Upgrading from plasma to 4K

BigBee

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Hello – am after a bit of advice please.

We bought a Panasonic TX-P42GT30B plasma about six years ago for about £ 800(!) and are extremely happy with it (in fact, we love it), however we are about to move house where the lounge will be much bigger :D but the TV is probably going to be too small. We currently sit about 8’ away and I think in our new lounge we’ll be about 14’ – 15’ away (lounge is 20’ x 17’ in all)

A bit of background… When we originally went to buy a TV six years ago, we actually never intended to buy a plasma TV, we had a Samsung LCD at the time and just wanted something a bit bigger so demoed a newer Samsung (LED I think, but am not sure). We played our Planet Earth blu-ray on it and there was a scene where the camera panned over some icebergs and the judder was absolutely horrendous. The chap in the shop fiddled with the settings to try and minimise it but the end result was that it just looked blurry and frankly quite awful so it was then that a plasma set was mentioned. I’d always shied away from plasmas as I game quite a lot and was nervous regarding burn in and the like - but thankfully this has never been an issue. Have had image retention but that went really quickly.

So, back to the present – we’re now looking for a 65” TV. We might be able to get away with a 55” but the missus reckons not J. As I say I game quite a lot and although I don’t own a 4k / HDR compatible games machine at the moment (I have an originaI PS4 and XB1), I certainly will at some point. Whether sooner with a PS4 Pro / XboxX, definitely later when the next gen is released. Other than gaming, we watch films and mostly HD (but some SD) TV channels – all we have is freesat and freeview (no Sky etc). We’ll be sitting about 14’ – 15’ away and the room is south facing, although we will be investing in some very good ‘blackout’ curtains.

We’ve been to our local John Lewis and checked out some lovely new TVs, mostly for silly money and am kind of edging towards OLED as I gather that’s the way to go in terms of image quality. I’m in love with the Sony A1 but I really can’t bring myself to spend £4500 on a TV :( – so consequently am seriously considering the LG B7. One problem I have though is the issue of screen burn – is this a problem with OLEDs? The chap in John Lewis was certainly suggesting that it very much is, but then again he was trying to sell us a Samsung QLED at the time! On the subject of which, the Samsung 65” Q8 is very nice, we’ve also been considering the Sony XE9305 and possibly ZD9. Too many choices! Are any Panasonics worth considering? As I say we are very happy with our plasma. Is the cost of OLED over LCD worth the additional outlay? I guess the budget is around £ 3000 but I’d really rather not have to spend that much if poss. As the lounge is south facing, would brightness be an issue despite the curtains - I gather LCDs are much brighter than OLEDs? Is either option a better choice when it comes to judder? A TV that can make a half decent job of displaying SDTV would also be helpful. TV sound is not an issue as we have a 5.1 B&W system for that. If necessary we are happy to wait a few months before purchasing, I have read on here that best time to buy is spring.

Sorry for all the questions but we really want to get this right as we want to future proof ourselves a bit (if that is even possible!) and don’t want to have to buy another TV for a good few years yet – particularly in view of the cost involved.

Thanks for reading and for any help / advice you can offer. :)
 
No TV is perfect. - The same can be said if spending £500 or £5000.

Every time we get a`personal recommendation' or`what the best' or`if I were you' type of the questions, can we remind members of the saying:`one man's meat is another's poison'. We need to construct a profile of your taste for pros, TV use and more importantly your intolerance for specific cons for you to make the right choice. or...you can take the plunge and find out later. Nonetheless even with all the recommendations in the world, make sure you can demo the TV before you buy it, ideally with your own content in a dark demo room which stores such as richer sounds have. If not, make sure you are able to return the TV if you are not happy with it. Buy from a reputable source!

Please answer the following questions:
  1. What are your sources going to be? eg - Do you have fibre internet capable of UHD streams? Will you be buying and using an UHD Blu-Ray player? Netflix? Amazon? Catch up TV? HDR consoles? PC?
  2. SD vs HD vs UHD use percentage? eg 20% 60% 20%
  3. Movies, football, console games, PC use (in percentage)?
  4. Are you bothered with basic calibration ie discs?
  5. How close can you view the TV?
  6. What are you currently using and what do you expect by upgrading to a new TV?

