Ok, I've lurked long enough!
I've been watching the TV market and this forum since probably August/September time, and whilst it seems to be a horrible period (tech/format/industry movements), I'm still in the situation where I need to be buying a new TV for the living room pretty soon.
In August I decided to buy myself a budget TV to see me through to about now. I went with the HiSense 50M3300 (£399). Reason being, it would be relegated to the bedroom where I needed a refresh also, and didn't want too splash out too much or go too big for that room. When I bought it, I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. There was some banding, and motion was pretty awful; I nearly sent it back. I was lazy and stuck with it, and pretty much just accepted it for what it was, a cheapish TV.
So on to the research and decisions for a new TV. It's fair to say it's been largely based on posts on here with a bit of Internet research, and a few hours in Currys looking aimlessly at screens. I wish I had narrowed things down, but there's so much to consider, and I hope perhaps some of you can help me pick through once you get a feel for it.
Overview
--------
Budget: Would prefer <1k, would go to 1.6k if worth it, 2k max if perfect
Size: At least 55inch (would be ok with this), 60-65inch (if size were deemed more important than quality)
Viewing distance: Generally straight on, at about 2.5-3m (8-10ft)
Content: Mostly Movies and catch-up (iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon, ITV), Virgin TV (normal HD box), And importantly Sport (Football in HD through virgin, BT Sport streaming HD), Xbox One (standard currently, FIFA/BF1/Forza, possibly intrigued by HDR gaming, but not end of the world)
TVs considered
----------
£850 - Samsung 55KS7000
£950 - LG910v
£1600 - LGB6
£1600 - Samsung 65KS7000
£2000 - LGE6
£???? - 2017 OLED
Criteria
--------
Sport - is pretty important to me. It's killing me to see the HiSense barely able to display a football without it disappearing when moving. I can't believe in this day and age, image processing is so poor on modern TVs. Anyhow, I hear motion is better on OLED than LCD, so that's a big draw.
Contrast - OLED of course wins hands down. I've seen the Samsung 9000 and LGB6 next to each other in Currys, and there's no competition. OLED draws you in, seems sharper, and blacker blacks without seeming washed out.
4K/FHD - From what I've read, you need to be less than 6ft from a 55inch to see a noticeable difference with 4k? Being as I'm more like 8-10ft, not even a 65inch would have much of a 4k impact? Has anyone actually done the real life test for this and been able to tell the difference? Many said the same thing about SD, HD and FHD back in the day, but everyone ended up seeing the benefits even on the likes of 32inch screens.
Size - Worth getting a bigger screen but less quality? What are people's thoughts over say the 55 B6 Oled vs the 65 KS7000 (similar price currently)?
HDR - as many have said, difficult to find HDR on HD TVs. May not need 4k but not likely to benefit from HDR unless you do. Then you fall into if you get 4k, SDR looks poorer. How do you win that battle? I can't remember if the 910v does HDR? Then there's the formats. Anyone know if 910v or B6 will get an update for HLG? As I understand it, HDR10 and HLG are going to be needed as minimum going forward?
Panel Issues - read a lot about panel uniformity issues, banding, clouding, noise, bleeding, motion problems, brightness, judder etc. Is it just impossible to get away from these, or will most not even notice these? It sounds like the 2017 models don't really go very far to fixing the problems?
Input lag - I'm not a professional gamer, but I also don't want to be seeing a noticeable delay on controlling something on screen and seeing it happen. What would you consider as reasonable for this? I hear HDR gaming increases the input lag considerably? Has the B6 had its gaming update as yet, or likely to?
Judder/Noise etc - Lots of pluses about the OLEDs, but have heard many reports about judder, noise, and skipping. Is this widespread, or just a few people seeing things that aren't really there? Is this massively improved from the B6 to the E6?
Sound - Not the biggest priority for me, but I've heard lots of issues with syching, delays, dropouts with sound bars and the like. Can anyone confirm if the above TVs suffer more than most, or which help to avoid it?
Conclusions
----------
I'm drawn to the OLEDs as most might be, but do their current issues mean they don't justify their cost still? I don't mind splashing out if it's as mind blowing as the demo stuff in the shop, but if you get it home and there's image issues with different feeds, and judder that makes you think you're in the matrix, or motion problems mean you can't watch a great game of football, then I'll not be happy and prefer not to overspend.
Should I be talking myself into the 910v even though it's only FHD? Is the lack of HDR going to be a miss or does it suffer with the same issues as the 920/930/950 that made them disappear so quickly? This is going to be the best panel to watch any remaining SDR in though, right? Just so I'm not going crazy, that is essentially most catch-up and non-HD channels through Virgin, right?
Should I be looking at the 65 KS7000, just for its size benefit? Some have said go as big as possible, but is LCD going to get shown up even more here with any SDR, light bleed etc?
Would the 55KS7000 be more appropriate given its price point?
Can anyone recommend any of the TVs above for fitting all my criteria well, or is there going to be pros/cons?!
Any other advice, or people who have had similar dilemmas?
