My best value TVs, 2019-2020 Edition

Hi Dodge,

I just joined this forum and would be grateful if you could share your expert opinion to help choose a new TV upgrade.

We live in ROI, currently we have a 42-inch Samsung UE40D5520, purchased in 2011. As the kids would like a TV in their playroom I thought I could move our current TV there and splash out on an upgrade. TV Sound is through a Onkyo TXNR509 AV Receiver and Boston Soundware XS 5.1 SE. We don't have Sky, I have a Samsung SMT-S7800 Freesat Box fed from a satellite dish and we have the Irish Saorview channels from an outdoor aerial. As we are living in a rural area we don't have access to fibre broadband (and it could be years before we do). We get our broadband through a wireless aerial service and the speeds are low in the range of 6-10 MBps however it is sufficient to stream Netflix/Amazon Prime through our Apple TV HD (A1625 32GB) . The kids also use the TV for some gaming on their Switch.

I have attached a drawing of our kitchen/living room layout. The viewing distances vary from seat A 9ft, seat B 11ft and seat C 16ft. The current TV is mounted on a Vogel Wall bracket in the corner however I was thinking the room could handle a 55" on a stand on the TV console unit we have which measures 1600mm x 400mm) and I believe from reading your which panel type guide an OLED would cover me on range of viewing angles and seating distances we have.

I haven't looked at TV's since 2011 so I am not up to speed on what model would suit us best considering our set up and possible limitations due to our Broadband and existing set up as described. I was in a shop recently and saw a LG OLED55B9PLA , this was my first time to see an OLED and it looked impressive and was discounted as it was a 2019 model. I have read a good review of the LG OLED 55C9PLA which said 'As an all-rounder, this 2019 set is still up their with the best OLED TVs'. I see is available at Euro 1,399
  • From the details I provided do you agree an OLED would be best or perhaps should I be looking at another option?
  • I see LG 2020 model OLED55CX5LB is available for Euro 1,899 which is saucy I was wondering would it be worth it perhaps wait to black friday or go for a discounted 2019 model

Thanks in advance
 

Attachments

  • kitchen_living room.pdf
    912 KB · Views: 59
Hi Dodge,

I just joined this forum and would be grateful if you could share your expert opinion to help choose a new TV upgrade.

We live in ROI, currently we have a 42-inch Samsung UE40D5520, purchased in 2011. As the kids would like a TV in their playroom I thought I could move our current TV there and splash out on an upgrade. TV Sound is through a Onkyo TXNR509 AV Receiver and Boston Soundware XS 5.1 SE. We don't have Sky, I have a Samsung SMT-S7800 Freesat Box fed from a satellite dish and we have the Irish Saorview channels from an outdoor aerial. As we are living in a rural area we don't have access to fibre broadband (and it could be years before we do). We get our broadband through a wireless aerial service and the speeds are low in the range of 6-10 MBps however it is sufficient to stream Netflix/Amazon Prime through our Apple TV HD (A1625 32GB) . The kids also use the TV for some gaming on their Switch.

I have attached a drawing of our kitchen/living room layout. The viewing distances vary from seat A 9ft, seat B 11ft and seat C 16ft. The current TV is mounted on a Vogel Wall bracket in the corner however I was thinking the room could handle a 55" on a stand on the TV console unit we have which measures 1600mm x 400mm) and I believe from reading your which panel type guide an OLED would cover me on range of viewing angles and seating distances we have.

I haven't looked at TV's since 2011 so I am not up to speed on what model would suit us best considering our set up and possible limitations due to our Broadband and existing set up as described. I was in a shop recently and saw a LG OLED55B9PLA , this was my first time to see an OLED and it looked impressive and was discounted as it was a 2019 model. I have read a good review of the LG OLED 55C9PLA which said 'As an all-rounder, this 2019 set is still up their with the best OLED TVs'. I see is available at Euro 1,399
  • From the details I provided do you agree an OLED would be best or perhaps should I be looking at another option?
  • I see LG 2020 model OLED55CX5LB is available for Euro 1,899 which is saucy I was wondering would it be worth it perhaps wait to black friday or go for a discounted 2019 model

Thanks in advance
You're on the right track looking at OLEDs like the C9. If you plan on pairing the TV with external tuners that output 4k then you could even go for the cheaper B9.