Please rearrange the following PQ attributes, in descending importance:

Blacks
SDR Brightness
SDR Colour Saturation
SDR Colour Accuracy
Viewing angle (will you view from the side, or head on)
Motion handling (and do you like to have options in the menu to increase motion clarity or do you leave these settings alone)
HDR Brightness
HDR Colour Accuracy
HDR Colour Saturation
Local dimming
How accurate the picture is out of the box (without having to change any settings)

Now for bugs, tell us your possible pet hates related to TVs, in descending order:

Temporary image retention
Bad screen uniformity, Dirty Screen Effect, Clouding, Light Bleed, Blooming
Soap Opera Effect
3:2 Pulldown Judder with 24hz movies. See: Judder-Free 24p on TVs
Loss of detail in dark areas
Reflective screens
Haloing
Colour banding. See: Gradients on TVs: Color bit depth (warning this is not the same as vertical banding, for vertical banding see bad screen uniformity)

Now which is most important to you?

Price
Connections
Smart TV (which apps)?
HDR PQ
SDR PQ
Sound

---

On a separate note there is a link in my signature; Thinking of replacing your plasma? which may be of relevance. For most Plasma viewers OLED is the natural upgrade path but every tech has its limitations.
 
No TV is perfect. - The same can be said if spending £500 or £5000.

Every time we get a`personal recommendation' or`what the best' or`if I were you' type of the questions, can we remind members of the saying:`one man's meat is another's poison'. We need to construct a profile of your taste for pros, TV use and more importantly your intolerance for specific cons for you to make the right choice. or...you can take the plunge and find out later. Nonetheless even with all the recommendations in the world, make sure you can demo the TV before you buy it, ideally with your own content in a dark demo room which stores such as richer sounds have. If not, make sure you are able to return the TV if you are not happy with it. Buy from a reputable source!

Please answer the following questions:
  1. What are your sources going to be? eg - Do you have fibre internet capable of UHD streams? Will you be buying and using an UHD Blu-Ray player? Netflix? Amazon? Catch up TV? HDR consoles? PC?
  2. SD vs HD vs UHD use percentage? eg 20% 60% 20%
  3. Movies, football, console games, PC use (in percentage)?
  4. Are you bothered with basic calibration ie discs?
  5. How close can you view the TV?
  6. What are you currently using and what do you expect by upgrading to a new TV?

Please rearrange the following PQ attributes, in descending importance:

Blacks
SDR Brightness
SDR Colour Saturation
SDR Colour Accuracy
Viewing angle (will you view from the side, or head on)
Motion handling (and do you like to have options in the menu to increase motion clarity or do you leave these settings alone)
HDR Brightness
HDR Colour Accuracy
HDR Colour Saturation
Local dimming
How accurate the picture is out of the box (without having to change any settings)

Now for bugs, tell us your possible pet hates related to TVs, in descending order:

Temporary image retention
Bad screen uniformity, Dirty Screen Effect, Clouding, Light Bleed, Blooming
Soap Opera Effect
3:2 Pulldown Judder with 24hz movies. See: Judder-Free 24p on TVs
Loss of detail in dark areas
Reflective screens
Haloing
Colour banding. See: Gradients on TVs: Color bit depth (warning this is not the same as vertical banding, for vertical banding see bad screen uniformity)

Now which is most important to you?

Price
Connections
Smart TV (which apps)?
HDR PQ
SDR PQ
Sound

---

On a separate note there is a link in my signature; Thinking of replacing your plasma? which may be of relevance. For most Plasma viewers OLED is the natural upgrade path but every tech has its limitations.
 
@BigBee did you make that post in error? some info is missing and I'm not sure if you rearranged your priorities or not.
 
@BigBee did you make that post in error? some info is missing and I'm not sure if you rearranged your priorities or not.
Sorry, computer had been packed at home as we're moving house today so tried replying on my phone! Not a great idea [emoji15]

Anyway, thanks for your reply - will post back as soon as we're in and the computer's set up.
 
Hi

Am a bit more sorted at home now, so here goes...

