Questions about TV for a dark room

asknask

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Hope everyone's well. I posted this on reddit but I expect better responses here.

I've been going back and forth on this for the past 2 week. I'm looking to buy a new TV for my bedroom (previous was a Hisense U7A that died). I'm from Pakistan so options are rather limited. I have a dimly lit room, no direct sunlight once curtains are drawn, and I like watching movies with the lights off.

Questions. I've been reading and watching reviews that all state the importance of high nits for good HDR/IQ in general. Does all that matter much in a dark room?

My TV options:
  • 55 TCL C725 (55)
  • 55 TCL P725 (55)
  • If I push my budget, the 55inch Sony X900H.
Do I really need a brighter TV in a dark room to enjoy 4K content? Any recommendations are welcome.
 
Yes, HDR picture quality is closely linked to peak brightness, and high brightness on LCD TVs is even more important than OLED, since they cannot get as dark.

With a limited budget you will always have some difficulty with titles, the higher brightness you have the less difficulties you're encounter.

With a TV like the Sony X900H you will be okay in some titles, others will loot flat, some will be too dark and you'll prefer the to use SDR instead.

You can enjoy 4k in SDR if you use an external device that lets you turn HDR off, like apple TV. Sometimes you can also do this with a Roku or Firestick too by disable HDMI 2 on the HDMI port you use.

With the two TCL TVs you should really avoid HDR completely, these TVs are very dim and can't display it without problems. Demo material may be fine but once you watch some real 4k movies and TV shows with HDR, you'll have problems.
 
Yes, HDR picture quality is closely linked to peak brightness, and high brightness on LCD TVs is even more important than OLED, since they cannot get as dark.

With a limited budget you will always have some difficulty with titles, the higher brightness you have the less difficulties you're encounter.

With a TV like the Sony X900H you will be okay in some titles, others will loot flat, some will be too dark and you'll prefer the to use SDR instead.

You can enjoy 4k in SDR if you use an external device that lets you turn HDR off, like apple TV. Sometimes you can also do this with a Roku or Firestick too by disable HDMI 2 on the HDMI port you use.

With the two TCL TVs you should really avoid HDR completely, these TVs are very dim and can't display it without problems. Demo material may be fine but once you watch some real 4k movies and TV shows with HDR, you'll have problems.

Thanks for responding.

I don't have any experience with HDR since my last TV was also not a very bright one (Hisense U7A), and its hard to experience or judge how much difference HDR makes in a store with those bright lights. Is it really a significantly better experience?

I can go slightly nuts (given my budget) and get the 55inch TCL C825 which hits the 1000nits mark frequently with HDR content (correct me if I'm wrong). Question is, will it be worth it? Will the difference between that TV and a TV like C725 be big enough?
 
Yes, the U7A would have been very dim with HDR, like the TCLs on your list. The Sony XH90 will be twice as bright, and a much, much better experience.

The TCL C825 even better again if you can afford it, the C725 is not as good as the Sony XH90.

Of course HDR is not everything you play on the TV, so a better HDR TV will only be better with HDR material.
 

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