Thanks!
I've been watching the TV market and this forum since probably August/September time, and whilst it seems to be a horrible period (tech/format/industry movements), I'm still in the situation where I need to be buying a new TV for the living room pretty soon.
In August I decided to buy myself a budget TV to see me through to about now. I went with the HiSense 50M3300 (£399). Reason being, it would be relegated to the bedroom where I needed a refresh also, and didn't want too splash out too much or go too big for that room. When I bought it, I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. There was some banding, and motion was pretty awful; I nearly sent it back. I was lazy and stuck with it, and pretty much just accepted it for what it was, a cheapish TV.
So on to the research and decisions for a new TV. It's fair to say it's been largely based on posts on here with a bit of Internet research, and a few hours in Currys looking aimlessly at screens. I wish I had narrowed things down, but there's so much to consider, and I hope perhaps some of you can help me pick through once you get a feel for it.
Overview
--------
Budget: Would prefer <1k, would go to 1.6k if worth it, 2k max if perfect
Size: At least 55inch (would be ok with this), 60-65inch (if size were deemed more important than quality)
Viewing distance: Generally straight on, at about 2.5-3m (8-10ft)
Content: Mostly Movies and catch-up (iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon, ITV), Virgin TV (normal HD box), And importantly Sport (Football in HD through virgin, BT Sport streaming HD), Xbox One (standard currently, FIFA/BF1/Forza, possibly intrigued by HDR gaming, but not end of the world)
TVs considered
----------
£850 - Samsung 55KS7000
£950 - LG910v
£1600 - LGB6
£1600 - Samsung 65KS7000
£2000 - LGE6
£???? - 2017 OLED
Criteria
--------
Sport - is pretty important to me. It's killing me to see the HiSense barely able to display a football without it disappearing when moving. I can't believe in this day and age, image processing is so poor on modern TVs. Anyhow, I hear motion is better on OLED than LCD, so that's a big draw.
Contrast - OLED of course wins hands down. I've seen the Samsung 9000 and LGB6 next to each other in Currys, and there's no competition. OLED draws you in, seems sharper, and blacker blacks without seeming washed out.
4K/FHD - From what I've read, you need to be less than 6ft from a 55inch to see a noticeable difference with 4k? Being as I'm more like 8-10ft, not even a 65inch would have much of a 4k impact? Has anyone actually done the real life test for this and been able to tell the difference? Many said the same thing about SD, HD and FHD back in the day, but everyone ended up seeing the benefits even on the likes of 32inch screens.
Size - Worth getting a bigger screen but less quality? What are people's thoughts over say the 55 B6 Oled vs the 65 KS7000 (similar price currently)?
HDR - as many have said, difficult to find HDR on HD TVs. May not need 4k but not likely to benefit from HDR unless you do. Then you fall into if you get 4k, SDR looks poorer. How do you win that battle? I can't remember if the 910v does HDR? Then there's the formats. Anyone know if 910v or B6 will get an update for HLG? As I understand it, HDR10 and HLG are going to be needed as minimum going forward?
Panel Issues - read a lot about panel uniformity issues, banding, clouding, noise, bleeding, motion problems, brightness, judder etc. Is it just impossible to get away from these, or will most not even notice these? It sounds like the 2017 models don't really go very far to fixing the problems?
Input lag - I'm not a professional gamer, but I also don't want to be seeing a noticeable delay on controlling something on screen and seeing it happen. What would you consider as reasonable for this? I hear HDR gaming increases the input lag considerably? Has the B6 had its gaming update as yet, or likely to?
Judder/Noise etc - Lots of pluses about the OLEDs, but have heard many reports about judder, noise, and skipping. Is this widespread, or just a few people seeing things that aren't really there? Is this massively improved from the B6 to the E6?
Sound - Not the biggest priority for me, but I've heard lots of issues with syching, delays, dropouts with sound bars and the like. Can anyone confirm if the above TVs suffer more than most, or which help to avoid it?
Conclusions
----------
I'm drawn to the OLEDs as most might be, but do their current issues mean they don't justify their cost still? I don't mind splashing out if it's as mind blowing as the demo stuff in the shop, but if you get it home and there's image issues with different feeds, and judder that makes you think you're in the matrix, or motion problems mean you can't watch a great game of football, then I'll not be happy and prefer not to overspend.
Should I be talking myself into the 910v even though it's only FHD? Is the lack of HDR going to be a miss or does it suffer with the same issues as the 920/930/950 that made them disappear so quickly? This is going to be the best panel to watch any remaining SDR in though, right? Just so I'm not going crazy, that is essentially most catch-up and non-HD channels through Virgin, right?
Should I be looking at the 65 KS7000, just for its size benefit? Some have said go as big as possible, but is LCD going to get shown up even more here with any SDR, light bleed etc?
Would the 55KS7000 be more appropriate given its price point?
Can anyone recommend any of the TVs above for fitting all my criteria well, or is there going to be pros/cons?!
Any other advice, or people who have had similar dilemmas?
Thanks!