Hi, I'm looking for a new TV after my trusty 2009 32" Philips set died recently, I'm currently on the pulling-my-hair-out-because-too-many-options stage, so could do with a little help and/or advice. I'm currently somewhat housebound so simply going to a store to check them out before buying is just not an option, unfortunately.
My budget is only around €400 (which would be around £360, currently), in terms of size 50" would be the absolute max, and even that is a little big for where it'll be so 43" would be large enough really, It'll be in a fairly small room and usually I'll be a little under 2 metres from the screen, give or take.
To give an idea of my usage and requirements; the vast majority of what I watch (or play) is in 1080p, with some 720p here or there, I do plan on watching some 4k material and hope to eventually get a ps5 which will serve to play UHD blu-rays, I do game on console (and at 4k once I get a ps5), hdr would be nice but not essential (and I know decent hdr will mostly be out of my price range), don't watch much sports and usually just disable most "motion blur" options, will most likely never connect the TV itself to the internet so smart features and apps are really a none issue too.
Mostly view the TV straight on but as I sit pretty close I think viewing angles might be an issue with larger screens, others will probably be viewing it from an angle on ocassion (but they're not the ones paying for the TV ).
Will probably be getting a raspberry pi to use with the TV for some light PC usage (and I'll likely be using that for any standard definition content viewing).
I think I've mostly narrowed it down to either the Hisense B7500 or an LG UM7***, depending on VA or IPS, so my biggest question is really just how bad are the viewing angles on VA sets?
I have a good idea of what IPS is like, including the poorer contrast and blacks, I know I could live with that, the superior contrast and blacks of VA would certainly be welcome but I really don't have a good idea of just how bad the viewing angles are.
About the LG sets, do the current UM7*** series IPS sets use the "RGBW" pixels their earlier 4k sets did? I'm get mixed information about that when look I it up.
I do have a few other more generall questions, too:
24p playback; I remember before when I was looking for a new TV (back in the dark ages) that a 120 Hz refresh rate was needed to properly play back 24 p content, and I understand why, but what I read now suggests that's no longer true, that most decent 50/60 Hz sets can basically operate at either 24 or 48 Hz to play 24 p perfectly, is this accurate?
Screen coating; I understand the drawbacks when it comes to reflections, but I much prefer "glossy" screens rather than ones with matte coatings, I find the latter noticably dulls the colours and blurs the screen a bit, but unlike with computer monitors I can't find much info about the coatings on TV screens, are they generally glossy, and/or is there much variation of them between manufacturers?
Upscaling; most of my content will be 1080p for the forseeable future, with some 720p stuff too, I know I'm not going to get the very best upscaling at this price range, but I was wondering if any of the brands have a simple linear upscaling option, i.e. each pixel in a 1080p image is simply displayed in a square of 4 pixels @ 2160p, and a square of 9 pixels for a 720p image, basically with no interpolation at all?
I'm so not concerned with SD stuff, but to me this seems ideal, basically displaying a 1080p source on a 2160p screen exactly as it would appear on a 1080p screen, and would really like to at least have it as an option, if possible.
Sorry for such a long post, and thank you very much to anyone who actually gets through it all, and for any suggestions or other responses.
My budget is only around €400 (which would be around £360, currently), in terms of size 50" would be the absolute max, and even that is a little big for where it'll be so 43" would be large enough really, It'll be in a fairly small room and usually I'll be a little under 2 metres from the screen, give or take.
To give an idea of my usage and requirements; the vast majority of what I watch (or play) is in 1080p, with some 720p here or there, I do plan on watching some 4k material and hope to eventually get a ps5 which will serve to play UHD blu-rays, I do game on console (and at 4k once I get a ps5), hdr would be nice but not essential (and I know decent hdr will mostly be out of my price range), don't watch much sports and usually just disable most "motion blur" options, will most likely never connect the TV itself to the internet so smart features and apps are really a none issue too.
Mostly view the TV straight on but as I sit pretty close I think viewing angles might be an issue with larger screens, others will probably be viewing it from an angle on ocassion (but they're not the ones paying for the TV ).
Will probably be getting a raspberry pi to use with the TV for some light PC usage (and I'll likely be using that for any standard definition content viewing).
I think I've mostly narrowed it down to either the Hisense B7500 or an LG UM7***, depending on VA or IPS, so my biggest question is really just how bad are the viewing angles on VA sets?
I have a good idea of what IPS is like, including the poorer contrast and blacks, I know I could live with that, the superior contrast and blacks of VA would certainly be welcome but I really don't have a good idea of just how bad the viewing angles are.
About the LG sets, do the current UM7*** series IPS sets use the "RGBW" pixels their earlier 4k sets did? I'm get mixed information about that when look I it up.
I do have a few other more generall questions, too:
24p playback; I remember before when I was looking for a new TV (back in the dark ages) that a 120 Hz refresh rate was needed to properly play back 24 p content, and I understand why, but what I read now suggests that's no longer true, that most decent 50/60 Hz sets can basically operate at either 24 or 48 Hz to play 24 p perfectly, is this accurate?
Screen coating; I understand the drawbacks when it comes to reflections, but I much prefer "glossy" screens rather than ones with matte coatings, I find the latter noticably dulls the colours and blurs the screen a bit, but unlike with computer monitors I can't find much info about the coatings on TV screens, are they generally glossy, and/or is there much variation of them between manufacturers?
Upscaling; most of my content will be 1080p for the forseeable future, with some 720p stuff too, I know I'm not going to get the very best upscaling at this price range, but I was wondering if any of the brands have a simple linear upscaling option, i.e. each pixel in a 1080p image is simply displayed in a square of 4 pixels @ 2160p, and a square of 9 pixels for a 720p image, basically with no interpolation at all?
I'm so not concerned with SD stuff, but to me this seems ideal, basically displaying a 1080p source on a 2160p screen exactly as it would appear on a 1080p screen, and would really like to at least have it as an option, if possible.
Sorry for such a long post, and thank you very much to anyone who actually gets through it all, and for any suggestions or other responses.