Question LG 55UN7400 or alternatives - Currys only, up to £600ish

[Kepler17]

Hi, I know it's a bad time to buy TVs, but a friend of mine is adamant on buying one now in the next day or two, and I've been unable to convince them to wait till Black Friday.

They have around a £450 voucher at Currys, and told me they wouldn't mind spending a bit on top if it helps. 55 inch to 65 inch is what's required.

The TV is going to be used predominately in the daytime and with light in the evening, in a living room with sofas on either side and facing the TV - which will be placed above a fireplace. Because of some of these reasons and the budget, I think an IPS panel would be more suited as opposed to VA (I bought a 55" xf90 a few months ago and the viewing angles are atrocious, though fine for my bedroom as I'm almost always directly facing it).

The TV will be used for a mix of SD channels and HD with Netflix. I don't think they know anything of HDR. They're not exactly videophiles, so I think something that has snappy smart TV functionality, combined with good viewing angles and the best SD upscaling within the limitations would suffice (the TV getting replaced there is a solid 480p panasonic CRT, so I'm not excited about how they'll find SD sources, and I have warned them).

I checked out Dodgexander's guide for 19/20 TVs, and found this:

LCD TVs with wide viewing angles, but worse contrast, blacks and dark room/scene performance.

1. LG 55UM7400 - Great smart TV, competitive pricing compared to the competition.

Checking Currys, it looks like that TV has run its course with Currys, and they now have the "N" 7400, so the newer model for £549. Does that advice also translate to the newer model, or should I be looking at other TVs in the current budget range?

Thanks! I got some fantastic advice here when hunting for my own TV - thank you very much for that.

 

[Dodgexander]

As you say, its hard to recommend TVs right now due to heightened pricing. Certainly seems like you are on the right track looking at LG though for those viewing conditions and LGs UN series in 2020 is their replacement for the UM series in 2019.

If you want the best SD upscaling they'd probably be better buying models in the mid range instead that have better picture processors. The difference is small, but there. Certainly what will make a bigger difference is the size of the TV in relation to how far they view..so if they still are watching a lot of SD, a 65" is really not a good idea. A 43" or 32" model is probably best suited for that kind of usage, depending on their viewing distance.

2019 stock is dwindling, and next to impossible to buy now. So it may be that mid range LG Nano models in 2020 lines are out of budget.