Question New VA panel TV from amazon - 40-55"

[JamKid]

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.

 

[Dodgexander]

Sony Bravia KD43XE8004 at £539

This isn't a VA panel. All 43" UHD panels this year are IPS.

- 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?

Just the same as the entry UHD models yes, a good upgrade.

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?

You best draw your own conclusions when it comes to this, demo some DVDs on UHD TVs if you can. But I'd say as long as the source is decent quality you shouldn't have a problem..especially at your viewing distance which is too far to notice any UHD detail. DVDs are a bit hit or miss but since you will be using such a small screen it may be less apparent.

The best way I can describe upscaling on an UHD model compared to a FHD is it just looks a lot "softer".

- 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.

Only VA panel at that size, and not sure if it's available on Amazon is the 43" Samsung FHD models. https://pricespy.co.uk/search?q=43M5

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'?

It can be disabled on all TVs now. The shop mode in Currys probably have it enabled by default.

I just had a quick look at the pricespy link and found: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071PFD...N=B071PFDLTH&linkCode=df0&smid=A2CN43WDI0AWCL so I'd probably get this.

Failing that the FHD Sony's are good options that you have already looked at.

If you do want to go UHD then the TVs you are looking at are good, I will say one thing, at your viewing distance you really want to get the largest TV you can afford, so if you got say the 55XE70 Sony, it will give you a lot better detail with a good HD source compared to smaller TVs. Of course being larger and UHD would mean DVDs look poorer though.

 

[JamKid]

Thanks. The one you linked to looks good, but I'd need to add £25 for a headphone doohicky and I'm not sure its worth a £125 premium over the Sony for just 3 inches more screen.

I reckon I'm looking at either the Sony at 40" (doesn't sound like there's any point going above FHD at that size, even if I was running a 4k console into it), or going as big as possible with one of the 55" ones. Will have a think.

It can be disabled on all TVs now. The shop mode in Currys probably have it enabled by default.

That's good to know. The exception to that rule are the 'motion 400' Sharp sets. There are options in the 'expert menu' on the 'motion 600' and 'motion 800' sets to turn motion enhancement off, but it is missing in the cheapest one. Confirmed here, on page 20 of the manual:

http://www.umc-uk.co.uk/instruction...ART UHD LED TV - SHA-MAN-0367 Web Version.pdf

I doubt anyone here would consider such a set for a second, but I thought it worth mentioning having spent the best part of a day searching fruitlessly through every menu on the thing before returning it!

 

[JamKid]

I just had a quick look at the pricespy link and found: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071PFD...N=B071PFDLTH&linkCode=df0&smid=A2CN43WDI0AWCL so I'd probably get this.

Failing that the FHD Sony's are good options that you have already looked at.

Is this basically the same set as the one you linked to?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-43...TF8&qid=1528392478&sr=1-2&keywords=samsung+43

Quite a bit cheaper even when I factor the headphone thing in. Amazon list the model number as UE43M5520AKXXU, rather than UE43M5510AWXXN in your link. Still a VA panel? Would come to £45 more than the Sony all in rather than £125.

 

[Dodgexander]

Is this basically the same set as the one you linked to?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-43...TF8&qid=1528392478&sr=1-2&keywords=samsung+43

Quite a bit cheaper even when I factor the headphone thing in. Amazon list the model number as UE43M5520AKXXU, rather than UE43M5510AWXXN in your link. Still a VA panel? Would come to £45 more than the Sony all in rather than £125.

Yes same TV, different aesthetics.

If you want to go smaller I definitely would say going FHD is better.

 

[JamKid]

Thanks - plumped for the 49" version of the Samsung FHD in the end as it was only £10 more than the 43" and apparantly also a VA screen.

Set up and I'm really pleased with it on the whole, but noticed some of what I think people are calling edge-bleed. There's a sort of v-shaped splurge of light nearish to the top left which is most visible against whites/yellows, and a sort of whitish 'blob' effect in the bottom-left corner which I noted and was okayish with until I tried Blade Runner where it was very noticeable on dark scenes.

All on the left side, the right hand side seems perfect.