The new CX has only just been released so you pay a lot more money for a TV that isn't really that much better than the C9. I don't release this guide each year until around Black Friday because before then new models are rarely good value options to buy.

There's a comparison of all the 2019 OLED models here. Not only the C9 or B9 are recommended, but also other models depending on what you want from the TV. Of course the LGs are the best all round though!
 
You're on the right track looking at OLEDs like the C9. If you plan on pairing the TV with external tuners that output 4k then you could even go for the cheaper B9.

The new CX has only just been released so you pay a lot more money for a TV that isn't really that much better than the C9. I don't release this guide each year until around Black Friday because before then new models are rarely good value options to buy.

There's a comparison of all the 2019 OLED models here. Not only the C9 or B9 are recommended, but also other models depending on what you want from the TV. Of course the LGs are the best all round though!

Thanks Dodge,

I just checked and read the weakness of my Onkyo TX-NR509 'such as low number of channels, no Dolby Atmos support, no DTS:X support, no Auro3D support, no HDR10, no Dolby Vision, no Hybrid Log Gamma, no 4K passthrough, no 4K upscaling, no MHL input, no ChromeCast, no DTS Play-Fi, no Amazon Alexa, no SONOS, no bluetooth, no phono input, no analog multi-channel input, no Tidal, no Deezer and no toroidal transformer'.

I am guessing It will be necessary to get a new amp if I purchase either a B9 or C9? Apologies for my ignorance I am a little unclear what you mean when you say:

'If you plan on pairing the TV with external tuners that output 4k then you could even go for the cheaper B9'

Thanks again, great forum this.
 
Regarding your AVR, you can purchase a new one if you want to plug 4k and HDR devices into your AVR first and then pass the signal to your TV. With your current AVR they will be limited to 1080p and with no HDR.

If you keep your AVR, you can plug any 4k devices with HDR direct into the TV instead and send audio back from the TV to your AVR via HDMI ARC but you'll get audio in non-HD formats this way.

So it depends what you use with the TV, how you set things up etc.

Regarding the external tuners, its a matter of where you use the upscaling. If you keep a Freesat box that is HD only and use it with a 4k TV you are letting the box upscale anything (if it needs too) to 1080p and then the TV to do the rest. If you use the integrated tuner on the TV instead then the TV does all the work itself, so therefore you will benefit from a higher end model with better upscaling.

If you were to pair a TV with a 4k Freesat box though then upscaling can be done on the box itself, leaving no upscaling done by the TV and therefore no need to spend extra money on say the LG C9 rather than the B9.

There's no one answer and it just depends on your plan to set everything up. Think ahead about what you want when you get the TV, what you want to watch, how you want to watch it and look at the bigger picture as a whole..not just about the shows or channels you'll watch, but what sources you plan to use both now and in the future, then you should have a better idea whether you need to go for the more expensive C9 or B9.
 
Regarding your AVR, you can purchase a new one if you want to plug 4k and HDR devices into your AVR first and then pass the signal to your TV. With your current AVR they will be limited to 1080p and with no HDR.

If you keep your AVR, you can plug any 4k devices with HDR direct into the TV instead and send audio back from the TV to your AVR via HDMI ARC but you'll get audio in non-HD formats this way.

So it depends what you use with the TV, how you set things up etc.

Regarding the external tuners, its a matter of where you use the upscaling. If you keep a Freesat box that is HD only and use it with a 4k TV you are letting the box upscale anything (if it needs too) to 1080p and then the TV to do the rest. If you use the integrated tuner on the TV instead then the TV does all the work itself, so therefore you will benefit from a higher end model with better upscaling.

If you were to pair a TV with a 4k Freesat box though then upscaling can be done on the box itself, leaving no upscaling done by the TV and therefore no need to spend extra money on say the LG C9 rather than the B9.

There's no one answer and it just depends on your plan to set everything up. Think ahead about what you want when you get the TV, what you want to watch, how you want to watch it and look at the bigger picture as a whole..not just about the shows or channels you'll watch, but what sources you plan to use both now and in the future, then you should have a better idea whether you need to go for the more expensive C9 or B9.

