48-50" with wide angle viewing recommendations

andrewp303

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Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my current Sony 37" TV to something in the 48-50" size and I'm after some recommendations. Here is a plan of the proposed living room layout:

Plan view.jpg

The overall room dimensions are 3.4 x 4.6m and the french doors are south facing. The main viewing position is on the 3 seater sofa to the left and is used most of the time especially for a TV series or a film. The 2 seater sofa is sometimes used for casual viewing and the viewing angle of 50 degrees is not ideal. Most of what we watch is streamed - Amazon, Disney+, Netflix with the occasional CBeebies etc. I plan to use a Sonos Arc (shown in front of the TV) with Sub and 2 x Play 1s for surrounds so a TV passing through Atmos via eArc is a must and ideally from all internal apps.

I have read that sunlight can cause damage to the screens and the sun will glance across the TV screen mid-morning (moves left to right in the image). In the above image it is March mid-morning and by about 12 the sun is entering straight into the room. There is no sun entering the room by about 4.30pm. By installing blinds to the french doors (in addition to the curtains shown) and having them half down can eliminate the sun hitting the screen for all times in the year and can be raised around 11am. In summer the blinds only need to be about a quarter of the way down till about 10.30am.

With viewing in the evening we usually have some light on at a low level and use the 2 dimmable uplighters shown on the right. It's not pitch black but only just enough light to work out the remote buttons.

I'm finding choosing a TV in the 48-50" size difficult as they are missing features such as wide angle viewing filters I would need for the smaller sofa. There are some models with IPS panels, such as a Nanocell, but from reading reviews I'll be compromising the image quality from the main viewing position. Due to the layout of my living room a 55" TV would look too big and I don't want it to dominate the room - here's a view from the door showing a 48" TV which fits much more comfortably than a 55".

View from door.jpg


I would like the best image quality I can get for up to £1200 and am prepared to hold on till any sales later in the year. Is my best option to just go for an OLED such as the LG C1 48 or the soon to be released Philips 48 806 and just remember to only partially open the blinds first thing in the morning? Or are there any other alternatives that I've missed?

The other thing is I've never experienced HDR before so am not sure on the importance of Dolby Vision, HDR10+ etc. We probably watch Amazon and Disney+ more than Netflix.

Thanks in advance,
Andrew
 
50s have a VA panel so you’ll need to focus on IPS 49s (or a 48” Oled at around £1100, they don’t really seem to reduce in price through the year as there’s no real competition unlike the larger sizes).
 
I think the main issue with the OLEDs and sun is heat, and using them when the sun is glaring on the TV. Heat is closely linked to the degregation of pixels, which is why you are seeing now in 2021 TVs with a new panel type and cooling plates. Of course sun can damage anything over time, so if it is in a position that regularly gets sun you may want to consider re-arranging the room, or making sure as you say the blinds are positioned in a way it doesn't hit the TV.

Each OLED has its own set of pro's and cons. I'd say if you are mostly streaming TV shows/Films then any from Philips, Sony or LG would be fine. Sony and Philips models tend to have better motion if that's a priority, but they also run Android TV, which in my opinion is worse to use than LGs WebOS.

You could also consider 2020 models, there's a chance they will get discounted to make way for new models, although generally the price of 48" models seems still very high compared to 55".
 
Thank you for the replies and I think OLED is the way to go.
Having just spotted the deal running on the LG OLEDs it's seriously tempting to get a 48 C1 now rather than waiting till later in the year for price drops.
 

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