Anyone understand all the TV specification gobbledegook

[ColinJ]

I have been saving my spare cash for about 18 months to treat myself to a new TV. My current 40" Samsung LCD TV has not been too bad though there were a couple of things about its picture quality that always disappointed me. I got 6 good years out of it but then the backlights started developing a purple tinge at the bottom of the picture which has been slowly spreading over the past couple of years. On top of that, I think dust has got into the screen between the LCD and the backlights so there are dark splodges at the top. Not good!

I will have a go at fixing the old set once its replacement has arrived. If I am successful I will use it to watch YouTube videos etc when on the turbo trainer in another room and/or as a huge second screen for my laptop.

The new set is a 55" Panasonic LZ1500 OLED. It got very good reviews when it was released last year.

The LZ1500 has been superseded by a new model now so dealers are clearing the old stock at discount prices. I had planned to buy one from Richer Sounds when I got back from my recent holiday in Devon but RS ran out of stock while I was away. I just did a search and found it at Peter Tyson for £120 less than RS had been asking! The only slight negative is that it has a 5 year warranty instead of 6, but that shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't actually ever watched an OLED TV in real life, but I watched scores of review videos describing how great they can be. I never watch TV in a bright room so an OLED should be plenty bright enough for me.

The decider for me was my sister and niece describing how gobsmacked they were by an OLED TV that they saw in a department store. They usually don't notice picture quality at all (forgetting to watch in HD, for example!) but certainly noticed how good that one was.

I have had my room layout the same for 8 years but have decided that I will rearrange it ready for the new TV. I think that I can make much better use of the space.

The sound quality on the new TV probably won't be much better than on my current one, but that won't be an issue for me because I use 2 huge hi-fi speakers with an external amp for TV listening duties.

I'll let y'all know how I get on with the new set after a week or two of test viewing.

 

[ColinJ]

I'll let y'all know how I get on with the new set after a week or two of test viewing.

I don't need to test it for a week.

Here is my review: Stunning!

(4k/HDR test videos on YouTube show just how good its picture can be. Unfortunately, most broadcast content doesn't come anywhere near that quality.)

 

[Mo1959]

I don't need to test it for a week.

Here is my review: Stunning!

(4k/HDR test videos on YouTube show just how good its picture can be. Unfortunately, most broadcast content doesn't come anywhere near that quality.)

Quite a lot of catch up programmes on iplayer are in UHD now. Personally, I find a huge difference between SD and HD but not that much to UHD, although the sound quality also seems better as well as the picture.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I have been saving my spare cash for about 18 months to treat myself to a new TV. My current 40" Samsung LCD TV has not been too bad though there were a couple of things about its picture quality that always disappointed me. I got 6 good years out of it but then the backlights started developing a purple tinge at the bottom of the picture which has been slowly spreading over the past couple of years. On top of that, I think dust has got into the screen between the LCD and the backlights so there are dark splodges at the top. Not good!

I will have a go at fixing the old set once its replacement has arrived. If I am successful I will use it to watch YouTube videos etc when on the turbo trainer in another room and/or as a huge second screen for my laptop.

The new set is a 55" Panasonic LZ1500 OLED. It got very good reviews when it was released last year.

The LZ1500 has been superseded by a new model now so dealers are clearing the old stock at discount prices. I had planned to buy one from Richer Sounds when I got back from my recent holiday in Devon but RS ran out of stock while I was away. I just did a search and found it at Peter Tyson for £120 less than RS had been asking! The only slight negative is that it has a 5 year warranty instead of 6, but that shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't actually ever watched an OLED TV in real life, but I watched scores of review videos describing how great they can be. I never watch TV in a bright room so an OLED should be plenty bright enough for me.

The decider for me was my sister and niece describing how gobsmacked they were by an OLED TV that they saw in a department store. They usually don't notice picture quality at all (forgetting to watch in HD, for example!) but certainly noticed how good that one was.

I have had my room layout the same for 8 years but have decided that I will rearrange it ready for the new TV. I think that I can make much better use of the space.

The sound quality on the new TV probably won't be much better than on my current one, but that won't be an issue for me because I use 2 huge hi-fi speakers with an external amp for TV listening duties.

I'll let y'all know how I get on with the new set after a week or two of test viewing.

20 years and going for my LCD TV.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Quite a lot of catch up programmes on iplayer are in UHD now. Personally, I find a huge difference between SD and HD but not that much to UHD, although the sound quality also seems better as well as the picture.

I see little or no difference between the formats.

 

[ColinJ]

Quite a lot of catch up programmes on iplayer are in UHD now.

I'll take a look once I have finished watching various things on Netflix and Prime.

Personally, I find a huge difference between SD and HD but not that much to UHD

I find the same. I think manufacturers will eventually try to sell us 8k+ but that would be totally wasted unless you have a huge screen and sit very close to it.

HDR is a very obvious improvement, although a lot of the test videos that I've watched have been over-processed to look artificially impressive, but unnatural.

20 years and going for my LCD TV.

OLED's handling of dark scenes is really fantastic. Seeing night scenes on them makes it clear that old LCD's (like mine, and probably even more so - Ming's!) don't reproduce black properly at all - the best you can hope for is a darkish grey.

I see little or no difference between the formats.

SD is like watching without your specs on; you could read the headlines on a newspaper held by someone a short distance away. HD is like watching with specs on, but the lenses are slightly greasy; you could read the main body of text as well as the headlines. UHD is like watching with clean specs on; you could read the headlines, the main body of text, plus any small print! Of course, actually caring about those differences is another matter, but the differences are there.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I'll take a look once I have finished watching various things on Netflix and Prime.


I find the same. I think manufacturers will eventually try to sell us 8k+ but that would be totally wasted unless you have a huge screen and sit very close to it.

HDR is a very obvious improvement, although a lot of the test videos that I've watched have been over-processed to look artificially impressive, but unnatural.

OLED's handling of dark scenes is really fantastic. Seeing night scenes on them makes it clear that old LCD's (like mine, and probably even more so - Ming's!) don't reproduce black properly at all - the best you can hope for is a darkish grey.


SD is like watching without your specs on; you could read the headlines on a newspaper held by someone a short distance away. HD is like watching with specs on, but the lenses are slightly greasy; you could read the main body of text as well as the headlines. UHD is like watching with clean specs on; you could read the headlines, the main body of text, plus any small print! Of course, actually caring about those differences is another matter, but the differences are there.

Our eyes obviously work differently, I see little or no difference between the formats, sd is good enough quality for me.

 

[Mo1959]

Our eyes obviously work differently, I see little or no difference between the formats, sd is good enough quality for me.

My eyes aren't great without specs these days but I see a massive difference. Anything still broadcast in SD looks almost foggy to me now.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

My eyes aren't great without specs these days but I see a massive difference. Anything still broadcast in SD looks almost foggy to me now.

SD is clear to me but I watch little or no TV, its on but most of the time its my Good lady who watches it.