Mid Range or Budget?

ekierans

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Hi Everyone,

I'm moving my current TV into the kitchen and so I need a new TV for the lounge. I currently have a 10 year old LG 42SL8500. The viewing distance for the new TV will be 1 - 2 metres depending on where you're sitting. It will mostly be used for Netflix, SD/HD content, PS4 Pro.

I'm looking at 2 paths, either go low end and wait until the LG kicks the bucket, at which point OLED may be more affordable, or go mid range. If I go mid range I'd hope to have this for the next 10 years so I guess will be using it for 4k and HDR content down the line.

My budget for a midrange set is around €1200. I was looking at either a Samsung MU7000 or the Sony XE9005 if I can find one.

Thanks for any advice.
 
You'll want to go for the Sony XE9005 if you want any kind of HDR worth having on a TV. Anything less than that such as the Samsung MU7000 and HDR will be kind of..meh.

Both these TVs have narrow viewing angles, not sure if that is a problem for you or not.

I would not buy a TV to use HDR in the future, I would buy a TV to use with HDR now. You can utilise HDR somewhat with HDR games on the PS4 Pro and selected titles in Netflix but I wouldn't get the XE9005 without also planning on an UHD Blu-Ray player and HDR titles to go with it personally.

The reason being, by the time you do use a lot of HDR (if you ever will for that matter) the TV will be out of date in many respects anyway. It's not possible to future proof.
 
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. If it is not possible to future proof I might look to get a lower end set and then move that into the other room when the LG dies, then get a better specced set for the lounge. I would assume in a couple of years HDR should be at a reasonable standard even on mid range sets.

In relation to the Xe9005 and MU7000, is the difference that apparent? The difference in price tag is quite large. I also noticed the Samsung Q6F which looks a decent deal. Viewing angles shouldn't be a massive issue. Thanks again
 
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I got the MU7000 recently after reading the AVforums review of it which actually said it had quite pleasing HDR. This was after cancelling an order for the XE9005 due to numerous reports/reviews which stated the TV runs slowly and uses underpowered processors which don't play nice with the android OS.

Despite the HDR apparently being better on the Sony due to it getting a bit brighter and having a direct led backlight I don't regret it one bit. The Samsung picture is excellent - just watched the matrix in 4k HDR last night and it was frequently stunning.
In addition the TV runs exactly as you want it to - it's responsive, quick and very easy to use. The one remote and one connect box are both excellent and very useful. The one remote controls the TV, AVR and xbox one s - plus the TV did all that itself with minimal input from me. No messing around, it just works.
It's excellent for gaming with really low input lag regardless of whether HDR is on or not.
Plus it's £300 quid less.
Each TV has its positives and negatives - you just needs to decide which ones are important to you.

Good luck!

EDIT: forgot to mention the voice control with the Samsung as it really deserves one. It rarely gets something wrong and, given our Scottish accents, it probably deserves a medal!
 
There are various technologies that the Sony has that the Samsung doesn't that makes HDR a lot more impactful. Local dimming is one, higher peak brightness is another.

The MU7000 is a very good value TV and many people are happy with how HDR looks, it won't be in the same class as higher end HDR TVs but its decent value.

The most common opinion with HDR is to get a good experience you need hardware in the tv to take advantage technology and the MU7000 isn't actually very good in that department, however what you think of HDR is going to be very dependant on your expectations and personal opinion. I own a Panasonic DX902 from 2016 which is a very good HDR TV and I find the step up to HDR kind of poor, so I can't imagine watching it on a TV with less HDR capabilities but that's just me.

There is more to it that just this though, TVs with more limited peak brightness are going to look a lot better with HDR mastered at lower nits than TVs with higher peak brightness whilst high nit masters will look dim or lack highlight detail on TVs with lower brightness.

But Samsung MU7000 or Sony XE9005 you get what you pay for, both very good value right now.
 
Yep, in fact the avforums review of the mu7000 said the lower peak brightness could be considered a benefit given that it's edge lit so suffers less from blooming/haloing.

Lots of people are very happy with the sony. Personally I prioritised every day usage/performance over better HDR performance since HDR material isn't exactly mainstream and there still isn't a universal set of guidelines that manufacturers/content creators work to at the moment.

As dodge says both are great value right now, but you'll need to be quick before the stock of both runs out.
 
Cheers everyone for the advice, decided to go with the MU7000 based on what has been mentioned here along with price and availability. Cheers
 
So the poster went for the MU7000, I think I know Dodegexander's answer but which to choose of -

Samsung QE55Q6F at £879
Samsung MU7000 at £699
Sony XE9005 at £999

The Sony really exceeds my budget but why is the QLED tv better than the Ultra HD one or is it? Should be for an extra £180 I guess. I watch mainly mainstream TV and sport on Sky, no real idea what is best to be honest.
 
Cheers everyone for the advice, decided to go with the MU7000 based on what has been mentioned here along with price and availability. Cheers

Hope you like it! Let us know what you think :)
 
So the poster went for the MU7000, I think I know Dodegexander's answer but which to choose of -

Samsung QE55Q6F at £879
Samsung MU7000 at £699
Sony XE9005 at £999

The Sony really exceeds my budget but why is the QLED tv better than the Ultra HD one or is it? Should be for an extra £180 I guess. I watch mainly mainstream TV and sport on Sky, no real idea what is best to be honest.

Anti reflection filter and a slightly better colour gamut - only useful for HDR content. Unless you intend on making use of hdr content then the MU7xxx is fine for your needs.,
 
Again, for someone who hasn't experienced HDR on an expensive TV, I can see the effect on the mu7000. The avforums review said the same thing. The TV is more reflective than my previous lg oled but the brightness is plenty enough to combat that, and my TV faces the window.
 
Hope you like it! Let us know what you think :)

Just set it up over the weekend, it's a very nice TV. Picture quality, once I played around with the settings, seems to be very good even for SD content. Haven't really watched much HDR stuff yet but having not experienced it on any level previously I've no frame of reference to compare this TV to others.

Overall very satisfied so far.
 

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