HDTV Suggestions

[mwl168]

Picked up a LG OLED 65 C9 from Costco a few days ago. Also got a Sony UBP X800M2 4K player with HDR support. 

Only spent 3 minutes on some very basic calibration so far and I need to fine tune between contrast, brightness and OLED light (akin to LED\LCD backlight). 

Even as such, the picture with 4K HDR material is stunning! Actually better than I had expected.

Decided to go with Costco option mostly due to the combined 5 year warranty on the TV. It does not have the WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Audio) feature and only saved me $50 compare to buying the retailer model from Best Buy, etc.. But I don't need the WiSA feature and the extended warranty is more important to me.  

Not a fan with the remote though. On top of not being intuitive to use, I kept pointing the damn thing with the wrong end?

Edited January 24, 2020 by mwl168

[Dusty Chalk]

You’re happy with the picture, that’s the most important thing.  You can get an aftermarket remote and program it, and it’ll be far more intuitive.

[Grahame]

Don't forget the remote app for your smart devices

https://www.lg.com/us/experience-tvs/remote-apps

But if you  have multiple devices to control, the logitech Harmony remotes have a lot to recommend them.

Enjoy your membership of the HC OLED users club!

[luvdunhill]

I have completely given up the Harmony garbage and went with a NEEO, which works quite well. Would recommend.

I still have my Samsung and Panasonic plasma TVs soaking up power and going strong

[Dusty Chalk]

On 1/23/2020 at 10:45 PM, Grahame said:

 

https://www.lg.com/us/experience-tvs/remote-apps

Lollers at “Enough Aurelie”.

[dsavitsk]

The unthinkable has happened. Our Panasonic plasma is no more. ☹️

I could use suggestions on what to replace it with. Probably looking for 55", price range of $1500-1800 max, about where the panny was when we got it.

Our setup is pretty minimal - no cable, no ht, etc. Just an antenna and a Roku. So sound quality is a consideration, as is the tuner.

When we got the plasma we bought and returned about 6 TVs before settling on the plasma. I'd rather not go through that again.

[mwl168]

I recommend looking into one of the OLED offerings based on the picture quality. It should fit nicely into your price range. I have the LG 65" one and rally enjoy it. The ability to display true black is something I have not experienced in other types of TVs and it seems to make the contrast better too among other things. 

Although the sounds is nothing to write home about. And that's probably common for these new generation TVs that tend to emphasize on being as thin as possible. I have mine hooked up to a nice 2-channel system.

Happy hunting!

[EdipisReks1]

I would def look at an OLED. My 60” Samsung (first ex-wife has my Panasonic 42” from like 2008) plasma is coming up on 9 years old. Still going strong, but I’ll likely buy whatever OLED in the size range that is cheapest, if it goes. 

I still don’t think OLED looks as good as plasma at a given resolution and calibration; but it’s close. You really don’t have much of a choice unless you want to get something you’ll hate. 

If the display itself is capable of what you want then I really think calibration is more important than any other aspect. Guests are still blown away by this nearly 10 year old TV, and it’s just because I calibrated it (I had access to a good spider at the time). 

Edited August 28, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[dsavitsk]

Thanks for the suggestions. Mercifully, there are not that many options to consider. I think it comes down to Sony (A80J) or LG (C1). Probably either is more than fine. Sony seems to get the nod in terms of picture (particularly upscaling) and sound, but costs a few hundred more. Wirecutter recommends the LG which I consider a strike against it. Both can probably forgo the Roku. It will be nice to have fewer wires for cats to chew on.

It's possible that the Panasonic is fixable, but that's not going to happen this weekend, and the US Open starts on Monday! Its diagnostic mode was indeterminate.

[robm321]

As mentioned, today's TVs generally have terrible sound, because they assume you'll be using a sound bar. Even cheap sound bars are much better than the tiny TV speakers. 

[Pars]

So not a standard blinking on the Panny? We bought ours (42") from my brother, and within a years it conked out with 10 blinks. Looking it up, other than the surface mount soldering, it amount to replacing 2 ICs on daughter boards (8 pin) and removing a tiny ceramic cap on each and replacing with an electro. They even sold kits for this. Been working great ever since (5+ years), but with the amount my wife leaves it on, etc., only a matter of time.

[dsavitsk]

22 minutes ago, Pars said:

So not a standard blinking on the Panny?

I'm having trouble homing in on the issue. It's a single blink, which as far as I can tell indicates a problem with a board that the service manual indicated our TV doesn't have. Obviously I am not finding what I need to find, so I think that's going to take a while.

[dsavitsk]

On 8/27/2021 at 11:54 PM, dsavitsk said:

I think it comes down to Sony (A80J)

FWIW, this is a really nice TV. Picture, out of the box with no calibration, looks better to me than the plasma. Sound is at least as good as any soundbar I was likely to buy. I've heard speakers that cost about as much as the TV itself that sound worse. The interface works great. I'm not happy I needed to buy a new TV, but I am definitely happy with the one I got.

[swt61]

Is the definition that important for Dora the Explorer?

[EdipisReks1]

NAIM MuSo2 makes a good sound adjutant, just saying. 

[Dusty Chalk]

Any early adopters want to weigh in on this?

 

[VPI]

All of my LGs have significant burn-in. The Sony OLEDs do not as of yet.

[MexicanDragon]

1 minute ago, VPI said:

All of my LGs have significant burn-in. The Sony OLEDs do not as of yet.

All in due time...

[TMoney]

40 minutes ago, Dusty Chalk said:

Any early adopters want to weigh in on this?

 

OLED TVs make shit computer monitors. This is well known.

Zero burn in on my 2017 model LG that is used for tv/video.

[luvdunhill]

No burn in here with 2020 LG GX models.

[Dusty Chalk]

2 hours ago, TMoney said:

OLED TVs make shit computer monitors. This is well known.

I have an OLED laptop on order -- do you think I should cancel it?

[TMoney]

I assume the displays for PCs and laptops have enhanced anti-burn in tech that isn’t present in TVs. That being said, I’d check the warranty terms just to be sure.

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, if you watch the video, OLED is a bunch of lights -- not just down to the pixel, but down to the lighting element (individual colours of each pixel), and -- like any other light -- burn out, so I wouldn't assume that.  

I think if I keep the order, I will change the way I usually work, so that it shuts off the screen as much as possible, and will make sure the softwares I use don't derp when it goes to sleep (Tidal does, not sure about Cubase).  I'm actually going to check right now that the screen is replaceable.

[Torpedo]

What computer did you order, Dusty?

[TMoney]

Yeah, I didn’t mean that they changed the laws of physics and chemistry, only that they probably don’t run the dedicated PC OLED screens are hard or have other tech tricks to avoid burn in that they’d employ that would not be necessary on a TV.

I think you’ll be just fine. I’ve seen that Dell laptops (at least I think they were Dell) with the OLED screens and they look great.