Please answer the following questions:
  1. What are your sources going to be? eg - Do you have fibre internet capable of UHD streams? Will you be buying and using an UHD Blu-Ray player? Netflix? Amazon? Catch up TV? HDR consoles? PC? Yes we have Virgin internet and will stream (hopefully 4K) films from Amazon and maybe Netflix. Other than that we have an Xbox 1 and PS4. We might upgrade to the XboxX and PS4 Pro (more likely PS4 Pro though) in the near future, if not will certainly have HDR capable games consoles as of the next gen. Yes we will buy and use a UHD Blu-ray player and use catch up TV.
  2. SD vs HD vs UHD use percentage? eg 20% 60% 20% SD 20% HD 35% UHD 45% (obviously no UHD at the moment though as we don't have the capability! - at the moment it's SD 30% HD 70%) Would use UHD for gaming and movies.
  3. Movies, football, console games, PC use (in percentage)? Movies 45% Football 5% Games 50% - no PC
  4. Are you bothered with basic calibration ie discs? No discs but do obtain recommended picture settings from AVF
  5. How close can you view the TV? 14-15'
  6. What are you currently using and what do you expect by upgrading to a new TV? Panasonic plasma TX-P42GT30B. Would like a bigger TV with the same or similar picture quality of the Panasonic - which we love. Also am not a fan of judder as per my original post.

Please rearrange the following PQ attributes, in descending importance:

Here we go :

HDR Brightness
HDR Colour Accuracy
HDR Colour Saturation
Motion handling (and do you like to have options in the menu to increase motion clarity or do you leave these settings alone) Would be prepared to mess with the settings if need be
Blacks
SDR Brightness
SDR Colour Saturation
SDR Colour Accuracy
Viewing angle (will you view from the side, or head on) Head on for us (there's only the missus and me). Visitors would sit slightly to the side, but not by much - certainly not an acute angle anyway.
Local dimming
How accurate the picture is out of the box (without having to change any settings)

Now for bugs, tell us your possible pet hates related to TVs, in descending order:

Here goes :

Soap Opera Effect
3:2 Pulldown Judder with 24hz movies. See: Judder-Free 24p on TVs
Bad screen uniformity, Dirty Screen Effect, Clouding, Light Bleed, Blooming
Colour banding. See: Gradients on TVs: Color bit depth (warning this is not the same as vertical banding, for vertical banding see bad screen uniformity)
Reflective screens
Loss of detail in dark areas
Haloing
Temporary image retention


Now which is most important to you?

HDR PQ
SDR PQ
Connections
Price
Smart TV (which apps)? - we have our consoles for apps
Sound - we have a B&W 5.1
 
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One problem I have though is the issue of screen burn – is this a problem with OLEDs?

It's a potential issue yes, but they seem less sensitive to it than Plasma did so if you've not got any now you're not likely to get any on an OLED.

I gather LCDs are much brighter than OLEDs?

That's true for some of the high end LCDs, but OLEDs are as bright as every mid-range and below LCD so it's not particularly an issue.

we want to future proof ourselves a bit (if that is even possible!)

It's not, none of the manufacturers are providing long term support for their TVs.
 
@BigBee I don't want to tread on Dodgexander's toes, so I'll confine myself to the most alarming fact in your posts #1 and #6. That is, your viewing distance of 14'-15' away, using an intended 65" 4K television. I speak as someone who, until August last year, had a Panasonic 65VT65 television in the kitchen, and having long felt that the television was too small, was very pleased when the purchase of the Samsung 75H6400 television for the parlour enabled the Sony 75W855C to be relegated to the kitchen, with the Panasonic being shunted to the front bedroom.

Let me speak plainly. In my opinion, 14' - 15' away, even from an 65" television, is simply too far away. If you look at my avatar, you can see the seating arrangement in my parlour. The sofa is 8 feet away from the television, and the middle row of seats is 11 feet away. That is the maximum distance that I would recommend for critical viewing from my bigger televisions, which are 75". In the kitchen, the front seats are 7 feet away (okay, possibly marginally too close!) and the middle row of seats is 10 feet away, possibly the best distance. And, all my televisions are 1080p, Full HD, resolution. You are looking for 4K machines. With 4K resolution, the optimum viewing distances are closer than for Full HD. It's all advisory rather than compulsory, but have a look at this viewing distance guide that Dodgexander often recommends TV Viewing Distance Guide. Can you and your good lady wife not pull the sofa a bit closer to whichever gleaming new television you decide on?

