OLED, QLED, NEO Q, etc…

[RizzoTheRat]

Thinking of replacing our old 38" Samsung TV and there seems to be an overwhelming variety of options.

As far as I can tell from various review sites OLED will give a faster response time and better blacks, while QLED will be brighter but cheaper.

Yet looking at a local store the Samsung Neo QLED 55QN95B is actually more expensive than the QD OLED 55S95B, which surprised me, although I've not compared prices with other shops yet.

Given we have a fairly well lit room I can see the attraction of the brighter QLED, and as it's not used for gaming apart from the Mrs playing the occasional lego game on the PS3, am I really likely to notice any difference?

Is there much difference between brands, I know LG generally have a good reputation and the LG OLED55C24LA seems to be in a similarish price range.

Planning to also buy a soundbar so not really bothered about audio quality but decent smart functions as good or better than my current Chromecast with Google TV would be good.

[Funk]

If I were buying one now it'd be the QD OLED. Ostensibly it's the best of OLED (deep blacks, vibrant colours) and QLED (brightness).

LG's OLEDs have had some trickery applied to the newest panels to boost their brightness but it's not across the whole panel at once (iirc) and I'd be concerned they're overdriving the panel to try and 'keep up' with the QD OLED brightness.

[Dave Hedgehog]

top end TV quality is at a point now where they are chasing diminishing returns, its hard for even the avg pro-sumer to tell the difference, most of the reviews have to pause or stare at the screen closely to spot issues

go for features that you will use IMO

personally i would never touch a samsung as they do not support dolby vision and as my 4k content is streamed most of it is dolby vision

ironically samsung make probably the best atmos sound bars

Vincent at HDTVTest is a superb source of info

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcCYOO2uYPnG-21WD...

[TEKNOPUG]

Budget and size?

[Chris Stott]

I have a basic C15 LG OLED. It cost under €1k. It’s in a south facing living room, with quadruple full height glass doors… and I live in Andalucia, with 300+ days of sunshine.

I had a fairly high spec Samsung before it and the OLED doesn’t lack brightness in comparison. The way it does contrast is way beyond anything the Samsung could manage.

[RizzoTheRat]

Dave Hedgehog said:

personally i would never touch a samsung as they do not support dolby vision and as my 4k content is streamed most of it is dolby vision

No idea what formats/ support I need. Tend to watch via cable box, prime or DVD/BluRay through the PS3. How much stuff is in Dolby Vision?
As for going for features I'd use, I have no idea beyond 3 or 4 hdmi ports and the ability to run apps like YouTube, iplayer, etc.

TEKNOPUG said:

Budget and size?

55", the Samsungs I mentioned above are around €1300-€1500 so around that price seems OK to me

[TEKNOPUG]

4k is great, HDR is better, Dolby Vision is best. Lots of DV content on Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Apple TV etc. Upscaled iPlayer too. Something to consider is that apps on TVs generally aren't very well implemented and supported (they want you to buy new TVs after all). So it's worth considering a Firestick, Roku or similar as they are better supported and much cheaper to upgrade.

You have a healthy budget so any 55" OLED from Panasonic, Sony, Philips or LG is sure to impress. I have recently bought a Philips 807 and love it.

[RizzoTheRat]

Currently use a Chromecast with Google TV, was assuming a smart TV works have all that functionality built in but maybe not.

[TGCOTF-dewey]

I've got at qd oled curved monitor. Qd oled is something else when it comes to picture quality. It's jaw dropping.

A word of caution buying now though. The 65" inch version of that Samsung was down to £1550 over black friday but is back above 2k again. You might want to wait for Jan sales for the prices to come down again.

I was so impressed by the tech I was going to get the TV.

[TEKNOPUG]

RizzoTheRat said:

Currently use a Chromecast with Google TV, was assuming a smart TV works have all that functionality built in but maybe not.

They will all have the basic functionality but will not be well supported with updates and fixes. Consider iPlayer make a change that requires a firmware update for the TV. How quickly do you think Sony or LG are going to investigate, fix, test and then release (without bugs) a firmware update that effects TVs sold in the UK, that make up a tiny percentage of their annual sales?

[RizzoTheRat]

The LG OLED 55C24LA looks to be a similar price as the Samsung QD OLED QE55S95B

The LG has Dolby vision and better blacks, but the Samsung is brighter and has a better anti glare coating, which might be useful in a bright room. Sounds like I may as well keep the Chromecast for apps so WebOS vs Tizen probably doesn't matter, and I plan to get a sound bar so sound quality not an issue either

Anything else to consider or other brands that might be better at this price?

Also if I go Samsung, the Qsound thing makes a Samsung soundbar a sensible choice. Is there anything similar with LG TVs and thier soundbars?

[Evanivitch]

I was given a new Huawei 65" QLED and it performs pretty well.

Unless you're really, really into your picture quality I would be focusing your attention on the Smart TV functionality. Some of them are quite poor on the main-brand, low-spec models. Glitchy and lagging.