The pictures attached probably overstate it slightly (it's a bit more local than it looks in the pic) but they're the best I could get as using the flash seems to make the effect dissapear completely (as does looking at it at an angle from the left).

My old set didn't seem to do this, although the blacks could be quite cloudy and grey overall. This is more like a dirty bit on a window, or a faded bit of a photo, but only affecting dark scenes in very specific areas.

Can anyone tell me how normal this is nowadays - what should my expectations be here? Have I got a duff one, or is this par for the course these days?

 

[Dodgexander]

I don't think that is normal at all. Its expected to have some screen uniformity issues but to me that looks like a fault with the panel. I'd enquire about getting an exchange.

 

[JamKid]

Thanks for that - will message them.

 

[JamKid]

Enquired about an exchange, and the seller referred me to amazon as they fullfilled the order. Amazon have sorted a refund back onto my gift card.

Decided to go with Sony for a replacement since they have the headphone socket built in, which will be less of a faff. I have an order in for the 40" WE663 from the best value TV's thread, which is scheduled to be delivered at the weekend. Costs £399 which seems to be the standard price everywhere, which I'm okay with.

Just noticed they're doing the 49" version of the WE753 for £409, which on paper is a much better deal compared the the RRP. I've plenty of time to ammend the order before the weekend if need be.

SIze-wise I think I'd be happy with either, so I just wanted to check two things really:

- How certain is the WE663 to be VA rather than IPS? Is there an element of panel-lottery with Sony or is VA pretty much a lock at that size?

- The WE753 is definately IPS but is higher up the range, and has the Triluminous display. I can certainly see the difference between the Triluminous screens and the standard ones in the shops, they do seem to 'pop' more, but I don't really trust shop displays to give a true impression of what day to day usage will likely be. How much of a difference is a Triluminous display likely to make in actual day to day use versus the better contrast of a VA screen?

I rarely turn the lights off completely when watching, but usually watch in a dim-ish night-time room illuminated by a table lamp.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dodgexander]

Well it's not so much about the model range of each TV but more the size. 40" is a common size for VA panels whilst 43" and 49" its more common to get IPS.

Almost definitely Sony TVs at 49" will be using IPS panels.

Triluminous is Sony's way of saying the TV has a wide colour gamut. A wide colour gamut is used for HDR content, not for your normal TV watching.

Its beneficial if you use the TV for UHD Blu-Rays or streaming on Netflix/Amazon when select titles use HDR. Its not beneficial for broadcast TV or normal Blu-Rays.

However it's not a bad thing to have it, just a bit unfortunate that if you go for the larger model you will get an IPS panel instead.

Now whether that really matters in the real world for you is a different matter, if you have a lamp on or, especially if you get some TV bias lighting you can alleviate the negatives of an IPS panel.

If you place more importance in picture quality in the respect of how deep blacks are and contrast ratio then you will be happier with a VA panel.

One thing that also can change is IPS panels can let less light through from behind and whilst you can get good and bad of both, IPS tech is definitely more susceptible. Having already returned a TV due to a backlight/panel fault that used VA you may well have better luck no matter IPS or VA.

 

[JamKid]

Thanks - some good info there to mull over.

 

[JamKid]

Stuck with the 40" Sony, which has now been delivered and set up and I'm very happy with it. Contrast levels are, as advised, excellent. Blu-Rays and HD games look great, and it's really forgiving with older sources too. No major panel issues that I can see.

Just wanted to pop in and thank Dodgexander for all the help - not just here in this thread, but all the guides and explanation threads too. Obviously a lot of work and research there, and an invaluable resource. Thanks!

 

[Dodgexander]

Stuck with the 40" Sony, which has now been delivered and set up and I'm very happy with it. Contrast levels are, as advised, excellent. Blu-Rays and HD games look great, and it's really forgiving with older sources too. No major panel issues that I can see.

Just wanted to pop in and thank Dodgexander for all the help - not just here in this thread, but all the guides and explanation threads too. Obviously a lot of work and research there, and an invaluable resource. Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words and glad you're happy with the TV