New 55" TV - Recommendations please based on answering your template

y5stu

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Hi AV Forums & Dodgexander,

I have read your very useful articles and answered the recommendation questions below. Unfortunately, I have missed last years older stock so looking at new 2022 models to purchase on either Black Friday or at Christmas when hopefully the price may drop.

The screen size will be 55”, we are upgrading from a 50”, and currently considering an LG C2 or Panasonic LZ980B. Are these televisions over-kill for my requirements/usage listed below?? What other make and models do you recommend I should consider??

My budget at current prices is £1300, although paying less is always better

Current Setup
7-year-old Panasonic TX-50CX680B LCD TV
7-year-old Panasonic SC-HTE200 2.1 Sound System
7-year-old Panasonic DMP-BDT270 DVD/Blu-ray player

My External Devices
I will connect my current Panasonic SC-HTE200 2.1 Sound System but may consider an upgrade
BT TV Pro Box
Panasonic DMP-BDT270 DVD/Blu-ray player (basic player and rarely used)
NO games console
NO computers

Content Watching
Primarily Freeview HD terrestrial channels
Freeview terrestrial channel catch-up apps
Occasional film or programme from Amazon Prime
Occasional film or programme from BT TV
We have a few DVD & Blu-ray films (hence the basic Panasonic DMP-BDT270 player)
NO sport (although sometimes F1 highlights on Freeview HD terrestrial TV)

Situational Questions
Current TV – 7-year-old Panasonic TX-50CX680B LCD TV
Sound Bar – 7-year-old Panasonic SC-HTE200 2.1 Sound System
DVD/Blu-ray – 7-year-old Panasonic DMP-BDT270 DVD/Blu-ray player
Set & forget, no tweaking
Viewing distance Sofa 1 – 3.2m / Angle –15 degrees left of centre
Viewing distance Sofa 2 – 4.0m / Angle – 40 degrees right of centre
TV is used weekday evenings and at weekends
Lighting – lounge lamps on in the evening
Lighting – in the summer lounge curtains are pulled to reduce bright sun glare
Low risk of OLED burn-in

Importance
Picture accuracy out of the box (without pro-calibration)
Viewing angles (due to lounge sofa layout)
Sound (although will use a sound system)

Bugs/Pet Hates
To be honest I would expect a new TV to be very good, but these would bug me…
Motion blur/judder/stutter would be very annoying
High reflective screen
Slow menus & response

Thanks & regards
Stu
 
Those TVs aren't really overkill; they will get you a much better picture with your sources overall. The most notable downside will be softer upscaling due to the increase in pixels compared to your sources, but in almost every other area one of the OLEDs you have suggested will be a lot better.
Bear in mind at the minute prices on new stock is still very expensive, it's recommended to wait to buy around Black Friday or later each year if you want good deals on the newer models.

I will say that today the biggest boost in picture quality is through HDR. Buying a 4k TV will mean HD and SD pictures will look softer, but these TV's are built more with HDR in mind than SDR.

In other words, whilst not overkill for your usage, you will want to give the new TV's a chance to shine by adapting your usage to include more HDR material if you can. You should treat the TV as avenue to enjoy the latest and greatest quality material, and not expect it to boost the picture quality of SDR sources so much.
Motion blur/judder/stutter would be very annoying
OLED TV's such as the two you are considering have next to no motion blur. Judder isn't something TV's have suffered from in a few years now.
Stutter is a problem with newer TVs, especially OLEDs. Now you can expect to fiddle with the TV's motion settings to reduce it. Motion overall is better on Sony TV's than Panasonic or LG so perhaps consider their OLEDs also.
High reflective screen
The two you are considering have good anti reflection properties and can get brighter than your old TV.
Slow menus & response
In general Panasonic's smart OS is out of date and featureless compared to LG, but it should still be a decent speed. If smart is a priority, go with LG.
Picture accuracy out of the box (without pro-calibration)
Both TVs are good. Panasonic will be slightly better.
Viewing angles (due to lounge sofa layout)
Both TVs are good. OLEDs have near-perfect viewing angles.
Sound (although will use a sound system)
Will be poor on all TVs unless you buy models with a dedicated soundbar integrated. For example, the Panasonic JZ1500 or LZ1500.
 
Those TVs aren't really overkill; they will get you a much better picture with your sources overall. The most notable downside will be softer upscaling due to the increase in pixels compared to your sources, but in almost every other area one of the OLEDs you have suggested will be a lot better.
Bear in mind at the minute prices on new stock is still very expensive, it's recommended to wait to buy around Black Friday or later each year if you want good deals on the newer models.

I will say that today the biggest boost in picture quality is through HDR. Buying a 4k TV will mean HD and SD pictures will look softer, but these TV's are built more with HDR in mind than SDR.

In other words, whilst not overkill for your usage, you will want to give the new TV's a chance to shine by adapting your usage to include more HDR material if you can. You should treat the TV as avenue to enjoy the latest and greatest quality material, and not expect it to boost the picture quality of SDR sources so much.

OLED TV's such as the two you are considering have next to no motion blur. Judder isn't something TV's have suffered from in a few years now.
Stutter is a problem with newer TVs, especially OLEDs. Now you can expect to fiddle with the TV's motion settings to reduce it. Motion overall is better on Sony TV's than Panasonic or LG so perhaps consider their OLEDs also.

The two you are considering have good anti reflection properties and can get brighter than your old TV.

In general Panasonic's smart OS is out of date and featureless compared to LG, but it should still be a decent speed. If smart is a priority, go with LG.

Both TVs are good. Panasonic will be slightly better.

Both TVs are good. OLEDs have near-perfect viewing angles.

Will be poor on all TVs unless you buy models with a dedicated soundbar integrated. For example, the Panasonic JZ1500 or LZ1500.
Thank you Dodgexander, I was hoping that you would reply as your articles and information have been very useful.
Are there any other models, such as from Samsung or Sony that you would throw in the mix for me?? or lesser/cheaper models (although I know you do not recommend cheap TVs - I saw that in one of your articles)
 
You could consider Sony or Samsung OLEDs too.
There are some cheaper OLED TVs which would be ideal for SDR use due to lower peak brightness but sadly these TV's also have poorer picture processing. Might be an idea if you wanted to save some money to look at TV's like LGs B or A series instead.
 
Thank you Dodgexander, hopefully these will be my last questions...

Regarding LG A & B series, when you say "sadly these TV's also have poorer picture processing" is this across all sources including Freeview HD terrestrial or more associated with HDR streaming material??

And

When viewing televisions in retail stores, they generally have a demo or slideshow of pictures which shows what the television is capable of but does not reflect real life conditions.
Is there a test programme or set of test pictures available online that could be downloaded on a USB stick and used instore?? (Apologies if this is a stupid question)

Thanks for the help and advice, much appreciated
Regards
Stu
 
Regarding LG A & B series, when you say "sadly these TV's also have poorer picture processing" is this across all sources including Freeview HD terrestrial or more associated with HDR streaming material??
It depends how much processing is required, and the processing path taken from the source to the TV.
For example:
Watching Freeview TV direct on the TV and using a channel that is in SD quality. - In this scenario the TV will be handling everything directly from the source, and a TV with better upscaling like LG's C series will do a better job than the lower end models with worse processing.

Watching Freeview TV instead through a box that outputs 1080p to the TV - In this scenario the TV will only be handing 1080p>2160p upscaling. The signal is already upscaled from SD to HD before it even reaches the TV, and therefore the TV's processing has little impact.

There are other aspects to the processing too, better processing tends to have less colour banding and more picture quality options and features. The biggest downside to the cheaper OLEDs like LGs B and A series is reduced brightness which makes them unsuitable for HDR use.
When viewing televisions in retail stores, they generally have a demo or slideshow of pictures which shows what the television is capable of but does not reflect real life conditions.
Is there a test programme or set of test pictures available online that could be downloaded on a USB stick and used instore?? (Apologies if this is a stupid question)
You're right there's no use comparing the TVs based on demo material. Using some of your own material would be a lot better, if they let you use it. This thread has a link to a site with some sample material:

Using the kind of material you use yourself, your sources and your viewing conditions will be the only real way to know though. I'd buy whichever TV you choose from a retailer with good customer service and a return policy, so when you get the TV, if you are unhappy you will have no trouble returning it.
 
Thank you Dodgexander for the clear and helpful explanation, you have convinced me to stay in the 'Pro Category' and will probably go for the LG C2 but will look at Sony and Panasonic equivalent models.
I usually buy televisions from Richer Sounds as they provide good support and warranty but will wait for prices to drop.

Thanks again, regards
Stu
 
Hi @Dodgexander and Forum members.

I have spent a lot of the weekend viewing televisions in retail stores and reading reviews etc. I think I have narrowed it down to one of these two…

LG 55 c2
Sony 55 A80k

In your opinion which is best out of my LG and Sony short list??

I am having trouble deciding and would value your opinion.

Staff put me off Panasonic as they had 4 demo models fail on the shop floor in the past 12 months
The Samsung S95B Q-OLED was mentioned but I am not sure about the newest technology and the build quality was questionable.

I am not buying until prices drop but I want to be ready to purchase when they do.

Thanks and regards
Stu
 
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