Podcast: CES 2021 Special - Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, TCL and Hisense TV news and more... (12/01/21)

Phil Hinton

Editor
Staff member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
11,712
Reaction score
12,833
Points
6,438
Location
AVForums
The AVForums podcast returns with news from CES. We cover the new TV news from Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, LG, RCL and Hisense as they announce new 8K & 4K OLED, Mini LED, QNED and Micro LED TVs for 2021.

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:23 - Welcome and refections on not going to Vegas for CES
00:19:00 - Sony CES TV annoucements
00:37:00 - Samsung CES TV announcements
00:51:10 - Panasonic CES TV annoucements
01:01:20 - LG CES TV announcements
01:13:00 - Hisense & TCL TV announcements
01:21:30 - Hi-Fi news
01:25:10 - Album of the week
01:30:30 - Thoughts on what's been on TV
01:38:00 - Thanks and goodbyes

Presented by Phil Hinton with Ed Selley & Steve Withers.

Subscription link: AVForums Podcast

Links to the audio versions will appear once the podcast has been live-streamed on Tuesday the 12th.

Direct Link



To watch the video with the live chat, click the YouTube logo in the video window
Support us by making a donation at avforums / Streamlabs
Become a Patron at AVForums is creating Videos | Patreon
Your donations help us to improve the website, publish more editorial and make better podcasts. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Is it me or is CES borderline useless for AV things? They do a general overview of say a new TV but that’s it. No detailed information or demos.

I’m sure there’s a tech event somewhere in Europe in February/March time which has in-depth demos and information, can’t for the life of me remember the name though
 
Thanks Gents. Much appreciated Podcast.
 
Is it me or is CES borderline useless for AV things? They do a general overview of say a new TV but that’s it. No detailed information or demos.

I’m sure there’s a tech event somewhere in Europe in February/March time which has in-depth demos and information, can’t for the life of me remember the name though

ISE?
 
Excellent podcast to start 2021. Really enjoyed the virtual CES coverage.
 
Great coverage in these Covid times. And welcome to the new AVForums reviewer Steve Williams. :D
 
Great coverage in these Covid times. And welcome to the new AVForums reviewer Steve Williams. :D
I heard that Phil Collins will be Guest Editor in February.
 
Does anyone know if Samsung will introduce an 8K 65 inch LCD TV please? Ta.
 
I believe that’s the one! If it is that, it’s always better than CES for TV’s & Soundbars at least
ISE is a custom installation and professional integrator trade show held in Amsterdam, it's not a consumer electronics show. There are no major AV consumer shows in the UK in the time frame you suggest. The only other thing I can think of is the Bristol Show, but that is Hi-Fi orientated and no major TV brands attend or demo kit at that show. CES is the major show at the start of the year, the next major event with product launch announcements will be IFA in Berlin in late August, early September.
TV manufacturers usually have their main UK based events in Feb/March/April for the press which we attend and are usually better for technical details, hands-on and speaking to engineers. Those obviously will not happen this year due to Covid.
 
Great podcast as usual Phil, Ed and Steve. Thanks for your efforts.

I have a question.

My 3.5 year old Sony A1 stopped working. John Lewis (they rock!) offered me either a replacement 8k samsung or £3.5k to choose a replacement (I paid £5k for the A1 😱).

Based on your reviews and me not having any interest in 8k I decided to go for a Panasonic. I couldnt find any information comparing the performance of the panel in the HZ1000/HZ1500 to the "Master OLED" panel in the HZ2000. Not in your reviews or in anyone else's reviews either. I found it quite frustrating not being able to find a performance (not a feature) comparison. Do manufacturers stop you and other reviewers from comparing the performance of the different panels in a manufacturers range? Or did you sign a NDA stopping you answer that question? :D
 
Great podcast as usual Phil, Ed and Steve. Thanks for your efforts.

I have a question.

My 3.5 year old Sony A1 stopped working. John Lewis (they rock!) offered me either a replacement 8k samsung or £3.5k to choose a replacement (I paid £5k for the A1 😱).

Based on your reviews and me not having any interest in 8k I decided to go for a Panasonic. I couldnt find any information comparing the performance of the panel in the HZ1000/HZ1500 to the "Master OLED" panel in the HZ2000. Not in your reviews or in anyone else's reviews either. I found it quite frustrating not being able to find a performance (not a feature) comparison. Do manufacturers stop you and other reviewers from comparing the performance of the different panels in a manufacturers range? Or did you sign a NDA stopping you answer that question? :D
I'm not sure what you thought was missing, as I do try and give a performance comparison, especially with 1000/1500 and 2000. Manufacturers have no say in what we do or say within the reviews and if they ever tried to insist on doing so or getting us to sign NDAs they would be told what they could do with such requests, politely of course :) If you could be a little more specific about what you feel is missing we can certainly try and fix that issue if we can.
 
On iTunes the audio podcast description is still saying 12th January 2020.
 
