Is now a bad time for buying a new / 4K TV on a budget?

[Vexr]

My 12+ year old 43" 1080p LCD TV is reaching the point where it's developing screen defects, prompting me to look into replacing it (albeit without much enthusiasm, as I'd be perfectly content with it if it wasn't for the faults its developing).

Looks like there's some very competitively priced 4K TVs around, to the point where buying one of the few new 1080p ones doesn't make much sense. However, it seems that HDMI 2.1 is just now being released on the most high end models and this looks set to really be the future for TVs, with high refresh rates, HDR, variable refresh rate, and even the gratuitous 8k resolution all being supported.

I suppose when the PS5/Xbox2 is released taking advantage of HDMI 2.1 there may even be a glut on to the market of 4K pre-HDMI 2.1 TVs flooding the used market, creating the opportunity to pick up a steal?

 

[Vexr]

Problem is home cinema is always having new features from hdr to hdmi, vsync, to what kind of brain insertion probe you push into your crebral cortex and you need kitchen sink v3 on other gear

True, though every other upgrade on HDMI looks like baby steps compared with HDMI 2.0 -> 2.1. Seems to me that calling it HDMI 3.0 would be far more fitting as it's got the entire works and enormous future proofing. Well, minus the occipital jack

 

[Vexr]

From 3d to four HDR types...its getting absurd.

Hdmi v3 includes inverted phase tachyon pulse technology you'll need a new blu ray player with phased matched quantum field for bi lateral sync topology.

3D was a fad. I suspect even 8K and HDR won't exactly be changing the world in a permanent way either. However, 4K @ 120 hz with VRR could well become the new gold standard for very many years to come, to match the longevity that 1080p 60 hz enjoyed. And you'll only get it with HDMI 2.1 (or better). HDMI 2.0 or less 4K may well come to be as disappointingly regarded as 720p and 1080i.

 

[Vexr]

@lucid that's interesting. I must admit to knowing far less about TVs than I do about PC monitors, especially regarding advertised refresh rates (unless a TV says something truly ridiculous like being 600 hz then I have tended to go by whatever they list in the spec sheet).

In truth, as I'm not a console player and I place relatively little value on 4K (I don't anticipate signing up for 4K TV services any time soon), then it's the Smart TV features of the newer models that really interest me, and smoothness via high refresh rates would be much appreciated no matter how achieved (my old 1080p TV turns into a blurry mess especially on any horizontally panning shot).

I'd also be very interested in:
1) An Android TV that's capable of installing and running Kodi (with the processing power to back it up)
2) SD card slot with the ability to run video from a range of file formats well
3) Netflix / Amazon Prime built in as an option
4) As above, achieves smoothness whether via high refresh rates or whatever black magic is needed for TV/movie play back (don't really care about console input lag as I don't have a console)
5) Match or exceed the 43" of my current TV

Things I don't actually care much about (yet):
1) 4K
2) VRR
3) HDR
4) OLED/QLED/AMOLED (ironically my PC monitor is QLED, but that feature hasn't exactly rocked my world TBH)

So I suppose I'm really looking for an absolutely fantastic 1080p TV. As soon as I exceed that and step in to 4K territory though, then the pull toward HDMI 2.1 really takes off with thoughts of future proofing.

 

[Vexr]

There aren't any absolutely fantastic 1080p TVs new any more. That ship sailed almost 5 years ago. Anything 40" and above that's still native 1080p is there mostly because it's a cheap telly. Cheap rarely equals good.

The bulk of the market is made up of 4K UHD panel TVs in varying qualities from entry-level through to high-end. 1080p is dead as disco as far as the average TV buyer and the TV manufacturers are concerned. All the development is going in to 4K UHD TVs. If you want something good, then unless you're buying a used TV, you need to be looking at 4K TVs even though you won't be making use of the resolution.

With regard to your wish list, I run Kodi on an external Android box. I would never put my long term faith in a TV manufacturer to (a) build in sufficient processing power and (b) keep the damn OS software up to date beyond maybe a 2~3 year window from a model's introduction. My current TV has Netflix and Amazon Prime built in. I don't subscribe to Netflix but do have a Prime account. For that I use a Fire 4K stick for the same reasons as about. I can run Kodi on it too but haven't bothered so far.

