New 40/43" TV 500-700€ (Blu Ray movies + gaming)

Tosh88

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Hello,

i'm looking for a new TV, price range about 500, 600, 700€, something like that.
First thing: i'm not going to watch normal cable or satellite tv on this and streaming is also not important. I dont have any streaming service subscription.
I only want it for watching Blu Ray movies and PS4/PS5 gaming.

Second thing, the size: not bigger than 43".
Its not a big room, the available sitting / viewing distance is only 2 / 2.5 meters or something like that, which already makes 40" pretty big in my opinion.

Third thing: I dont need the newest gaming features like 120 Hz or whatever. 4K 60 Hz is fine. Response time of 10, 15, 20 ms is fine.
I'm not a competitive gamer and i almost never play online multiplayer games.
Would be nice if it has a nice upscaling feature, because not all games will come with native 4K.

I feel like there is a pretty big pool of 40 / 43" 4K TVs released in 2019 - 2021
but even after looking through rating lists and that kind of stuff, i didnt really find the one perfect TV.
Everytime there is a really really positive review, you can find a pretty negative one too.
So its always 'good' against 'not so great' and i dont know who is right or wrong.

Any suggestions that fit my requirements? It doesnt have to be a 10/10 device, just overall solid.
Thanks
 
If you read similar topics here you'll find its hard to recommend smaller TVs now because they have so many compromises. If it wasn't for HDR, there would be nothing wrong with a smaller TV but sadly it can be hard to disable in certain circumstances.

Read more about that here:

Now if you're happy living with disabling HDR, perhaps because you will only view via an external device that lets you disable HDR, then there's nothing wrong with a smaller TV.

Its interesting that you find a 43" the limit at 2-2.5m though, as we speak I'm viewing 1m from my 65" and often for gaming or movies we pull the sofa even closer. You need to view close to a big TV to get any kind of benefit to 4k.

And that brings me round in a circle I guess, if you already have a TV, I'd probably just keep with what you have for now and hold out for the release of 42" OLED TVs that are expected to be released in 2022. These will still have some compromises compared to big models I'm sure, but they will be the only path to a decent quality smaller TV.

 
If you read similar topics here you'll find its hard to recommend smaller TVs now because they have so many compromises. If it wasn't for HDR, there would be nothing wrong with a smaller TV but sadly it can be hard to disable in certain circumstances.

Read more about that here:

Now if you're happy living with disabling HDR, perhaps because you will only view via an external device that lets you disable HDR, then there's nothing wrong with a smaller TV.

Its interesting that you find a 43" the limit at 2-2.5m though, as we speak I'm viewing 1m from my 65" and often for gaming or movies we pull the sofa even closer. You need to view close to a big TV to get any kind of benefit to 4k.

And that brings me round in a circle I guess, if you already have a TV, I'd probably just keep with what you have for now and hold out for the release of 42" OLED TVs that are expected to be released in 2022. These will still have some compromises compared to big models I'm sure, but they will be the only path to a decent quality smaller TV.



I had 40" TVs before and this is not like a living room setup, more like a PC setup with a TV on the side. So i have to move a little bit backwards with my PC chair and even then i always thought that 40" is pretty big because i dont really like the feeling when you have to use your eyes to always look left / right / up / down. When you just look straight, you cant really 100% tell whats happening on the sides. I dont really like that. I think it works way better on 27-32" PC monitors.

So far i tested a AOC 4K 27" monitor (U28G2AE) i didnt like it at all,
really cheap looking image quality,
then i bought a LG 27UP850-W which had a really ugly looking color boost
that you can not deactivate.

Thats why i started looking for a TV then, simply because TVs
have more user options for color, brightness etc.
The PC monitors i owned / tested had really really weak user options.
I dont want forced color boost or forced sharpening or something like that.

What about the Sony XH8096 43" TV, it looks like it has pretty good reviews overall
and i could buy it for around 560€ instead of 750€

 
Last edited:
@Dodgexander Any recommendations for 49 / 50" size if 32-43 is too small?
I linked my best buy thread above. There are even 43" models in their, just be sure to understand the constraints I've mentioned about HDR previously. Should be all in the guide. The guide is split by panel type, of which you should choose before picking a specific model (VA vs IPS).

