Discussion
I need a new 55inch TV for the new home. The last 2 have been Samsung HD models which I have been very happy with (but sold with the house) but now it seems there's a whole lot more to consider, not least OLED and curved screens.
I went to John Lewis for a good look around at the weekend but it's difficult getting a correct impression when you cannot be sure how the TVs are set up.
After looking at the same TV from Samsung in both flat and curved screen I do like the picture on the curved screen - but is a real life installation the same?
I've also seen cracking looking pictures from a Sony KD55S8505 at around £1200 whereas a £2500 OLED LG looked a little fuzzy in the shop. Was that just a difference in the source material?
So, can people who have recently bought tell me their experiences with their new TVs and give me some ideas of what to take a look at more closely.
I'd rather stay around the £1500 mark BUT if there is a superior product out there that required me to spend closer to £2500 I am willing to do that.
Main use will be BluRay films and general TV. I only watch sport on Freeview so no real need for super features that are sports related.
Viewing distance is between 11 & 13 feet, depending on which sofa we use, so I think 55 inch should suffice. The TV will be on a TV unit rather than wall mounted so don't want to get anything too large that will dominate the room.
Thanks
Gary
I went to John Lewis for a good look around at the weekend but it's difficult getting a correct impression when you cannot be sure how the TVs are set up.
After looking at the same TV from Samsung in both flat and curved screen I do like the picture on the curved screen - but is a real life installation the same?
I've also seen cracking looking pictures from a Sony KD55S8505 at around £1200 whereas a £2500 OLED LG looked a little fuzzy in the shop. Was that just a difference in the source material?
So, can people who have recently bought tell me their experiences with their new TVs and give me some ideas of what to take a look at more closely.
I'd rather stay around the £1500 mark BUT if there is a superior product out there that required me to spend closer to £2500 I am willing to do that.
Main use will be BluRay films and general TV. I only watch sport on Freeview so no real need for super features that are sports related.
Viewing distance is between 11 & 13 feet, depending on which sofa we use, so I think 55 inch should suffice. The TV will be on a TV unit rather than wall mounted so don't want to get anything too large that will dominate the room.
Thanks
Gary
2016 sets will be out soon, so if you're considering a top end set, I'd wait to see what the pricing on those is.
If you're bothered about future proofing, you really want something that's HDR (high dynamic range) compliant... HDR is a much bigger step up vs 1080p than 4k (UHD). This pretty much rules out anything currently on sale other than maybe a couple of the top end Samsung sets (JS9500/JS9000), and even those are boarder line on the brightness levels.
No current OLED meets HDR, and the 2016 models that do meet the standards are likely to be VERY expensive - no pricing released yet, but they will be significantly higher than £2.5k.
If you're bothered about future proofing, you really want something that's HDR (high dynamic range) compliant... HDR is a much bigger step up vs 1080p than 4k (UHD). This pretty much rules out anything currently on sale other than maybe a couple of the top end Samsung sets (JS9500/JS9000), and even those are boarder line on the brightness levels.
No current OLED meets HDR, and the 2016 models that do meet the standards are likely to be VERY expensive - no pricing released yet, but they will be significantly higher than £2.5k.
Another thought... if you have one near you I'd strongly recommend Richer Sounds. They were brilliant when I bought my JS9000 in December... personal service, very friendly, listen to what you want.
Some good sources for research on-line;
www.trustedreviews.com
www.avforums.com
www.whathifi.com
Some good sources for research on-line;
www.trustedreviews.com
www.avforums.com
www.whathifi.com
Chris Stott said:
2016 sets will be out soon, so if you're considering a top end set, I'd wait to see what the pricing on those is.
If you're bothered about future proofing, you really want something that's HDR (high dynamic range) compliant... HDR is a much bigger step up vs 1080p than 4k (UHD). This pretty much rules out anything currently on sale other than maybe a couple of the top end Samsung sets (JS9500/JS9000), and even those are boarder line on the brightness levels.
No current OLED meets HDR, and the 2016 models that do meet the standards are likely to be VERY expensive - no pricing released yet, but they will be significantly higher than £2.5k.
