My 8 year old 60″ panasonic hd tv has died, I was perfectly happy with the picture.
Looking at 65″ tv’s around £500-£800, but some sales peeps are trying to get me to up my budget to get an OLED. My gut feel is to ignore them…
eg this https://ao.com/product/65pus6523-philips-6500-tv-silver-57637-108.aspx
or this https://ao.com/product/65uk6300plb-lg-uhd-tv-black-57341-108.aspx

Q’s

1) Is led type tech it worth it?
2) Is there anything coming down the pipe that will make a current 600 quid HD telly obsolete in 5-10 years?
3) Got any 60″ plus recommendations?

I just bought the LG OLED55C8PLA from Richer Sounds as the price went below 1500. It’s a stunning picture, especially when viewing, 4k HDR content but then so was my 6 year old LG in HD.
I do worry about image burn and feel my old TV was much more robust.
If your feeling a bit flush then buy one.

1) Is led type tech it worth it?

All modern TV’s are LED based. (That bit is sponsored by LG) OLED is a better display technology but whether it is worth it to you is dependent on if you’re worried about dropping a few hundred more £££££ for a slightly better display technology. If you just watch SD and HD Freeview channels I doubt you’ll really appreciate the OLED difference. If on the other hand you’re replete with 4K Blu-Rays then go for it.

2) Is there anything coming down the pipe that will make a current 600 quid HD telly obsolete in 5-10 years?

Yes micro-LED whatever you buy will be obsolete in 10 years. Just buy the TV you can afford now and don’t worry about it, literally no point in future proofing.

3) Got any 60″ plus recommendations?

Not really but I think the Philips Ambilight TV’s are pretty good and often overlooked

Need? No.
Want? Maybe, if your eyes are up to it.

Oh, and pretty much any TV will be ‘obsolete’ in one way or another in 5-10 years. Don’t let that put you off buying one now.

1) Is led type tech it worth it?
Yes, its still very good, OLED is much better, but the price increase is a lot.

2) Is there anything coming down the pipe that will make a current 600 quid HD telly obsolete in 5-10 years?
HDR battle is still on, you want a minimum of 10bit HDR, who knows which format will win HDR10/Dolby Vision/Etc.
HDMI 2.1 is coming out soon, I expect it will be used for new consoles etc in a few years time for higher frame rates and HDR content.

I bought an OLED (55) tv earlier this year and don’t regret it at all. Of course it looks at its best with an HDR source, but due to the contrast ratio it makes all content look better – even old DVDs. Do iiiiittt… (or at least go demo one in richer sounds)

Bimbler

Member
1) Is led type tech it worth it?

All modern TV’s are LED based.

Well most use LEDs that’s true, but OLED is completely different to cheaper stuff misleadingly called LED. Really those should be called LCD with LED backlight. In an OLED screen there are no backlights.

Well most use LEDs that’s true, but OLED is completely different to cheaper stuff misleadingly called LED. Really those should be called LCD with LED backlight. In an OLED screen there are no backlights.

Yes, I should have made that distinction.

Yes, I should have made that distinction.

I didn’t even know… When I asked about LED I didn’t think that included the 5-800 quid HDTV’s I am looking at..

When I asked about LED I didn’t think that included the 5-800 quid HDTV’s I am looking at..

It doesn’t really just that as per retro83 said the LED’s in these TV’s are used for lighting, (either back or edge) where the LCD screen makes the picture.

In an OLED TV there is no need for LED’s to do the lighting as the screen is made of millions of tiny LED’s which make their own light.

