Question 55 or 48-50? TV Advice please

Brian Oblivion

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Hi, have enjoyed this forum whilst looking for a new TV and would appreciate thoughts and advice on a new TV, in particular size.
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We have a Panasonic TX-L42 E5B IPS TV sat on top of a Cambridge Soundbase Audio TV5 V2which sits on a TV cabinet in the alcove between the chimney breast and outside wall. The maximum width of the alcove is 1.3m.

There's a Sony Blu Ray player, Chromecast and Fire TV dongle along with a foreign satellite Strong unit and WD player feeding into it. Will be signing up to Virgin next month.

We watch a mix of catch-up and live UK and European TV, mainly in HD.
We would like to watch some films and documentaries in 4k res. and HDR quality.
Not into sport TV or gaming but son who is a pc gamer keeps hinting at XBox. If it was purchased, it would be a secondhand model, not the latest.

We sit looking at the TV straight on to about 30 to 35 degrees. Distance is 6'6" to 7'6" dependent on where the telly is. Looking at centre of TV it is slightly elevated above eye level. The window faces north, has a good blind and we have a big light and a table lamp. We watch in the evening with a table lamp on and in the day natural light or the big light on. It's not a bright room. Most watching is from 4pm to 1:00am.

Looking for an upgrade in picture quality and to get a wow factor when watching movies, drama, documentaries and the like. There's nothing wrong with current TV if the input is colourful but any sci fi film looks a bit dull if there's lots of dark scenes.

Been to see new TVs at Curry's and impressed with the OLEDs and good LED models.

Problem I see is that the best value seems to be at 55 inch which would mean a width of about 1.25m leaving 2.5cm to spare either side of wall. I'm concerned it might look out of proportion shoehorned in like that. Been looking at Hisense, TCL, LG oled, Panasonic Oled, LG oled. Sony KD 9505?

So I have also looked at 48 inch OLEDs in particular the new Philips and LG. The other models don't seem to be high quality at this size.

Any recommendations and thoughts regarding models and size?
Thanks
 
I don't think 55" would look odd at all. The only thing is you'd need to buy a separate central stand if you wish to keep using your soundbase if the TV comes with wide legs.

You'll have to decide which technology is more suited to you. An OLED will be best if you view in dim, or dark conditions, but an LCD TV will be better for viewing during the day. You mention its generally a dim room so my guess is OLED is better, but its up to you.

Here's a comparison of each OLED:

If you decide on OLED and plan to keep your soundbase then entry models from Panasonic would be suited, you'll have to check the stand type of each, but you can always buy a 3rd party central stand that will fit any TV.

LG models in 2020 lack all UK catch up apps apart from iPlayer so far.
 
Thanks for the reassurance regarding the 55, it opens up a whole range of better value TV's than the 48-50 inchers I've been looking at. There's a Phillips 55 865 oled on offer which is below my max limit and it has ambilight. We like our colour changing lights at home.
 
Yup, a reason not to buy smaller is pricing. Prices on 55" models is often the same, sometimes even better than smaller models. Its been that way with higher end LCD TVs too in recent years.
Part of it I'm sure is its harder to produce smaller TVs, but also with the OLEDs because 2020 is the first year of 48" OLED production.

Not sure exactly the differences on the 865 versus the other 8 series models. It will be something like ambilight/the stand design.
 
I think the 865 has a centre swivel stand which will suit us to start off with. The end feet of some of these TVs I find, seem to only lend themselves to being placed on the floor or very long cabinets.
 
From here: Philips 805/855/865 OLED TVs on-sale as of July - TP Vision
  • OLED805 features a new chamfered stand design, finished in dark chrome
  • OLED855 series has a new dark chrome central stand angled to the table and, the OLED865 series features the same stand with a wrap of Muirhead leather
Added those to my comparison here:

Can't seem to find the 855 in the UK, so maybe the 865 is the only one here.

Worth noting stands like this exist that you can fit to any TV using the wall mount holes, so if the 865 is a lot more expensive than the 805 you could just add your own stand to the TV instead to save money.
 
Like a VESA wall mount but in the form of a tilt and swivel?

I am enjoying the looking at various TVs and options.
I hope it's not a case of the chase is better than the catch. I can't afford to look at bargain cheap TVs to change every couple of years (as much as I'd like to) because 1) I don't want to create any more waste than necessary and 2) my other half won't be sympathetic to my pleas when I come with a replacement idea. So I need one near the top of the pecking order but not at loony launch prices.
 
Made a cardboard mockup to test the 55 inch scenario. Missus was a bit dubious but height wise with the Soundbase out of the way it should be roughly the same?
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