What's the best value in ~49" TVs at present?

roadie

roadie

roadie

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I've just moved into my first flat that I am renovating at the moment. In the little downtime that I have, I have only a 32" Panasonic to use, which really isn't cutting it at a distance of ~3.5m. I think a ~49" TV would work best at that distance? I've done a bit of research and have compiled the following shortlist. Important things to me are motion handling (I don't want to see any juddering, ever) and even backlighting, as it appears most TVs can be made accurate these days.
What strikes you guys as the best value on that list? The Panasonic is cheapest, but I have read issues with juddering on it. Feedback from owners of each would be most welcome.

Cheers!
 
Not had any of those sets myself. But I have a 6 year old LG 49" LED unit. Its great. Bought a 43" 4k LG unit for master bedroom, works great. About 18 months old. Has all the features I could want etc etc. Bit of a LG fan personally.

Do like the spec on that 850V unit. Better speakers.
 
I bought a ku6400, I love it and would recommend it, however if you're fussy I suspect you will be in for a lot of pain. You'll be lucky to find any telly that will be perfect.
 
I think I'm leaning toward the UH850V at present, but there are so many options and its difficult to make sense of Sony's numbering scheme...
 
Pro's for LG are:

Absolutely stunning built in sound on their top end models.

The widest viewing angles you can get bar OLED.

The more expensive sets have local dimming (good for backlight issues).

You get a lot for your money spec is high and usually £100-£300 cheaper than the equivalent sony/samsung

Con's are:

Not as deep blacks as other manufacturers due to IPS instead of VA and for this reason only they don't get as high ratings in the PQ department. However their colours, etc are all spot on. HDR panels especially look stunning.
 
At 3.5m you could have a bigger TV than 49".

People rave about the Samsung KS7000 series for the money, that seems to be the stand out one. It's not perfect, but nothing is. Read as many informed reviews as you can, then go and have a play with one, it's the only way to choose really.
 
I've got the 49UH770V in our bedroom. We've got the B6V OLED downstairs and obviously it doesn't compare to that but it's a very decent TV for the money. Picture is decent and the smart functionality is first rate.
 
KS7000 without doubt, will outperform the others when it comes to local dimming, brightness etc which will affect overall picture quality and HDR.
 
I popped into a shop this evening where they had the 49KS7000 and 49UH850V set up side-by-side. I was able to play around with them, but they both kept resetting to defaults after a few minutes, which was annoying! The shop settings are so far from accurate it is laughable.

The LG produces a great picture and looks really natural, but as everyone says blacks were its weakness. Even with all the dimming etc turned off, the cursor from the remote moving over a dark screen did produce a lighter patch around it. However, the smart features were great and I was really impressed with the remote and moving around the OS.

The Samsung was harder to get a good picture, but the blacks were BLACK. I'd need more time to get a nice picture. Otherwise the design of the TV itself was nice, but the OS was not as forward looking.

Overall the Samsung is probably the better the TV. However, it is more expensive...

Any thoughts on Sony TVs in that size? There appears to be a couple of models (the XD8305 and the XD80XX). Any idea which is better and whether they are worth a look over the Samsung and LG?
 
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You get what you pay for :p

Sony 49XD8305 I feel would be similar to LG as it is IPS so poor blacks again, and no local dimming won't help the matter either.

Honestly I don't think you can go wrong with the KS7000, it's the TV I plan on buying soon. Only grievances being the wide stands, and some reports of the back panel coming loose.
 
If you can afford it just get the KS7000. It is just better, obviously at the price premium but unless you buy TV's regularly the KS7000 will give you the better experience for longer. Have a look over on AVforums once you have it for recommended picture settings which I am sure will improve on it even more.

Enjoy.
 
I plan on getting the KS7000 49" as well eventually, unless newer TV's out this year change my mind.

The only thing putting me off slightly is the back panel reported problems and I think I have read that you need to keep manually adjusting settings for HDR to work correctly when gaming, is this the case still or has a software update fixed this?
 
What if the ks7000 goes down to £749? ;)

beachBOYken said:
I plan on getting the KS7000 49" as well eventually, unless newer TV's out this year change my mind.

The only thing putting me off slightly is the back panel reported problems and I think I have read that you need to keep manually adjusting settings for HDR to work correctly when gaming, is this the case still or has a software update fixed this?
Click to expand...

I know there was an issue with HDR and game mode not working together but this was fixed months ago.

Not sure if same issue.
 
dacads said:
What if the ks7000 goes down to £749? ;)



I know there was an issue with HDR and game mode not working together but this was fixed months ago.

Not sure if same issue.
Click to expand...


Maybe it is, I just know I saw a few videos on game websites showing people how to adjust the settings on the KS7000 to get HDR working correctly in game mode, and it was only a one time setting meaning you would need to do it every time.

Like you say maybe an update has sorted it.
 
I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to spend £800 on a TV and can't see the Samsung dropping in price massively.

I think I have narrowed my choice down to the LG and the Sony 49XD8099. Both are IPS screens... I prefer the design of the Sony. I'm going to have to take myself back to a shop to compare them together.
 
And after having done so, the Sony is the better piece of furniture.

Picturewise I am not sure if one is really better than the other. Objectively the LG should be after looking at reviews. However, subjectively in a shop environment and without knowing the best settings it was difficult to say.
 
I have the LG UH750V and the sound on it (Harmon Kardon) is the best i've heard on a tv ever. Apart from the Sony which comes with 2 HUGE black bars on either side which contain speakers, that did cost £2500 though so not surprising really.
 
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