Screen Size

Devcon1 · December 19, 2020

Hi All,

Contemplating replacing my 46 inch Panasonic LCD with a larger, newer model.

Wondered if anyone had gone through the same process and what you'd gone for in terms of size and technology.

Any advice gratefully received.

John

Gary Manuel · December 20, 2020

Go for the largest that will fit in the space you have available subject to budget. We bough a 65 inch HiSense model. Great picture but we soon got used to the size and could have gone larger.

75 inch model for £899! Bargain.

Edit - for some reason, the link is showing 55" model. Click in the box underneath the price and select 75" for £899 or 65" for £549.

Edited By Gary Manuel on 20/12/2020 01:49:22

Piers Bowlan · December 20, 2020

With all the HD OLED screens currently available, bigger is definitely better. In other words with bigger screens you don't lose picture quality nowadays. I have found that with some large flat screen TVs the sound quality is not great and I found it necessary to buy a sound bar, which wasn't cheep.

cymaz · December 20, 2020

Back on the day ,when installing my home cinema, I used the rule of thumb of viewing distance is 4x screen height. That’s not to be confused with screen size which is corner dimensions.

My lad bought me a Panasonic 55” about 2 years ago. We sit about 10’ from it and don’t suffer eye strain.

Found this

Edited By cymaz on 20/12/2020 06:40:32

Devcon1 · December 26, 2020

Thanks for your feedback all. Considering I've a bought a new TV about every 7 years trying to future proof myself I've treated myself to an LG 65" OLED BX model. Wow... very impressed with the image quality.

Not that I could afford it but I could have got away with a larger size.

Wonder what the technology will look like in 7 years time.

John

cymaz · December 26, 2020

kc · December 27, 2020

The latest issue of the Consumer association magazine Which? says you need to be 8 feet away from a 40 to 43 inch TV and 10 feet for a 48 to 55 inch. Most people dont have a big enough room for a 75 inch where you want to be 18 feet away.

Before spending hundreds on aTV pay a small fee to Which? to view online tests. Some prestigous brands are very poor. Many TV give good picture but fail to give good sound and are therefore not recommended. Sound is particularly important to aged aeromodellers!

Some TV's also have poor difficult to use remote and programme guide.

Another thing to check is whether it has a Apps that you need to view certain things. I signed up to Eurosport only to find my fairly new TV couldn't download the App needed! I didnt think it would be a problem as NowTV and BBC online all worked - but it wouldn't update the browser for Eurosport.......

Edited By kc on 27/12/2020 11:41:58

Edited By kc on 27/12/2020 11:47:15

Andy Stephenson · December 27, 2020

I noticed when I upgraded my TV a few years ago that the larger screen sizes gave a jerky picture update when the scene was moving. I spent a whole afternoon at my local branch of Curries-PC World critically watching all the various TVs on display. I would hope the manufacturers have got on top of this by now but given the lack of discernment among the TV buying public then they were pushing bigger and bigger TVs and ones with 3D and curved screens, both of which seemed to have mostly gone now.

To add to what KC says about Which Magazine, I would say go and actually look at a range of TVs and see which one you like best.

A.

Edited By Andy Stephenson on 27/12/2020 15:26:07

cymaz · December 27, 2020

We have a Panasonic TX-50AS650B ( hardly trips off the tongue- does it) and sit about 10’ away. The picture is superb and very little jerky movement. So there’s a 50” screen size, 25” high picture. Four times screen height gives 100” or 8 1/2 ft. Go to a specialist tv shop or HiFi retailer. Book a time for a viewing and take some your favourite dvds etc. Any retailer worth their money should do this. Curry’s just don’t cut it for me.

TV retail shops tend to turn all the picture settings up to 11 in bright surroundings.

Edited By cymaz on 27/12/2020 15:41:20

cymaz · December 27, 2020

Don’t forget about upgrading and buy the best aerial you can. Digital signal is very fussy about line of sight transmission.

Andy Stephenson · December 27, 2020

Cymaz,

Panasonic was the make I ended up with, good choice.

I ended up buying my TV from an online supplier after my experience with Currys when trying to negotiate with the completely intransigent shop assistant on the price of a washing machine.

A

Edited By Andy Stephenson on 27/12/2020 16:04:44

Peter Christy · December 27, 2020

We replaced our old Panasonic with a 55" LG OLED just before Christmas, last year. The picture quality is superb, and the sound much better than the Panasonic was.

It also has a built in satellite tuner - bit of a waste for us, as we can't get satellite here - but its there if you want it!

I'm an ex-broadcast TV engineer, so I'm very fussy with my TVs! From what I can gather, even Sony and Panasonic buy their panels from LG - certainly for OLEDs, anyway!

The menu system / programme guide is a bit more fiddly than the Panasonic, IMHO, but it more than makes up for it with the excellent picture and very good sound.