There's no 21-22 models in my guide yet as they are currently too expensive to recommend. Closer to sales time I'll have a new guide out once we finally see some good prices on newly released TVs. Until then, look for 20-21 stock before it sells out.
 
@Dodgexander Okay, so for example the 49" Sony XH8505 for 700-750€ would get me a overall better product (image quality, upscaling, gaming, HDR) than any of the 32-43" TVs (even the most expensive 32-43" ones)?
 
Yes, although at around 500 nits brightness its roughly half of what you need to avoid problems with HDR being too dark and washed out completely. Will be okay in some titles more than others.

The main benefit to the XH85 over the XH80 is the addition of a 120hz for better motion, plus at 49" a VA panel instead of IPS for better contrast (but worse viewing angles).

Upscaling will be the same as the cheaper XH80, both using integrated chipsets.

Generally I'd say once you are pushing budget up to the XH85 it is better value to spend even more for the XH95. Although the XH85 is definitely an improvement over cheaper models.
 
@Dodgexander What about the Sony 49XH9505, i saw that the price is around 800-850 instead of 1150. So its only 50-100€ more expensive than the 49" Sony XH8505.
So would the Sony 49XH9505 be a even better deal?
 
That's what I meant in my last reply:
Generally I'd say once you are pushing budget up to the XH85 it is better value to spend even more for the XH95. Although the XH85 is definitely an improvement over cheaper models.
So would the Sony 49XH9505 be a even better deal?
In bold is the product series.
 
@Dodgexander Ah sorry, i only copied and googled the XH95 part and it showed me the price of 1150€ so i was like Oof. But then i copied Sony 49XH9505 from your guide list and then i found different results for around 800€, so i thought its a different product but its just Sonys original price vs what you actually have to pay now.
Ok, thank you very much for the help. I guess i will put the Sony 49XH9505 on my list and check the price from time to time and then i'm gonna buy it maybe in January. I guess actual brand new products will be even more expensive from now on? Thanks again for the help.
 
You probably won't be able to buy it by then, it's a runout model from 2020 which is why it's such good value just now.

It was £1200 at launch, it's reached a low of £699 and has been sitting around the £800 mark since May. It may get a final discount over Black Friday.

(Sorry don't have a price guide for €)

2021 models have XJ in them, 2020 models have XH.
 
@Sloppy Bob
Might happen yes but i dont have another like 300€ or whatever now.
I simply started this whole thing because i was looking for a 4K HDR PC monitor upgrade but i didnt find anything, they are all about being cheap 4K 60 Hz or 144+ Hz at 1440p etc and i dont need that. Then i looked for simple 4K PC monitors, bought like the three ones with the best reviews at around 300-550€ but didnt like any of them because of a lack of user settings and boring image quality. Then i tried two TVs, one 32" Full HD one with really good reviews and a 43" 2021 with really good reviews. Didnt like the 32 one at all, the 43 one had a malfunction. By that point i already upgraded my 'Well, lets have a look' 300€ budget up to 580€.
I'm in no position to upgrade to 850€ now. Its not possible. So if its gone in 3-4 months,
well then thats just how it is.
 
@Dodgexander

Hey, me again. So, the 49" Sony XH95 is still around 850€ instead of 1150€
but i saw that you recommended the Hisense 55U8Q in the 55-60" list
and you can find it for about 600€ instead of 1300€ (???)

So ... is the Hisense a even better upgrade than the XH95
and its also way cheaper??

 
The Hisense is in the same tier as the XH9505 so its not better, its about the same. Its much better value to buy 55" and up rather than smaller sizes, I'm sure the 55" Sony XH9505 was available cheaper than the 49" TV at some point.
 
@Dodgexander The 55" XH95 is about 900€ instead of 1500€ right now (only this month),
49" XH95 850€ instead of 1150€ (maybe cheaper on Black Friday?),
Hisense 55U8Q 55" about 600€ instead of 1300€.

