Best quality TV circa £800
Best quality TV circa £800
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W201_190e

Original Poster:

12,738 posts

229 months

Monday 12th April 2021
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Our £500 15 months old 55 inch 4K LG TV hasn't been very impressive. Visible lines on the screen in some scenes and light bleed. Seeing that it's out of warranty and second hand TV's are worthless, it feels like a waste of money!

I can't really afford to spend more than about £800, so don't fancy the OLED route. Any ideas on the best quality TV, 50-55 inches preferably at the £800 mark? And not an LG, unfortunately.

DE1975

504 posts

122 months

Tuesday 13th April 2021
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Have you tried to go in to picture settings and set "local dimming" to "off"?

This won't make the picture perfect but it does help with the vertical banding which is obvious and annoying in dark scenes.

W201_190e

Original Poster:

12,738 posts

229 months

Tuesday 13th April 2021
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DE1975 said:
Have you tried to go in to picture settings and set "local dimming" to "off"?

This won't make the picture perfect but it does help with the vertical banding which is obvious and annoying in dark scenes.
I don't have that option

Just double checked everything, don't have that!

Edited by W201_190e on Tuesday 13th April 19:55

GR_WILL

780 posts

94 months

Tuesday 13th April 2021
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Always liked our Sony before our little boy destroyed it with a toy sword.

This one looks a good buy.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...

DE1975

504 posts

122 months

Tuesday 13th April 2021
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W201_190e said:
I don't have that option

Just double checked everything, don't have that!

Edited by W201_190e on Tuesday 13th April 19:55
It's buried in the picture settings, you have to customise the settings. Open up all settings, and go to "picture settings", then "picture mode settings", then scroll down to "picture options" and in that menu you'll see an option to change "Led local dimming"

My LG TV is also a 55 inch bought for about the same cost as yours 2 years ago, so I'd imagine the functions and picture settings are similar.

These tvs have their back lights at the top and bottom of the screen and the local dimming function reduces lighting in regions of the screen which are dark to supposedly improve contrast, but it just gives the horrible vertical bands. More expensive sets like Oled can adjust the backlighting for more specific regions of the screen

See this YouTube vid

https://youtu.be/VeMXaoOPMFs

Edited by DE1975 on Tuesday 13th April 21:49

miniman

28,276 posts

278 months

Tuesday 13th April 2021
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GR_WILL said:
Always liked our Sony before our little boy destroyed it with a toy sword.

This one looks a good buy.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...
I found the Android TV Interface really poor.

W201_190e

Original Poster:

12,738 posts

229 months

Tuesday 13th April 2021
quotequote all
DE1975 said:
W201_190e said:
I don't have that option

Just double checked everything, don't have that!

Edited by W201_190e on Tuesday 13th April 19:55
It's buried in the picture settings, you have to customise the settings. Open up all settings, and go to "picture settings", then "picture mode settings", then scroll down to "picture options" and in that menu you'll see an option to change "Led local dimming"

My LG TV is also a 55 inch bought for about the same cost as yours 2 years ago, so I'd imagine the functions and picture settings are similar.

These tvs have their back lights at the top and bottom of the screen and the local dimming function reduces lighting in regions of the screen which are dark to supposedly improve contrast, but it just gives the horrible vertical bands. More expensive sets like Oled can adjust the backlighting for more specific regions of the screen
I've been to that menu, I definitely don't have it! How odd!




Edited by W201_190e on Tuesday 13th April 22:06

anonymous-user

70 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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Have you ruled out IPS glow? I'm speculating that your LG has an IPS panel and the glow is quite noticeable on a 55 inch screen when watching in a darkened room (I used to own one but returned it cause of the glow).

If you're set on buying again it might be worth insisting on a TV with a VA panel.

Ridealong

563 posts

86 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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GR_WILL said:
Always liked our Sony before our little boy destroyed it with a toy sword.

This one looks a good buy.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...
I've seen A, B and even C but a G rating for energy efficiency eek

W201_190e

Original Poster:

12,738 posts

229 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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RaymondVanDerDon said:
Have you ruled out IPS glow? I'm speculating that your LG has an IPS panel and the glow is quite noticeable on a 55 inch screen when watching in a darkened room (I used to own one but returned it cause of the glow).

