New TV time.

[Jonny ///M]

We've decided we can replace our ancient Sony ~40" TV from days gone by.

Price wise I was thinking £500-1000 but could possibly go up to £1200 as it lasts for years.

We mainly watch Amazon/Netflix etc, game on old Xbox one but will likely replace with a series x or next gen when it comes. Not competitive with fast paced shooters.

Limiting factor is the width of the unit which is 120cm which seems to mean a max of 55" and we sit around 170cm from the TV.


I had a quick look around and spotted SAMSUNG QE55Q60CAUXXU for £700 or the Panasonic-tx-55mx800b for £800 which is more expensive but is LED vs QLED. The SAMSUNG QE55Q80CATXXU jumps to £900 for a higher refresh rate?

I appreciate any advice to narrow my search or rule out any that are completely crap.

 

[Jonny ///M]

The TV sits right next to the French doors and the garden is south facing so does get a fair bit of sun. I have to close the blinds and curtains sometimes as it is so OLED would be even worse?

 

[Jonny ///M]

Personally, I would avoid lower-tier Samsung and LG TVs. The higher-end stuff is great; the OLEDs and Neo QLEDs, and the upper-end QLEDs and QNEDs. The rest though are just too compromised.

Take the Samsung QE55Q60 QLED as an example. It's good that it has a Quantum Dot screen, but that's where a lot of the good stuff ends. A big omission IMO is the lack of any sort of local dimming. This is where a TV makes the backlight brighter/darker to suit the picture content within each frame of video. However, when you read the spec, it looks like the TV has dimming. They call it "UHD Supreme Dimming". What gives?

The answer is marketing spin. They have the video processing split the screen into zones, and then alter the contrast in each according to the frame-by-frame content. That sounds super-techy, but there's a problem. When you're watching anything that needs a dark image - say a star field - you don't get the black. Things look grey and washed out. Messing around with the contrast isn't a substitute for proper dynamic contrast control using the backlight with LED screens. The problems with Supreme Dimming / Micro Dimming don't end there. When the contrast is pushed up to get the pop in a certain zone then it also crushes the white detail.

Stick towards the upper end of your budget. Pay attention to reviews that measure the screen brightness in cd/m2 or Nits in both SDR and HDR modes. A good screen should be pushing 500+ on either measurement. For your budget, TVs with levels below 350 just aren't in the running.

Cheers for the in depth reply. I've watched quite a few videos to understand full array dimming and it makes a massive difference from what I can see.

I used to sell bikes and found similar with certain brands. High end were brilliant but low end they were selling on some sort of gimmick and the brand name.

I just went for a 55 inch TCL 845k today for £730 to replace my LG 49SJ800V.

It's a fairly bright living room so as much as I wanted an OLED I felt the mini led would probably be better. Also supports every HDR format under the sun.

Price seemed reasonable for a top range (for the UK at least) 2023 model. Runs GoogleTV 11 as the OS so can get rid of my Chromecast dongle. Apparently does 144Hz 4K but there is some debate about whether it is in 4:2:2 mode. On the plus side in the six months it has been out there have been loads of software updates and should be going up to Google TV 12 or 14 in the near future.

I'd never even thought of TCL as I guess I thought they would be like polaroid TVs people buy in Tesco. It seems they aren't messing about and the TV has all the features I want and more.

I use a pixel phone and tend to like how Google works so that should be a plus. I hate complicated and slow UI.

Might be worth waiting for black Friday by the sounds of it as it's £850 most places down to £760 on Reliant but I'd rather try pick it up locally or buy from somewhere with good return policy.

 

[Jonny ///M]

Not seeing any crazy price drops on the C845K only down to £799 best I can see.


Any better TVs that have done down and worth a look at?

 

[Jonny ///M]

I wanted to find a place to take a look at the TCL C845K but nobody stocks them.

Popped by currys whilst at pets at home and the sales guy was **** talking TCL and spending £900 on a Hisense.

He directed me towards a QE55Q80C for £750 and the QE55QN95C for £1399 with free sound bar.

 

[Jonny ///M]

Forgot all about starting this thread.

After looking into the C845k I ended up just buying a QE55QN90C and so far it seems pretty decent.

Even with the curtains open and the sun shining the screen is fairly bright with no glare.