New TV, will I be disapointed?
Discussion
We've had out current panny 42" plasma for a long time, still works perfectly but its not full HD and its about time it was relegated to the bedroom.
Problem is the screen is West facing right in front of a window. Probably the worst position as it also picks up all the reflections from outside. But, although it does get watched in the day at weekends its mainly evenings when its less of an issue.
Friends and relatives all have new TV's, all LED and TBH I find them disappointing. We have a newer 32" LG in the kitchen which is good as long as there is no direct light on it so a larger version is non starter in the lounge.
Obv. OLED would be ideal but only looking to spend about £800 and definitely not bigger than 50", viewing distance is 2.4m - 3.2m. Its going to be run off a freesat box, netflix and amazon on a 17mb connection.
Was thinking of a Samsung xxxNU8000?
Problem is the screen is West facing right in front of a window. Probably the worst position as it also picks up all the reflections from outside. But, although it does get watched in the day at weekends its mainly evenings when its less of an issue.
Friends and relatives all have new TV's, all LED and TBH I find them disappointing. We have a newer 32" LG in the kitchen which is good as long as there is no direct light on it so a larger version is non starter in the lounge.
Obv. OLED would be ideal but only looking to spend about £800 and definitely not bigger than 50", viewing distance is 2.4m - 3.2m. Its going to be run off a freesat box, netflix and amazon on a 17mb connection.
Was thinking of a Samsung xxxNU8000?
Probably, is the short answer.
You're looking at a fairly small TV, with direct light or reflections onto it and you'll struggle to stream 4K content with 17mb/s. But then you'd need to sit very, very close to the TV to appreciate 4K anyway on a 50" TV.
In your shoes I'd wait until Black Friday and see what you can get for £400-500. Samsung are a fair shout as their upscaling tends to be pretty good so HD content should look alright. But the extra £300 won't get you much further and even if it did, the benefits would be offset by the other compromises listed above.
You're looking at a fairly small TV, with direct light or reflections onto it and you'll struggle to stream 4K content with 17mb/s. But then you'd need to sit very, very close to the TV to appreciate 4K anyway on a 50" TV.
In your shoes I'd wait until Black Friday and see what you can get for £400-500. Samsung are a fair shout as their upscaling tends to be pretty good so HD content should look alright. But the extra £300 won't get you much further and even if it did, the benefits would be offset by the other compromises listed above.
I've got a Panasonic plasma for my living room TV (the good one is in it's own room) and it still holds up surprisingly well, despite being about 10 years old now and bought when the TXP42G10 was the MX-5 of these forums. For SD content and kids TV etc it holds up just fine with a Fire Stick as the main source.
Samsung seem pretty solid - good interface, decent up scaling, usually respectable brightness. The 7000 range upwards is where I'd be looking for half decent quality (but don't expect much in the way of HDR.) Their higher end models seem to be up there though.
Samsung seem pretty solid - good interface, decent up scaling, usually respectable brightness. The 7000 range upwards is where I'd be looking for half decent quality (but don't expect much in the way of HDR.) Their higher end models seem to be up there though.
If you want a 50" TV, the only real option at the moment is the Sony 49XF9005.
Can be had for around £850 from TPS.
John Lewis will match at £945 but mot match the £100 cashback TPS are offering.
That Samsung uses an IPS panel on the 49", better viewing angles but poor blacks.
The Sonys is a local dimming LCD with a VA panel, it is no OLED but the only choice IMHO if you are used to Plasma.
Can be had for around £850 from TPS.
John Lewis will match at £945 but mot match the £100 cashback TPS are offering.
That Samsung uses an IPS panel on the 49", better viewing angles but poor blacks.
The Sonys is a local dimming LCD with a VA panel, it is no OLED but the only choice IMHO if you are used to Plasma.
gizlaroc is bang on the money.
I've always been a Panasonic plasma fan, but in a new house we needed an extra TV for a snug that has a large south facing window shining directly on the screen.
Bought a Sony 49XF9005 and not expecting too much but I'm actually highly impressed. It stands up very well with ambient light and has excellent upscaling. Also seems to be pretty good with gaming without any tearing or processing artifacts.
I've always been a Panasonic plasma fan, but in a new house we needed an extra TV for a snug that has a large south facing window shining directly on the screen.
Bought a Sony 49XF9005 and not expecting too much but I'm actually highly impressed. It stands up very well with ambient light and has excellent upscaling. Also seems to be pretty good with gaming without any tearing or processing artifacts.
Thanks all. Didn;t realise the Sonys were available <1K so will look at them more closely, always been a Sony (Trinitron) fan.
Any ideas if a new model is due this side of Xmas (which could drop the price more?)?
No rush to change, just have been redecorating, new kitchen etc and TV looks a bit "old".
Any ideas if a new model is due this side of Xmas (which could drop the price more?)?
No rush to change, just have been redecorating, new kitchen etc and TV looks a bit "old".
21TonyK said:
Thanks all. Didn;t realise the Sonys were available <1K so will look at them more closely, always been a Sony (Trinitron) fan.
Any ideas if a new model is due this side of Xmas (which could drop the price more?)?
No rush to change, just have been redecorating, new kitchen etc and TV looks a bit "old".
I don't think so, IIRC their cycle tends to be around March time.Any ideas if a new model is due this side of Xmas (which could drop the price more?)?
No rush to change, just have been redecorating, new kitchen etc and TV looks a bit "old".
