Which TV for SD and 1080p content?

Bully9

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I'd really appreciate some help here. I've always bought sony (currently kdl50w815) and i would like to 'upgrade'. But i never use streaming services and watch very little 4k content. What 50(ish) inch TV would people recommend with decent upscaling of (especially) standard def and 1080p content?

I've tried a KE55A8BU which seems pretty good, but i really hated the new (android) OS/interface. I prefer the Panasonic TX55JZ1000B interface, but it seems markedly inferior - for my particular requirements - in all other respects.

Thanks
 
Keep the tv you have then if you are happy with the sony's picture performance.

I still have my Sony kdl40HX803 3D full HD TV,and it still blows me away with how good the picture and motion are(it's the bedroom tv)
 
Keep the tv you have then if you are happy with the sony's picture performance.

I still have my Sony kdl40HX803 3D full HD TV,and it still blows me away with how good the picture and motion are(it's the bedroom tv)
Mine is in the bedroom now too :) I am seriously thinking of getting another second-hand kdl50w815 for the lounge but thought there might be some better ideas here; something to convince me that for my usage a bigger screen, OLED or 4K resolution are improvements. Unfortunately, i think i may have reached the pinnacle of my viewing pleasure!
 
Mine is in the bedroom now too :) I am seriously thinking of getting another second-hand kdl50w815 for the lounge but thought there might be some better ideas here; something to convince me that for my usage a bigger screen, OLED or 4K resolution are improvements. Unfortunately, i think i may have reached the pinnacle of my viewing pleasure!
Well I have a lg 55B7 oled tv that I've had for nearly 4 year's.

I love it! It's certainly a different beast.
 
So you'd say the LG copes with the upscaling particularly well? Does SD content look as good, especially bearing in mind the much larger screen?
 
I played region 1 starship troopers and it looks good. But if you watch high compression Freesat/Freesat channels they're going to look bad
 
I played region 1 starship troopers and it looks good. But if you watch high compression Freesat/Freesat channels they're going to look bad
But clearly, some 4k TVs cope better than others, which is why i asked the question.
 
How far are you from the screen ? Viewing distance will play a big part in how SD looks on a larger screen.

I moved from a 46" 1080p Panasonic plasma to a 55" 4K Panasonic OLED and SD from around 8-9ft looks fairly similar on both - ie. poor quality SD sources still look poor and better quality SD sources look passable, when there is no alternative. On some occasions, I'm actually quite surprised just how good the better quality SD content can look on the OLED, considering how very little picture information it has to work with so, with that in mind, I would consider the upscaling abilities of my Panasonic (GZ) OLED to be good.

While an SD picture will inevitably look 'softer' on a higher resolution 4K screen, better contrast (especially if you're moving from LCD to OLED), colour, motion handling and other factors may all help to give an SD picture a boost to offset the loss of sharpness.

1080p HD looks pretty similar on both from my viewing distance (in terms of sharpness) so if you mostly watch in HD, then upgrading from 50" to a 55" 4K screen might be worth it for the larger picture but if SD makes up a good proportion of your viewing and you like the screen you currently have, then I don't think it's worth upgrading for a slightly bigger picture with the inevitable drop in sharpness and upgrading from a 50" 1080p screen to a 50" 4K screen would be completely pointless IMO, if you have no intention of viewing 4K content.

I used to watch quite a lot of SD Freeview but, since upgrading, my viewing habits have changed and I now watch almost exclusively in HD and 4K (Freeview, Netflix and Prime) and very rarely watch anything in SD. Once you've watched something in 4K Dolby Vision HDR on an OLED, you'll struggle to go back to SD Freeview !
 
Thanks for taking the trouble to write such a clear, considered post. I sit at a similar distance and feel maybe 55" is a step too far for SD content.

Having said that, i tried a Sony BRAVIA KE55A8BU and found it pretty good on SD. The equivalent Panasonic was frankly poor. For example, it couldn't handle the yellow Sky News banner without jerking and periodically breaking up the text. I'd have probably gone for the Sony but hated the new interface/EPG which had too many problems (from my POV) to list here.

So - Sony picture quality with a decent-functioning Freeview EPG/Favourites function i guess is my Holy Grail. Should be a piece of cake :)
 

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