Thanks lots to digest , I am minded to go for the C9 , we are not TV addicts I never use the recorder on the freesat box could I ditch that and use the integrated tuner for both Saorview and Freesat? I like the idea of jumping up to 55"creating a more cinematic experience in the room when we do get time to sit down late evenings or weekends with kids to stream show/movie on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I am eagerly looking forward to this thought however I am mindful that I don't have fibre broad band , its a Wireless Radio Antenna solution we have at max 10Mbs , do you see problems with that?

I note your advice if I keep my AVR, send audio back from the TV to AVR via HDMI ARC I will get audio in non-HD format . To be honest I don't know the implication of that in lay mans terms i.e. if you were in my shoes is it a no-brainer from the money I am saving by buying a 2019 model TV I should just invest it on a new amp. (I like our current Boston Satellite speakers which are prewired when I built the house at high levels so they are discreet). So if the answer is yes definitely upgrade the amp if you can stretch the budget what would you suggest to compliment this configuration?

Hopefully my last questions - really appreciate your time and advice.
 
Thanks lots to digest , I am minded to go for the C9 , we are not TV addicts I never use the recorder on the freesat box could I ditch that and use the integrated tuner for both Saorview and Freesat? I like the idea of jumping up to 55"creating a more cinematic experience in the room when we do get time to sit down late evenings or weekends with kids to stream show/movie on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I am eagerly looking forward to this thought however I am mindful that I don't have fibre broad band , its a Wireless Radio Antenna solution we have at max 10Mbs , do you see problems with that?

I note your advice if I keep my AVR, send audio back from the TV to AVR via HDMI ARC I will get audio in non-HD format . To be honest I don't know the implication of that in lay mans terms i.e. if you were in my shoes is it a no-brainer from the money I am saving by buying a 2019 model TV I should just invest it on a new amp. (I like our current Boston Satellite speakers which are prewired when I built the house at high levels so they are discreet). So if the answer is yes definitely upgrade the amp if you can stretch the budget what would you suggest to compliment this configuration?

Hopefully my last questions - really appreciate your time and advice.
The limited internet bandwidth will mean when you use services like Netflix and Amazon or alike you'll be limited to 1080p with the TV handling upscaling to 4k. It won't be ideal because the signal will not be as high quality. But it will be an improvement compared to your current TV. Not much you can do about that other than to use physical discs that don't carry the same limitations in bandwidth as online streaming services do. HDR will still work on the streaming services, so no problem there.

Regarding the audio, it's much better and cleaner to consider upgrading your AVR. Even if its a 2015-16 model it should support the audio and HDR formats you need but if you want to fully future proof and you buy the LG C9 or B9 that support HDMI 2.1 you may want to wait to upgrade later until there are fully compatible HDMI 2.1 receivers available to purchase.
 
Currently have a Panasonic 40AS630 3D TV, it's about 6 years old and has started suffering from ghosting/screen burn from subtitles being on a lot, I've ordered a Hisense H43B7500UK from John Lewis for the 5 year guarantee (£299), while I'm waiting for delivery I'm starting to second guess my decision purely because of the brand, I've always had Samsung or Panasonic, I was wondering if I should have spent a bit more and bought an LG or something.
 
Currently have a Panasonic 40AS630 3D TV, it's about 6 years old and has started suffering from ghosting/screen burn from subtitles being on a lot, I've ordered a Hisense H43B7500UK from John Lewis for the 5 year guarantee (£299), while I'm waiting for delivery I'm starting to second guess my decision purely because of the brand, I've always had Samsung or Panasonic, I was wondering if I should have spent a bit more and bought an LG or something.
If there's anything this guide should demonstrate is it's certainly not the case that more well known brands make better TVs than cheaper brands like Hisense. The TVs aren't produced more cheaply, but sold with lower margins.

If you wanted a VA panel on the TV, which I presume you did to minimise screen uniformity problems found more commonly on TVs with IPS panels like your previous TV, then you made the correct decision.

Samsung's 43" models could be using either panel type, so aren't listed in the guide.
Panasonic's GX800 is listed if you wanted another 40" TV. It's very expensive though so is ranked beneath Hisense models in value.

LG models are for different purposes, they come with IPS panels.

If you haven't already take a read of this link Which panel type should I choose for my TV? which will explain what you can expect moving to a TV with a VA panel compared to your old TV with IPS.
 
Just wanted to thank you Dodge for everything you do on this forum and particularly this guide of your making, it is fantastic! Yesterday I finally bit the bullet! But before I tell you that bit, my thoughts yesterday after reading again your so so sensible words in regards to Oled Burn in worries!
It just made total sense to myself even more than before. Look after your Oled TV ,treat it with the care it deserves and risk immediately drops like a stone! That is why our fantastic Pioneer 15 yrs old in conservatory has one small burn in, bearingQ in mind the roof is polycarbonate! I found out the weight yesterday for the very first time,36kg! Plus a swivel stand of beauty! Lol. Basically back to your fantastic help in so many ways ,every question answered to everyone. I was toying as you know with maybe a Philips70 in Costco that you said was poor value. I agreed after some thought! But then my thoughts were SONY 65 XG905 OR SAMSUNG Q85
I Was holding off all the time because my gut feeling was that spending £1200/1400 on old tech was not a good investment, especially after I read your thread yesterday about the actual real risks of burn in in the real world. We take care of everything we buy. My car is ancient and goes like a watch because I services/ etc. It does the job perfectly well. Yes I would love a comfy big fancy car, but remember my HD positive diagnosis .
Yesterday I looked at " thinking of changing your Plasma," we have a46 Panasonic since 8 yrs, starting to show recently red fickers more and more. No idea but maybe it is tired now!
Anyway to finish, after I read your REPLACING PLASMA, there was NO WAY we could get and LED SONY OR SAMSUNG at that serious amount of moneyI knew that the
PHILIPS 65 OLED 854 had been given a commended award by Phil in these forms ( excellent, thank you Phil), HD TV TEST Highly commended. Plus finally I knew that Costco was the only place to get it( swivel stand just like Pioneer! Lol. I knew that the Ambilight would be a first time experience ( good for my eyes, good for myhealth in regards to my diagnosis)
I looked on Costco 2 minutes after all of the above yesterday! Bought for £1500, five year warranty. , £1800 in Curry's (803 same except stand). Looking forward to enjoying many happy healthy hours in the days ahead with my dear, incredible, special loving wife. Yes I am emotional now as well, Check me out on YouTube! (HD Medical Trials) Dodge you are a 🌟,thank you
 
Last edited:
Just wanted to thank you Dodge for everything you do on this forum and particularly this guide of your making, it is fantastic! Yesterday I finally bit the bullet! But before I tell you that bit, my thoughts yesterday after reading again your so so sensible words in regards to Oled Burn in worries!
It just made total sense to myself even more than before. Look after your Oled TV ,treat it with the care it deserves and risk immediately drops like a stone! That is why our fantastic Pioneer 15 yrs old in conservatory has one small burn in, bearingQ in mind the roof is polycarbonate! I found out the weight yesterday for the very first time,36kg! Plus a swivel stand of beauty! Lol. Basically back to your fantastic help in so many ways ,every question answered to everyone. I was toying as you know with maybe a Philips70 in Costco that you said was poor value. I agreed after some thought! But then my thoughts were SONY 65 XG905 OR SAMSUNG Q85
I Was holding off all the time because my gut feeling was that spending £1200/1400 on old tech was not a good investment, especially after I read your thread yesterday about the actual real risks of burn in in the real world. We take care of everything we buy. My car is ancient and goes like a watch because I services/ etc. It does the job perfectly well. Yes I would love a comfy big fancy car, but remember my HD positive diagnosis .
Yesterday I looked at " thinking of changing your Plasma," we have a46 Panasonic since 8 yrs, starting to show recently red fickers more and more. No idea but maybe it is tired now!
Anyway to finish, after I read your REPLACING PLASMA, there was NO WAY we could get and LED SONY OR SAMSUNG at that serious amount of moneyI knew that the
PHILIPS 65 OLED 854 had been given a commended award by Phil in these forms ( excellent, thank you Phil), HD TV TEST Highly commended. Plus finally I knew that Costco was the only place to get it( swivel stand just like Pioneer! Lol. I knew that the Ambilight would be a first time experience ( good for my eyes, good for myhealth in regards to my diagnosis)
I looked on Costco 2 minutes after all of the above yesterday! Bought for £1500, five year warranty. , £1800 in Curry's (803 same except stand). Looking forward to enjoying many happy healthy hours in the days ahead with my dear, incredible, special loving wife. Yes I am emotional now as well, Check me out on YouTube! (HD Medical Trials) Dodge you are a 🌟,thank you
Congratulations with your new TV and thanks for the kind words. What I do is nothing compared to the likes of Phil who've been pro reviewing TVs for years :)

You have a very good TV in that Philips OLED :D
 
I have been wanting to buy a tv for around £400 and have got it down to these 4 tv's,which one do you think is the best?

