The Retirement Thread

[classic33]

It was. I should put a complaint in.

Late rain and no water is worth a complaint, any day.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm waiting in for a pal to pick up the PC monitor that I am giving him. I wonder though whether he might find the resolution is a bit low by modern standards (1280 x 800).

That resolution sounded low so I double-checked - it is actually 1440 x 900. Still lowish, but better than I'd thought. I must have been thinking of my old tablet which DOES have a 1280 x 800 screen.

My monitor-needing pal hasn't turned up yet... I won't go out either way now for another couple of hours. I'll let the traffic chaos subside first.

I'm still researching what new TV to buy. I am starting to think that I won't get an OLED after all. The (slight?) risk of burn-in puts me off, and also slightly reduced maximum brightness. Has anybody got a Samsung Neo QLED set - NOTE the NEO and Q - not a 'plain old' LED type? If so, what do you think of it? I have read a lot of good reviews of the technology, but a few critical ones too.

 

[Paulus]

I've just had a letter from Affinity Water, our water company.
Last November they installed meters along our road.
I've got the second comparison Bill to show what the difference is between the normal monthly DD and the metered. In 18 months we would be on the metered charge anyway.
I would just be over £150 a year better off on the metered. So I have swapped over from today. A small saving, but a saving nonetheless.

 

[gavroche]

Waiting for the temperature to cool down a bit before I go for a ride. Apparently, rain is due at about 6 pm so I don't know what to do now.

 

[ColinJ]

Waiting for the temperature to cool down a bit before I go for a ride. Apparently, rain is due at about 6 pm so I don't know what to do now.

It looks like the local forecast of evening rain might be right... It has gone cool and gloomy here now.

I've just had a letter from Affinity Water, our water company.
Last November they installed meters along our road.
I've got the second comparison Bill to show what the difference is between the normal monthly DD and the metered. In 18 months we would be on the metered charge anyway.
I would just be over £150 a year better off on the metered. So I have swapped over from today. A small saving, but a saving nonetheless.

I'm thinking of having a meter fitted too. I am currently paying about £360 p.a., which seems quite a lot for a singleton!

 

[mistyoptic]

That resolution sounded low so I double-checked - it is actually 1440 x 900. Still lowish, but better than I'd thought. I must have been thinking of my old tablet which DOES have a 1280 x 800 screen.

My monitor-needing pal hasn't turned up yet... I won't go out either way now for another couple of hours. I'll let the traffic chaos subside first.

I'm still researching what new TV to buy. I am starting to think that I won't get an OLED after all. The (slight?) risk of burn-in puts me off, and also slightly reduced maximum brightness. Has anybody got a Samsung Neo QLED set - NOTE the NEO and Q - not a 'plain old' LED type? If so, what do you think of it? I have read a lot of good reviews of the technology, but a few critical ones too.

I thought QLED was just what Samsung called their OLED. Is it actually a different thing? Genuinely interested

 

[welsh dragon]

Waiting for the temperature to cool down a bit before I go for a ride. Apparently, rain is due at about 6 pm so I don't know what to do now.

Stay in and have a Gin and tonic

 

[welsh dragon]

I thought QLED was just what Samsung called their OLED. Is it actually a different thing? Genuinely interested

My new TV is QLED. No idea what it means or what the differance is.

 

[Mo1959]

Currently watching Pointless on my Samsung QLED. Not sure what the difference to Neo QLED is. Can’t see it being much. My LG is OLED and haven’t had any problems with burn in but I don’t watch many channels with big logos constantly. I don’t think it’s much of a problem.

 

[ColinJ]

I thought QLED was just what Samsung called their OLED. Is it actually a different thing? Genuinely interested

Yes, they ARE different.

QLED is a more advanced LED, and Neo QLED is a more advanced QLED. All 3 have backlights which shine through an LCD coloured filter layer.

Neo QLEDs have much larger numbers of LED backlights and it is possible to fade down those in areas of the screen that should be darker, thus improving contrast, achieving better black levels, and reducing 'dirty screen effect' (DSE). My old Samsung LED TV has always had DSE because it only has a small number of backlights, producing lighter and darker areas on the screen. Depending on what was being displayed, sometimes it looks like the screen needed cleaning! I used to notice it a lot on 'Homes under the hammer' when the camera panned round a room to show what freshly redecorated rooms looked like - the walls often looked like they hadn't been painted properly because there appeared to be lighter and darker patches. Black areas look more like dark grey.

