Prices of Very Large Flat TVs are Falling Fast

[Sal1950]

Thanks for your input.
Maybe they're improving and I have no experience with their sets in that elevated price range.
I do have experience with many friends & neighbors who bought those sets at Wal-Mart and had them blow up within a year.
Time will tell, my Samy 85 is just over 2 years old and so far no issues, I did get a 4 year extended warranty for it just in case.
The poor set gets a LOT of use, many days running 20 hours or more. I put a couple of Noctua USB fans under it to help cool.
I'll take another close look at the options when it does die.

 

[MKR]

I am on the hunt for a larger TV now for the new home theater and have same question on size. Viewing distance about 10ft also. Of course there are always front projection systems, but they still do not have the same picture capabilities as LED. Plus there is some additional hassle. But what are the thoughts on the newer table mount projectors? Certainly you can avoid the ceiling mount hassle.

Also, why no love for LG OLED? Not as good as they used to be? I have an older 55” LG OLED and I have never seen a better picture. So new crop of LG OLEDs definitely at top of my list.

 

[Oddball]

@Sal1950 - They are not improving - they are already on the top and produce the most sophisticated mini LED panels in the world. Hisense 110" model and TCL 115" model are expensive, but feature 20K zones and 5K nits of max (boost) brightness. Nobody else has anything remotely approaching the size, price and performance ratio.

As you note, we are not aware of the reliability and longevity as they are recent in their market leading position. Based on the build quality of my TV I can't see anything that would be missing compared to Sony or Samsung. Packaging of the unit was at least twice as good as the Sony 83A90J OLED I bought years ago. Tough to say, but overall, the performance is also better. This was not a good OLED and never will be.

I would not go by Wal-Mart standards. They have the purchasing power that allows them to custom order TVs with stripped down specs. TCL might be more willing to compromise than the others. I do understand the need to adhere to budgets, but Best Buy would IMO be a better buy.

Samsung is definitively a very reliable brand and lasts for long time. I use only Samsung in my rental flats as they are great for that purposes (and my tenants are almost exclusively Korean so they love it). We just retired 10 years old 55" units working well as they were too small and replaced them with 65" and 75" units. My TVs in the rest of the flat are Samsung 77" and 88" curved flagships that are 10 and 11 years old now, still going strong. I did have to change 2 panels on the 88" model right after buying it as uniformity was poor. Samsung obliged, but still was a hassle. Did not have any uniformity issue with TCL 98" panel. It was packed better and tighter. Except for Sharp, 88" model was the largest ever built at that time and packaging was not really that tight or great.

 

[Oddball]

I am on the hunt for a larger TV now for the new home theater and have same question on size. Viewing distance about 10ft also. Of course there are always front projection systems, but they still do not have the same picture capabilities as LED. Plus there is some additional hassle. But what are the thoughts on the newer table mount projectors? Certainly you can avoid the ceiling mount hassle.

Also, why no love for LG OLED? Not as good as they used to be? I have an older 55” LG OLED and I have never seen a better picture. So new crop of LG OLEDs definitely at top of my list.

Well, if you love OLED, then I guess 83" is your max unless you want to go 97" at much higher pricing. With your viewing distance that is not such immersive FOV, but that is individual preference so might be good for your needs.

OLEDs are still expensive to produce so that's reflected in their price. Mini LEDs have gone a long way in the meantime and can do some things way better than OLEDs. Even dark and low nit scenes. For the later it really does not come to native contrast but more to processing. 1 nit torture scenes don't have any contrast at all so infinite OLED contrast is no advantage. Just depends how different models map the scene.

At least on my mini-LED, the only complaint is occasional bleed of light into the black bars in cinematic format. Not bad, but with 5K zones, sure it could be implemented, even if some other specs would be lowered. I do enjoy my 98" EDIT (mini LED) much more than the 83" OLED. Size matters and find overall performance better as well.

 

[Sal1950]

I am on the hunt for a larger TV now for the new home theater and have same question on size. Viewing distance about 10ft also. Of course there are always front projection systems, but they still do not have the same picture capabilities as LED. Plus there is some additional hassle. But what are the thoughts on the newer table mount projectors?

Unless you want a picture bigger than 100" I can see no reason to even think about a projector of any style. Their brightness, blacks, picture quality isn't even in the same planet of a LED. Now if you want a 150" picture for a home theater room that's mostly blacked out, they offer some excellent options.
I can't comment on LG, I have no experience with them at all, sorry.

