Recommendation for 40'' TV?

[pequod]

Looking for some recommendations, please, for a replacement to our Panasonic Viera which appears to have lost some picture quality (or is it my eyesight?) and in a modest 40'' size range.

Are the latest Panasonic TV's still one of the favourite choices such as this offering from JL?

https://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-tx-40fs503b-le...

I realise the choice at this size range is limited but I really don't want to go larger.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Radec]

Me personally I wouldn't buy a 1080p TV now that you have 4k etc about, even if you don't have any devices that are 4k now at least you get a bit of future proofing for the future.

I'd pay £70 extra and buy this
https://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-tx-43hx585b-20...

It's only 3 inches bigger and is a 2020 TV and will do 4k and will probably look a lot better than the TV you linked.

If you can, try and get down to JL or Richer Sounds and get a demo of a few first.

[eltawater]

If you can squeeze a few more inches in (fnarr) Hisense Roku TV:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4167231

[pequod]

Thanks for the opinions so far but it must be 40'' in order to be a reasonable size in the room.

I understand the reasoning for selecting 4k over 1080 so now the search is for a TV at the size I want.

Any other suggestions?

[Radec]

Depends on what your budget is, Panasonic do a 40 inch 4k TV but it's about £700 for some reason.

If you have a search you have a few options from Toshiba/Sharp/Sony/Sharp which will range between £200+ and £400 some of them HD and some are 4K at 40 inches.

At that price point they are going to be more or less similar so best to see what the reviews say or demo them for yourself or jump on AV forums as there will be lots of user reviews/information.

My opinion is Panasonic make the best TV's for watching films so that's the brand I've always bought.

Another thing I just want to add is I know you have said you want 40 inch as that's the max space you have for it, but what is the TV you are replacing?, are you measuring your current TV edge to edge or just on screen size.

My old plasma is 50 inch but it has a bezel of about 3 or 4 inches, next to my newer 50 inch which has a bezel of about 1cm it looks massive even though both screen sizes are the same.

[MiniMan64]

Aren’t you going to get a much wider range of options at 43”, it’s a much more common TV size than 40 and as above, with the tiny bezels now today’s I doubt you’ll notice the difference

[h0b0]

Radec said:

Another thing I just want to add is I know you have said you want 40 inch as that's the max space you have for it, but what is the TV you are replacing?, are you measuring your current TV edge to edge or just on screen size.

My old plasma is 50 inch but it has a bezel of about 3 or 4 inches, next to my newer 50 inch which has a bezel of about 1cm it looks massive even though both screen sizes are the same.

This is a good point.

My 58” Panasonic plasma was the same size physically as a 65” OLED. if we stuck to maintaining screen size the replacement would look a lot smaller s.

[pequod]

Radec said:

Depends on what your budget is, Panasonic do a 40 inch 4k TV but it's about £700 for some reason.

If you have a search you have a few options from Toshiba/Sharp/Sony/Sharp which will range between £200+ and £400 some of them HD and some are 4K at 40 inches.

At that price point they are going to be more or less similar so best to see what the reviews say or demo them for yourself or jump on AV forums as there will be lots of user reviews/information.

My opinion is Panasonic make the best TV's for watching films so that's the brand I've always bought.

Another thing I just want to add is I know you have said you want 40 inch as that's the max space you have for it, but what is the TV you are replacing?, are you measuring your current TV edge to edge or just on screen size.

My old plasma is 50 inch but it has a bezel of about 3 or 4 inches, next to my newer 50 inch which has a bezel of about 1cm it looks massive even though both screen sizes are the same.

Budget is, within reason, not an issue however, if a newer version of Panasonic with 4k is a better picture, at 40'', then I'm willing to try one.

If, however, there are better picture qualities available from other brands then let me know.

As for measurements, I always understood TV's are measured on the diagonal screen size, has that changed? I am currently watching a 32'' Pana so a step up to 40'' will be a big jump in screen size and is just acceptable in overall dimensions in the room, where it needs to be positioned.

Whilst we're at it, why is there a big jump in TV sizes these days? Packing the tech in a slim TV for wall hanging enthusiasts maybe??

[h0b0]

TVs are still measured by screen size but the plastic box the screens come in have shrunk significantly. That means your older TV may have diagonally 40” but may also have an additional 4 inches of plastic case. New TVs don’t need to come in a big box so even if the screen is the same size, the area taken up on the wall will be smaller. Some have found this makes the TV feel smaller even when the watchable picture is the same.

[eltawater]

The surrounding bezels on the screens have become much much thinner over the years, so your 32" screen from yesteryear may have been fitted into a bezel surround several inches thicker than modern sets

[frisbee]

The screen measurements haven't changed. 10-15 year old TVs had a few inches of bezel. My 2018 43" Samsung is slightly smaller than the 2006 40" Samsung it replaced.

[cml24]

How big is the room it will go in?

I think you'll quickly get used to a 43" TV.

I am not a huge fan of massive TVs, and have gone from 32 to 40 and a year ago 43. The step up from 32 was noticeable, in a good way. The step from 40 to 43 wasn't really, but the TV is much nicer.

It's currently in a room about 4.5m long and 3m wide. We sit 3m from the TV if that makes sense.

It's just a £300 4k lg. Right at the budget end, but good enough for me.

[gmasterfunk]

I just bought the 49 version of this for the kitchen and it really is a beautiful picture with great os and some handy voice control.

Fully recommend it.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...

[Polite M135 driver]

but it is sort of missing the point to say the tv's not bigger because the bezel is smaller. its bigger than it needs to be because manufacturers filled the space that was formerly bezel with tv and not with air. I don't want a big telly, they are ugly and mess up a room. if they could now make a 32" tv smaller because of narrower bezels, I want that, not an equivalently sized black rectangle to accommodate.

currently in a similar situation to the OP, wanting a small tv (which is now apparently 43 inches! - it used to be 12") of good quality, current one is about 12 years old. 32"/ so following this thread with interest.

Edited by Polite M135 driver on Sunday 6th September 19:33

[pequod]

Thanks all. The side bezel on my Pan 32'' houses the speakers so if the modern TV has a screen that fill that space, and the overall depth is similar, where are the speakers housed or are we now in the realms of separate speakers to replicate the excellent sound quality I have now?

Measuring my current TV diagonally comes to approximately 36'' casing size so if the new 40'' models are 4'' bigger overall for a screen size 8'' larger, that would be fine, and is what I am hoping is the case? Anyone able to confirm this?

Also hoping for a comparison to other manufacturers in terms of quality compared to Panasonic!

[eltawater]

pequod said:

Thanks all. The side bezel on my Pan 32'' houses the speakers so if the modern TV has a screen that fill that space, and the overall depth is similar, where are the speakers housed or are we now in the realms of separate speakers to replicate the excellent sound quality I have now?

Measuring my current TV diagonally comes to approximately 36'' casing size so if the new 40'' models are 4'' bigger overall for a screen size 8'' larger, that would be fine, and is what I am hoping is the case? Anyone able to confirm this?

Also hoping for a comparison to other manufacturers in terms of quality compared to Panasonic!

The bezel surrounds on my hisense 50" are half an inch, so a 43" hisense I linked to previously would be 44" including casing.

Speakers tend to be on the underside / rear of the screen rather than to the sides of the screen. I went from a 2007 Sony 40" Bravia to a 2014 42" Sony Bravia and finally the hisense 50" a couple of months ago with increasing improvements in screen quality. However, all have been pretty awful soundwise lacking any base compared to a dedicated soundbar or a surround sound system with subwoofer. Don't limit your screen choices based on the built-in audio experience, combine a decent quality screen with a decent dedicated audio system and enjoy the best of both worlds.

Having watched Sony progressively abandon the built in apps for Youtube, iPlayer etc over time, I went for the Roku TV OS based Hisense as I'm hoping that Roku independent development lasts a little while longer....

Edited by eltawater on Sunday 6th September 22:13

[Paul Drawmer]

WE have just replaced a faulty Samsung 40" with a new Hisence 43" It is bigger, but only a tiny bit. Don't forget that the screem measurement is the diagonal, the TV won't be 3" wider.

[conkerman]

I bought a 43in Hisense RokuTV at the weekend. £280 from Argos, for my bedroom. It is much, much better than I expected. Very, very lightly built though so won't tolerate rough treatment. On the plus side, as it only weighs 7KG, it's ridiculously easy to hang.

I'm a little bummed out that the ROKU won't stream VOBs from my NAS.

[Mr Pointy]

pequod said:

Thanks all. The side bezel on my Pan 32'' houses the speakers so if the modern TV has a screen that fill that space, and the overall depth is similar, where are the speakers housed or are we now in the realms of separate speakers to replicate the excellent sound quality I have now?

Measuring my current TV diagonally comes to approximately 36'' casing size so if the new 40'' models are 4'' bigger overall for a screen size 8'' larger, that would be fine, and is what I am hoping is the case? Anyone able to confirm this?

Also hoping for a comparison to other manufacturers in terms of quality compared to Panasonic!

Ignore the screen size as it's a bit of red herring in your case & look at the overall dimensions. A 43 " diagonal TV is about 970mm x 570mm so how does that compare with your current TV?

There are very few 40" TVs as the panels simply aren't made in that size so you'll need to look at 43" screens:

https://www.richersounds.com/tv-projectors/all-tvs...

[pequod]

Mr Pointy said:

Ignore the screen size as it's a bit of red herring in your case & look at the overall dimensions. A 43 " diagonal TV is about 970mm x 570mm so how does that compare with your current TV?

There are very few 40" TVs as the panels simply aren't made in that size so you'll need to look at 43" screens:

https://www.richersounds.com/tv-projectors/all-tvs...

Thanks for that but a 'small' 40'' TV is what I'm after as that fits the space available as they appear to be about 90cm wide, and the extra 6cm on the slightly larger 43'' TV, will be too large!

So, an update on the search.

As others have said, the choice for a small 40'' TV is limited in the higher spec 4k range but Panasonic do produce one in their gx/hx800 model and JL sell the latest hx820b although they are currently out of stock. Admittedly this has an LED screen rather than OLED or QLED which the larger TV's offer in some makes/models and would, no doubt, be the better option for the future and if watching a lot of higher quality programs/movies, etc., but as we mainly watch the standard fare of sport, wildlife, and the general BBC/SKY content it may not make a lot of difference to us! Having said that, viewing angle can be an issue and I'm led to believe that the OLED/QLED screens are better when sitting at less than optimal angles to the TV? Only way to find out is to try it but as they are out of stock this can't be done at the moment!!

This review from the AV forum might be of interest to those following this thread and I would welcome all your opinions to the above.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/panasonic-40-tx-4...