Philips Ambilight 55pus6704-£384(HDR10+, Dolby vision)

Philips 58pus6504-£362(HDR10+, Dolby vision)

Hisense B7500-£379(Dolby vision)

Hisense u7b-£399(Dolby vision)

The 2 hisense tv's have a wide color gamut and the 2 philips ones don't so would any of the hisense make all the content I watch brighter and have better colours or does it not matter?
 
Last edited:
I have been wanting to buy a tv for around £400 and have got it down to these 4 tv's,which one do you think is the best?

Philips Ambilight 55pus6704-£384(HDR10+, Dolby vision)

Philips 58pus6504-£362(HDR10+, Dolby vision)

Hisense B7500-£379(Dolby vision)

Hisense u7b-£399(Dolby vision)

The 2 hisense tv's have a wide color gamut and the 2 philips ones don't so would any of the hisense make all the content I watch brighter and have better colours or does it not matter?
The 58" Philips is similar picture quality to the Hisense models, the lack of wide colour gamut isn't really important since no TVs in this price range are very good with HDR. Its not a good idea to use HDR on TVs without good HDR hardware, but if you want too deal with the problems it brings, the Hisense models will have better colours in HDR mode.

Avoid the 55" Philips if you want a VA type panel on the TV. It may use IPS, or VA and therefore isn't in the guide.

The Philips models also have unknown picture accuracy out of the box, compared to the Hisense models which we are know are already pretty good.
 
Hello Guys, first post for me.

Just wanted to ask your opinion.

My current Setup :

Samsung UE46f6400 TV

Onkyo H-RT380 5.1 surround sound all in one

Nvidia Shield

PS4

The TV is used for Movies, TV, catchup, plex and gaming.


The Onkyo is on the way out and is on its last legs and Im looking to upgrade this to the Denon AVRX3600 with Q Acoustics 3010i cinema pack. The Shield and PS4 are connected to the Onkyo.

The TV is not 4k, yet the Denon can upscale to 4k, so I’m thinking of upgrading TV as well. We have decided that a 55 inch TV would be best for us. I’ve looked at your best value TV’s guide and Im undecided between the Phillips 55PUS8303 / LG 55SM8500 or do I push the boat out and get the Samsung 55Q80R.

Being as the Denon does upscaling do I need such a high-end TV (Namely the Samsung) or should I stick with the LG or Phillips?


Peter Tyson have a deal on the Denon at £1,178.00, ideally, I would like to keep under 2k budget including the TV)
 
The 58" Philips is similar picture quality to the Hisense models, the lack of wide colour gamut isn't really important since no TVs in this price range are very good with HDR. Its not a good idea to use HDR on TVs without good HDR hardware, but if you want too deal with the problems it brings, the Hisense models will have better colours in HDR mode.

Avoid the 55" Philips if you want a VA type panel on the TV. It may use IPS, or VA and therefore isn't in the guide.

The Philips models also have unknown picture accuracy out of the box, compared to the Hisense models which we are know are already pretty good.
Thanks for the reply,I have decided to get the B7500 as the U7b price has gone up to £479 and I don't see it being worth £100 more than the B7500 and it comes with a 5 year warranty from John Lewis
 
Hello Guys, first post for me.

Just wanted to ask your opinion.

My current Setup :

Samsung UE46f6400 TV

Onkyo H-RT380 5.1 surround sound all in one

Nvidia Shield

PS4

The TV is used for Movies, TV, catchup, plex and gaming.


The Onkyo is on the way out and is on its last legs and Im looking to upgrade this to the Denon AVRX3600 with Q Acoustics 3010i cinema pack. The Shield and PS4 are connected to the Onkyo.

