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New 55" TV - 2022 Edition

UnderOpenSky

baseline neural therapy
I'm moving house soon and would like a new TV to replace my ageing Plasma that I've had almost 10 years. Although I'd like to go much bigger, I've been told this is the largest I can go (actually I've been told no bigger then the current one, which is 50", but I think as new ones basically don't have bezels I'll get away with it). It's mostly for watching films (downloaded) and TV series from Netflix/Amazon (don't watch broadcast TV). Gaming might be a thing at some point, but it's more likely that will be PC based in another room (although looking at maybe streaming from it in future).

I've spent a while reading online reviews and thought I'd come here as a bit of a sanity check. I'd set myself a budget of £600 to £800, but you know what it's like when you start reading things and end up convinced you need twice the original budget. So I thought I'd come here for perhaps a reality check.

From my reading I might just be touching the bottom end of OLED territory, but do worry a little bit about them not being that bright and maybe also burn in. There's the LG A1 (£800) but opinions seem to suggest the B1 (£1000) or even C1 (£1000) as the A1 is the dimmest and only does 60hhz and doesn't have HDMI 2.1. Does that even matter?

Samsung seem to have a bewildering array of models. I've also read that the QLED tech is basically a marketing term and covers a massive array of panels and that really the Q90 is the only one worth considering (£999). Or really are they all quite good and we're getting "audiophile" on it all.

Also as a side note I've heard that often audio is weak. I started looking at soundbars and even surround sound setups, but more then I want to spend. Any value is in just attaching my ageing amp and speakers from the last century?

Anyway your comments gratefully received. It's not something I follow really and hoping this one does as well as the Plasma did in terms of longevity.
 
You really don't need to spend that much. This is great for £329

I've got a Sony 55" TV that's about 4 years old now and its great so I'd probably just go for this


or these


 
HDMI 2.1 matters if you ever want to plug the TV into a bluray/pc/console at 4k and 60Hz. HDMI 2.0 doesn't quite have the bandwidth so you only get 30Hz.

I've had an LG OLED for five years now and there's no burn-in or dead pixels. The vivid colours and perfect black are worth it IMO. All the other blahblahLED technologies suffer from bleed-through or "haloing" of bright areas in some manner. Anything that shows the black of space with pinpoint stars will look amazing on OLED.

The interface is really good too on the LG. You get a Wii-like pointer and everything's really snappy. All the apps run well so no need for any external streaming box/dongle. (It's WebOS which means it gets editor's stamp of approval :p). So even if OLED is a bit rich, I'd still get an LG LCD on that basis alone.

I have my old amp & speakers plugged into the headphone socket. Sounds great.
 
Most 4K UHD TVs are configured terribly out the box. Majority of the ones reviewed on rtings will give you guides to correctly get the right feel, especially for films. Finding the corresponding UK model code can sometimes be difficult, but it's a good starting place for your new perfect shiny TV to your budget.

 
You really don't need to spend that much. This is great for £329

I've got a Sony 55" TV that's about 4 years old now and its great so I'd probably just go for this


or these



Yes your right one of these would probably be great.

HDMI 2.1 matters if you ever want to plug the TV into a bluray/pc/console at 4k and 60Hz. HDMI 2.0 doesn't quite have the bandwidth so you only get 30Hz.

I've had an LG OLED for five years now and there's no burn-in or dead pixels. The vivid colours and perfect black are worth it IMO. All the other blahblahLED technologies suffer from bleed-through or "haloing" of bright areas in some manner. Anything that shows the black of space with pinpoint stars will look amazing on OLED.

The interface is really good too on the LG. You get a Wii-like pointer and everything's really snappy. All the apps run well so no need for any external streaming box/dongle. (It's WebOS which means it gets editor's stamp of approval :p). So even if OLED is a bit rich, I'd still get an LG LCD on that basis alone.

I have my old amp & speakers plugged into the headphone socket. Sounds great.

