Question Which TV to choose - so confused!

razmo123

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Hi All,

I am currently undertaking a large scale home renovation and will be treating myself to a new TV and soundbar. Problem is, I cannot work out what I should be going for! I have always been set on a 75" but am not sure it is really necessary.

I went to JL last night to look at various options. I am attracted to OLED as the picture quality did seem superior to the LED options he showed me. OLED Options I saw were Panasonic 65FZ802B, Sony KD65AF8BU, LGOLED65B8SLC. The best LED option seemed to be Sony KD65XF9005BU.

Below is the key information and I would love some opinions / advice:

Budget: £2k Max but possibly a little less if I can.
Viewing Distance: Approx 3.5m from screen
Viewing Angle: Straight on
Wall size: Continuous wall of around 6.5m
Main Use: I watch a lot of football, Netflix series, Wife watches entertainment dross. Also use Amazon Prime.

Thanks in advance.
 
How much do you care for HDR picture quality and performance?

With a budget of £2000 you can get a very capable TV with SDR at 75" but not one that is very good with HDR.

The first TV that comes with decent HDR at that size is around £2300 and that is the Sony XF9005.

I wrote this guide to help people to decide what size to go for: Size matters

It basically comes down to whether you want a higher quality picture at a smaller size and especially good reproduction of HDR. At 3.5m from the TV you will at a good distance on a 75" TV for even HD detail, that is very far to notice much of a difference with UHD even on a 75" model...if that matters to you and you are going to use UHD sources.
 
Thanks Dodgexander.

Sorry if I am misunderstanding your last paragraph, but are you saying that 3.5m is far or not far from the tv?

I noticed a significant difference in the picture on the OLED screens vs the standard HDR screens in JL and that is why i was attracted to an OLED screen. But I think if its OLED I want then i would have to stick to 65". Would you say that is the wrong decision?
 
Sorry if I am misunderstanding your last paragraph, but are you saying that 3.5m is far or not far from the tv?
Sorry it wasn't very clear. I mean your viewing distance is on the larger side, even if you watch HD material. In other words by going for a bigger TV you can potentially get more detail from the source, together with more immersion.
I noticed a significant difference in the picture on the OLED screens vs the standard HDR screens in JL and that is why i was attracted to an OLED screen. But I think if its OLED I want then i would have to stick to 65". Would you say that is the wrong decision?
There is HDR and SDR and they are both source signals. A TV that is good at displaying HDR isn't going to polish anything that isn't available as HDR yet and make it look better.

Generally an OLED offers the biggest picture quality gains in all areas though, whether or not you go for a 65" OLED or 75" LCD would depend on a few factors I mentioned in the link:

OLED
  • Better viewing angles
  • Deeper blacks, higher contrast - especially noticeable if you are going to enjoy the TV in a dimly lit room or pitch black viewing.
  • Great with HDR when you use it, it will display anything that isn't HDR to a decent standard compared to an LCD.
  • Smaller size would mean the poorer quality sources don't look as bad at 3.5m away.
  • No motion blur
LCD:
  • Larger screen so you will see more detail in a HD and UHD source at 3.5m away. At the same time poorer quality sources will look worse.
  • More immersion from a larger TV.
  • Still very decent performance if you don't use HDR content.
Hope that helps.

A few questions you can ask yourself:

Do I view with the lights off or with dim lights? If so an OLED is going to be a much better option. If you view with the lights on and during the day then you get less benefit with an OLED and an LCD will be fine.

Do I need good viewing angles? You already said you don't, which is good if you want to go for an LCD.

How much HDR will I use? If you plan on watching lots of HDR content or you really want HDR to look good when you do, you should definitely get the smaller OLED.
 
Thank you. It really is very helpful.

How much HDR will I use? If you plan on watching lots of HDR content or you really want HDR to look good when you do, you should definitely get the smaller OLED.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, i think i am getting myself confused with all the terminology. When you refer to HDR, is this the same as HD? I will be viewing most things via SkyQ and Netflix and this will be in HD/UHD. Is HDR something different?
 
Does this help?
What is HDR?

HDR = high dynamic range.
SDR = standard dynamic range.

SD, HD, UHD = just different resolutions.

Sky are planning to role out HDR in the future on SkyQ but at the minute only use SDR. When they start with HDR, it will be minimal and probably only selected shows/sports.

Netflix it depends on the title you watch, they have some shows in HDR, many not. Some are in UHD and not with HDR. Here is a rundown on the titles on Netflix: How to find 4K HDR content on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video

If you feel its going to be important to you then its one reason to get the smaller TV, if you feel its something you aren't going to use much its a reason to go with a larger model which will still support HDR, just won't display it as good.
 
Thank you. That’s once again very helpful and sorry for being a simpleton.

I would suggest that at this point in time, I can live without HDR. On that basis, if I went for the larger television, do you recommend any particular models to look at ?

Many thanks
 

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