65 LED or 55 OLED
Discussion
My 25 year old 33 inch Sony CRT behemoth has finally died. I will have to replace it and a few peripherals due to connectivity issues, so I hope that our resident experts might answer a question or two over the next few days; in fact, I would be grateful of any viewpoint from those that have had similar choices to make. I am completely out of touch with the modern AV world, so bear with me, and, yes, I will go and view the TVs in a good setting before purchase. (Richer Sounds, Brighton, any good?)
Firstly, my budget is not unlimited. I will need to buy new TV, DVD player, probably soundbar (my sound system will not support HDMI connection) and TV stand and cables. I can afford a base level LG 55 OLED, probably the B8 PLA, or a fairly top range LG 65 LED. Viewing is in a large lounge, but across the room at a distance of 9 to 10 feet. There is a bay window in the end wall about five feet away laterally, but I am not averse to drawing the curtains to reduce ambient light. We watch mainly drama, films, some light entertainment and occasionally some sport.
Should I go for the pure blacks and picture quality of the 55 OLED, or the cinematic grandeur of the 65 LED?
I have observed that some LED panels are considered inferior in brightness and contrast; any hints on what to avoid?
I have read articles about burn in and reduced brightness over time. Does this apply to both OLED and LED?
Thanks in anticipation.
Firstly, my budget is not unlimited. I will need to buy new TV, DVD player, probably soundbar (my sound system will not support HDMI connection) and TV stand and cables. I can afford a base level LG 55 OLED, probably the B8 PLA, or a fairly top range LG 65 LED. Viewing is in a large lounge, but across the room at a distance of 9 to 10 feet. There is a bay window in the end wall about five feet away laterally, but I am not averse to drawing the curtains to reduce ambient light. We watch mainly drama, films, some light entertainment and occasionally some sport.
Should I go for the pure blacks and picture quality of the 55 OLED, or the cinematic grandeur of the 65 LED?
I have observed that some LED panels are considered inferior in brightness and contrast; any hints on what to avoid?
I have read articles about burn in and reduced brightness over time. Does this apply to both OLED and LED?
Thanks in anticipation.
Don’t know about the 65 LED but we’ve just bought a Panasonic 55 OLED fitted with a Technics sound bar and the picture is awesome. We’ve also got SKY Q and the normal HD picture on the OLED was infinitely better than our ‘old’ Panasonic LED.
At the moment, our model is £100 off at John Lewis and Richer Sounds.
Whatever you buy, enjoy it!
At the moment, our model is £100 off at John Lewis and Richer Sounds.
Whatever you buy, enjoy it!
I made this choice about 9 months ago. There isn't a right or wrong answer.
I went for a solid performing 65" LED over a 55" OLED. The choice for me was a higher end Sony LED in 65" vs. an LG OLED in 55".
The pro's and con's seemed to be more brightness (helps some HDR scenes really pop) and more immersion on a bigger LED vs. better detail in the blacks and greater local accuracy of HDR on an OLED i.e. on a pixel by pixel basis.
Sitting close enough to a 65" set to appreciate the detail of well made4K HDR content and with enough brightness to make everything pop - zero regrets. It looks incredible. Whilst I'm sue I'd have been very happy with the OLED instead, for my preferences watching good content on a massive screen feels like an event and a bit of a treat. If anyone has seen the observatory scene in Altered Carbon...you could get subburn from the screen, and it looks jaw droppingly good.
SWMBO isn't so sure - she gets distracted pointing out how you can see every pore on a characters forehead
I went for a solid performing 65" LED over a 55" OLED. The choice for me was a higher end Sony LED in 65" vs. an LG OLED in 55".
The pro's and con's seemed to be more brightness (helps some HDR scenes really pop) and more immersion on a bigger LED vs. better detail in the blacks and greater local accuracy of HDR on an OLED i.e. on a pixel by pixel basis.
Sitting close enough to a 65" set to appreciate the detail of well made4K HDR content and with enough brightness to make everything pop - zero regrets. It looks incredible. Whilst I'm sue I'd have been very happy with the OLED instead, for my preferences watching good content on a massive screen feels like an event and a bit of a treat. If anyone has seen the observatory scene in Altered Carbon...you could get subburn from the screen, and it looks jaw droppingly good.
SWMBO isn't so sure - she gets distracted pointing out how you can see every pore on a characters forehead
Edited by tenohfive on Thursday 22 November 22:43
I know how we all hate a 'what option' thread with no conclusion, so:
Firstly, thank you to those who replied above. After much deliberation, I bought an LG55C8PLA OLED, SONY UBP-X700 4k Blu-ray player and AVS Buckingham 1400 TV stand, all from John Lewis. JL priced matched on all items and their customer service and delivery was nothing short of excellent. I chose the C8PLA over the B8 version as it had the latest A9 processor and upgraded speaker system which allowed me to avoid buying a sound-bar that would have become redundant when I can afford a separate AV receiver/amp next year.
My original question was on the choice between 65 LED and 55 OLED. When viewed at three different suppliers, although the bigger screen was impressive, I just could not get past the clarity of image displayed by the OLED; in comparison the LED almost seemed as if it had a slight opacity or filter to the screen.
For anyone making a similar decision here are a couple of observations on the LG.
Pros:
The TV is a work of art just sitting on its stand switched off; the blade thin screen is amazing, having just dumped (with some sadness) my old 40" cube of a CRT.
The picture is the best I have ever seen on a TV. Detail in 4k UHD has be to be experienced to be believed. Even SD looks great to my eyes.
The sound is much better than I expected from in-set speakers.
The so called 'magic controller' has brilliant functionality with voice control, if you can put up with the data and privacy agreements that surround that particular element.
Cons:
The unboxing instructions are appalling. Some are on the outside of the box, some are on a leaflet inside the top of the box and some are on the base of the box, only to be discovered when you have the bloody thing half unpacked. The screen appears to be particularly vulnerable during this process; I wonder how many are damaged before they are ever switched on?
The set up procedure is a bit laborious but the on screen instructions are ok.
To get the best possible picture careful setup is necessary. Out of the box the TV is in ECO mode. Ditch this and use the settings help available from AV forums or RTINGS.com on YouTube as a starting point and then tweak to your preference. This gives hours of fun before you even get to watch any content.
There are apparently some bad (new) screens out there with various faults, notably V & H banding and random noise. Choose a supplier with a good reputation and you should have no trouble getting a replacement.
There is a big debate on AV forums about OLED burn-in caused by static images, such as news station banners, on screen. Some say big problem, others say not so. I think I will just enjoy watching mine.
My dog loves this telly and I have to endure his slobbery bulk taking up most of the sofa whenever I am trying to watch something,
So, overall, it's quite nice thank you.
TLDR; viewed OLED, bought OLED, job jobbed.
Firstly, thank you to those who replied above. After much deliberation, I bought an LG55C8PLA OLED, SONY UBP-X700 4k Blu-ray player and AVS Buckingham 1400 TV stand, all from John Lewis. JL priced matched on all items and their customer service and delivery was nothing short of excellent. I chose the C8PLA over the B8 version as it had the latest A9 processor and upgraded speaker system which allowed me to avoid buying a sound-bar that would have become redundant when I can afford a separate AV receiver/amp next year.
My original question was on the choice between 65 LED and 55 OLED. When viewed at three different suppliers, although the bigger screen was impressive, I just could not get past the clarity of image displayed by the OLED; in comparison the LED almost seemed as if it had a slight opacity or filter to the screen.
For anyone making a similar decision here are a couple of observations on the LG.
Pros:
The TV is a work of art just sitting on its stand switched off; the blade thin screen is amazing, having just dumped (with some sadness) my old 40" cube of a CRT.
The picture is the best I have ever seen on a TV. Detail in 4k UHD has be to be experienced to be believed. Even SD looks great to my eyes.
The sound is much better than I expected from in-set speakers.
The so called 'magic controller' has brilliant functionality with voice control, if you can put up with the data and privacy agreements that surround that particular element.
Cons:
The unboxing instructions are appalling. Some are on the outside of the box, some are on a leaflet inside the top of the box and some are on the base of the box, only to be discovered when you have the bloody thing half unpacked. The screen appears to be particularly vulnerable during this process; I wonder how many are damaged before they are ever switched on?
The set up procedure is a bit laborious but the on screen instructions are ok.
To get the best possible picture careful setup is necessary. Out of the box the TV is in ECO mode. Ditch this and use the settings help available from AV forums or RTINGS.com on YouTube as a starting point and then tweak to your preference. This gives hours of fun before you even get to watch any content.
There are apparently some bad (new) screens out there with various faults, notably V & H banding and random noise. Choose a supplier with a good reputation and you should have no trouble getting a replacement.
There is a big debate on AV forums about OLED burn-in caused by static images, such as news station banners, on screen. Some say big problem, others say not so. I think I will just enjoy watching mine.