Would the 55" XH95 be the 'winner' in this selection?
 
The U8Q is by far the best value, but it does have some shortcomings compared to the 55" Sony. There's a known issue with motion blur, the viewing angles are narrow and the smart TV is pretty basic. At a EUR300 saving though, its worth getting that instead of the Sony XH9505.

If you have the money and want to pay extra to avoid the reported motion problems, I can also see why you'd go for the 55" Sony XH9505.

I don't really see value in the smaller 49" XH9505, its smaller which means you'll have to view closer to get a benefit from the increase in resolution and it also has narrower viewing angles. The plus I guess is the contrast ratio is better since it lacks the wide viewing angle filter of the 55" and up versions.

Given you use the TV for gaming I'd go for the 55" XH9505 currently as I think the blur can be an issue in some games on the Hisense 55" U8Q or I'd hold on and see what kind of discounts come to TVs come black friday. I don't think we will see deals that rival the kind of value of these TVs since these are already over a year old, but you may find its worth paying a little extra when the sales come on a 55 Samsung like the QN9XA models which has 120hz input support for future proofing. Just be careful with the new Samsung's since the 55QN90A can be a different TV entirely to the 55QN9xA.

where x indicates a positive digit like 2,3,4,5.

I think deals close to 1k on the Samsung models may be possible, but that's already stretching your budget even further.
 
@Dodgexander

Ok, i think since the 55" XH95 40% off deal is available the whole month,
and they still have more than 5 in stock,
i'm simply gonna wait for the last november week and see if they will go even lower or not.
They have the option to delay the payment for 100 days, so that could be a big help
for the christmas time and i can still test it for 30 days without paying anything.

Maybe its gonna be completely sold out immediately if there is another Black Friday deal
on top of the 40% off deal ... but then thats just how it is.
If its sold out immediately or the price suddenly goes back way over the 1000€ mark,
i think i'm not going to buy anything and rather wait for new sales or get a bigger budget
for christmas 2022.

I have to say, finding a overall decent 4K tv
in this whole 550-1200€ (original price) range is pretty tiring.
There are text reviews, video reviews and score lists for days
 
Ok mate, yes its definitely too much buying a TV. It wouldn't be as complicated as its become if they'd have implemented HDR properly so it scaled on cheaper TVs ok. Hopefully the cost of capable ones will come down over time and it won't be a concern anymore.
 
@Dodgexander
The 55" XH95 is now available for 800€ (+30 shipping)
instead of 1500€. The 49" is more expensive.
Is this the 'no brainer, get it dude' price?
 
Yes, it is good deal.
How much LG C1 costs in Your country?
 
The Sony one is a special deal, only available until tomorrow midnight.
Theres no special deal for the LG C1 at the moment (48" 1300€)
LG CX 55" about 1300€.

The 49" version of the XH95 costs about 100€ more than the 55" version.
(but because of size difference, shipping for 49" is only 3€
but 55" is 30€)
 
At those prices don't buy OLED.
Sony for 800 will be great.
 
@Dodgexander

Received the 55" XH95 last week.
Huge screen compared to 27" PC monitors and 40-43" TVs
but the picture quality is very good. Even 1080p games look really good
and i wouldnt even say that they look blurrier than on my old 24" monitor.
HDR effect in games like Ghost of Tsushima looks awesome. No dirty spots, no stuck pixels.
Also no weird fake color boost. It looks very neutral in a good way.

Theres only one thing which makes it like a 8.5/10 and not a 10/10 so far.
And that one thing is the blooming / bleeding.
Its fine in none HDR content and most of the time in HDR content too.
I dont mind the slight brightening of the black bars in movies.

But especially in HDR games, there are some problematic scenarios.
For example if the mission takes place underground or in some dark
alleyway at night (so not much lighting in the actual game world)
you can clearly see how the higher brightness of the 2D HUD elements in the corners of the screen
(compass, health bar, minimap etc)
shine / bleed into the dark spaces of the game world.
So you get like a slight flashlight effect from these elements.
It would look much better if it wouldnt do that.
Maybe its possible to reduce this with the TV settings, havent tried it yet.
 

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