I spent months going through a debate with myself about what TV to buy. Spent a lot of time in John Lewis and Richer Sounds, even looking at them in their “dark rooms”.
The OLED one’s were great, but not hugely different than the Ultra HD. Ultra HD running 4K programmes was really good, good enough for me anyway. I spent about £1600 (Panasonic TX65FX750B), at the time the equivalent OLED TV was approx £2400.
OLED have gone down in price since I bought mine, I’d probably buy one now if there was an equivalent spec one for the same price as my Panasonic. I got the 750B as soon as it came out and the price hasn’t dropped yet.
I’d say the £800 Ultra HD TVs will still be very good. All depends on how much the additional cash means to you. If you can afford it comfortably then go for the OLED, if not you won’t be disappointed in the Ultra HD.
Or this one (I was very very close to purchasing this as the picture was really good and gets very good reviews)…..https://www.richersounds.com/tx65fx700b.html

I bought an OLED couple of years ago. Not 4k but on 1080p content it still beats any LCD display for picture quality.

Even the best LED TVs can’t do black properly despite advances in local dimming.

OLED is definitely an improvement in picture quality, whether it’s worth it depends mostly on how much you watch TV, what your sources are and how much does the extra money impact you (as in I wouldn’t starve to get an OLED TV but I’d def tighten the household budget for a few months if I needed to).
I have a 65″ OLED at the moment and it’s great (my last TV was a 55″ LED and it’s a big improvement and also although the screen looked stupidly large initially I’m glad I went to 65″).
I’ll probably go for one of the new ultra short-throw projectors next (although would be in a couple of years and assuming they continue to improve and the cost comes down).

Having spent the last few days visiting friends with high end LED TV’s it makes me absolutely sure I made the right decision to by an OLED. Once you are used to OLED then watching any LED makes it feel like you are watching everything through a weird hazy fog with the non black blacks.

I think you can get an LG B8 for around £1200 now which seems reasonable for the quality. I expect to get many years out of a TV (had the last one for 12) so don’t mind spending more than the bare minimum. LG make the OLED panels for everyone, have the best interface by far and and widest compatibility with all the HDR standards so little point in spending more on Sony/Panasonic – the only difference will be in the image processing software which give marginal gains at best.

I’m always underwhelmed by LED backlit LED panels so personally would look to OLED if I could stretch my budget. I think it’s always worth spending as much as you can to get the latest and greatest on stuff like this. Of course the tech will be obscolete at some point, but it will take a number of years for the new tech to mature and come down to a price suitable for the masses. OLED panels have been around for over ten years now and still not down in price to an affordable level for most people, so i’d expect you to get another ten years if you bought an OLED today before any superseding technology has matured and come down in price.

I’ve got the 58” version of that Panasonic above (had it about a year now – so it may be the EX version rather than FX) and it’s great

At 700 before Christmas last year, it was perfect for what I wanted and the right price. The OLED TX55FZ802B is now 1499 – with another £200 off with a voucher code. If I was buying again now, I’d be looking seriously at that

LG 49SK8100PLA LED HDR Super UHD 4K Ultra HD Smart TV, 49″

I got this at £600, very good picture and I didn’t want a 55 inch tv on the wall

Have a read on here, lots of good OLED posts but also bad ones.
https://www.avforums.com/forums/

My view was for general viewing the LG was good enough and I couldn’t see twice the price in OLED which seems to have a questionable quality and lifespan.

In a few years the technology will be updated and sorted and I can just buy another with the initial saving.

I’ve never been totally impressed with anything LCD derived. Even today when I pass by the row of cheap TVs in Sainsburys I wonder how many folk realise the blotchy washed out picture is worse than a decent 1980s CRT.

If you buy an OLED you will always be worrying about screen burn – if the kids put on Amazon Prime Music for example you get a bright Amazon logo on the right which can be problematic – caused a faint image on my plasma for a few months, and the new Virgin 4K channel has a stupidly bright logo on the top left.

Samsung do a couple of OLED sets now that are FALD and do blacks really well, but are more money and also not ‘prefect’ – and Sony have the XF90 which has better motion than the normal Sony LEDs, which are better than anything else anyway. But it doesn’t look grey compared to OLEDs and plasmas.

That Panasonic mentioned (FX700?) is pretty good and I recommended one to the neighbour – but try to find a set that is well reviewed in your price range AND where someone has published some calibrated settings as out of the box settings are pretty poor.

