Picture quality on 58PUS8105 is awful

nickmooney

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I bought a Philips 58PUS8105 from Argos last week (£480) to replace my 55PUS6704 (which got knocked over and screen smashed) and the picture quality on the new 58PUS8105 is absolutely awful.

I thought they'd have the same panel or whatever, but the old 55" beats the 58" in picture quality hands down.

Colours are washed out, screen is too bright. I've changed all of the settings on 8-bit Sky Q content loads of times to try and make it better, turned off dynamic contrast, turned it up full, changed colours manually, changed video contrast, reset everything, started again, updated it to the latest software and all sorts but the picture quality is just awful. I've turned off the various modes, put it into monitor mode, game mode, turned off all of the motion compensation and all sorts but I can't make it nice like the old one.

Awful awful awful. I've contacted Argos who say that if I can't get this sorted by day 30 then I can return it for a refund/exchange.

I'm clutching at straws but I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas of what settings to use for non-HDR 4k content. Once I've sorted that I'll try to do the same with Dolby Vision/HDR content.

Help!
 
If I remember correctly, the 55PUS6704 was using an IPS panel, whereas the 58PUS8105 is using a VA panel, i.e. a display with entirely different characteristics. This is probably the reason why you're experiencing a deviating performance, especially when comparing this TV set to what you were used to from your previous TV set.

However, this is exactly the question: is the new TV simply not living up to your expectations, or are we talking about a picture quality issue that could actually be caused by a defective display?
Is it possible to capture the lack of picture quality on a photo, or will the effect not / hardly be visible there?
 
Thanks for your reply. I had assumed that it would be the same panel for each. The 55" (which was fine) was just £400 so when I got another 3" for £80 more (58" £480) I just expected another IPS panel.

After reading your reply I don't think the panel is faulty, but if the old cheaper one was an IPS panel and the new more expensive one is a VA panel that would explain it.

I wish I'd done more research before clicking BUY as I just assumed they'd both have the same panel.

I'm not sure if there is also some issue in the software/controller for the panel because the darkest colour on the screen is black but the next darkest colour on the screen is visibly much much lighter and I've got dynamic contrast off.
 
@nickmooney.

All 58" TVs are VAs, regardless of brand, so I don't know why you expected an IPS. The 6 series is an introductory series and the 8105 the lowest variation of the 8 series, so don't expect much in terms of picture quality, however you said you were OK with the 6704. This seems to be the norm with their cheap LCDs right now, due to Philips using generic quality 8+2 bits VA panels to keep the cost down. If you are not sure which Philips model to buy in the 6, 7 or 8 series, better stick with the IPS ones. You lose a bit of black, but you get a more natural performance everywhere else plus better viewing angles, provided you get one with minimal light bleeding. Good VA panels are expensive and you won't find them in this price range. Just my two cents!
 
Thanks for letting me know. Now I know the reason for the picture quality being different it's not so frustrating trying to get it to look like the old TV as I know the reason for the difference in picture quality and viewing angles.

I've obviously been spoiled with IPS panels over the years and this is my first VA.

I am making some progress with getting some better settings for 4K SDR today and when I've worked out what they are I'll post them here in case anyone else has a meltdown over their TV in the future.
 
I think the small viewing angle doesn't help here either as I'll get the image looking fine then sit on the other end of the settee and everything looks awful again.

Two shots of the same thing from BBC Breakfast this morning. Head on looks okay, but just slightly to the right and you can see the image becoming too bright and Raab's jacket becomes brighter.
raab head on.jpgraab off centre.jpg
 
I thought VA was superior for HDR and they had become preferential over IPS?

And you should never assume a particular brand uses the same panels. The panels used differ between models and change regularly.

I think your complaints are about HDR when you say it generally looks too bright, and the blacks are the only content which is not too bright. I believe this is simply how non-HDR content ends up looking on a HDR panel. Everything looks wrong initially.

With the colours looking washed out, obviously this is your viewing angle and not the screen itself.
 
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I think the small viewing angle doesn't help here either as I'll get the image looking fine then sit on the other end of the settee and everything looks awful again.

Two shots of the same thing from BBC Breakfast this morning. Head on looks okay, but just slightly to the right and you can see the image becoming too bright and Raab's jacket becomes brighter.
View attachment 1563004View attachment 1563005
Unfortunately that's how VA panels are. Head-on they produce better images due to having a higher contrast ratio and deeper black levels, but they have poor viewing angles.

IPS has great viewing angles, but worse contrast and back levels overall.

If you are watching the TV from the side an IPS panel would work much better. Most 55" LCD TV's have IPS panels, but it can still be a lottery. Look out for manufacturer quoted contrast levels, anything below 3000:1 should have an IPS panel, anything over 3000:1 will usually have a VA panel.
 
I thought VA was superior for HDR and they had become preferential over IPS?

And you should never assume a particular brand uses the same panels. The panels used differ between models and usually change each year between two virtually identical sets released a year apart.

I think your complaints are about HDR where you say it generally looks too bright, and the blacks are the only content which is not too bright. I believe this is simply how non-HDR content ends up looking on a HDR panel. Everything looks wrong initially.

With the colours looking washed out, obviously this is your viewing angle and not the screen itself.
These panels are low end and low brightness, so definitely geared towards SDR more than HDR, I'd expect SDR to look better than HDR on this particular TV.
 
I suppose that depends whether the TV has any built-in dynamic tone mapping, and whether the content is dolby vision or not.. as to whether any HDR will look good on the 8-bit+frc with low luminance.

It does seem like an awfully cheap TV though, with too much screen being provided for the price. Suppose it was just a bad VA panel as the poster said (probably along the lines of what you'd find in a budget Toshiba/Hisense model).
 
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58" models were most problematic on this forum, yes VA, yes poor viewing angles and yes many issues with HDR. Although I am not sure what HDR do people expect from cheap 400nits panel. Personally I would return this unit as this is last years model with old platform. Also maybe its your phone camera but it looks like you are missing strip of pixels on top of screen? Just zoom at top, looks like panel defect :eek:
 

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