The TV is not 4k, yet the Denon can upscale to 4k, so I’m thinking of upgrading TV as well. We have decided that a 55 inch TV would be best for us. I’ve looked at your best value TV’s guide and Im undecided between the Phillips 55PUS8303 / LG 55SM8500 or do I push the boat out and get the Samsung 55Q80R.

Being as the Denon does upscaling do I need such a high-end TV (Namely the Samsung) or should I stick with the LG or Phillips?


Peter Tyson have a deal on the Denon at £1,178.00, ideally, I would like to keep under 2k budget including the TV)
I think the upscaling of the Denon will be similar or worse to budget TVs and not really worth utilising. If you have a 4k shield it has very good upscaling itself which probably beats any TV. The PS4 if its a standard model will look a little blurry on a 4k screen since it needs to be upscaled, but if its a pro, or you upgrade to the PS5 when its released, it will look great.

On the topic of future proofing with games and video you should definitely consider spending more rathen than less unless you somehow plan to avoid HDR content in both games and video in the future. Its possible, but then you'd also be losing out a lot of the gains in picture quality found in modern video/games.

I'd recommend going for an OLED or at least the Samsung Q85R mentioned in the guide. A TV like the LG B9 or C9 will be more future proof with HDMI 2.1 ports and next gen features whilst the Q85R is the European equivalent of the well reviewed Q80R in the Americas. The Q80R in EU isn't as good, and whilst better with HDR than the other models you are considering, suffers from poorer local dimming with high brightness so screen uniformity won't be quite as good.
Thanks for the reply,I have decided to get the B7500 as the U7b price has gone up to £479 and I don't see it being worth £100 more than the B7500 and it comes with a 5 year warranty from John Lewis
You basically pay extra for another HDMI port.
 
Hi Dodge,
which TV would you recommend out of the 55Q85R vs 55SM9800? at the same price point.
Also baring in mind that whilst they're both different panel types, I do have a preference for either.
Main use will be for Xbox X gaming (maybe series X in the future), but also some football every now and again.
Is Dolby vision really that important? Even though it's more widely used then HDR10+
Same goes for Dolby Atmos, am i overthinking how much difference dolby atmos would make if i don't get a sound bar and just relied on the TV sound?
Appreciate the help.
 
Thank you Dodge for taking the time and trouble to help me, with your informative reply, there is a lot there for me to think about.

Sadly my PS4 is not the pro version, so this will suffer as you say. I will be waiting for the PS5 before I upgrade that. The shield is not the latest version so again no 4k on that.

Can I ask that using a standard ps4 and shield I will still see a better picture than my existing 1080p TV?


Thanks again and I will look into the Q85R that you have recommended.
 
Hi Dodge,
which TV would you recommend out of the 55Q85R vs 55SM9800? at the same price point.
Also baring in mind that whilst they're both different panel types, I do have a preference for either.
Main use will be for Xbox X gaming (maybe series X in the future), but also some football every now and again.
Is Dolby vision really that important? Even though it's more widely used then HDR10+
Same goes for Dolby Atmos, am i overthinking how much difference dolby atmos would make if i don't get a sound bar and just relied on the TV sound?
Appreciate the help.
The SM9800 is not in the same league and isn't listed in the guide for good reason. Due to the wide viewing angle filter of the Q85R its a much better overall TV. Despite using VA type panel, it retains decent viewing angles.

Dolby Vision is not important compared to how good the TV is at displaying HDR. In this instance the Q85R is a lot better.
Thank you Dodge for taking the time and trouble to help me, with your informative reply, there is a lot there for me to think about.

Sadly my PS4 is not the pro version, so this will suffer as you say. I will be waiting for the PS5 before I upgrade that. The shield is not the latest version so again no 4k on that.

Can I ask that using a standard ps4 and shield I will still see a better picture than my existing 1080p TV?


Thanks again and I will look into the Q85R that you have recommended.
There will always be a slight regression in sharpness when you are viewing content that has to be upscaled but at 3 metres away from a 55" it shouldn't be so bothersome. The other gains you'll make in picture quality should make it more than worth it. You'll probably find yourself wanting to upgrade to use more 4k sources once you own the TV, together with more 4k content itself though, just because once you witness how much better it looks, it will be harder going back to regular HD. No different really to when we all first got our first HD TVs. Best advice I can give is to not expect much from HD, and to only look at a 4k TV as a way to enjoy better looking 4k content. Don't think its going to 'polish' everything and make it look better.
 
