I’ve narrowed down my choice of a new TV to two 55" sets (I’d love bigger but can’t fit more than 55" into my AV setup).
The first is a Samsung QE55Q90R the second an LG OLED55C9PLA.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages and with a cashback offer on the Samsung there is only £100 difference in price between the two.
I have watched both in a showroom and there was negligible difference between them but both were obviously in showroom mode where everything is turned up to the max so I’m hoping some people here can give me some real world feedback.
As well as TV and movies via my Vero 4K+ I watch a lot of sport, the Samsung has the advantage of a 10 year guarantee of no screen burn whereas the LG concerns me that the constant dog on screen when watching sport may cause a screen burn issue.
I will also have a PC connected which gives me more screen burn thoughts/issues.
My second concern is that generally I will be watching in a reasonably well lit room, the Samsung should perform well in this environment but how will the dimmer LG do?
Other general pro’s and cons are no eARC or Dolby Vision on the Samsung, I find Dolby Vision a bit hit and miss at the moment but when done well it certainly enhances the picture, my amp is eARC compatible so it would be nice to have this feature.
The LG has eARC and Dolby Vision but no HDR 10+ plus my other concerns posted above.
One thing I didn’t really pay attention to when I bought my last set was off-axis performance. It was only when I was paying for mine I looked back at the wall and realised the Sony was far better than all the others at my price level when viewed at an angle.
My rule of thumb with installs is bright room - QLED, dark, light managed room OLED.
I have concerns with the lifespan/screen burn of OLED screens and personally think that with HDR, brighter is better but that’s just me.
If eARC is anything like ARC I wouldn’t worry about it, it won’t work anyway! I have also found Dolby Vision to be pretty hit and miss (mainly miss) with improvements over HDR10
Thanks for the answers so far guys, the other pro with the LG is that its HDMI ports are supposedly future proofed being HDMI 2.1 and the Samsung has some vague promises about firmware updates giving 2.1 compatibility, although I’m unaware of any service or device that requires this standard.
I wouldn’t say my viewing room is bright, rather more managed brightness, but we very rarely view things with the room totally dark.
Viewing angles were a concern of mine but every review of both sets I’ve read said that this is not a problem.
I’m kinda of the same opinion as @CaptainMoody about eARC probably not working but I might kick myself if down the road I find out it is actually a useful thing to have lol
Hmmmmm decisions, decisions, awaiting some people who might own one of the sets in question.
Depending on how you hook up your equipment I might be an idea to check what audioformats the TV supports. Samsung dropped DTS some generations ago meaning nothing DTS will get thru the Tv, (not sure if the current generation will allow anything DTS).
Check out Panasonic. From what I hear and read their flagship models beat LG and Sony when it comes to color accuracy and pure cinematic experience. While being cheaper than the flagship Sony
Funnily enough I was working next door to Harrods earlier and they had 4 window displays featuring flagship Panasonic sets.
Unfortunately they also had what seemed every single picture processing mode turned on with a looping video that was being displayed at the wrong framerate, it was quite a sight seeing the “soap opera” effect whilst still getting motion judder every 10 seconds or so lol.
One might think the worlds most famous department store might have a little more attention to detail but apparently not!
I think I may well end up filling some sample videos on a large memory stick and arrange a viewing at Richer Sounds for all the major flagship sets.
Make sure you read some manuals before you go in. I tried that and the guy couldn’t figure out how to play media from a stick. Apart from that he was very good
Thanks, that’s another set worth considering.
The trouble with watching HDTV Test’s reviews are they are so thorough I’d never end up buying a new TV because there is always something wrong with every manufacturers wares.
I think I definitely need to arrange a viewing and watch all I’m interested in within a real world scenario then make up my mind.
I have a 55 OLED B6 since two and a half year ago. I l play many many hours on Xbox X and watch a lot of movies and TV series with my vero 4k+. I have watched QLED on friend’s home and it’s not near same quality on dark environment. Next year I will probably go to 65C9 with eARC and vrr/freesync. Going back to lcd is not an option for me.
@zgotenz and @Lostion thanks for your input but can I ask how dark does the room need to be?
As I stated earlier in the thread I/we rarely watch in a totally dark room.
I would say its managed brightness, the darkest conditions we usually watch in I would describe as dusk like lighting.
I am leaning towards the LG OLED, I haven’t arranged a viewing yet but did get time to compare some sets in another dealers showroom today and in a quite bright showroom the LG C9 a Sony AG9 OLED were noticeably darker than the Q90 QLED that’s my other choice.
You do not “need” to be on dark environment, but on dark one is where OLED beats LCD with it’s perfect blacks. You can be on a “dusk” environment and still feel OLED gives your better quality than lcd (QLED is LCD), only way QLED can give you better quality is on a environment with much light (like most stores), where you can’t notice black difference and the more powerful LCD brightness is better. But I don’t not anyone that uses to watch movies or play games with a full light environment hehe.
