Hi. I've got £200 of gift cards loaded onto my amazon account and was looking to add to it and upgrade my 32" Toshiba 323030C. It's an entry-level HD-ready model from around 10-11 years ago with (I think) an IPS LG panel. I'd like to get a similar lifespan out of its replacement.
Current sources are PS4 (standard not pro), Nintendo Switch, BluRay player and I'm an an on/off netflix subscriber. I don't watch any broadcast TV at all, save for very occasional catch-up. So it's mainly games, DVD's and BluRay movies and tv boxsets that I'll be using it for. Viewing distance is about 2.1/2.2 metres in a small sitting room with the TV directly facing the couch.
I don't currently have any UHD sources, and I think my broadband can only really handle streaming at 1080p. I do expect to have a 4k native console with UHD disk capabilties within the lifespan of the TV though, and I can definately see myself getting some favourites on UHD as a treat if the option's there and the jump in quality warrants it. I do still buy DVDs as well though, as they're often super-cheap and some stuff (world cinema especially) is still more predominantly available that way.
I'd like a VA panel as I'm directly facing the screen, and in general that seems to mean either 40", or 50-55".
I've been looking at various FHD and UHD options, mainly from dodgexander's 'best value TV's' thread. I'm limited to amazon and the ones that stand out to me based on their current pricing seem to be:
At 40":
- Sony Bravia KDL40WE663 FHD at £369 (they had the RE4 at £339 but seems to have shot up to £400 now)
- Panasonic TX-40EX600B UHD at £379
At 43" (slim pickings)
Sony Bravia KD43XE8004 at £539
At 50"
- Samsung UE50MU6120 at £439 (plus £25 for an optical headphone DAC as that's how I mainly listen and there's no headphone socket), so £464.
- Panasonic TX-50EX700B at £498.80
At 55"
- Samsung UE55MU6120 at £469 plus £25 for headphone DAC - £494
- Sony Bravia KD55XE7002 at £538.97 plus £7.99 as it's a prime exclusive - £546.96
Obviously a fair range of screen sizes and prices there. I do have some specific questions to try and help narrow my thinking down as I'd rather not spend more than I need to, but would like quality.
- At the low end, would the Sony RE4/WE66 actually be a significant/worthwhile upgrade over what I already have? Not just in terms of the jump in screen-size and resolution but overall picture quality?
- From reading on here I gather that SD sources look worse on UHD than FHD. Usually people mention low quality cable TV broadcasts which I don't use. How bad is this for (specifically and exclusively) DVD's which I do still use alongside BluRay? I'm trying to weigh up the potential loss in DVD quality on the bigger UHD screens against the gains of UHD BluRay and the option of running my next console in native 4k in the future, and I'll confess to being a little lost here. Is there a sweet spot size-wise at my viewing distance where DVD degradation is tolerable but the UHD gain still noticable? Are there specific TV's which do a better job of upscaling DVD content than others?
- Any glaring ommisions in my list? I selected the ones above since they seem to be the best price on Amazon relative to other models shortlisted in dodgexander's thread.
- There doesn't seem to be much available at 43" in a VA panel that I can see. Is there anything premium or 'special' about the Sony XE80 which warrants it costing the same as the bigger models on amazon currently? I like the idea of that screen size, but not of paying over the odds for it.
- This is probably a dumb question (via a bit of a ramble) but I originally got a 40" Sharp supermarket TV with some instore credit I got as a work reward. The soap opera effect (as I've learned it's called) was just unbelievably awful. As in unwatchable. Worse, it could not be turned off, which was confirmed in the manual (no motion processing options of any kind). Luckily it also had a manufacturing-defect preventing one of the legs being attached, so I returned it for store credit and bought amazon vouchers. Walking around Currys they had a looped promo thing on all the TV's and every time it went to a film clip the effect was there on just about every set, and it was eventually starting to make me feel giddy/nauseous looking at it. Never seen anything like this before, but I've been out of the buying loop for a decade. This is just a Currys settings thing right? Something I can absolutlely get rid of with motion-processing switched 'off'?