Got the B7500 55 inch today and you won't get a better tv for the money,good colour and even hdr looks good on this tv(on the tv apps anyway)
Has anybody got this tv with a 2019 nvidia shield? tried a hdr movie and the picture is really dull and it says it's playing in 8bit 4k in the shield settings when it should be playing in HDR10 10bit
 
Forget the last bit,I had to change the shield settings to dolby vision and HDR10 ready 10 bit and hdr is now working in 10bit and not 8bit
 
Just re read the guide again. What a great thread this is with tons of practical info. Thanks Dodge.

I am in a quandry however. I have a Sony 40HX753 which has been a great TV for PQ. Outstanding in fact for me. I will keep hold of it as long as possible even though its 6 years old now. But should I need a new TV I would only be able to go to 50". I do like Sony TVs but I was surprised to read that Smasung QLEDs are only LCD. I use my Firestick 4k so not too bothered about the legendary Sony backwardness in apps. But should I go for another LCD 4k TV such as the Sony 50XG9005 or an OLED if I can find one that's good at 50" ?
 
Just re read the guide again. What a great thread this is with tons of practical info. Thanks Dodge.

I am in a quandry however. I have a Sony 40HX753 which has been a great TV for PQ. Outstanding in fact for me. I will keep hold of it as long as possible even though its 6 years old now. But should I need a new TV I would only be able to go to 50". I do like Sony TVs but I was surprised to read that Smasung QLEDs are only LCD. I use my Firestick 4k so not too bothered about the legendary Sony backwardness in apps. But should I go for another LCD 4k TV such as the Sony 50XG9005 or an OLED if I can find one that's good at 50" ?
Well the new CX OLEDs will be available in 2020. Like every new TV they will cost a lot on release.

It's actually a bit of a revelation they are being released at this size, because in the past few years its not been possible to pick up a high end TV at this size. The OLED will of course be an all round upgrade compared to mid range TVs XG9005 but you'll probably be looking at waiting a year for them to be closer to the 1k mark, so its up to you whether that is worth waiting for or not.

Samsung gimp their sub 55" models with 60hz panels, so I'd recommend Sony above them beneath 55".
 
Makes sense. I'll keep a watchful eye out for the CX.

Many thanks again
 
The M in the model number dictates the year, so the new models will start UNxxxx.
The UM7 range all identical with picture quality. The lower range UM7050 may be using a RGBW panel but it doesn't matter if you aren't viewing the TV up close.
Hi Dodge, just popped in to say thanks again for all the invaluable info in this thread, went for the 43UM7400 and really pleased - a fairly big improvement (to my eyes) on every source, with the real surprise being SD recordings from an ancient Panasonic HDD recorder. They used to be very warm & fuzzy / vague (almost like VHS...) but the LG has made them look like Blu Rays!?!?! The other bonuses are stuff like YouTube (used to use a 3rd party iPad dongle) and all the catch ups (used to have a YouView box which took forever to load), so overall a worthwhile purchase. Plus the mother in law has now got her first ever non-CRT tv, our hand-me-down TX-32LXD80 - finally able to connect PVR & DVD with HDMI instead of scart...
Many thanks again, keep up the great work.
 
Hi Dodge, just popped in to say thanks again for all the invaluable info in this thread, went for the 43UM7400 and really pleased - a fairly big improvement (to my eyes) on every source, with the real surprise being SD recordings from an ancient Panasonic HDD recorder. They used to be very warm & fuzzy / vague (almost like VHS...) but the LG has made them look like Blu Rays!?!?! The other bonuses are stuff like YouTube (used to use a 3rd party iPad dongle) and all the catch ups (used to have a YouView box which took forever to load), so overall a worthwhile purchase. Plus the mother in law has now got her first ever non-CRT tv, our hand-me-down TX-32LXD80 - finally able to connect PVR & DVD with HDMI instead of scart...
Many thanks again, keep up the great work.

An awful lot of people don't want or need a 50" plus screen. Nothing wrong with them of course just that many dont have the room size or viewing capability to fit them in. I've never even considered an LG before as I've got so used to the strong well controlled colours and motion on a Sony.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom