coming next year.

If it is height that starts to impose, I feel the same, then look at the Sony AF9, look at the height of that compared with your current set, I but there is not much in it, it is a screen that does an amazing job of looking smaller than 55" and disappearing.


I tend to buy a universal stand for my TVs, this is so I can sit them really low, it can reduce the overall height by 100mm or so on some sets.

[shaunsmith]

Evolved said:

I run a VT65, had it calibrated and it still amazes with the quality and black levels. There’s a reason it had the crown for so long after the KURO’s were pulled from market.

If I were to buy today, it’s be the Pany OLED or the LG. I’d probably opt for the Panasonic though.

I too have a VT65 and a Kuro 65 both calibrated still incredible tele’s, especially the Kuro considering it’s 11 years old. Both warm the house up is a bonus....

Recently made the jump to a Panasonic 77 Oled after deliberating for a few years.
Apart from not having a built in central heating system like the other two
A truly phenomenal tele!

[gizlaroc]

As good as the Pioneer and Panasonic TVs were back in the day, some of the current stuff is another level.

[RammyMP]

gizlaroc said:

As good as the Pioneer and Panasonic TVs were back in the day, some of the current stuff is another level.

Don’t say that!

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

RammyMP said:

gizlaroc said:

As good as the Pioneer and Panasonic TVs were back in the day, some of the current stuff is another level.

Don’t say that!

If you're still enjoying it then no sweat I'd say. I still enjoy our sets, whilst I am aware that they are no longer the best. I'm just conscious that the time will come within a few years that I'll hanker for better.

It's nice that the best real world picture quality has tumbled in price too, I wasn't fancying spending £4500 on two TV's! (hence the second hand 1-2 years rational)