The EF950, EG960, EG920 LG OLED TV’s do support 'HDR 10' (10 bit colour with High Dynamic Range), which is mandated on HDR UHD Blu-Ray's and is being used on currently available HDR sources. Some other LG OLED's might too. Lots of Samsung/Sony TV's are HDR compliant too, as will some from other manufacturers. I'm not sure any other HDR codecs (the 12bit Dolby Vision for example) are actually in the wild yet. As for LG OLED sets in particular only the EF950 (flat 55/65 inch) ones have the required HDMI 2.0a sockets needed to get HDR from an external source.If you're bothered about future proofing, you really want something that's HDR (high dynamic range) compliant... HDR is a much bigger step up vs 1080p than 4k (UHD). This pretty much rules out anything currently on sale other than maybe a couple of the top end Samsung sets (JS9500/JS9000), and even those are boarder line on the brightness levels.
No current OLED meets HDR, and the 2016 models that do meet the standards are likely to be VERY expensive - no pricing released yet, but they will be significantly higher than £2.5k.
I suspect you mean that these, and other 2015, sets do not meet the requirements for the UHD premium certification. This is true, but that certification is based off arbitrary numbers arrived at by the very people making the TV's and using the certification. Certification certainly does not mean you will be viewing the content as it's mastered. Really all it tells you is that the 2016 TV's are better than then 2015 ones, I guess it's helpful to those who aren't too bothered as a quick way to identify sets of a certain minimum capability. I wonder what they will do next year, putting the same sticker on a 2017 set as a 2016 one will make it look like there has been no progress...
As Chris says, 2016 sets have been announced and will be coming soon, some look amazing. If nothing else 2015 sets might come down in price.
As for my personal experience, I went OLED (LG55EF950V). It's everything I wanted, flat, OLED, 4k, HDR with HDMI 2.0a. No other TV ticks all of those boxes. I went into John Lewis and had a good look round, but no matter where I was in the shop my eyes just kept going back to the OLED and I couldn't spend £1,000+ on something and spend the next few years wishing I'd got the OLED. If you have seen an OLED and weren’t impressed then save yourself a load of money and get a decent LED but as you may have gathered it is a bit of a minefield at the moment with shifting specifications, the easy way out is to get something UHD premium certified; then you know you'll be OK in the future.
As for OLED The easiest way to explain it is that it looks like a veil or filter has been removed from the screen, everything is so much clearer. I can see detail in BluRay’s I have never seen before, the image looks really deep, my 2k BluRay’s look better than previous 4k material I’ve seen. Light objects have a real luminosity, street lights really do seem as if they are alight. And this is all standard BluRay, HDR 4k just brings even deeper colour and more contrast, although not a huge improvement in detail, not on the material I have seen anyway.
Edited by varsas on Wednesday 17th February 14:02
varsas said:
Chris Stott said:
2016 sets will be out soon, so if you're considering a top end set, I'd wait to see what the pricing on those is.
If you're bothered about future proofing, you really want something that's HDR (high dynamic range) compliant... HDR is a much bigger step up vs 1080p than 4k (UHD). This pretty much rules out anything currently on sale other than maybe a couple of the top end Samsung sets (JS9500/JS9000), and even those are boarder line on the brightness levels.
No current OLED meets HDR, and the 2016 models that do meet the standards are likely to be VERY expensive - no pricing released yet, but they will be significantly higher than £2.5k.
The EF950, EG960, EG920 LG OLED TV’s do support 'HDR 10' (10 bit colour with High Dynamic Range), which is mandated on HDR UHD Blu-Ray's and is being used on currently available HDR sources. Some other LG OLED's might too. Lots of Samsung/Sony TV's are HDR compliant too, as will some from other manufacturers. I'm not sure any other HDR codecs (the 12bit Dolby Vision for example) are actually in the wild yet. As for LG OLED sets in particular only the EF950 (flat 55/65 inch) ones have the required HDMI 2.0a sockets needed to get HDR from an external source.If you're bothered about future proofing, you really want something that's HDR (high dynamic range) compliant... HDR is a much bigger step up vs 1080p than 4k (UHD). This pretty much rules out anything currently on sale other than maybe a couple of the top end Samsung sets (JS9500/JS9000), and even those are boarder line on the brightness levels.