If you buy an OLED you will always be worrying about screen burn

strong statement. I bought a OLED a year ago and have never been even remotely concerned about it

There was a scare story about the OLED blue pixels not having the same lifespan as the others. Not sure if that still applies…

Samsung do a couple of OLED sets

Samsung do not do any OLED sets. Theirs are QLED, different technology but still effectively an LED screen so not as good.

Screen burn is not really an issue these days. The tv itself has measures and functionality to prevent it and you’re talking about thousands of hours of exposure anyway. I have a plasma tv which were more prone to other technolies and it really isn’t an issue. Kids leave it on pause for dinner and other things and no sign of it yet

I treated myself to the LG mentioned above (OLED55C8PLA) from Richer Sounds last week @ £1199. I’ve just come from what was a high-end plasma at the time (~15 year old Panasonic plasma) and I’m really impressed with the new set.. The plasma was always really good at portraying blacks so going to LED over OLED was never really an option for me as would feel like a step back (in one measure anyway).

I’ve never worried about burn-in on the old plasma and that’s with some serious hours put in on Forza motorsport (5,6,7, FH1,2,3 and 4) – there was never any hint of a permanent rev-counter in the corner of the screen. It was my Dad’s TV for about 7 years and mine for 8 after that but it must have had several hundred hours of Forza alone.. GTA 5 got a canny hammering as well!

Apparently there are some issues with the C8 series LG sets where near blacks “flash” – Can’t say I’ve noticed anything with mine.. but time will tell and apparently only affected some sets. I watched the Dark Knight films on Blu Ray over the weekend and it was exceptional! Forza Horizon 4 is pretty sweet as well although after speaking to a mate, I’m told the XBOX X will improve things further..

If you’re looking at the C8 series there’s a C8PLA and a C8S – same panel but subtle differences in speakers and the stand (I’m wall mounted and go via AV amp so don’t use either).

OLED do way better blacks than lcd and in some cases better than plasma. Wider viewing angles, better contrast. There is a lot to like

Burn in is a real issue. Ask any owner of a new apple or Google phone.
Although with OLED it is more of a burn down than a burn in, where the emmitters lose brightness over time until they wear out completely. It seems reds and greens go first. With care it can mostly be avoided, with the exception of the channel logos.

Ratings are a good resource and talk about OLED burn in also
https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/real-life-oled-burn-in-test

*RTings

I treated myself to the LG mentioned above (OLED55C8PLA) from Richer Sounds last week @ £1199

That’s showing as £1,700 on their site at min. How did you get that deal ?

We have been looking at https://www.johnlewis.com/lg-oled55b8slc-oled-hdr-4k-ultra-hd-smart-tv-55-with-freeview-play-freesat-hd-dolby-atmos-picture-on-metal-design-crescent-stand-ultra-hd-certified-black-silver/p3661161?sku=237559296&s_kwcid=2dx92700035771700830&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=Cj0KCQiA6ozhBRC8ARIsAIh_VC23isymEZ4v1ymKyslJ9ZuEjSwBy6du9GJI5H3lKRSY2NwDt1Izy2EaAoUfEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds which is £1,199 at Richer Sounds.

As to OLED or not, my brother works for BBC. He says OLED not essential, but make sure the TV can do HLG HDR.

He also said don’t get obssessed with 4K, but most TV’s are now 4K anyhow

I would love an OLED tv, my 10yr old 32” Sony is starting to have issues and will soon need replacing, I have the budget for a really good tv but can’t justify buying a 55” screen as it would look massive in my living room. Not really sure what my options are for a quality screen but sensible panel size.

That LG looks like the newer version of our set.

I’m not a TV fanatic. I have never needed to have the biggest, best or newest thing. In fact this is the first TV I have bought that wasn’t bought because the previous one was bust.

All that being said, it is a fantastic TV, has all the functions we need and the sound is good enough for regular watching – although we do have a sound bar and sub for movies. The picture though, that’s fantastic. It’s so far better than any of the other TV’s we saw. Still haven’t seen anything better TBH.

If you have the money – go OLED.

