Help me make up my mind: Sony XH95 vs LG CX (48")

Vindepin

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Hi guys,

After years of using a 40" 1080p I'm looking to upgrade for the first time. I've been reading and learning an awful to consider the past week, now I feel it's time to choose and buy one tomorrow.

I have quite a small living room which is why I want to go for the smaller models. 40 inch already felt big here, so 49/50" is what I'm aiming for unless you guys tell me the 55" has some very important feature and I might consider it. I'll be sitting roughly 4-6 feet from the screen on the couch in a medium bright room and at night I usually have some dim lights on. I'll be using it for casual gaming and movies 50/50, I don't watch a lot of regular TV.

After days of going back and forth I've narrowed it down to the 49" Sony XH95 and the 48" LG CX model. From what I've gathered: CX has the better image/HDR and blacks but lacks brightness and of course risks the burn in, while the Sony is cheaper (brighter?) and basically very good value for the money. I don't care too much about HDMI 2.1 although of course it's a nice bonus, but I prioritize a good image and HDR.

Both are discounted here but the CX is still around 40% more expensive, especially the smaller model. I'm leaning mostly towards the Sony at the moment for the price and fear of OLED burn in, so any advice would be great, hope you can help me finally make up my mind!

Also if there's any other model you think might be best for me please let me know.
 
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Oled with gaming is considering how much gaming and what types, for example because an sport one has a lot of static hud, so risk of burn in. (Also watch sports or news)

So for gaming I would say the best FALD, but not the XH95, but the XH90 because hdmi 2.1, you said you did not bother about it, but it is something important, and more it will be in the future

If not wait for announcements in CES 2021?
 
The CX certainly is not 40% better than the Sony, especially if you always watch with lights on.

But in some specific scenarios you may want to pay the extra. HDMI 2.1 ports are one, wide viewing angles are another. The 49" XH9505 must only be viewed direct in front.

The lower tier Sony 55XH9005 mentioned may have HDMI 2.1, but is a far worse TV with HDR than the higher tier 49/55" XH9505, so I'd only recommend that model if you can't afford the other TVs.

Burn in is dependant on how you use the TV, so don't assume it will be a risk to you. All depends how much usage you will have with stationary images or tickers.

There are also other 48" OLEDs from Sony (A9) and Philips (OLED935)
 
The CX certainly is not 40% better than the Sony, especially if you always watch with lights on.

But in some specific scenarios you may want to pay the extra. HDMI 2.1 ports are one, wide viewing angles are another. The 49" XH9505 must only be viewed direct in front.

The lower tier Sony 55XH9005 mentioned may have HDMI 2.1, but is a far worse TV with HDR than the higher tier 49/55" XH9505, so I'd only recommend that model if you can't afford the other TVs.

Burn in is dependant on how you use the TV, so don't assume it will be a risk to you. All depends how much usage you will have with stationary images or tickers.

There are also other 48" OLEDs from Sony (A9) and Philips (OLED935)

Thank you, that's very helpful and I think I will go with the XH90, it just seems like great value for the price and my gaming habits might just be too risky for an OLED with the static HUD.

About the HDMI 2.1; outside of 4K/120 and VRR, is there anything else that it can provide that I might miss out on in the future? Not getting VRR is a bit of a bummer but if that's it and most games won't support the 120 fps capability anyway I can live with that.

For the 49" viewing angle; will it only display correctly when sitting in the absolute center at my distance, or will it be alright if two people sit next to each other, alligned with the edges of either side of the TV basically?

I might still consider getting a 55" but I fear it would look gigantic and out of proportion here.
 
Thank you, that's very helpful and I think I will go with the XH90, it just seems like great value for the price and my gaming habits might just be too risky for an OLED with the static HUD.
It's a great TV and has HDMI 2.1 but weakness is with HDR picture quality with only 750 nits peak brightness. For HDR usage consider the XH9505. It also has a known issue right now with blur in 120hz mode at 4k resolution.
About the HDMI 2.1; outside of 4K/120 and VRR, is there anything else that it can provide that I might miss out on in the future? Not getting VRR is a bit of a bummer but if that's it and most games won't support the 120 fps capability anyway I can live with that.

120hz is only the maximum frame rate. HDMI 2.1 is more about VRR (refresh rate between 40-120hz), although presently there's some problems with all TVs using it tracking gamma correctly and no games utilising VRR technology.
For the 49" viewing angle; will it only display correctly when sitting in the absolute center at my distance, or will it be alright if two people sit next to each other, alligned with the edges of either side of the TV basically?
The XH9505 starts at 49" but at the smallest size has narrow viewing angles, you get up to 30 degrees either side (60 degree cone) to play with. The 55" model you get the wide viewing angle filter so the TV will look better at 40-50 degrees (80-100 degree cone).
The XH9005 starts at 55" but has narrow viewing angles, you get up to 30 degrees either side (60 degree cone) to play with.
 