They are not improving - they are already on the top and produce the most sophisticated mini LED panels in the world.

Was referring to their reliability and my experience with their el-cheapo's which was horrid, at least a few years back, maybe now improved.

At least on my mini-LED, the only complaint is occasional bleed of light into the black bars in cinematic format. Not bad, but with 5K zones, sure it could be implemented, even if some other specs would be lowered.

Same here but I'm glad to trade off the sight bleed for the incredible brightness of my mini-LED and the lack of any worry over burn-in. I don't consider myself a videophile with a golden eye but after 2 years this Sammy still blows me away with it's picture quality almost daily. Like I said my set gets used and abused HARD. LOL

They are not improving - they are already on the top and produce the most sophisticated mini LED panels in the world. Hisense 110" model and TCL 115" model are expensive, but feature 20K zones and 5K nits of max (boost) brightness. Nobody else has anything remotely approaching the size, price and performance ratio.

All that said Oddball, I'll just also mention that personally I avoid Chinese products whenever possible due to their track record with human rights.
They'd have to offer something truly special for me to overlook that. YMMV

 

[Oddball]

Not going into the debate over human rights and geo-politics for sure and probably you should not as well.

This is a technical forum and we should treat it as such - at least IMO.

 

[Robbo99999]

Good pic of provided evidence @Robbo99999 , there are older that don't take the modern immersion thinking into consideration.
That 40 degree viewing angle is a great one for movie/theater type viewing. I'm currently using a 85" Samsung QLED at around 11' and I
love it but will definitely consider a 98" when the time comes for replacement now that costs have fallen in the screen size.

Nice! I'm still on a 42" Sony Bravia TV from 2013 (VA Panel I think)! I did colour calibrate it though using a Spyder colorimeter and managed to achieve really accurate grayscale & colours as a result, I think it does offer a good picture. I can't really think about a bigger TV because it won't fit the corner space near my speakers and relocating it above the wood burner fireplace I think it'd get too hot plus it's too elevated - that's the only way I'd be able to have a TV any larger than 45". My normal viewing distance is like a massive 3.8m so that's certainly not ideal for that small size, but sometimes if I'm watching a movie I can bring up a seperate chair to about 1.5m (or a tad closer) from the TV and speakers and I'll change my roomEQ settings profile for that too, so I can get it immersive but it's a bit of a faff and that only works if you're viewing it on your own! I don't think I'm gonna buy a new TV until this one stops working, lol, 12 yrs so far!

 

[Timcognito]

I am on the hunt for a larger TV now for the new home theater and have same question on size. Viewing distance about 10ft also. Of course there are always front projection systems, but they still do not have the same picture capabilities as LED. Plus there is some additional hassle. But what are the thoughts on the newer table mount projectors? Certainly you can avoid the ceiling mount hassle.

Also, why no love for LG OLED? Not as good as they used to be? I have an older 55” LG OLED and I have never seen a better picture. So new crop of LG OLEDs definitely at top of my list.

https://www.rtings.com/projector/reviews/best/short-throw FYI

 

[Esprit]

https://www.rtings.com/projector/reviews/best/short-throw FYI

Mondoprojos.fr

Tous les tests de vidéoprojecteurs

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[MKR]

Hey all … wasn’t sure where to post my question, figured here was as good as any (unfortunately ASR doesn’t really have a dedicated generic home theater sub thread) … have a dilemma… I am an OLED fan, but the issue here is being able to use a true center channel. Ideally it is a duplicate of your L and R mains, but obviously impossible with a panel TV. Yes, you can go with a horizontal center, as most do, but it is certainly a compromise. Only way to have a tower center is front projection with acoustically transparent screen. So now I am back to considering projection with acoustically transparent screen. Any recommendations? I have about a 9’ viewing distance. Note will also be used to watch sports if that makes any difference.! Last projector and screen I purchased was way back in 1999! So no clue what is out there these days. Thanks!