I have had an LG 55 OLED (e series) for about a year now. As they say: price is soon forgotten but quality is a constant reminder. Absolutely love mine. Picture quality is amazing on 4K (INC Netflix and Amazon) and still impressive even on HD terrestrial

Samsung do not do any OLED sets. Theirs are QLED, different technology but still effectively an LED screen so not as good.

yes, clearly I mistyped as the rest of the statement said ” sets now that are FALD” which is obviously not a technology used in OLEDs.

I might even buy one in a year or two when they’ve got them sorted and they have decent motion and stop crushing blacks 🙂

TL;DR

If you feel you need to spunk that much money on a tv, then go for it. OTOH, you can buy a nice bike for the same amount

As they say: price is soon forgotten but quality is a constant reminder.

Only someone with the money to burn in the first place would say that.

But in reality, your telly only needs to be better than the last one. I also love my telly and it’s not even HDR!

2) Is there anything coming down the pipe that will make a current 600 quid HD telly obsolete in 5-10 years?

No. 720/1080 HD broadcasts aren’t going away any time soon. Cost them a fortune and years of roll out to get it to where it is, and we still have a lot of SD channels out there and people still watching in SD.

DVDs might go, Blu Rays even, or at least physical media. Regardless, HD streaming will be compatible.

I doubt if 4K has even taken off much more than it hasn’t already in 10 years, and it certainly won’t cause existing HD feeds to shut down. Vast majority of people couldn’t tell the difference with an average TV between 4K and standard HD or really care that much about it (my parents can’t tell the difference between HD and SD, as I keep trying to get them to use BBC 1 HD but they don’t notice the difference. Though the TV is small to be fair).

Also given there’s a large shift to watching streaming content via phones and tablets, I can’t see much of a push for 4K or more content.

FD – Apologies, I got my letters mixed up.. it’s definitely the B8 series.. not C8. The differences I mentioned are between the B8PLA/B8S and are still right. Not sure if it’s the same for the C8 series.

When you look at the TVs in most shops nowadays, playing 4K/HDR demo footage, the images look very good but they don’t look like reality.

Was in JL the other day and it was showing footage of dogs in the park with a white terrier which was a bit like my girlfriends very cute white Maltese terrier, Teddy.

However it looked so white, crisply defined and sharply detailed whereas Teddy never looks that clean even after a bath and trim up.

The only time I see the sort of brightness and contrast the Samsungs pump out if when it is midday in the ski resort and I’m not wearing my goggles/sunglasses.

And the snorkeling footage, I’ve been to the Maldives 6 times and spent many, many hours snorkeling round the island and the fish and coral never look like good and bright, the only times I’ve photos that look like the snorkling footage on the 4k/HDR demos is from divers that are using huge lighting rigs at depth.

I would prioritise getting a TV that shows motion with as little artifacts and colours as accurately as possible over its ability to show HDR/4k. Sure the HDR/4k will look good, but does it look too good ?

I like my plasma for those reasons – the same reasons I used to like my old (cyclindrical) Sony Trinitron.
I used to go to Wimbledon a lot to see the tennis and watching the highlights on the Trinitron was like I could imagine that I was court side with a pane of glass in front of me as it was that realistic.

The plasma is similar.

When I look at these new sets the pictures look great, but they don’t look as ‘real’ to me. They look like a facsimile of the truth.

My baseline for TV images was set in my first job at the BBC Research dept whee I remember seeing the HD-MAC based high definition TV being developed for the Eureka project, and the demo footage created by several European countries, both projected and on a huge Trinitron monitor.

Depressingly we don’t seem to have come that far in nearly 30 years. If they stopped broadcasting all those +1 channels and other dross (TV shopping/soft porn/…) and just used the bandwidth to broadcast high data rates without crippling compression things could be much better.

Maldives 6 times
Skiing
Wimbledon [lots]

Some serious stealth willy waving from TG there – top marks 😉

*shuffles off to see what OLED means

Some serious stealth willy waving from TG there – top marks 😉

not my intention, sorry 🙂

to rebalance, how about :

My car is 15 years old and my mtbs are aluminium ?