Oh dear. This makes me want OLED more, but I want HDMI 2.1 on OLED I have to spend a grand. I'm less fussed about interface. I mean if it's nice I'll use it, but I've got things like firesticks and chrome casts.

Most 4K UHD TVs are configured terribly out the box. Majority of the ones reviewed on rtings will give you guides to correctly get the right feel, especially for films. Finding the corresponding UK model code can sometimes be difficult, but it's a good starting place for your new perfect shiny TV to your budget.


Yes, it sites like these that make me want to keep increasing my budget. :D

That's good to know about making sure they are configured properly though!
 
if you old plasma is still working and you don't have a massive budget i'd stick with the plasma


bought a 500 quid tv last year and got all the features you need

but the plasma had the better picture by far , got over a grand to spend then go for an olead or something simular :)
 
Anyway your comments gratefully received. It's not something I follow really and hoping this one does as well as the Plasma did in terms of longevity.
I think you'll be lucky to get 10 years out of current TVs, but we'll see. Technology is moving so much faster and getting cheaper than before. Obviously under EU regs it's likely devices will have to be supported for 10 years, but I suspect your plasma is a 'dumb tv' where as all these new ones require some sort of OS. So you can guarantee there will be some sort of forced obsolescence going on.
 
if you go looking for telly one thing i would suggest is finding a smaller show room that something like Curry or Costco
you be surprised about the weird viewing angles required for some LED Tv


took me a few weeks to find the prefect spot in the room for the new telly
 
Interestingly I'd dismissed Hi Sense as being a "no name" brand, but actually reading those reviews makes it a strong contender. Not expecting the smart bits to last many years, but assuming the HDMI and screen still works I can keep plugging in a current device (like I've done with the dumb plasma). I'd hoped we'd moved on enough that a £800 TV was better then plasma, if just because it's 4k. I has aged really well, but I think I only spent £500 on it, although on checking it's 9 years old not 10. Maybe it would make sense to wait another year, but as I'll be screwing it to the wall I thought now was the time for something shiny!
 
I've got a Samsung QN94A, 55 inch. It's called the QN90 in America but I think the QN90 here is one year older.

It's a great TV with a few caveats.

The menu system/OS is a bit slow for the money. And it has a bug, seemingly also present in other Samsung models, where for HDR sources it does a weird flicker for a second or two when transitioning between dark and light scenes sometimes. Both of these are tolerable.

It's only got one HDMI 2.1 port and one EARC port, and they're not the same port, so you have to think about whether that works for your requirements.

Also this is my second one because the first had a marked screen or manufacturing fault. I get the sense that pandemic-era quality wasn't exactly great.
 
Oh hello. Refurbished LG OLED TV's in my price range. However this where I find the model numbers so confusing, but these are slightly older models, but I'm not sure the panels have changed much. They all have HDMI 2.1

"B" series


"C" series - I'm very tempted by this an only a little over budget.

 
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Oh hello. Refurbished LG OLED TV's in my price range. However this where I find the model numbers so confusing, but these are slightly older models, but I'm not sure the panels have changed much. They all have HDMI 2.1

"B" series


"C" series - I'm very tempted by this an only a little over budget.

For the record when I watch some UltraHD streaming content on my TV I can't notice the difference unless I examine the screen reaaaallly closely.
 
I bought the C9 just before the pandemic.

It's bright as. It replaced a plasma and the difference is night and day. Not least in electricity consumption.

I'd also echo the comments regarding the Webos. It still blows me away. We used to use the PS4 as the media centre, but now the TV does it all. With elan.
 
I’ve really not been keeping up with the market, but just a couple of suggestions to consider.

First up, given the price of electricity these days, don’t ignore differences in energy consumption of the various display types and sizes. OLED in particular is an energy gobbler and the bigger the screen, the worse it gets. It‘s easy to think a TV “doesn’t use that much”, but remember they’re on for hours at a time, every day in most households.

Secondly, buying last year’s model can be considerably cheaper and for a smartTV the differences are often in the processor / OS capabilities and might only be relevant if its important to you not to use an off board device like an AppleTV. If you’re just gonna plug in an appletv or similar and watch that all the time, maybe the one which is 30% cheaper but not “2022 edition“ is a better bet?
 