SD card slot...... Do people still use that? My TV is networked to my NAS and I can mirror from my Android phone. There are a couple of USB ports including a 3.0 one, so a solid state HDD or USB flash drive would be my choices for physically connecting a drive.

There are some remaining stocks of the Panasonic FX750 in a few stores. I think this was a £1200 set. The 50" is going for £800. It has a 100/120Hz panel and very good motion processing.

I suppose I should've expected this. I appreciate your breakdown of the situation.

My current 1080p TV isn't completely un-smart thanks to it being attached to my now ancient Core 2 Duo 'Media Centre' blu-ray laptop, which outputs HDMI @ 1080p/60 and has an SD card slot, though it takes a good 10+ minutes to boot up and has struggled massively with certain Kodi content / video types, unable to achieve 1080p @ whatever is deemed smooth fps from certain sources (CPU usage always near 100% despite undervolting to eliminate thermal throttling). I haven't tried it with Netflix or Amazon as it's cumbersome enough already. It would be very nice to have all the functionality that laptop has but provided natively though a Smart TV (and preferably remote controlled and with the CPU power to handle the content comfortably and quickly).

The Panasonic FX750 looks impressive, but honestly, if I was to consider a new TV I think £300-£400 @ 43" would be what I'd be looking at as I simply don't consider TVs that much more worth it (this coming from someone who spent more on a PC monitor).

 

[Vexr]

Cheers for the advice all. Think I'll stick with my current TV and step up the ice treatment to counter the screen warping effect its suffering from as it at least remains very bright and colourful, unlike some I've seen. I think the pipe dream listed in my OP can wait for another day, especially as I'm without a console/4K content currently.

 

[Vexr]

A monitor is more useful to me including for work. I didn't spend quite that much on it as I bought it on sale. I was also able to sell my old monitor for about £350. 100 hz native FreeSync @ 3440x1440 at much closer to the £500 mark rather than the £1k of the old overclockable ones was also something I'd been waiting quite a while for, and when NVidia announced they were opening up to FreeSync then that was the final checkbox ticked for me to take the plunge.

When it comes to a nice new TV, I'm having a harder time justifying any significant spend, especially if by the time I get a console / regular 4K content to watch then it may already be old hat compared with HDMI 2.1 models. As my current TV no doubt has 0 resale value, it'll also be a nastier blow to the wallet than my monitor upgrade was.

 

[Vexr]

yeah but already explained for HDMI 2.1 to be useful you need to spend at least £1000 on a tv.

it doesn't matter if in 5 years you can get a £400 tv with 2.1 if the £400 tv can't do anything beneficial with it.

You said you need to spend £1k on a TV for HDR to be useful, not HDMI 2.1.

if you want HDR then to get one which does it any justice would be £1000 minimum at 49".

Just to clarify, I don't give a toss about HDR so it can happily be one of the features I'd sacrifice to keep costs down. Variable refresh rate and/or 120 hz @ 4K however I can see being useful in the future, and could be something I'd miss if I got a HDMI 2.0 TV now.

Personally leaning toward looking out for a bargain in the used market for a smart 1080p TV that's a lot more modern than mine - perhaps something like a Sony KDL-42W705B, then revisit the idea of 4K / HDMI 2.1 much later on.

 

[Vexr]

again your not going to get 120hz on any £400 tv

Ever? I'm sure similar things were said of 100hz UWQHDs with their £1k price tags, and yet a few later it's been proven possible to get decent ones for less than £500 new despite the value of the pound.

 

[Vexr]

Just ignore him he won't stop even if you do

Good idea. He seems overly fixated on the £400 figure I threw out rather casually in this thread, with him going on to repeat it the better part of a dozen times in this own posts.

he just needs to go out and buy any tv that is within his pitiful £400 budget.

Thank you, but no thanks. Feel free to jog on.

 

[Vexr]

how come you've crossed out the 1070ti in your sig? don't tell me you downgraded it to a RX 550.

Slightly OT Yes, I did. Borderless windowed GSync was broken like with these unfortunate souls + I originally bought the 1070 Ti for 60 hz UWQHD not 100 hz, and found it lacking for 100 hz. The RX 550 is acting as a placeholder.