Answered Need to replace my Sony KDL-40W5810

Ojustabo

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Hi all. I've read through the "best value TVs 2018 - 2019" and the "Should i upgrade..." threads.

I currently have a 40" Sony KDL-40W5810 and am very very very happy with the picture quality both for gaming and for TV.

Unfortunately it's switching it's self off at random times and the frequency of this is getting worse, I've had it about 8 or 9 years, have a little spare cash so thought I might upgrade, possibly see if any good reductions on after xmas sales.

Some of my Sony specs are as follows
Viewing angle 178 degrees
Display Tech LCD (that's all I could find on it)
Motion flow 100 Hz
4 HDMI in
1 component

I currently have a Linux sat box running ViX on component (run out of free HDMI)
PS3
Steam Link
Nintendo Switch
Amazon Fire TV 4K

I'm only watching free to air satellite, Prime included TV/movies and Netflix (not paying for Netflix 4K)

I have a fairly high end PC (i7, 32GB Ram, AMD 8gb 480RX etc) and I regularly play games on my PC from this using Steamlink.

I have about £600 to spend on a replacement TV (am also updating my sat box, will probably get a Gigablue UHD UE 4k unless persuaded otherwise on the sat forum I belong to), but can go as high as £750.

Years ago I had every console going, but now kids have left home, I prefer PC gaming so the chances of me getting a PS4 or a Xbox1 are small (might pick one up 2nd hand in a few years who knows).

My PC does have AMD card and while it has Freesync, neither of my gaming monitors do, hence I'm not sure if Steamlink could make use of this.

My lovely wife thinks my 40" is big enough, I've persuaded her that 50" is a must, but I think I might need to persuade her a little more (TV on wall, sofa against opposite wall, sitting on it I am about 11ft away from TV).

Reading the "should I upgrade..." thread, well to put it bluntly, if I spend our money on a new TV and the CSI programs she watches in SD look worse than our current TV, I will be in the doghouse.

If gaming is not as smooth as on my current Sony, I will be unhappy :)

Not bothered about sound, will be going optically into my Denon (which I managed to buy about 4 months before HDMI Denons became available).

So that's what I'm after, a replacement for my Sony that fits the above.

I've always had Samsung or Sony in the past and always been happy. Initially I was looking at the Samsung 7400 50", but after reading many threads, I think it would probably be better me spending a little extra and getting the Samsung 55" NU8000 as it has the faster refresh rate?

Also I currently use 4 HDMI and one component input (only used due to lack of 5th HDMI), the NU8000 has 4 HDMI and built in steamlink, so I wont run out of HDMI ports.

EDIT:I Think the 55" may be slightly too big, so sadly that might not be an option although I will try to rearrange the room and see

Comments/advice greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
 
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Hi @Ojustabo and welcome to the forum! Glad you have taken the time to read some guides already, it always helps when buying a TV has never been as complicated as it is today.

Reading the "should I upgrade..." thread, well to put it bluntly, if I spend our money on a new TV and the CSI programs she watches in SD look worse than our current TV, I will be in the doghouse.
To the untrained eye (most wives) they probably won't notice a difference but generally a lot of people find the presentation of poorer quality material upscaled to UHD rather poor.

Not only that, but a quick google shows your current TV from 2009 reviewed at £950 from WhatHiFI (good review btw) along with praising its "good upscaling" and you are intending to replace it with a larger model with a more limited budget. £950 back then is probably over £1100 now for a TV that is actually going to be larger. Yes TV prices generally have come down but the push to UHD and HDR as pushed the quality down compared to a few years ago.

Which panel type should I choose for my TV?

If you do not need wide viewing angles and you can go up to 55" (measure dimensions of said TV, not diagonals) then the perfect TV for you would be the Samsung 55NU8000. It has a 120hz panel, supports 1440p at 120hz and has Freesync support for your AMD graphics card. Not only that but it also has the steam link app built in and Freesat support so may find you don't need two of your external boxes anymore. Its over your budget, but worth the extra from everything you have mentioned so far. You may ask, but why not the 49" version of the NU8000? Well sadly you lose the 120hz panel and Freesync support when you step down a size.

I would also suggest you take a look at this recent thread: Question - Biggest & Best FHD TV? Are there any left? where we discuss why it is when upgrading that you should try and change your viewing habits to get the most from an UHD TV. If you stay watching poor quality content such as the SD channels on FTA satellite you are not going to have the best experience with a new TV compared to using things like UHD Blu-Rays, Apple TV/Netflix/Amazon in UHD for example. If most of the watching on FTA sat is in HD and at quite a distance from a smaller TV though, you may find the poorer upscaling less noticeable.

If its a case of not wanting to change and keeping everything running as similar as it is to now I would recommend looking at Sony's WF series of TVs. They are FHD so should handle poorer quality content to a higher level. They are not the best overall TVs for picture quality but they are just as good overall as UHD models for similar money (without poorer upscaling of course). They also sell non smart versions, the RF series.

ps your need of a component connection (if you continue to use your sat box) is going to narrow down choices somewhat, Samsung for example don't have any legacy video connections on their TVs anymore. I would certainly recommend if you don't move to a Freesat TV built in because you want to keep good recording functionality that you move to a digital platform - it should be an improvement in quality anyway.
 
Thanks. I don't need a component, sat box has HDMI, only used component as ran out of spare HDMI ports on the TV.

I really really want the 55". I can stretch my funds to it, however I'm not convinced my wife will approve.

Unfortunately my living room has a slanted corner with the fireplace in.

Here's a couple of pics from sitting on my sofa, first my existing TV

20181129_191305_zpstg9dsse6.jpg


and now with 43", 50" and 55" also from my sofa

20181129_191411_zpsyylchvtx.jpg


But if I'm sitting on my armchair it looks like

20181129_190936_zpsurgjaodc.jpg


compared to my existing TV which looks like

20181129_190616_zpspqkih9cu.jpg


Personally I think she's going to say it makes that side of the room look too cramped.

I want to upgrade to 4K while I'm getting a new TV, while I only watch freesat and Netflix etc at the moment, i may change my mind in a few months and sub to Netflix 4k etc.

If as I suspect I'm only allowed up to 50", I'm not bothered by lack of Steamlink as have it already, never used Freesync so again wont miss it. My current TV plays gaming perfectly for me and while it has 100hz motion flow, I'm not sure if this also means it's a 100hz panel, meaning going to a 50hz panel might be quite noticeable.

I will read through your links tonight.

Many thanks
 
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If you decide to stick with 49"/50" then I would either go for the higher end Sony XF85 model. At this size its using a VA with 120hz refresh rate, it can also accept 1080p at 120hz, just lacks 1440p support and Freesync compared to the 55" Samsung NU8000. Its also quite an expensive TV compared to the competition at its size, maybe you can find a good deal on it though.

Apart from that, if its not a possibility I would perhaps just accept that you probably aren't going to get something fantastic quality and opt for either the FHD Sony's I mentioned previously (there is a 49" WF series model) or get a low range 50" UHD model for as little money as possible, perhaps a Samsung 50NU7100 or NU7400 or Hisense A6200.
 
I can get the Sony XF85 with a 6 year warranty for £679 (maybe cheaper in January sales) which is just within my budget and looks great. That will probably be the one I choose.

many many thanks for all your help.

Is there any real noticeable difference between Motionflow XR 1000Hz and Motionflow XR 800Hz?

I prefer black to silver but for some reason (possibly it's slightly older) the black has 800 and the silver has 1000. I think that's the only difference. I'm looking at KD49XF8505BU and KD49XF8577SU
 
Is there any real noticeable difference between Motionflow XR 1000Hz and Motionflow XR 800Hz?
The motionflow rating is Sony's way of say that on one TV you can use motion interpolation to greater effect. Its not really useful unless you know you are going to use it and use it often and on strong settings. Motion interpolation is the setting on TVs that smooths out the image by predicting which frame comes next, it introduces soap opera effect and motion artefacts, most people don't use it at all and if some people do, they use it only for sport.

I would opt for the XR 1000hz model if I knew I was going to use a lot, for example when watching sports.

Otherwise there is little precious reason and the aesthetics of the TV are probably more important.
 
Many many thanks for all your help.

It turns out I've got motionflow switched off on my current TV anyway, so I doubt it will be something I ever use.

The XF85 it is, am waiting until January on the off chance they are in the sales, but am happy with the price :)
 
I say that, I've just read the other threads you linked to. VA panel has a very narrow viewing angle, will take a look at one tomorrow to see if it will fit my needs (hope it does).
 
Had a look and it's perfect for me, angles fine. 100% going to buy it.

Wont have the money until 17th, so might as well wait until Jan sales on the off chance the price drops somewhere.

Silver one didn't look that bad, but on the corners you could see black where the top corners met each other, so think will get the black one. Although zooming in on the pics on Currys web site etc, they don't have this problem so it may have been just the one in store.
 
Sometimes viewing angles can be deceiving, especially in a showroom, VA panels do have very narrow angles and compared to IPS panels will look more washed out and darker to the side.

This doesn't mean its not acceptable to you though, probably without seeing it directly next to a TV with better viewing angles you won't notice a difference.

I would advise anyone with over 30 degree viewing angles needed from either side of the centre of the TV not to look at VA but some people seem to notice worse viewing angles more than others.
 
I have my funds earlier than expected :)

I was all set to go out and buy the XF85 this afternoon, I thought I'd have a look at a few more reviews, and came across this one, any comments.

Sony XF85 review – hard to recommend | Trusted Reviews

A couple of bad decisions on Sony’s part make the XF85 impossible to recommend, however.

I think I prefer the samsung having played with a few.

That being the case, if i can rearange the room to fit the 55" NU8000 in I will. If not, back to a 50" samsung :(

I presume that as the 50" NU8000 does't have the 120MHz screen, the £220 price difference between that and the NU7400 isn't worth it?

Going to really try to fit 55" in :)
 
I have my funds earlier than expected :)

I was all set to go out and buy the XF85 this afternoon, I thought I'd have a look at a few more reviews, and came across this one, any comments.

Sony XF85 review – hard to recommend | Trusted Reviews



I think I prefer the samsung having played with a few.

That being the case, if i can rearange the room to fit the 55" NU8000 in I will. If not, back to a 50" samsung :(

I presume that as the 50" NU8000 does't have the 120MHz screen, the £220 price difference between that and the NU7400 isn't worth it?

Going to really try to fit 55" in :)

Review doesn’t apply to the 49” Sony.
 
Yeah the review is for the IPS variants of the TV hence poor black levels. It will look like a different tv altogether. Remember when searching for reviews if the TV you are interested in uses a different panel from the rest of the lineup only the size you are looking at is going to be a valid review.

Here's a french review of the 49" version, you can see it scores very high.
Comparatif : Quel téléviseur choisir ?
 
Thanks.

After all that, I came home with a different model all together. Went to Richer Sounds, Wife was convinced NU8000 55" was too big, I really liked it.

Salesman suggested the Sony 49" XF90 and it looked very very good, but I said £999 was sadly over our budget.

They didn't have XF85 on display to compare to, plus I hadn't read your two previous replies on me looking at a review for the wrong panel :), so was still a bit concerned.

NU8000 55" was £729, I said I'd rather get the 55" Samsung and save £270 (even though the Sony did look better), but my wife said it's too big :)

The salseman said he would see if he could do anything on the Sony, came back and said I could have £100 off, hence get it for £899. I jumped at that, wife's happy, I'm happy :) £170 to keep us both happy is doable :)

Many thanks for all of the advice.
 
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Well the Samsung is just as good as the XF85 but bigger, its brighter too and has 2 extra full bandwidth HDMI ports.
 
Something the salseman did say, he had heard Samsung are going to pull the Steamlink from their TV's soon.
 
Massive pinch of salt required regarding anything a salesperson says.
 
Massive pinch of salt required regarding anything a salesperson says.

True. But I have just noticed that Steam announced in November it was ceasing the sale of Steamlink HW, so maybe it's something to do with that.
 

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