My dog loves this telly and I have to endure his slobbery bulk taking up most of the sofa whenever I am trying to watch something,
So, overall, it's quite nice thank you.
TLDR; viewed OLED, bought OLED, job jobbed.
Edited by stopped on Saturday 8th December 10:33
stopped said:
I know how we all hate a 'what option' thread with no conclusion, so:
Firstly, thank you to those who replied above. After much deliberation, I bought an LG55C8PLA OLED, SONY UBP-X700 4k Blu-ray player and AVS Buckingham 1400 TV stand, all from John Lewis.
After procrastinating for some time, I ordered a LG55C8PLA OLED today. As the 2019 model is out, I managed to get away with paying £1099 for it. Looking forward to it turning up next week.Firstly, thank you to those who replied above. After much deliberation, I bought an LG55C8PLA OLED, SONY UBP-X700 4k Blu-ray player and AVS Buckingham 1400 TV stand, all from John Lewis.
Chris Type R said:
stopped said:
I know how we all hate a 'what option' thread with no conclusion, so:
Firstly, thank you to those who replied above. After much deliberation, I bought an LG55C8PLA OLED, SONY UBP-X700 4k Blu-ray player and AVS Buckingham 1400 TV stand, all from John Lewis.
After procrastinating for some time, I ordered a LG55C8PLA OLED today. As the 2019 model is out, I managed to get away with paying £1099 for it. Looking forward to it turning up next week.Firstly, thank you to those who replied above. After much deliberation, I bought an LG55C8PLA OLED, SONY UBP-X700 4k Blu-ray player and AVS Buckingham 1400 TV stand, all from John Lewis.
_Rich_ said:
Can i ask where you bought it from? Richer sounds are still at £1289.
Campton & Moore ebay - https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/pricewin-3246982The 10% ebay offer has expired but you can use topcashback to get 3% off 1199 I believe.
Chris Type R said:
_Rich_ said:
Can i ask where you bought it from? Richer sounds are still at £1289.
Campton & Moore ebay - https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/pricewin-3246982The 10% ebay offer has expired but you can use topcashback to get 3% off 1199 I believe.
I also picked up a 55C8PLA recently, can anyone recommend where I could find the best picture settings?
I've tried these...
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c8-oled/setti...
..which I've managed to apply to all inputs, but they change when I switch to the blu-ray player (presumably as it's HDR?). They also change to something else when watching Amazon Prime using the built in app.
I've tried these...
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c8-oled/setti...
..which I've managed to apply to all inputs, but they change when I switch to the blu-ray player (presumably as it's HDR?). They also change to something else when watching Amazon Prime using the built in app.
kitz said:
As a matter of interest how would the picture on those screens compare to the one on my then state of the art and last tv Pioneer made ?
Presume you mean plasma, I didn't have a Pioneer but did have a mid-range Panasonic which was replaced by a low-end LG OLED and the new screen blows the plasma out of the water. Like, totally.Even after 18 months the blacks still surprise me and as the OP says, it looks great even when switched off.
Debaser said:
I also picked up a 55C8PLA recently, can anyone recommend where I could find the best picture settings?
I've tried these...
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c8-oled/setti...
..which I've managed to apply to all inputs, but they change when I switch to the blu-ray player (presumably as it's HDR?). They also change to something else when watching Amazon Prime using the built in app.
I think it's the signal source. Mine does the same if Netflix with Dolby Atmos and Vision.I've tried these...
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c8-oled/setti...
..which I've managed to apply to all inputs, but they change when I switch to the blu-ray player (presumably as it's HDR?). They also change to something else when watching Amazon Prime using the built in app.
I wouldnt touch anything other than OLED.
I spent a blooming long time deciding when buying my next "5 year TV" last year and OLED is the way to go.
Few of my family and friends have bought other TVs, normal LEDs ranging from 40 to 75" and they just look so poor compared to what I am used to.
PS. just seen you got the OLED.
Well done and no doubt you will enjoy it for many years to come!
I spent a blooming long time deciding when buying my next "5 year TV" last year and OLED is the way to go.
Few of my family and friends have bought other TVs, normal LEDs ranging from 40 to 75" and they just look so poor compared to what I am used to.
PS. just seen you got the OLED.
Well done and no doubt you will enjoy it for many years to come!
£1185 on Amazon..... I'm close to ordering & this is the best I can find right now C&M on eBay are £1199
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-OLED55C8PLA-Ultra-Smar...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-OLED55C8PLA-Ultra-Smar...
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