I actually have the sound routed through the HiFi and a couple of big floor standing speakers, but for most programmes it simply isn't necessary. I now only route it through the HiFi for music programmes.

I found turning OFF the artificial intelligence on the sound improved the audibility of the actors a lot on the internal speakers (it only works on the internals). If left on, the voices were drowned out by the music and/or effects. Clearly not that intelligent, and best avoided! But at least you can turn it off!

P.S. When I got married at first, we had a 13" Trinitron in our bed-sit! How times have changed....!

--

Pete

Edited By Peter Christy on 27/12/2020 16:20:40

Gavin Mack · December 27, 2020

Posted by Devcon1 on 26/12/2020 21:11:56:

Thanks for your feedback all. Considering I've a bought a new TV about every 7 years trying to future proof myself I've treated myself to an LG 65" OLED BX model. Wow... very impressed with the image quality.

Not that I could afford it but I could have got away with a larger size.

Wonder what the technology will look like in 7 years time.

John

I bought a LG 55" oled tv 3 years ago, just recently a massive screen burn in has appeared not sure what of (not covered by extended warranty), then a vertical green line appeared (column of failed pixels), now (just before xmas) the tv fails to switch on. I now have a £1500 piece of junk,

Found a 55" 4K UHD samsung led tv in stock at argos, ordered sunday night and delivered next day for £500.

Salutary Lesson; If your supplier offers a free extended warranty (richer sounds offer 7 years i think) sign up for it.

cymaz · December 27, 2020

Not that anyone is interested but we go HERE for electronic stuff. Independent shop, good service when things break down ( and they have). My DVR tuner stopped working. Even though I’d no receipt, they found my purchase on the computer.....fixed within the week.

Mike T · December 28, 2020

Posted by Gavin Mack on 27/12/2020 16:26:39:

I bought a LG 55" oled tv 3 years ago, just recently a massive screen burn in has appeared not sure what of (not covered by extended warranty), then a vertical green line appeared (column of failed pixels), now (just before xmas) the tv fails to switch on. I now have a £1500 piece of junk,

I'm not sure of the precise wording but I think changes to consumer law in the last few years made some provisions re reasonable expectations of performance. Would you expect a £1500 piece of electronics to be scrap after 3 years? If the answer is no, you should have a case...

Paul Marsh · December 28, 2020

The LG OLED model is the best one, my brother just bought mine, and don't buy cheaper ones, £900 led is too cheap and will regret it. I'm into home cinema and demand the best picture and sound quality, and nothing else will do...

you think spending £200 on a sound bar is alot, try £20k on a 9.1 channel surround system. just bought a new sub woofer, and that was £2000...

cymaz · December 28, 2020

Posted by Paul Marsh on 28/12/2020 13:49:06:

The LG OLED model is the best one, my brother just bought mine, and don't buy cheaper ones, £900 led is too cheap and will regret it. I'm into home cinema and demand the best picture and sound quality, and nothing else will do...

you think spending £200 on a sound bar is alot, try £20k on a 9.1 channel surround system. just bought a new sub woofer, and that was £2000...

Man after my own heart

john stones 1 - Moderator · December 28, 2020

I would just sit nearer.

Gary Murphy 1 · December 28, 2020

Posted by Gavin Mack on 27/12/2020 16:26:39:

Posted by Devcon1 on 26/12/2020 21:11:56:

Thanks for your feedback all. Considering I've a bought a new TV about every 7 years trying to future proof myself I've treated myself to an LG 65" OLED BX model. Wow... very impressed with the image quality.

Not that I could afford it but I could have got away with a larger size.

Wonder what the technology will look like in 7 years time.

John

Gavin, I was going to warn about OLED screens BUT thought best not to in case I was just the one member here with issues.

My LG 55" OLED also as screen burn AND trying to contact LG or deal with them as made me swear NEVER to buy LG again for anything.

I am a normal user TV wise, I have no kids living at home ,no gaming done on the TV .

My screen burn is done by SKY TV electronic programme guide. this is used frequently every day BUT not for long at all. Certainly not the time AND type of use to cause SB.

My next TV will be a QLED, do not care about absolute picture quality,i want a TV that will last more than 18 months,I paid £1500 for my set.

I will not even ask if OLED panels are better now because LG make them all,for all other companies.

Even if my set had a fault that caused the SB or this was not even SB , LG was not interested, I could not be bothered in the end dealing with them.

I bought a LG 55" oled tv 3 years ago, just recently a massive screen burn in has appeared not sure what of (not covered by extended warranty), then a vertical green line appeared (column of failed pixels), now (just before xmas) the tv fails to switch on. I now have a £1500 piece of junk,

Found a 55" 4K UHD samsung led tv in stock at argos, ordered sunday night and delivered next day for £500.

Salutary Lesson; If your supplier offers a free extended warranty (richer sounds offer 7 years i think) sign up for it.

Gary Murphy 1 · December 28, 2020