 

[Oddball]

Hey all … wasn’t sure where to post my question, figured here was as good as any (unfortunately ASR doesn’t really have a dedicated generic home theater sub thread) … have a dilemma… I am an OLED fan, but the issue here is being able to use a true center channel. Ideally it is a duplicate of your L and R mains, but obviously impossible with a panel TV. Yes, you can go with a horizontal center, as most do, but it is certainly a compromise. Only way to have a tower center is front projection with acoustically transparent screen. So now I am back to considering projection with acoustically transparent screen. Any recommendations? I have about a 10’ viewing distance. Note will also be used to watch sports if that makes any difference.! Last projector and screen I purchased was way back in 1999! So no clue what is out there these days. Thanks!

Horizontal center is certainly a compromise. But if you choose the right one than the only problem is is you keep staring at it which will remind you that sound is actually coming from under the screen.

It is all about compromise between audio and video, but nowadays large flat panels will do way better than anything comparable in the PJ world.

Some audio solutions have thought about the center channel. Trinnov, Storm and Sony support the dual center. Marantz apparently has the ability to do so as well but not sure if separate level adjustment would be available for the second center.

 

[MKR]

Horizontal center is certainly a compromise. But if you choose the right one than the only problem is is you keep staring at it which will remind you that sound is actually coming from under the screen.

It is all about compromise between audio and video, but nowadays large flat panels will do way better than anything comparable in the PJ world.

Some audio solutions have thought about the center channel. Trinnov, Storm and Sony support the dual center. Marantz apparently has the ability to do so as well but not sure if separate level adjustment would be available for the second center.

Thanks, well said that we are forced to compromise between video or audio, these days that shouldn’t be so, but it is the case… sorry, what do you mean by “dual” center? Hadn’t heard about that prior.

 

[Oddball]

That would be 2 center speakers, one above the screen and one below, so ultimately they should amount to the sound coming from the middle of the screen. Having ability to EQ them separately and set separate levels is the key to making it work.

 

[MKR]

That would be 2 center speakers, one above the screen and one below, so ultimately they should amount to the sound coming from the middle of the screen. Having ability to EQ them separately and set separate levels is the key to making it work.

Ah, got it, thanks … that sounds like an acoustics nightmare

 

[Oddball]

Ah, got it, thanks … that sounds like an acoustics nightmare

Not really. I used dual centers before without these digital widgets and worked relatively well. It really is a function of your seutp.

Storm or especially Trinnov would make this a child's play in every room.

 

[MKR]

Not really. I used dual centers before without these digital widgets and worked relatively well. It really is a function of your seutp.

Storm or especially Trinnov would make this a child's play in every room.

Well unless I win the lottery, a Trinnov or Storm definitely not in my future

 

[Oddball]

Well unless I win the lottery, a Trinnov or Storm definitely not in my future

Well, apparently Sony can do it for much less, but have never experience new Sony AVRs. They are set up in a different way than most AVRs. You get what people describe as "great" sound, but don't have much options to change it.

 

[jhaider]

Hey all … wasn’t sure where to post my question, figured here was as good as any (unfortunately ASR doesn’t really have a dedicated generic home theater sub thread) … have a dilemma… I am an OLED fan, but the issue here is being able to use a true center channel. Ideally it is a duplicate of your L and R mains, but obviously impossible with a panel TV.

No it's not. Just raise the TV. While obviously that's better for audio, which is a sufficient reason to do it, IME it leads to a better TV experience as well. Normal people recline a bit when watching TV, so if the center of the screen is "eye level" you'll actually be unnaturally tilting your next forward. Also way better for sports, because when you jump out of your seat you don't have to crane your neck down to see the screen.

 

[MKR]

No it's not. Just raise the TV. While obviously that's better for audio, which is a sufficient reason to do it, IME it leads to a better TV experience as well. Normal people recline a bit when watching TV, so if the center of the screen is "eye level" you'll actually be unnaturally tilting your next forward. Also way better for sports, because when you jump out of your seat you don't have to crane your neck down to see the screen.

Thanks, appreciate your thoughts. I of course considered raising TV, but at only 9’ viewing distance, it is quite high to clear the center channel tower, such that you definitely have to look up. So much so that I am concerned it would result in strain after a long viewing session. But maybe I am making something out of nothing. Ultimately it is a question of what do I compromise? The audio (short or horizontal center that won’t be a true match of the mains) or video with quite a high screen. As this system will prioritize MCH music over movies, I think I know which direction I will go in the end. Thanks again, you did help to convince me likely much ado about nothing, not much of a compromise in the end

 

[voodooless]

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