If you're set on buying again it might be worth insisting on a TV with a VA panel.
It is I believe. It's fine during most scenes it's only some dark scenes. The backlight was set at 100% out of the box. I've set this to 50 on all inputs which has improved things.

Still can't find local dimming, I don't think it has it!

It's an LG 55UM7610PLB 55 inch.

Edited by W201_190e on Wednesday 14th April 20:11

spookly

4,286 posts

111 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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DE1975 said:
More expensive sets like Oled can adjust the backlighting for more specific regions of the screen
OLEDs don't have any backlight at all. Each individual pixel is independently lit. So contrast ratios are superb with no light bleed.

I'd get an OLED if you can afford it. I have an LG C9 55" which I'm very happy with.

W201_190e

Original Poster:

12,738 posts

229 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
quotequote all
spookly said:
DE1975 said:
More expensive sets like Oled can adjust the backlighting for more specific regions of the screen
OLEDs don't have any backlight at all. Each individual pixel is independently lit. So contrast ratios are superb with no light bleed.

I'd get an OLED if you can afford it. I have an LG C9 55" which I'm very happy with.
I don't know, a good one is probably what £1400 plus? I can't really spend that now, but I could put up with the current one a while longer and revisit later in the year.

barryrs

4,811 posts

239 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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Ridealong said:
GR_WILL said:
Always liked our Sony before our little boy destroyed it with a toy sword.

This one looks a good buy.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertai...
I've seen A, B and even C but a G rating for energy efficiency eek
I’m not sure my plasma even has a rating!

barryrs

4,811 posts

239 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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W201_190e said:
I don't know, a good one is probably what £1400 plus? I can't really spend that now, but I could put up with the current one a while longer and revisit later in the year.
AO have a couple of options but I don’t know if they are any good.

RSTurboPaul

12,106 posts

274 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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W201_190e said:
spookly said:
DE1975 said:
More expensive sets like Oled can adjust the backlighting for more specific regions of the screen
OLEDs don't have any backlight at all. Each individual pixel is independently lit. So contrast ratios are superb with no light bleed.

I'd get an OLED if you can afford it. I have an LG C9 55" which I'm very happy with.
I don't know, a good one is probably what £1400 plus? I can't really spend that now, but I could put up with the current one a while longer and revisit later in the year.
I think the LG BX / CX versions are getting replaced (with C1 / B1?) but are highly rated on AVForums.

This thread might be worth a read:
https://www.avforums.com/threads/new-my-best-value...

DE1975

504 posts

122 months

Wednesday 14th April 2021
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Last year's Oled model now available for £949 at John Lewis. It's probably the best Oled deal of recent times. There's newer models available but quite a bit more expensive, and this older Oled TV will be better than any LED model

https://www.johnlewis.com/lg-oled55bx6lb-2020-oled...

RSTurboPaul

12,106 posts

274 months

Thursday 15th April 2021
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DE1975 said:
Last year's Oled model now available for £949 at John Lewis. It's probably the best Oled deal of recent times. There's newer models available but quite a bit more expensive, and this older Oled TV will be better than any LED model

https://www.johnlewis.com/lg-oled55bx6lb-2020-oled...
I've been eyeing that up recently as I need a screen that does both 'work' and 'play' - but while it would be ace for Playstation/XBox, I think the burn-in risk from spreadsheet hell for hours a day is too high frown

W201_190e

Original Poster:

12,738 posts

229 months

Thursday 15th April 2021
quotequote all
DE1975 said:
Last year's Oled model now available for £949 at John Lewis. It's probably the best Oled deal of recent times. There's newer models available but quite a bit more expensive, and this older Oled TV will be better than any LED model

https://www.johnlewis.com/lg-oled55bx6lb-2020-oled...
That does look good! It's sat in my basket, thinking about it...

hellorent

547 posts

79 months

Thursday 15th April 2021
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Have a look at some of the Phillips tv's, mates got 1 don't know what model but Pic & sound are fantastic, they get decent reviews as well

ScothEgg

102 posts

78 months

Thursday 15th April 2021
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The Sony 55XH9005 is a very good TV for your stated budget. I bought the 65 version about 6mths ago and have no complaints with picture quality.