Lastly, you are in luck with purchasing a new television, just now happens to be a very good discount at some shops. I'm not as familiar with OLEDs, so I'll restrict myself to LCDs. For instance, the Panasonic 65DX902 is currently only two grand at Richer Sounds. Review here Panasonic DX902 (TX-65DX902B) UHD 4K TV Review and Richer Sounds link here Panasonic 65 inch 4K Ultra HD Premium 3D Smart LED TV Freeview Play Freetime. The Sony 65ZD9 is now only £3099 at Richer Sounds Sony 65 inch 4K Ultra HD HDR 3D Smart LED Android TV Freeview HD, but, by great good luck, Sevenoaks have seven of them on clearance for only £2299, see here Sevenoaks Sound and Vision. Review here Sony BRAVIA ZD9 (KD-65ZD9) UHD 4K TV Review. If you can stretch to 75" though, which would be good, the Sony 75XE9405 is very good, even without 3D. Review here Sony KD-75XE9405 4K LCD TV Review and Richer Sounds link here Sony 75 inch 4K Ultra HD HDR Smart LED Android TV Freeview HD though you can find it online for £3999 if you google its model name and "best price". And you can find more reviews on all of these televisions online, they will agree with the AVForums reviews.

Oh, nearly forgot. I do hope that you'll be keeping your Panasonic 42GT30 plasma when you move, maybe move it to a bedroom? Unfortunately you won't get much if you try to sell it second-hand, £250 absolute tops.

Hope all this helps.
 
Right, thanks for the info!

Coming from a Plasma is always going to be more challenging, there are still aspects of Plasma TVs that are better than tv's today, even OLEDs. In some cases it can be two steps forward, one back.

Motion TVs like your current model is pretty flawless, there is a test many TV reviewers use to measure motion judder on TVs and more modern Plasma TVs such as yours score around 1080 visible lines in the test, even without enabling any motion interpolation settings. Since then no TV has been able to better that test score.

LCDs now, out of the box are still just as limited as they were years ago with motion judder, they can still only display 300 lines at the same time without enabling any extra settings.

OLEDs are similar to LCDs with motion too, at least as far as judder is concerned, out of the box they can display only 300 lines in the test.

But motion isn't just about judder, there is also blur too caused by fast moving objects and that is where OLEDs shine (much the same as plasma- blur wise).

With OLEDs you get next to no motion blur which results in a very clear image with no smearing.

But in terms of pure judder because no display now can provide the same judder free picture a Plasma can without also using extra settings they resort to using technology you can enable in the settings to increase the perceived motion resolution, therefore reducing judder.

High end LCDs are able to produce the same 1080 lines in the test as Plasma TVs can by using frame insertion or frame interpolation. The former flashes the backlight of the TV very quickly and inserts blank frames in between to trick the eye in to perceived smoother motion and the latter calculates and creates its own frames based between others to produce a more smoother image. It wasn't until the advent of frame insertion that it was possible to get the same kind of motion performance as a Plasma TV on an LCD without also causing soap opera effect with the older method: interpolation.

The side affect of interpolation being soap opera effect, the side effect of blank frame insertion being a darker image and some flicker.

OLEDs themselves tend not to have as strong interpolation or insertion options. Unlike LCDs they do not have a backlight they can flash very quickly to insert many frames, they also have the downside of already having a darker image compared to many LCDs which means inserting a lot of blank frames inbetween is going to darken the TVs even more. In 2017, Sony, Philips and Panasonic OLEDs support frame insertion that lets them reach about 650 lines in the test, whilst LGs OLEDs do not, meaning to reach those 650 lines you have to use interpolation which results in soap opera effect.

Its complicated and a lot to take in and I really recommend you take everything I have said with a pinch of salt and actually demo some TVs yourself to have a look at the motion options and settings and see how you think they compare.