No current OLED meets HDR, and the 2016 models that do meet the standards are likely to be VERY expensive - no pricing released yet, but they will be significantly higher than £2.5k.
I suspect you mean that these, and other 2015, sets do not meet the requirements for the UHD premium certification. This is true, but that certification is based off arbitrary numbers arrived at by the very people making the TV's and using the certification. Certification certainly does not mean you will be viewing the content as it's mastered. Really all it tells you is that the 2016 TV's are better than then 2015 ones, I guess it's helpful to those who aren't too bothered as a quick way to identify sets of a certain minimum capability. I wonder what they will do next year, putting the same sticker on a 2017 set as a 2016 one will make it look like there has been no progress...
As Chris says, 2016 sets have been announced and will be coming soon, some look amazing. If nothing else 2015 sets might come down in price.
As for my personal experience, I went OLED (LG55EF950V). It's everything I wanted, flat, OLED, 4k, HDR with HDMI 2.0a. No other TV ticks all of those boxes. I went into John Lewis and had a good look round, but no matter where I was in the shop my eyes just kept going back to the OLED and I couldn't spend £1,000+ on something and spend the next few years wishing I'd got the OLED. If you have seen an OLED and weren’t impressed then save yourself a load of money and get a decent LED but as you may have gathered it is a bit of a minefield at the moment with shifting specifications, the easy way out is to get something UHD premium certified; then you know you'll be OK in the future.
As for OLED The easiest way to explain it is that it looks like a veil or filter has been removed from the screen, everything is so much clearer. I can see detail in BluRay’s I have never seen before, the image looks really deep, my 2k BluRay’s look better than previous 4k material I’ve seen. Light objects have a real luminosity, street lights really do seem as if they are alight. And this is all standard BluRay, HDR 4k just brings even deeper colour and more contrast, although not a huge improvement in detail, not on the material I have seen anyway.
Edited by varsas on Wednesday 17th February 14:02
And you're right on the HDMI side for LG OLEDs and HDR. But it's unlikely most people will be able to watch HDR on anything other than an HDMI input device (eg; Samsung or Panasonic's UHD/HDR Blueray player when they launch)... IIRC from my Samsung HDR pack, a 2 hour 4kHDR movie is c.35gb, and most people won't have anywhere near the internet speed needed to stream that.
Agree on the difference between 1080 and 2160... very little noticeable difference in detail on a high quality screen based on the limited content available to date. When I got my JS9000 I ordered a Samsung HDR pack from the US (1TB hard drive with 10 films and 30 documentaries)... some of the content on that is truly spectacular.
Personally, I would have loved a OLED, but I really can't get anything bigger than a 48 in my living room due to layout. And the JS9000 has turned out to be a fantastic set... bright, colourful, with an incredible depth of field. Yes, there's some minor backlight clouding on the occasional dark scene, but it's only there if you really look for it... the rest of the time it's stunning.
garyhun said:
Many many thanks for taking the time to reply.
That's given me lots to consider and a good start point. I hear a lot of good things about the LG55EF950V - I assume the one in JL was definitely not set up correctly.
No problem!That's given me lots to consider and a good start point. I hear a lot of good things about the LG55EF950V - I assume the one in JL was definitely not set up correctly.
I actually had to special order my EF950V, Curry’s where the only people who sold it, and it was online only. I guess they did not expect to sell many of the flat version (the EG960 is very similar but curved) Hopefully that has changed. Was the demo still the Ed Sheeran concert? If so then it’s not the best, they have a really cool one with jellyfish that’s great. Hopefully you’ll be able to see any TV(s) you are considering with your own material. Always the best way, but not an option for me.
