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OLED TVs
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1080p should be good being a 1/4 of 4K (the usual broadcast version). Anything lower than 1080i though will be a bit fuzzy. Nature of the beast of upscaling. Though mine is 55”.
I got rid of my DVD collection, except for certain keepers, cannot watch lower resolution when Blu-ray 1080 and 4K or streamed live/films are available.
I got rid of my DVD collection, except for certain keepers, cannot watch lower resolution when Blu-ray 1080 and 4K or streamed live/films are available.
Just something I think is still correct, if someone can point out if wrong, all OLED panels are still made by LG? And all panels are the same, it is the electronics that define the model. LG, Sony, Panny etc. all use the same panel but have their own control and software bolted to the rear?
Meaning if looking for one, reviews will be still be important but a lower entry model will still get s superb picture.
Meaning if looking for one, reviews will be still be important but a lower entry model will still get s superb picture.
Oh yes. Samsung does have a markedly better anti-reflection panel, in case you have much light coming into your living room, but for picture quality OLED is definitely king.
All TV panels are currently made by LG. But there are several other manufacturers that make OLED panels, if that is what you wanted to know. The LG panels are pretty much the same, although I do believe buyers can order minor changes to the panels, which then comes out with minute differences, as can be seen when comparing modern models. It could be from all the other electronics in the screen also, though. I am an not an expert in that area.
But yes, get a 'low end' OLED TV, and you get pretty much 98% of the picture quality of the reference models. Also, a 3 year old OLED TV is essentially as good as a 2021 model. At this point, buy for the other features of the TV, not the panel.
Actually, that's a really good point.
I'm a Doctor Who fan, and a fan of vintage TV in general. DVD-sourced stuff looks amazing - take the softest, crappest stuff around (examples: the surviving episodes of The Quatermass Experiment (BBC, 1953), early Hartnell Doctor Who (1964ish for the worse quality episodes [suppressed field film recordings, if you want to know]) and this TV makes them look amazing. Given the amount of old TV I watch, I was over the moon.
TV-sourced material can be more variable - here in the UK, we have some low-bandwidth satellite channels that show vintage material, and while you usually have to set the aspect ratio manually (most broadcast stuff seems to be 16:9 regardless), things look pretty good. We have a channel called Talking Pictures TV, which broadcasts very old, completely unrestored vintage film, and it's watchable. I'd still look for a DVD or better, but most of the stuff they show is so rare and unavailable elsewhere.
Modern DVDs, and Blu-rays, look amazing, as does HD-streamed material from Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV. In fact, I've often mistaken HD material for 4K, the upscaling is so good.
4K UHD Blu-ray is, obviously, amazing.
But if you watch old TV, I think you'll be very happy.
Beautiful picture until they get burn in. We bought a 55 inch LG a few years back. Gorgeous colors and deep blacks. Burn in developed after a couple of years due to watching morning news shows with the band and logos at the bottom of the screen. It only shows with yellow, orange and reddish backgrounds but annoying just the same. Will likely buy a new TV soon but not another OLED.
Cant say I have had burn in in the 6 years or so. I will let it complete its compensation cycle and we do watch a lot of 4k sports with scores, teams etc. Some big match afternoons can have 3 games on.
If I did have burn in, I would still buy another, the picture is just that good.
If I did have burn in, I would still buy another, the picture is just that good.
Your old TV may have suffered from burn-in, but that is no longer an issue with modern OLED. My LG OLED has pixel shifting on by default, which automatically adjusts the display to avoid burn-in (and is unnoticeable to the user). There are also two pixel refresh systems (one which I think occurs every time the screen is off, the other is after a certain number of hours of viewing - roughly a year of average viewing I think - which requires a total power-off, and it comes up as a warning that it will happen when the timer is up).
These technologies (or variations of) are why it is now possible to have OLED laptops and computer displays. With far more static screen elements, burn-in would have been terrible. Now, it doesn't exist.
That’s interesting to read. Hopefully it’s true that the new ones are better. We paid $3,000 for the TV like 3 years ago. We’ve also done the pixel refresh as recommended by LG. The bottom 4 inches of the TV are awful with burn in.
Hmm, 3 years old, it should have pixel-shifting. LG call it "screen shift", and it's in the same menu as the manual control for the pixel refresher. A bit late now perhaps, but you could check if it is set to the on position. Having said it, it could be your TV model was from just before this tech was introduced.
We actually had very severe screen damage from direct sunlight - we had just moved house, and I didn't realise that the angle between the TV and balcony doors in our living room was exactly right for direct sun on part of the screen. It manifested as a huge, dark, discoloured area, cross-hatched with bars that matched the bars on the balcony door windows. Fortunately, a manual run of the pixel refresher fixed it. As I understand it, it is not recommended that this be run unless there is a big issue - the daily auto-refresher should take care of the screen under normal use, with the annual refresher (which I think is the same as the manual one) resetting the entire screen after however many hours it is.
Fixed the positioning issue by getting a sun-proof cover for the TV for when it is not in use.