From a technical standpoint you are looking at using an OLED to get the most blur free image and to get the most judder free image an LCD. But it does depend on which technology you want to use to improve motion, if at all. You will want an OLED most to match characteristics of having a Plasma already anyway, since with LCDs many of the drawbacks in screen uniformity are still there much the same as they were years ago.

Sony's a1 and Panasonic's CZ952 OLED models do have blank frame insertion that you can enable in the settings. This will more than double the default motion resolution so should result in a much more smoother image.

Higher end LCDs from Sony, Samsung, Philips and Panasonic also have the frame insertion, most of them let you boost the resolution to around 1080 lines more than triple the default motion resolution.

Its worth mentioning that there are people coming from Plasma TVs who don't use any of these settings and are perfectly happy with motion on the TVs.

There are also people who use these settings and still aren't as pleased as motion once was on their previous plasma. Thats why I recommend you seek a demo somewhere where you have the remote control and can try out these settings yourself.

I wrote a guide about motion and the TVs I've recommended previously and there are other things regarding motion I haven't touched on, such as how limited motion can be depending on the type of source you are watching and its frame rate. See: Guide: Motion explanation and Best Buys for motion 2017 Edition

In the guide it also explains the motion settings different manufacturers have and which setting relates to which technology, in case you do get the chance to have a play with some different models to compare.

I know its a lot to take in, it is hard for me to explain, but if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.
 
Its worth mentioning that there are people coming from Plasma TVs who don't use any of these settings and are perfectly happy with motion on the TVs.
@BigBee And I'm one of them. Before the Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas that you see in my signature, I've also had and given away Samsung, LG and Pioneer 428XD plasmas, since 2008. The Sony 75W855C was my first non-plasma, in February 2016. I never had any problem with motion on it, nor on my second LCD, the Samsung currently in the parlour. Whether I might have had problems with judder and flicker if my eyes were younger (I'm 60 now), I don't know.

With my post #8 and Dodgexander's post #9, following the broad sweep of Endless Waves's post #7, you have a lot of bedside reading!
 
Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to write such helpful and in depth replies - it really is very kind of you.

You're right, there is alot of information there to digest so will have a good read and try to make an informed decision from there. Definitely a good idea to demo some sets so will be doing that too.

I slightly over estimated the distance, it's more like 13' but obviously the 42" is still far too small. Even so, we won't be able to stretch to a 75" so 65" will have to suffice. Even a 65" is quite a large financial outlay for us, particularly having just moved in - there's plenty of other stuff to spend our hard earned on! To think our plasma cost around £ 800 - which I thought was a lot of money then. I can hardly believe what kind of figure we're looking to spend now - which is precisely why we want to get it right.

We'll be using the Panasonic in the bedroom - certainly don't want to part with it, especially for silly money.

Anyway, thanks again for your help. Will post back once I've digested the information if anything is unclear.
 
OK. Have read (and re-read!!) the advice on here as well as other sites and have decided to demo the following sets, all 65"

LG B7 / C7
Sony XE93
Sony ZD9
Sony A1 (maybe, as I can't really afford one)
Samsung Q8 (another maybe)

I'd love to be able to commit 100% to an OLED but there's a couple of things which bother me - namely motion judder (and the fact LCDs can handle it better) and, as I game quite a lot - screen burn. Am not worried about IR as I've had that on the plasma over the years and it soon goes. So, am going to take my Blu-ray with me and fast forward to the part with the scene where the camera pans over icebergs and see how the TVs deal with it. Will also ask to see some SDTV just for good measure. It's all very well seeing this flashy HDR footage in shops but the (brutal) fact is, for me I'm not actually going to be viewing much of that at home. Will obviously be gaming in HDR and will watch the occasional HDR film, but there will be a fair amount of both HD and SD TV thrown in too. Having said that though, if I end up with a lovely new TV, I might be watching a whole lot more films :D

I desperately want a bigger TV and want to feel confident laying out what for me is a large amount of money but I have this nagging doubt that I'm not going to find anything as good as my plasma. :confused: Will see how it goes!