If you go Sony budget for a decent streaming device - historically they've a tendency to underpower their processors used for running Android TV and it can be quite frustrating to use. (This is your baked in apps etc - the picture processing is very good.) If you can stretch to £150-190 for a Shield TV, it's hands down the best streamer I've used.
21TonyK said:
Thanks all. Didn;t realise the Sonys were available <1K so will look at them more closely, always been a Sony (Trinitron) fan.
Any ideas if a new model is due this side of Xmas (which could drop the price more?)?
No rush to change, just have been redecorating, new kitchen etc and TV looks a bit "old".
The Sony 49XF9005 is very recent to market, unlikely to be superceded by Sony any time soon.Any ideas if a new model is due this side of Xmas (which could drop the price more?)?
No rush to change, just have been redecorating, new kitchen etc and TV looks a bit "old".
Based on my experience, the answer to your question "will I be disappointed", is that if you spend £800-£1000 the answer is likely to be "no".
If you turn off the Youview feature on the Sony TVs the rest if the Android system runs much quicker. Youview slows it down to a grind where button presses can take seconds to react.
Next model will be the XG90 series I suppose. But to be honest, when you compare the 2018 XF90 with the 2016 XE93 there is not much in it. The XD93 has the slight edge, but was twice the price.
I think if anything this will be the last time we see an FALD (zoned back lighting) on a sub 50" screen, I bet next year we will see 55" being the smallest, then the year after we will have 44" OLEDs.
In fact, I think it will be the end of VA screens on sub 55" as well, every other manufacturer is using IPS panels now, the average Joe will notice funny colours when sitting off centre far more than they will no realise they are missing the ability to have half decent black levels.
Next model will be the XG90 series I suppose. But to be honest, when you compare the 2018 XF90 with the 2016 XE93 there is not much in it. The XD93 has the slight edge, but was twice the price.
I think if anything this will be the last time we see an FALD (zoned back lighting) on a sub 50" screen, I bet next year we will see 55" being the smallest, then the year after we will have 44" OLEDs.
In fact, I think it will be the end of VA screens on sub 55" as well, every other manufacturer is using IPS panels now, the average Joe will notice funny colours when sitting off centre far more than they will no realise they are missing the ability to have half decent black levels.
"Whats the general opinion on Samsung these days?"
Mine died of 'old age' at three years and a week. Horizontal white line across the top of the screen. The line bred and become two, then three.
Out of warranty, said Samsung. In the bin, said Slushbox. 'common fault' says the intnerweb.
I gave up on the broadcast TV thing and bought a nice white Iiyama PC monitor and a Fire Stick.
So far, I'm not missing not having any live BBC content. :-)
Mine died of 'old age' at three years and a week. Horizontal white line across the top of the screen. The line bred and become two, then three.
Out of warranty, said Samsung. In the bin, said Slushbox. 'common fault' says the intnerweb.
I gave up on the broadcast TV thing and bought a nice white Iiyama PC monitor and a Fire Stick.
So far, I'm not missing not having any live BBC content. :-)
In a similar position.
our 40" samsung from 10 years ago has finally given up yesterday it keeps turning off and on.
we're 350-400cm away from the tv so not a huge distance.
dont want anything too much bigger so was looking at 49".
dont buy a tv often so obvs looking at oleds but dont want to spend more than a thousand or so.
theres a samsung 49" QE49Q6FN for 999
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...
thoughts on this one compared to the sony recommended above?
is the samsung frame tv all substance no tv?
we watch a lot of movies, not much sports and no gaming. we have sky q so watch everything through that.
hate motion blur and dont want it too in your face. mostly non hd content at mo as have old tv but if have better one then tend to rent sky movies so will get hd movies although dont have their hd subscription for normal channels. however, does need to last 5 years +
Have a brother in law who has fancy tv yet the voice sync always seems out - this would drive me nuts so dont want any issues with that.
thanks
and just realised thats its qled not oled. sigh. question still stands though is the sony better? thanks
our 40" samsung from 10 years ago has finally given up yesterday it keeps turning off and on.
we're 350-400cm away from the tv so not a huge distance.
dont want anything too much bigger so was looking at 49".
dont buy a tv often so obvs looking at oleds but dont want to spend more than a thousand or so.
theres a samsung 49" QE49Q6FN for 999
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...
thoughts on this one compared to the sony recommended above?
is the samsung frame tv all substance no tv?
we watch a lot of movies, not much sports and no gaming. we have sky q so watch everything through that.
hate motion blur and dont want it too in your face. mostly non hd content at mo as have old tv but if have better one then tend to rent sky movies so will get hd movies although dont have their hd subscription for normal channels. however, does need to last 5 years +
Have a brother in law who has fancy tv yet the voice sync always seems out - this would drive me nuts so dont want any issues with that.
thanks
and just realised thats its qled not oled. sigh. question still stands though is the sony better? thanks
Edited by petemurphy on Saturday 29th September 09:52
Just ordered the Sony from TPS. Thanks for the comments and pointers everyone.
Had a look at it in currys alongside samsung, lg and panasonic. Obviously all the TVs are setup for demo but the Sony looked more natural and considering TPS is quite a bit cheaper with a 7 year warranty it seemed the logical choice. Did like the big OLEDs but £2K on a telly is wasted on me.
Hopefully it looks as good in daylight!
Had a look at it in currys alongside samsung, lg and panasonic. Obviously all the TVs are setup for demo but the Sony looked more natural and considering TPS is quite a bit cheaper with a 7 year warranty it seemed the logical choice. Did like the big OLEDs but £2K on a telly is wasted on me.
Hopefully it looks as good in daylight!
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