OT: Black Friday approaches. Thinking about a new TV UPDATED: Bought

[merckxman]

Just chiming in about OLED in bright spaces. A friend is in the biz and was recently telling me that this a real concern.

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

^^^This. Any of the OLED models from the Big Three Brands (Sony, Samsung, and LG) look pretty darn good, especially if your last TV was purchased 13 years ago...but if you've ever been to an industry "shoot out" where Sony, Samsung, and LG bring their best displays and set them up side-by-side, it becomes clear that the Sony A-series OLEDs have some serious Special Sauce that makes their pictures conspicuously better than the competition.

It is however worth noting that if your TV room is not a reasonably dark space -- i.e., if it's a bright room with lots of windows and you do much of your TV viewing during daylight hours -- that an OLED may not be the best choice. The brightness and contrast levels that OLED panels produce don't do well in these light spaces, and so you may be better off with a conventional LED. (In which case I'd recommend Sony again, specifically their XR**X95K series.)

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by sfo1

You want to bring 8k / >$5k into the mix, no argument.

For oled 4k, <$4k, I don't think there is a better panel than the A95k.

Agreed.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by sfo1

You want to bring 8k / >$5k into the mix, no argument.

For oled 4k, <$4k, I don't think there is a better panel than the A95k.

I see it works the same for TVs around here.
I asked for <$1K, we are already up to <$4K

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by makoti

I see it works the same for TVs around here.
I asked for <$1K, we are already up to <$4K

Wait till we get to the N+1 conversation.

...you know...you need a separate screen for control and adjustment. Main screen is just for viewing, right?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by sfo1

Not remotely a decent deal on an undersized panel.

Agree..only 42 inch is so 20th century.

[oldpotatoe]

Interesting thread..Got a about 20 YO Sony 42 inch..works fine but egads, sure is a lot clearer when I get closer to it..as in...as eyes go, need a bigger TV..

$ for really nice TVs is pretty amazing(some big box stores)...Son has a 55 inch LG of some sort..really nice...

[saab2000]

Hurricane Sandy had me stranded in Montreal for a few days, earning extra $$$. I had no TV at the time and with the Sandy windfall I went to Best Buy and told the TV salesman that I had a $1000 budget and not a penny more for a TV, cables and a DVD/Blueray player. I wanted the best set for $1000 and ended up with the 42” Samsung I’m looking at right now. It’s been great. Extremely reliable and good looking.

I just measured it. The device is 42” diagonally but the screen is only 40”.

Maybe someday I’ll walk into Best Buy again and see what’s out there. I can imagine getting a larger TV but not a monster.

[mcteague]

Back in May I got the Sony 77" A80J. The A80K was just coming out and the 80J was on sale for $1k less. The 90 series is supposed to be a tad better but the feet were too wide for my furniture. I'm surprised how much better it is than the 63" Samsung plasma it replaced. The OLED screen definitely puts off less heat than the plasma.

Tim

[RobbieTunes]

I don’t have a room big enough for bigger than 42”. I understand home theatre and the immersion experience, though. Just not a priority. I’m more into audio.

I went to a Super Bowl party, projection wall, probably 12’ x 8’. At the time it was a bit startling. There are a few things I’d like to see in OLED, 4k, at 70” or so. Some would be stunning, some unsettling, some inappropriate, some all 3.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Put that thing on the wall!

There’s a window behind the spot for the TV, wall mount wouldn't work.

Tim

[makoti]

Follow up question.
Was thinking 55". 65" was suggested (thank you), but that sounded huge. Measured my viewing distance, where I sit to the screen as it is now. 9'7". So according to the charts, 65" is as SMALL as I'd want (!).
So...how big a screen are you using and what's your viewing distance? Happy with it or too big/small?

[robt57]

Contrast ratio is everything IMO. I skipped past big TVs for little every day ones and DLP in a dedicated HT with lots of Acoustical and Darkening efforts for the cause. Talking 20+ years back when we had the SF for a dedicated HT space, which we do not now.

So I am on board and kinda waiting on an OLED decision/choice hoping prices will cool.

And first bigger TV desired too, 40" max daily drivers all over the house and shop now.

Last DLP projector has a flakiny wheel, so finally and done with that route. It is doing bike trainer suite duty where flaky reds not too big an issue...

Originally Posted by sfo1

Went through the process recently - do you have a bright room or dark room for the panel? If bright, you want a panel that handles refection as well as gets bright enough. For your budget, its tough to beat this.

I settled on this as I have a bright room.

[benb]

We went from a 2007 Samsung LCD to a 2022 OLED this year (LG) and are super happy with it.

The LG software is good. IME both Sony and Samsung are very software challenged. It makes it hard for me to pay extra for their products.

Our Samsung would sometimes crash if used with an antenna. As in you had to unplug it to get it to reboot and work again.

OLED picture is as amazing an upgrade as going for SDTV to HDTV was. It’s like you’ve never seen black before. You get used to it but it’s a real shock at first.

It’s TV, for me not something I’d go to the crazy high end on.

[Hardlyrob]

It's interesting - I work in the restaurant industry which has some pretty heavy duty TV installations - Think Buffalo Wild Wings at $75,000 to $100,000 for the TV package. The two brands you see over and over are Samsung followed by LG. If I had to guess, Samsung has about a 70% market share of the pro restaurant TV installation market.

Pro A/V isn't my field - just an observation that there must be some pretty good value in a Samsung package.