Thanks all for your help though :)
 
Hello again BigBee, sorry for all the reading. Remind us what your budget is again? And while you have been pondering, there is now only one of the seven clearance Sony 65ZD9s remaining at Sevenoaks, and it's now down to two grand just.
 
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Hello again BigBee, sorry for all the reading. Remind us what your budget is again? And while you have been pondering, there is now only one of the seven clearance Sony 65ZD9s remaining at Sevenoaks, and it's now down to two grand just.
Hi. No need to apologise [emoji4] Around £ 3000 I think, maybe a tad more..
 
What OLEDs may lose with lack of dejudder motion settings they do have natively next to no motion blur so overall I'd say they are a definite improvement with motion.

The LG OLEDs are better value but with Panasonic, Sony and Phillips you do get black frame insertion which may well be a deal breaker when you demo these tv's. I've made a guide in my signature on motion which tells you which settings on each tv adjust interpolation and which enable blank frame insertion. Make sure they give you those remotes to have a play as all these tv's (including LCDs) motion judder will be very similar without any of these settings enabled.
 
What OLEDs may lose with lack of dejudder motion settings they do have natively next to no motion blur so overall I'd say they are a definite improvement with motion.

The LG OLEDs are better value but with Panasonic, Sony and Phillips you do get black frame insertion which may well be a deal breaker when you demo these tv's. I've made a guide in my signature on motion which tells you which settings on each tv adjust interpolation and which enable blank frame insertion. Make sure they give you those remotes to have a play as all these tv's (including LCDs) motion judder will be very similar without any of these settings enabled.
So are you suggesting the Phillips, Panasonic and Sonys would be a better bet as far as motion is concerned? Have been looking at the EZ952 but I was under the impression that the B7 was generally regarded as the better TV.

On another different but related note, have just been reading some nasty stories on the OLED thread regarding burn in - all food for thought. It's obviously still an issue for some..
 
I don't think the B7 is the better TV at all, in terms of motion performance and picture processing the Panasonic is a lot better, the Sony perhaps even more so.

The reason the B7 or C7 get the plaudits is pure value. They tend to be a lot cheaper, even more so at 65". They have support for dolby vision too which the Panasonic does not.

What the LG OLEDs don't have is black frame insertion, which for me is a drawback. Most people don't even turn on motion settings though or they may be happy with just using motion interpolation.

And yes, overall they may not be able to draw as much detail on the screen at the same time so they won't be as smooth as a Plasma natively or LCD with stronger motion options but since motion blur is so reduced overall motion as a whole is better in my opinion.

Its highly subjective though, Steve who reviews all the TVs on AVF rates motion better on OLEDs, even the LGs. Interestingly recent TV shootouts such as the Philips event advertised on here and the annual HDTVtest shootout where LCDs were compared to OLEDs, OLEDs came out on top for motion scores.

To cut a long story short you need to demo TVs and see for yourself and if you can you want to make sure they give you the remote so you can enable and change motion settings yourself to see which you like better.

Its worth noting that despite all of is there are a lot of people who still use no motion enhancements at all and are more than happy with OLED motion so likely I'm rambling on about something that you won't even find an issue.

Here is an interesting test for burn in: 20/7 Burn-In Test: OLED vs LCD VA vs LCD IPS its worth keeping an eye on their results. Its very dependant on how you use the TV though so although there are some users with burn in on OLEDs there are also users I've seen post on here with burn in on LCDs too. If you constantly view content with static images for an extended amount of time i'm sure it can be an issue but a forum is a place where often people come because they have a problem. Avforums may be the most popular community in the UK but there will be many, many people who have bought OLEDs and have not come across it at all. In essence you can get put off every tv on here by reading the owners thread.
 
So are you suggesting the Phillips, Panasonic and Sonys would be a better bet as far as motion is concerned? Have been looking at the EZ952 but I was under the impression that the B7 was generally regarded as the better TV.

On another different but related note, have just been reading some nasty stories on the OLED thread regarding burn in - all food for thought. It's obviously still an issue for some..

OLEDS don't suffer from screen burn anymore than plasmas did. In other words they do, but if you didn't screen burn your plasma, you won't be screen burning your potential new OLED.

In fact you have less chance of doing so, current high end TVs, like the one's you are looking at have screen saver/dimming features and, they have a function to witch themselves off if the TV is running without any user input for a user set time( it's not the sleep function, but I'm darned if I recall the name of it).

If you plan on watching Sky Sports news 24/7 or game 12 hours a day, you will get screen burn but if you are sensible, it's unlikely.
 
So are you suggesting the Phillips, Panasonic and Sonys would be a better bet as far as motion is concerned? Have been looking at the EZ952 but I was under the impression that the B7 was generally regarded as the better TV.

On another different but related note, have just been reading some nasty stories on the OLED thread regarding burn in - all food for thought. It's obviously still an issue for some..

Based on what you've said is important to you the Sony ZD9 is the first TV I'd demo.
 
Thanks all for your comments.

I think I've done enough researching now and it's time to get out there and actually demo some TVs in the flesh so to speak :)

I always tend to follow the same pattern when planning to make a large / expensive purchase. I start off reading a bit online as I'm not an impulse buyer in any sense and do like to make sure as much as possible that I'm getting the very best for my money. All well and good to start with but the more I then read, the more information I take in (some of which I find conflicting) and invariably, the more tied up and confused I get :confused: I guess the fact is, I / we may not even be able to actually see the defects that some people notice in various sets so ultimately, I could be worrying about nothing!

I should be more like the missus. Go to a shop, see something I like the look of, and buy it :)

There must be middle ground there somewhere!! :D
 
Based on what you've said is important to you the Sony ZD9 is the first TV I'd demo.
Am definitely going to demo the ZD9 [emoji4]

OK - one more question [emoji4] My TV will be directly across the room from a large window. Are there any particular TVs that are better than others or even that I should avoid when it comes to reflections? My plasma, being a glass screen is very reflective!

Thanks all.
 
Am definitely going to demo the ZD9 [emoji4]

OK - one more question [emoji4] My TV will be directly across the room from a large window. Are there any particular TVs that are better than others or even that I should avoid when it comes to reflections? My plasma, being a glass screen is very reflective!

Thanks all.

I don't know of any TVs that are particularly bad with reflections but the Samsungs are meant to be the best, sadly Samsung TVs are absurdly overpriced this year. And with a £3k budget you can do better than their edge lit garbage anyway.
 
LG OLEDs get a great score on rtings.com for reflections. Most higher end TVs seem to have decent anti reflection filters now. For LCDs I also think Samsung are the best...but their tv's are poor this year.
 
Thanks all for your comments.

I think I've done enough researching now and it's time to get out there and actually demo some TVs in the flesh so to speak :)

I always tend to follow the same pattern when planning to make a large / expensive purchase. I start off reading a bit online as I'm not an impulse buyer in any sense and do like to make sure as much as possible that I'm getting the very best for my money. All well and good to start with but the more I then read, the more information I take in (some of which I find conflicting) and invariably, the more tied up and confused I get :confused: I guess the fact is, I / we may not even be able to actually see the defects that some people notice in various sets so ultimately, I could be worrying about nothing!

I should be more like the missus. Go to a shop, see something I like the look of, and buy it :)

There must be middle ground there somewhere!! :D

There is, go to a decent store, Sevenoaks, RS, get them to play a dark scene, fire light at night in the Poldark Household, something from Starwars or Bladerunner with an OLED and an equivalent LCD side by side.

As a current plasma owner, I'm betting like me it will take you less than a minute to point at the OLED and go, I'll take that one :laugh:

Plasma owners love their blacks, OLED owners worship them :D
 
There is, go to a decent store, Sevenoaks, RS, get them to play a dark scene, fire light at night in the Poldark Household, something from Starwars or Bladerunner with an OLED and an equivalent LCD side by side.

As a current plasma owner, I'm betting like me it will take you less than a minute to point at the OLED and go, I'll take that one [emoji23]

Plasma owners love their blacks, OLED owners worship them :D
Thanks.

Definitely going to take a trip to one of both of those shops and take a look. As you say, hopefully it should become much clearer. Only thing then left to decide on will be which OLED, but I'm hoping the B7 will blow me away sufficiently!
 

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