In the interests of balance I will say the 2015 OLED’s are not perfect. People report ‘staining’ of large areas of light colour (say, an ice hockey game). I have not seen/do not have this. They also report’ vignetting’, a darkening of the screen at the edges. I have seen this on test footage, but not in real life. There are also low-light uniformity issues. Vertical patterns visible in dark scenes (very annoying as this is where OLED should be at its best). This is present on my TV, it’ll typically affect a couple of scenes in a standard film. It affects DVD’s and low quality sources more, I watched Jurassic World last night and did not see anything. This is down to how OLED works, and variations in the individual pixels and the calibration routines. Apparently 2016 models are better (starting to sound like a broken record here!)
Adding to the websites mentioned I’ll add:
hdtvtest.co.uk
a UK based site, very geeky (in a good way).
One last thing, 3D looks fantastic on OLED (and probably any other 4K TV), a 4k screen means you can have passive 3D at full HD resolution-per-eye which is great. I had written off 3D utterly before seeing it this way. What a shame 3D is going away just as the TV’s can finally handle it.
Chris Stott said:
.....it's stunning.
Edited by varsas on Wednesday 17th February 16:20
varsas said:
In the interests of balance I will say the 2015 OLED’s are not perfect. People report ‘staining’ of large areas of light colour (say, an ice hockey game). I have not seen/do not have this. They also report’ vignetting’, a darkening of the screen at the edges. I have seen this on test footage, but not in real life. There are also low-light uniformity issues. Vertical patterns visible in dark scenes (very annoying as this is where OLED should be at its best). This is present on my TV, it’ll typically affect a couple of scenes in a standard film. It affects DVD’s and low quality sources more, I watched Jurassic World last night and did not see anything. This is down to how OLED works, and variations in the individual pixels and the calibration routines. Apparently 2016 models are better (starting to sound like a broken record here!)
Adding to this... I don't think there's any such thing as a 'perfect' TV at the moment. Depending on how good a panel you get, OLED can have it's faults (vignetting, vertical banding), and top end LED's can have clouding and backlight issues. I do think OLED is the future though - once the tech is fully developed and manufacturers find a way to make them more affordable.
varsas said:
That's the key for me. After everything else an expensive TV should wow you. It should stun you, it should show you detail and colour you haven't seen before, make you want to watch all your favourite films again. If you can find a set that does that, then it's worth spending the extra on. If you can't then there are very many very decent, cheap TV's from Samsung (the 6400 series for example) and others you can get. Just IMHO.
Spot on!When I bought the JS9000 I re-watched every blueray I own - some nights I just came home from work, sat down with a glass (bottle!) of wine and watched 2 films back to back... I was blown away by how good it looked.
Interestingly, I have a 6400 in an apartment I own in Spain. It was super cheap at €449 for a 48" - around £330 at the exchange rate. I bought it a good while before I got the JS9000, and I thought the picture was great, even having a Panasonic plasma as a reference point (that was my UK TV at the time). I hadn't seen the 6400 since I bought the JS9000, but I went back to the apartment last week and after 3 months with the JS9000, I was shocked how ordinary the 6400 was by comparison. When I got home and switched on the JS I was blown away again by how good it looks.
Interesting what you say Chris. I've purchased my current property one year after selling my last place. In the meantime I rented a small flat and purchased a 40 inch UE5500.
When I went to JL the other day and started looking at the larger new sets it gets me very excited about what's to come. I cannot wait to revisit all my favourite Blu Ray's on whatever new larger TV I get.
When I went to JL the other day and started looking at the larger new sets it gets me very excited about what's to come. I cannot wait to revisit all my favourite Blu Ray's on whatever new larger TV I get.
garyhun said:
Interesting what you say Chris. I've purchased my current property one year after selling my last place. In the meantime I rented a small flat and purchased a 40 inch UE5500.
When I went to JL the other day and started looking at the larger new sets it gets me very excited about what's to come. I cannot wait to revisit all my favourite Blu Ray's on whatever new larger TV I get.
When I went to JL the other day and started looking at the larger new sets it gets me very excited about what's to come. I cannot wait to revisit all my favourite Blu Ray's on whatever new larger TV I get.
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