Reviews and Thoughts..

PaulW999

Novice Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2019
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
2
Age
48
Location
Grayshott
Hi all

We currently have an old 42" Toshiba HD TV. It was brought for us so im not complaining but i never really liked the MASSIVE 2 inch plastic border around the screen.
Picture generally seems OK but im sure it could be better.

Anyways ive convinced the wife to chop it in, and have been looking around for options.
We don`t have a huge room and Im going with a 49 \ 50" so that rules out anything OLED + i really don`t want to spend that much on a TV TBH ..!

So I`ve narrowed it down to between Sony and LG (Im leaning towards one but i wont say which in this post)
LG

Id really appreciate any impartial advice or thoughts in relation to this and these models, Whats good whats bad and given the choice which might you choose and why.?

Sony Bravia KD-49XG9005BU
LG 49SM9000PLA

While im here can anyone tell me what the deal is with "True Black \ Deep Black".. While im sure this is valuable from a bench-marking perspective does it truly matter on a day to day basis i cant really tell the difference !!

Usage will be:
General TV (via Free-Sat)
Films (Via TV and PS4)
TV streaming (either from TV or PS4)
Netflix
PS4 Gaming

Many Thanks for any responses
Kr
Paul


.
 
in-art-close-icon-128x128-16481b937f87b244a645cdbef0d930f8.png


–– ADVERTISEMENT ––​





unmiss-sound-button-muted-e74d67a0c85c3548f07d7564782a269c.svg


Hi all

We currently have an old 42" Toshiba HD TV. It was brought for us so im not complaining but i never really liked the MASSIVE 2 inch plastic border around the screen.
Picture generally seems OK but im sure it could be better.

Anyways ive convinced the wife to chop it in, and have been looking around for options.
We don`t have a huge room and Im going with a 49 \ 50" so that rules out anything OLED + i really don`t want to spend that much on a TV TBH ..!

So I`ve narrowed it down to between Sony and LG (Im leaning towards one but i wont say which in this post)
LG

Id really appreciate any impartial advice or thoughts in relation to this and these models, Whats good whats bad and given the choice which might you choose and why.?

Sony Bravia KD-49XG9005BU
LG 49SM9000PLA

While im here can anyone tell me what the deal is with "True Black \ Deep Black".. While im sure this is valuable from a bench-marking perspective does it truly matter on a day to day basis i cant really tell the difference !!

Usage will be:
General TV (via Free-Sat)
Films (Via TV and PS4)
TV streaming (either from TV or PS4)
Netflix
PS4 Gaming

Many Thanks for any responses
Kr
Paul


.
'true black' - half marketing spiel, half logic

Effectively what TV manufacturers say is that with a regular LCD, it's impossible to achieve a true black on the screen. This is because the backlight of the TV is always on 100%, and the LCD panel adjusts the colour being shown, creating the image. In an area of black (the night sky for example), the pixels try to show nothing, but the backlight behind is still pushing light through. This presents itself as inky blue/greys. More advanced LCD/LED tvs recently have a few tricks - either they can adjust the brightness of the backlight (known as local dimming) across the screen, so one area of the screen that is largely black can be dimmed more than a very light area.... though this doesn't work that well if there's a small bright part amongst black - say a single star in the night sky.

There are two types of advanced backlighting tvs. Conventional edge lit, where the backlight (made up of maybe 8-10 parts) is along the bottom and fires light up, and FALD (Full Array local Dimming), which sees individual backlights in rows and coloums behind the panel. FALD is better, but often more expensive. Edge lit will see noticable 'bands' of light..... So if you have a night sky and a moon in the corner, most of the screen will be dark, but the 'band' on the edge of the screen will be illuminated, not just the moon. With FALD, the idea is that only the moon is illuminted, but in practice there is some light leakage into the black, though better than edge lit.

True black as an idea in modern tech is pushed with OLED, where the panel, by creating its own light in the pixels has perfect contrast. That means you can have some pixels on very bright, immediately next to a pixel that is off, showing black.

Simply put, 'true black' is the idea that black is not a colour, more the absence of light. In current TVs, only OLEDs can produce true black, as the technology allows them to shut off all light creation when not needed.

What does this mean for you? Regular TV, probably not a lot. If you're a movie fan, you might prefer the better contrasts between the colours and blacks, particularly of the 'letter box' ratios. An FALD TV (both of the ones you chose) will give you brighter pictures with decent contrasts and pretty good black performance - definitely better on the Sony than the LG .Unfortunately at current, there are no OLEDs in your size, but there are plans to start production of a 48 inch oled next year.

Between the two tvs you're interested - put simply, the Sony is the better TV for picture quality, the LG the better option for operating system and connectivity.
The Sony uses a VA panel, which enables the TV to go brighter, more contrast from front on, arguably better accuracy for movies. Sony's processor means that sports/gaming may look slightly better as Sony's motion processing is potentially the best available. The OS is OK, not the best on the market but still usable and gives you all the main apps.

The LG uses an IPS panel, which means it can't go as bright, black performance isn't as good, contrast may not be as good. However, this means its better from an off-centre angle (the colours won't wash out as much/brightness won't fall away from sharper angles) and LG claim their technology delivers more accurate colours over brighter images. LG's OS is arguably the best on the market with the magic remote, brings a cursor on screen for easy navigation. Full Google/Alexa control if you need it, has HDMI 2.1 (will be beneficial if you choose to upgrade to the PS5/Xbox Scarlett in the future).


On balance, despite being an LG fan, my choice would be the Sony - one could argue its the best 49 inch tv on the market. It's small shortcomings in the OS compared to the LG are more than compensated for in the picture, it depends on what matters to you. Of course, you might want to wait until January to see whether LG officially announce a smaller OLED......

@Dodgexander don't know if you agree? And whether you wanted to move the thread to Which Tv.....
 
Simply put, 'true black' is the idea that black is not a colour, more the absence of light. In current TVs, only OLEDs can produce true black, as the technology allows them to shut off all light creation when not needed.

Only in a pitch black room, otherwise the blackness is also determined by the amount of light bouncing off the screen. Which is still fairly high for the materials used in OLED screens, they're not a very black surface - similar to LCDs.
 
The Sony is so much better it’s not worth comparing them tbh. just look at reviews, they all say the same. I’ve also seen the LG in a dark room and I liken it to when you’ve been on a night out, pulled what you thought was an absolute knockout, only to wake up the next day to find out you MAY have had too many pints the night before and your judgement skewed somewhat.......
 
Hi All

Many thanks for all the responses really very much appreciated.
As i said i want going to mention which unit i was leaning to in my original post however it was the Sony, you guys backed up my research.. :)

So ive invested and so far am pretty happy but the integrated Sony freesat feels a little light.
E.G
Where is CH5 HD
Where is Dave
etc etc etc

Lots of the free to air stuff appears to be missing in standard 720 or gives "Selected service is scrambled or cannot be decoded."

Thoughts..

P
 
I would throw the Samsung 49Q70R into the mix too, I picked one up on Black Friday ,and I,m very happy with it ,which considering I have a 65 " Sony AF9 as my main set is a bit of a compliment !!
 
Updating my post here.

It looks like the reason i cant get Dave and a lot of the other FTA Freesat channels could be down to dish alignment.
(we were Sky Subscribers then cancelled the package and used the SkyBox as a set top unit, which we have now removed in favour of the Sony built in Sat \ Tuner-receiver)
When i checked the Re-Tune options (after some research) the Particular Astra satellite (Astra 2E 28.2E) used for Freesat FTA gets no signal from my dish.. So somewhat surprised i already as much as i do.

watch this space :)
 

The latest video from AVForums

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