Sorry for long post - I've tried to cover everything. Any suggestions/advice appreciated.
Current sources are PS4 (standard not pro), Nintendo Switch, BluRay player and I'm an an on/off netflix subscriber. I don't watch any broadcast TV at all, save for very occasional catch-up. So it's mainly games, DVD's and BluRay movies and tv boxsets that I'll be using it for. Viewing distance is about 2.1/2.2 metres in a small sitting room with the TV directly facing the couch.
I don't currently have any UHD sources, and I think my broadband can only really handle streaming at 1080p. I do expect to have a 4k native console with UHD disk capabilties within the lifespan of the TV though, and I can definately see myself getting some favourites on UHD as a treat if the option's there and the jump in quality warrants it. I do still buy DVDs as well though, as they're often super-cheap and some stuff (world cinema especially) is still more predominantly available that way.
I'd like a VA panel as I'm directly facing the screen, and in general that seems to mean either 40", or 50-55".
I've been looking at various FHD and UHD options, mainly from dodgexander's 'best value TV's' thread. I'm limited to amazon and the ones that stand out to me based on their current pricing seem to be:
At 40":
- Sony Bravia KDL40WE663 FHD at £369 (they had the RE4 at £339 but seems to have shot up to £400 now)
- Panasonic TX-40EX600B UHD at £379
At 43" (slim pickings)
Sony Bravia KD43XE8004 at £539
At 50"
- Samsung UE50MU6120 at £439 (plus £25 for an optical headphone DAC as that's how I mainly listen and there's no headphone socket), so £464.
- Panasonic TX-50EX700B at £498.80
At 55"
- Samsung UE55MU6120 at £469 plus £25 for headphone DAC - £494
- Sony Bravia KD55XE7002 at £538.97 plus £7.99 as it's a prime exclusive - £546.96
Obviously a fair range of screen sizes and prices there. I do have some specific questions to try and help narrow my thinking down as I'd rather not spend more than I need to, but would like quality.
- At the low end, would the Sony RE4/WE66 actually be a significant/worthwhile upgrade over what I already have? Not just in terms of the jump in screen-size and resolution but overall picture quality?
- From reading on here I gather that SD sources look worse on UHD than FHD. Usually people mention low quality cable TV broadcasts which I don't use. How bad is this for (specifically and exclusively) DVD's which I do still use alongside BluRay? I'm trying to weigh up the potential loss in DVD quality on the bigger UHD screens against the gains of UHD BluRay and the option of running my next console in native 4k in the future, and I'll confess to being a little lost here. Is there a sweet spot size-wise at my viewing distance where DVD degradation is tolerable but the UHD gain still noticable? Are there specific TV's which do a better job of upscaling DVD content than others?
- Any glaring ommisions in my list? I selected the ones above since they seem to be the best price on Amazon relative to other models shortlisted in dodgexander's thread.
- There doesn't seem to be much available at 43" in a VA panel that I can see. Is there anything premium or 'special' about the Sony XE80 which warrants it costing the same as the bigger models on amazon currently? I like the idea of that screen size, but not of paying over the odds for it.
- This is probably a dumb question (via a bit of a ramble) but I originally got a 40" Sharp supermarket TV with some instore credit I got as a work reward. The soap opera effect (as I've learned it's called) was just unbelievably awful. As in unwatchable. Worse, it could not be turned off, which was confirmed in the manual (no motion processing options of any kind). Luckily it also had a manufacturing-defect preventing one of the legs being attached, so I returned it for store credit and bought amazon vouchers. Walking around Currys they had a looped promo thing on all the TV's and every time it went to a film clip the effect was there on just about every set, and it was eventually starting to make me feel giddy/nauseous looking at it. Never seen anything like this before, but I've been out of the buying loop for a decade. This is just a Currys settings thing right? Something I can absolutlely get rid of with motion-processing switched 'off'?
Sorry for long post - I've tried to cover everything. Any suggestions/advice appreciated.