Nudge.... what an interesting debate. I'm in exactly the same boat as the OP, and have a strong mind to demote my plasma to the spare room and invest in a OLED. My budget however, I'm happy to stump up 1500 quid, as that's not much more than what I paid for my plasma many years ago, plus inflation.
I've had my eye on OLED for a number of years now - albeit a peripheral eye, waiting for prices to become more appetising to me. Now seems the time, and I'm really fed up with the LCD screen in the spare room, when I get nerfed out the main living room.
It's the age old problem of you need to see them in the flesh and you need a proper set-up to make fair comparison - open stores like JL and Curry's are just unfair, I know that. But wherever I saw a Panasonic OLED a few years ago, they all looked terrible. Until a year ago, I saw a Sony and Panny and an LG, and have to say the Sony blew me away and the Panny didn't disappoint me. I think I need a proper viewing at a decent TV shop.
So the tech...
Seems like it's all up in the air - is this still a fair comment, or have things begun to settle and find their place? My viewing is a bit like the OP: mostly films, although some sport and motion blur is a massive issue to me and hence love my plasma.
I see Samsung are doing 8K TV's. I see mention that 12bit is coming too. So does this make all the current stuff in this thread so far a waste of time, as I'd like another 10 years out of my investment? Will tech move on that fast; or will broadcasters be really slow in the pick up?
I was also slightly bothered about this Dolby Vision vs HDR10+, but I'm assuming it's a tiny subtle difference over HDR - be nice to see that difference. An additional concern with the FZ802 being HDR10+ only, is that I see Panny's next range (GZ) are sitting on the fence by giving both DV and HDR10+... so does this mean Panny are likely to stop supporting updates to HDR10+ if it loses the battle? I see that they mention the older EZ range only does HDR10, but updates will give those owners 10+. Nice. Be nice if today's models got the same support if things change. Any recent news on the DV vs HDR10+ battle would be very welcome, if any?
Yes I am swaying towards a Panny until I see a proper demo. I've always preferred the warmer picture over the cool Sony. I also buy into the idea of the processing & firmware being key - I once bought a Sony 32" out of desperation to replace a dead TV in the spare room and was horrified by its motion blur, even though it was the best Sony sold in that size. The kind TV shop showed me a test of Sony models (in a big size) with varying specs - he said they all used the same screen, but different firmware and so processed the image differently - I didn't argue and gave the Sony back and bought an old Panny 2nd-hand with higher spec.
My dislikes in a TV starting with most important: motion blur; soap opera effect; jet black shadows. Beyond these I can't think of other issues, as I'd consider banding etc. as defects. Image retention doesn't bother me and I've never suffered from burn, and don't expect my viewing habits to induce it.
Also - the feed. I have box standard old Sky HD, and a Blu-ray player. I make use of the Sky on demand and have unlimited fibre broadband, but I do not subscribe to any of the other services like Netflix etc. What would best support my HDR OLED viewing experience?
I've been patient this long. But I'm also of the mind that things move on all the time, and you're best off just buying whatever you can afford today. I've probably been really lucky that after buying my plasma, I had zero interest in what followed - with curved screens, 3D, 4K on LCD etc. So I'm pleased OLED is here, but not sure how quickly things will move on, or maybe OLED is such a step up that these other matters are tiny.
I'd be very interested in hearing peoples feedback on their recent OLED purchases.
Thanks