In my opinion, the Panasonic operating system remains better than the alternatives for watching and recording TV from the integrated tuner, because it is so traditional. Probably not so important in the UK, but it was actually one of the plus points when getting my GZ. The operating speed was miles ahead of the two year old Android TV, too, which probably is no longer such a selling feature.

So I'm pretty happy that they aren't moving to the Google TV bandwagon (yet), though I suppose it is just a matter of time if Panasonic have decided to remain in the TV market long term.

I somehow kept hearing the LG EVO technology as "the evil technology" while listening to Phil :D
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure what you thought was missing, as I do try and give a performance comparison, especially with 1000/1500 and 2000. Manufacturers have no say in what we do or say within the reviews and if they ever tried to insist on doing so or getting us to sign NDAs they would be told what they could do with such requests, politely of course :) If you could be a little more specific about what you feel is missing we can certainly try and fix that issue if we can.

Great to hear Phil and thanks for replying.

I'm quite chilled about all this so please dont read it like I'm having a big moan or a rant. Just giving you an answer to your question and hopefully give you an idea of how me, a potential buyer, read and used the reviews :) .

I read and watched the reviews a number of times expecting/hoping for it to give me a clear understanding on what the differences are between the models and whether the better picture on the 2000 would make a difference. Below I pick out the picture performance comparison points from the reviews (only interested in picture performance)

HZ-1500 review. Starts out "So, is this the best Home Cinema focussed OLED TV or should you hold out for the top of the range HZ2000 with its Custom Pro Panel? Let’s find out. "

Perfect, you're going to answer the exact question I have on my mind :)

The verdict is "The HZ1500 could prove to be trouble for its bigger brother in the value stakes."

The review tells me it is a great set and likely to give the 2000 a run for its money. It doesnt answer the question the review set out to answer though, "should you hold out for the 2000"

HZ-1000 review. Mentions the 2000 in the verdict "Only the flagship HZ2000 will best the HZ1000 (and HZ1500) for movie fans, but that also comes with a flagship price tag"

Not quite sure how the flagship will best them. Just that it will.

HZ-2000 review. Verdict "Having now seen most of the OLED contenders in our testing room this year from Panasonic, Sony, LG and Philips, the HZ2000 produces the ultimate in picture quality for movie viewing in a dim room, so they have managed to live up to their own ‘Hollywood to the Home’ hype. "

Doesnt say how it is better to the 1500. Just that it is. So I started to flick between the two reviews to see if I could compare. I spotted the peak brightness. 659 vs 838. Would I notice that sort of difference or any other difference side by side? I have no idea. I counted the overall picture scores and they came to the same total. Perhaps out of lock down I would have got to a shop to see if I could see the difference for myself.

I hope that answers the question and gives you some idea of what I meant. Anyway I've chosen my telly now thanks to you guys and I'm incredibly happy with it :D ...really cant believe the improvement over the Sony A1, as I said before

and again...thanks for all of your hard work. I really do enjoy the podcasts, going through all the historic podcasts got me through the boredom of recovering from covid in March/April last year.
 
Which of these new TV’s can best show the colour tone change on that Orange guy overseas as his face complexion colour changes from Orange to Red and then back to Orange during Impeachment? Better on OLED or LED?
 
So this year is very much like last year, which was like the year before. A few tweaks here and there, one or two attractive options at the top end, and err - that’s it. I accept that tweaks add up over time, but this latest so called consumer event clearly demonstrates that there is little or no reason for the vast majority of consumers to change their sets until they are at least 5 years old (unless they are broken). Meanwhile the annual charade of waiting until Black Friday to buy a new model at a reasonable price grinds inexorably on.
 
I was hoping for TV’s with much better audio to save space and all those audio sync issues which frequently occur. Maybe even TV with a separate Sub as a configuration model.
 
Which of these new TV’s can best show the colour tone change on that Orange guy overseas as his face complexion colour changes from Orange to Red and then back to Orange during Impeachment? Better on OLED or LED?
Just change any OLED or LED back to the retina-searing "Showroom" setting, & his face should really "pop".
 
Great show as always.

For those (like Ed) who “enjoyed” the Yorkshire Ripper series on Netflix, there’s a new one about Richard Ramirez called Night Stalker. Subject matter is pretty grim again, but interviews with lots of people involved in the case, really good.
 
Great show as always.

For those (like Ed) who “enjoyed” the Yorkshire Ripper series on Netflix, there’s a new one about Richard Ramirez called Night Stalker. Subject matter is pretty grim again, but interviews with lots of people involved in the case, really good.
I take it you watched The Ripper, is it me or is it essentially the same as the ITV/CH4 documentary? I was watching it thinking I’ve seen this before, then when they said they had to suspend the police floor because of the paperwork weight I was convinced it’s very similar.

I’ll watch the other though as I do like real crime documentaries on Netflix, Don’t f... with cats is still the best IMO
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom