LG 65" OLED...Should I?

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So, I popped into Richer Sounds one a whim earlier today and saw an LG OLED65B7V....Wow, it is certainly an impressive piece of kit, my living room needs that kind of picture quality!

I currently have a 60" Samsung Plasma, which has served me very well for the last 5 years or so. It's a 1080p 3D model which gets used for TV, gaming, movies and PC stuff.

I also have an 1080p Epson projector and screen for those popcorn movies that benefit from a bit of extra 'oomph'.

I don't need a new TV but, I find myself walking around this afternoon with an awful lot of want! The extra 5" screen size can' never be a bad thing. I can afford to purchase it outright but, it will take a year to refill the hole in my savings account!

So, who has one and can they think of any good reason why I shouldn't take the plunge?!

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B17NNS said:

Yes you should.

Or wait until the C8 hits £2.5k.

Okay, okay - this is a reason I can work with....although, I have been waiting to buy an OLED since the cheapest sets were around £6k!

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B17NNS said:

I think the B7 is about as cheap as it's ever going to get at £2161 on Amazon at the moment (there is a 6% voucher that expires today). Can't see what the warranty is though. I'd be wanting 5 or 6 years as per Curry's, Richer et all.

Might be worth calling them direct (0121 3560425) to see what deal they can do outside of Amazon.

I did look at that one but, RS have quoted me £2200 which seems cheaper than just about everywhere else, with the benefit of the 6 year warranty.

As an unexpected bonus, the chap who works for me is in the market for my old one, as long as it'll fit in his lounge. Fingers crossed it does as that'll offset the cost to the tune of £400

I think I may have just run out of reasons not to do this

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Okay so, I may have just crumbled and placed the order

TV will be delivered on Monday

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I think my bank balance might have to make do with Netflix and youtube 4K content for a while

Doesn't the X Box one have 4k Blue-ray capability? I know the PS4 Pro doesn't (not that that will stop me buying one!)

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I have an amazon account so, will check out the content there. That Sony looks pretty good, although my man maths would make an X Box S much easier to justify! Pity they're not all that great at 4k playback.

To be honest, all my HD content is going to look so much better than it does currently due to the contrast alone, that anything in 4K will just be the icing on the cake!

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varsas said:

Great news OP, let us know your thoughts!

Amazon 4k HDR is pretty good, in fact I'd say Grand Tour looks better than some UHD BluRay's but it doesn't quite match something like Blue Planet 2. This is on an LGEF950V (4k OLED, but an older one). Moving house in a year, can't wait to pick up as 65 inch C8 for around £2! (I'll probably pay less than I paid for my 55).

TV ownership seems to be a constant cycle of playing the waiting game for the price of new technology to drop. But, the longer you wait, the older and more obsolete your existing hardware becomes! Who knows what we'll all be salivating over in 5 years time!!

I suspect I'll end up getting a 4k BR player to complete the set but, I want to check out the streaming content first. Rather cruelly, my delivery timeslot on Monday is between 16:00 and 19:00! I don't often find myself wishing the weekend away but, Monday cannot come soon enough!!

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I'll tweak a few settings for sure, switching off eco mode and true motion seem to be the most common suggestions and I have printed out some settings to try if it doesn't look right after that.

I'm tempted to upgrade to Sky Q too. Anyone got it? Is the UHD worth the extra £12 a month?

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So, it finally arrived yesterday afternoon.

First impressions are, unsurprisingly, very good indeed! The additional 5" screensize isn't as big an upgrade as I was expecting (from a 60" screen) but, the upgrade in image quality is huge! I had to tweak the settings a bit to begin with but, once that was done, it looks amazing.

I watched the Sense 8 finale on Netflix and was hugely impressed bythe depth of colours and clarity. The watched the first episode of Planet Earth 2 (also in 4k on netflix) and it completely blew me away! I have yet to try any Amazon footage but, Netflix and the stuff you can find on youtube are jaw dropping!

The blacks are....well, they are completely black! I knew on paper how good the contrast would be but, to see it my own lounge was definitely a 'wow' moment!

No buyers remorse here - my eyes are very happy

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Really? Well, if it gets even better than what I've seen so far, I'm in for a treat! Tonight I'll be watching 'American Gods' in 4k on Amazon so, will have a basis for comparison. Don't have appleTV, but will look into it.

Tomorrow, I'll take the PS4 for a test drive. Not a pro though but, Gods of War has an HDR mode so, I'll be interested to see how that improves what is already a gorgeous game when in bog standard HD!

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toasty said:

Sound quality is very good for integrated speakers.

Definitely agree with you there. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the sound quality and overall 'presence'.

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I thought I'd post a brief update now that I've got all the toys and have had the opportunity to get a better impression of what works best. The only thing I don't have (and don't think that I need) is a 4k Blu Ray player.

Sky Q is a very worthwhile upgrade if you have a UHD TV but, content ranges from superb (the new Blade Runner stands out in this regard) to sometimes wondering if you've accidentally downloaded the HD version by mistake,

Netflix also has a very mixed bag. I've been mostly unimpressed by the Dolby Vision format, when compared to HDR but a lot of the content is excellent quality. They do have a lot of original content in UHD so another worthwhile expense.

The quality of Amazon 4k content is some of the best I've seen but, the content included with Prime is limited so, expect to pay a hefty premium (£7 - 10 for a 48hr rental on new movies, £17 - £20 to purchase digital copy)

The game changer for me has been Apple TV. Took me a while to convince myself with man maths that £180 is a reasonable price for a streaming box (it isn't but, that's Apple!)

Amazon, Youtube and Netflix all look far better via Apple TV than direct from the TV apps. Not sure what it does differently but, as long as it keeps doing it, I don't care. The movie rentals are where it really shines. The quality is astonishing, better than all other sources I've seen. The prices are also spot on - £4 - 5 for rental, £10 - 13 for digital purchase on new releases. They have the best content too, with regular limited time rental deals on relatively new films at 99p.

Just as well there is so much free stuff to watch though, with the new TV, all these subscriptions and the apple box, I don't think I can ever afford to go out again!!

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B17NNS said:

I know streaming is the future but If you want to see and hear the content at it's absolute best a physical disc is still the way to go.

I get what you're saying, and I don't disagree but, at £25 a disc for new releases, I'm not realistically going to buy more than 1 every month or 2. Add to that the £250 outlay for a player that does nothing else but play those discs, and even my ever flexible man maths can't justify it!

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garyhun said:

Apple TV has a lot of buffering memory. I wonder if that makes the difference?

Could be. I currently have the format set to 4K HDR 50Hz. Not sure if that means it somehow applies HDR to all content (can it do that, I assumed source had to be HDR?). Whatever it is, it just makes everything look better.

Oh, and the screensavers are pretty good too

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wjwren said:

Talking about pricey HDMI cables the manager in my local Currys got a bit shirty with me when I explained to her that it was a all a load of snake oil. She said she had been on a training course about it and it was "my loss" if I bought a cheap £5 ebay cable and not the Sandstom rollox she had for £85.

Yeah, the chap in currys tried to upsell me some £35 cable to go with my Apple TV. No thanks buddy.

Only issue I had was with an old cable which didn't support Dolby Vision. Swapped it out for a newer, equally cheap replacement and it all works beautifully.