OLEDs don't have backlights - the OLEDs generate their own light so that means no DSE. If a pixel needs to be bright green, it is bright green. If it needs to be mid-red, it is mid-red. If it needs to be black then that spot on the screen can be completely turned off to get a deep black. Generally speaking though, the OLEDs don't generate as much light as powerful backlights can so OLED screens can't compete with LED/QLED/Neo QLED for brightness. If you watch in a dark room, that probably isn't much of an issue. If you watch in a room with sunlight streaming in, then it well could be.

OLED burn-in was potentially a big problem with early sets. If you spent too long on one channel with static screen elements such as channel logos, they could be permanently burned into the screen. The sets are a lot better now so it is less likely to be a problem. I would always be worrying about it though, especially if I used the TV as a computer monitor because certain areas of the screen show the same things for hours at a time (scroll bars, window frames, etc.).

Neo QLED seems like a good compromise between the 2 technologies - most of the advantages of both without the worst disadvantages of either?

This is an interesting (very geeky!) comparison of OLED and Neo QLED...

 

[numbnuts]

That's all Chinese to me, the last time I bought a telly you just went by the size and colour or black and white

 

[gavroche]

I took a chance and went for a quick 14 kms ride and got back 10 minutes before it started to rain. Pleased with that.

 

[ColinJ]

That's all Chinese to me, the last time I bought a telly you just went by the size and colour or black and white

Some people are fussy, some aren't. My family don't even notice that they are not watching in HD, and when I point it out, they shrug their shoulders and do nothing about it. It drives me MAD!

I am bothered by low resolution, poor viewing angles, motion judder, soap opera effect, colour banding, dirty screen effect, inadequate brightness, grey 'blacks', flickering, smearing, reflections in screens... I'm sure that I could think of many other things that bother me about modern TVs!

Old-style TVs had even worse issues though... originally black and white, eventually poor colour, not quite such poor resolution... poor focus, lack of contrast, analogue interference and ghosting, curved screens, geometric distortion... On top of which the sets were unreliable and very expensive!

As for TV sound quality...

 

[PaulSB]

I turn my telly on.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Yes, they ARE different.

QLED is a more advanced LED, and Neo QLED is a more advanced QLED. All 3 have backlights which shine through an LCD coloured filter layer.

Neo QLEDs have much larger numbers of LED backlights and it is possible to fade down those in areas of the screen that should be darker, thus improving contrast, achieving better black levels, and reducing 'dirty screen effect' (DSE). My old Samsung LED TV has always had DSE because it only has a small number of backlights, producing lighter and darker areas on the screen. Depending on what was being displayed, sometimes it looks like the screen needed cleaning! I used to notice it a lot on 'Homes under the hammer' when the camera panned round a room to show what freshly redecorated rooms looked like - the walls often looked like they hadn't been painted properly because there appeared to be lighter and darker patches. Black areas look more like dark grey.

OLEDs don't have backlights - the OLEDs generate their own light so that means no DSE. If a pixel needs to be bright green, it is bright green. If it needs to be mid-red, it is mid-red. If it needs to be black then that spot on the screen can be completely turned off to get a deep black. Generally speaking though, the OLEDs don't generate as much light as powerful backlights can so OLED screens can't compete with LED/QLED/Neo QLED for brightness. If you watch in a dark room, that probably isn't much of an issue. If you watch in a room with sunlight streaming in, then it well could be.

OLED burn-in was potentially a big problem with early sets. If you spent too long on one channel with static screen elements such as channel logos, they could be permanently burned into the screen. The sets are a lot better now so it is less likely to be a problem. I would always be worrying about it though, especially if I used the TV as a computer monitor because certain areas of the screen show the same things for hours at a time (scroll bars, window frames, etc.).

Neo QLED seems like a good compromise between the 2 technologies - most of the advantages of both without the worst disadvantages of either?

This is an interesting (very geeky!) comparison of OLED and Neo QLED...