[RizzoTheRat]

Review sites suggest LG's smart functions are better than Samsung, but I'm now wondering how much I'd actually use the smart stuff. I'm on cable so don't use the TV tuner at all, and the cable box can also do Prime and Netflix in UHD (but not Dolby vision or HDR10 on my current box). Currently use the Chromecast for the occasional bit of Youtube or Plex which could potentially move to a smart TV to save on 1 remote control.

[TEKNOPUG]

Evanivitch said:

I was given a new Huawei 65" QLED and it performs pretty well.

Unless you're really, really into your picture quality I would be focusing your attention on the Smart TV functionality. Some of them are quite poor on the main-brand, low-spec models. Glitchy and lagging.

I'd argue the complete opposite - it's a TV, picture quality is the number one priority. TV Web OS systems update to a new version almost every year - TVs never update their OS once you have bought them. They are also very poor at maintaining apps via updates. Within 2 to 3 years, most of the SMART functions on a TV will be out of date or obsolete.

Here's an example, I have SKY Q, it currently cannot play iPlayer in UHD (It has previously and may do again). Neither can it play Dolby Vision on any of the apps and it will only play Dolby Atmos on original SKY content.

The SKY Q is connected to a Philips OLED807 which was released in October 2022. This will play all the apps in whatever the best format they display in - except iPlayer, which although playing in UHD, has locked the picture in an HDR Dark setting which can't be changed.

I also have a Fire TV 4K Max, that I bought in 2021 Black Friday sales for £35. That plays EVERYTHING at the highest possible quality (including Dolby Atmos) and doesn't confuse the TV settings either. I'm quite happy to spend another £40 in a couple of years if a newer version is released. Less so having to spend a couple of grand every 2 years because my TV no longer supports the latest apps.

[TEKNOPUG]

RizzoTheRat said:

The LG OLED 55C24LA looks to be a similar price as the Samsung QD OLED QE55S95B

The LG has Dolby vision and better blacks, but the Samsung is brighter and has a better anti glare coating, which might be useful in a bright room. Sounds like I may as well keep the Chromecast for apps so WebOS vs Tizen probably doesn't matter, and I plan to get a sound bar so sound quality not an issue either

Anything else to consider or other brands that might be better at this price?

Also if I go Samsung, the Qsound thing makes a Samsung soundbar a sensible choice. Is there anything similar with LG TVs and thier soundbars?

If you really want a QD OLED, buy the Sony BRAVIA XR55A95KU. Otherwise I'd get an OLED now and then QD OLED next time, as they will no doubt be the mainstream choice. I don't think it pays to be an early adopter, certainly with the Samsung anyway.

If you plan to game with Playstation 5 or Xbox Series X, then the LGs have good response times and multiple HDMI 2.1 connections but really at your budget, none of the TVs will disappoint. It just comes down to reading reviews and seeing if there is anything important to you that you may not have considered, aesthetics, ambilight and then I guess warranty and support.

[Evanivitch]

TEKNOPUG said:

I'd argue the complete opposite - it's a TV, picture quality is the number one priority.

Only to the point that you actually appreciate it. Joe Public can sit in front of nearly any TV, and I'm sure side by side they can spot the difference, but at home? Not a chance.

I and whilst I agree that OS go out of date, but that argument so will your display technology. So if you truly care about image quality and lates standards you'd be on a 3-5 year change rate anyway.

[TEKNOPUG]

Evanivitch said:

TEKNOPUG said:

I'd argue the complete opposite - it's a TV, picture quality is the number one priority.

Only to the point that you actually appreciate it. Joe Public can sit in front of nearly any TV, and I'm sure side by side they can spot the difference, but at home? Not a chance.

I and whilst I agree that OS go out of date, but that argument so will your display technology. So if you truly care about image quality and lates standards you'd be on a 3-5 year change rate anyway.

It's expensive to replace a TV every few years. For most people it's a major expense and they will expect them to last 5-10 years. A Roku or Firestick on the other hand costs ~£50. So it's much easier and cheaper to replace one of those and keep your SMART functions upto date, than it is to replace your TV. Just buy the TV with the best picture quality you can afford at the time, all the other functionality can be better handled by 3rd party hardware.

[RizzoTheRat]

I think the gist I'm getting here though is that there's bugger all difference between the picture quality at this point?

[Evanivitch]

TEKNOPUG said:

It's expensive to replace a TV every few years. For most people it's a major expense and they will expect them to last 5-10 years. A Roku or Firestick on the other hand costs ~£50. So it's much easier and cheaper to replace one of those and keep your SMART functions upto date, than it is to replace your TV. Just buy the TV with the best picture quality you can afford at the time, all the other functionality can be better handled by 3rd party hardware.

Name brand 65" TVs are available from under £500

But thanks for the firestick recommendation, I'm going to get one for our 32" Samsung, 2 years old and appalling UI.

Edited by Evanivitch on Friday 9th December 11:10

[Dave Hedgehog]

Evanivitch said:

Name brand 65" TVs are available from under £500

But thanks for the firestick recommendation, I'm going to get one for our 32" Samsung, 2 years old and appalling UI.

Edited by Evanivitch on Friday 9th December 11:10

apple TV is brilliant as well

by all accounts some of the 'budget' TVs have really good PQ, i was really impressed when i saw one of these

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tcl-65c635k-65-s...