Bought this in January:


Very happy with it and the back light thing, a gimmick, but cool AF al the same.
 
Well I've ordered the LG CX. Would rather a have a slightly older model with a better panel. I'm hoping to use the smart gubbins for at least a while, but not a problem if not as the Firestick 4k has been pretty good (way better then a PS4). Was quite surprised, but it looks like I can use Plex on it as well. I'm going to want to stream PC games from upstairs at some point, so I'll be plugging in some kind of device to do that, but that a bit of and not decided what yet. Won't actually get to unbox it for a few weeks with the house move, but thought it best to order whilst I could get the refurb A1. I know if I wait it won't be there.

Power should be a saving over the plasma, although I don't watch loads, I just like it to be good when I do. How many people use ethernet rather then WiFi for watching 4k content? I'm going to have to buy some bigger hard drives that's for sure!
 
Won't actually get to unbox it for a few weeks with the house move

I'd at least give it the once over and make sure no dead pixels and what not. If you leave it too late you will lose some consumer contract rights with the supplier. Whilst potentially not possible and too late now if its a next day del see if they will keep it in warehouse and ship once you move with guarantee only starting once its delivered.
 
I'd at least give it the once over and make sure no dead pixels and what not. If you leave it too late you will lose some consumer contract rights with the supplier. Whilst potentially not possible and too late now if its a next day del see if they will keep it in warehouse and ship once you move with guarantee only starting once its delivered.

Thanks. That's a good shout. Thought I was being responsible and leaving it till it was ready, but I can play with shiny.
 
Bought this in January:


Very happy with it and the back light thing, a gimmick, but cool AF al the same.
I used to love the backlighting on my old Philips TV!
 
My Samsung 55 inch q60 decided to go wrong after just under 2 years, after much wrangling it looks like im getting a refund so I am thinking I am going to put the money into an LG Oled 55 B1.

I am looking at this rather then the C1 as its about £200-£300 quid cheaper and i realise it only has 2 hdmi 2.1 ports (fine for me )

Has anyone got one ? cant see much difference as from this there doesnt seem to be.

 
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Bought this in January:


Very happy with it and the back light thing, a gimmick, but cool AF al the same.
We bought the 58PUS7555/12 non backlit, non Android Philips about 18 months ago and this is happening. See image. Fine horizonal lines spanning the whole screen, reaching about 8cm from the bottom of the screen They're repairing it under warranty but a pain in the arse all the same

FYI/PSA/etc/blah20220408_101002.jpg

20220408_100951.jpg
 
Bought this in January:


Very happy with it and the back light thing, a gimmick, but cool AF al the same.

I've got a Philips with Ambilight and its one of my favorite features. I also like that you can link Philips Hue lights with it and sync the whole room with the TV if you want.
 
It arrived yesterday and I picked it up from security at work. Jesus its heavy. I thought for something thin it would be lighter. Wasn't going to unbox it for a few weeks, but thought I should test it as cybershot suggested. I knew it was thin, but it's quite bonkers seeing how thin it actually is in the flesh. Didn't get a chance to do any proper testing or calibrate it but signed into Amazon and it looks pretty. The Wi style remote is a bit bonkers. I'll have to see about that one, but it seems like a good idea.
 
Finally got it up yesterday and watched something. Suitably impressed, glad I was able to find an OLED screen at a price I could afford. Didn't spend hours setting it up, but moved it from eco to standard mode and watched in a mostly dark room. Went for Our Planet to show it of to my partner who was somewhat confused why I bought a TV when we have one that works. It's some incredible filming and the screen really showed it off. Even my partner noticed the sound was lacking and it's supposed to be one of the better modern TVs for sound, so I'm definitely connecting an amp and speakers soon. I was streaming 4k over 4g so hopefully Virgin are able to complete the internet install today as even my 150 gig data allowance won't last that long doing this.
 
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