Just to update on this; I've changed my mind and decided I will go the extra mile and buy a 55" LG CX. I saw it with my own eyes today and simply couldn't let it go afterward, what an incredible picture! Now all I hope is I won't get any burn in issues, I will try to find a good warranty.
 
A lot of warranties do not cover burn in. I think it's John Lewis that offer some form of burn in cover through a 3rd party insurance company.
 
As mentioned already, warranty does not cover burn in, but some insurance may (check with the provider pre purchase).

As long as you understand how burn in occurs and don't use regular high risk material, you should be fine.

See: OLED Burn In Risk

And don't be someone who watches news channels, gets burn in and regrets it later. You have to understand the caveats of the technology.
 
As mentioned already, warranty does not cover burn in, but some insurance may (check with the provider pre purchase).

As long as you understand how burn in occurs and don't use regular high risk material, you should be fine.

See: OLED Burn In Risk

And don't be someone who watches news channels, gets burn in and regrets it later. You have to understand the caveats of the technology.

Apologies, I meant assurance instead of warranty, not a native speaker. I have found a seemingly good store that has an assurance including "pixel assurance", I will contact them to ask if it includes burn in. Having this covered or not might still be the dealbreaker for me.

I have read up quite a bit on burn in and believe I understand it and hope I won't be too (much) above average risk. I'll enable all the software and vary content as much as possible. I don't watch news channels for hours at a time although I am still a bit concerned for gaming.

I don't play FIFA, mostly storytelling games; however the one game I consider a risk for me is the F1 series. When the new yearly iterations come out I tend to play them for 3-8 hours a day multiple days per week for a while until I get back to more varied content again. Here's how it looks in terms of static images:

Could you say anthing about how that looks in terms of risk?
 
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Fortunately the hud tends to be dark and doesn't have as many bright colours like FIFA does.
The only problem I'd see from that hud is the small bright elements. The tyre colours top left, the orange/yellow and green in the bottom right. The red sector completed times top right.

Anything that is bright in colour and is displayed for a lengthy amount of time will put you at risk. Colours such as RED and YELLOW in particular seem to wear the fastest.
 
I have the same problem (opportunity) :)


I am replacing a 32 inch Sony LED TV (10 years old) with a 48/49 inch (max allowed by wify). I also want the new TV to last for 10 years.


I will mainly watch TV programs (via TVNow) with occasional football and the odd movie, Viewing angles are 20 degrees and the room is north facing so not too bright.

Thinking about how long I want the TV for then the LG would cost about £50 per year. Is OLED worth that?

Also am I right to wait for Easter sales for the best time to buy (new models will be appearing soon)?
 
Oled won't last 10 years.

Well it might, but probably not without screen issues.
 
I this day and age 10 years is a bit of stretch for any TV, I certainly don't think with your usage though you need to be worried about OLED not lasting as long as LCD TVs.

Make sure to read OLED Burn In Risk that I linked previously so you can understand what causes burn in, and how to avoid it.

Be aware that UHD models have 4x the pixels of HD ones, so content that is natively last generation like now TV (720p/1080p) isn't going to look fantastic. General rule with these new TVs is to only upgrade with 4k HDR content in mind. Don't waste your money if you are still going to be watching broadcast TV.
 
Well we will be watching some 4K films and the screen real estate will be over 200 % which will also be fab. And yea maybe if the new TV lasts 7 years I am doing well.

will I notice much difference between these two TV (I.e. will I notice the OLED difference) when watching a 4K movie or some football.
 
will I notice much difference between these two TV (I.e. will I notice the OLED difference) when watching a 4K movie or some football.
Yes because one is an LCD TV and the other OLED. A bit like Plasma and LCD TVs of old, you'll notice a difference.

Apart from things inerrant to the technology, differences may also be visible depending on the brand. For example, Sony tend to have very good motion processing, whilst LG have better smart TV and future proof HDMI connectivity. Sony have the A9 OLED also sold at 48" which will be more comparable to the LG CX.
 
On both it will look very, very good. In a brighter room the Sony XH9505 should do better whilst the LG CX will be better if you want to watch with the lights off.
 
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Easiest way to do it would be with a protractor and a piece of string. Place the protractor at the TVs position and the string at the viewing positions. The OLED will be good at very tight angles. The Sony XH9505 will have very narrow angles and you need to be within a 30 degree angle (or 60 degree cone).

See this illustration as an example. But again its just an illustration, you must take actual measurements. The Sony XH9505 is using a VA type LCD TV panel, and unlike larger sizes of the same TV, it has very narrow viewing angles at 49" due to the exclusion of the wide viewing angle filter.
 

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