So as the title states I am in a bit of a situation on trying to decide what my next TV should be... I have had a 32" LG for about 7 years and its just not up to scratch anymore! So I am trying to decide between two TV's: LG 42UB820V - 42" 4K Display Samsung UE48H6400 - 48" 1080p Display There is not a lot in them in terms of price difference, so can safely take that out of the equation. And as for how far I am going to be sitting from the display, I would say 1.5m - 2m. I really want 4K for the quality, but then I am worried that it wont make much of a difference at the distance that I will be sitting from the display, and that the 1080p might be better. Seriously stuck on this one, so any advise would be greatly appreciated!
How much 4K content do you have/will you be getting? Remember that broadcast is unlikely to get anywhere near 4K any time soon, blu-rays aren't, and not much else is!
Well I dont have much 4K content at all, well none actually! But the only draw is that I use netflix a lot and they are streaming in 4K (my broadband speeds support the 4K broadcasting), however my only concern is that I am assuming that they are simply up-scaling the picture and I have heard that the up-scaling is not all that good.
In my opinion, on a 42 inch display at normal viewing distances, you're not going to see any real benefit from 4K (nevermind the lack of real 4K content at the moment). In fact, on a 42 inch display you may not be able to see much difference between 720 and 1080, though your mileage and eyesight may vary. You're probably better off taking whatever premium you'd pay for the 4K display, and putting that toward a good quality 1080 television.
And the Samsung is the 6400 series so its one of their better ranges of TV's with the higher frequency and better motion processing. Makes sense to go for a really good 1080p... thanks for the advice and for putting my mind at ease! ... I was getting drawn into the 4K hype!
I went with the Sony KDL50W829B . It's Stuff's number two and it's a beast of a TV. You can pick one up for £675 now. Pretty awesome value.
If I was buying now and I didn't expect to replace the new TV for maybe 5+ years I think I'd want to go 4K. That said, if I could, I probably would wait at the moment. At the moment the choice seems to be between a budget 4K TV and a mid to high end 1080 set. Neither are ideal choices in the long run in my opinion. I'd try to wait for better mid range 4K TVs to become affordable.
4k is out of reach (c. £50k) but if screen size matters an HD projector is a surprisingly viable option. Tough to go back after, tv's look small
Purchased this tv for my parents in November, it's one of the best 1080p tv's out at the moment & its a current top end 2014 model. Just look at the reviews and everyone loves it. Its such a top tv the price hasn't dropped at all since I got it. For gaming, sports and even SD television its been flawless. As for that cheap 4K tv you have mentioned. Many people on HotUKDeals have warned many away from it not being a proper 4k unit and just a crappy panel. I would wait till 4k has matured more tbh.
I'm not sure how big your place is, but you might want to consider going bigger. This chart (from this article) shows when certain resolutions make sense. I highly doubt you are sitting close enough to your 42" 4K TV for it to matter at all. Also, as others have said, what 4k content do you have or will you have anytime soon? I'd say unless you plan on using the 4k TV for gaming with your very high end PC, there's really no point in buying a 4k TV right now. I would go for the highest end 1080p TV you can afford. My wife and I had a 55" TV that we sat ~12-15 feet away from and I'd say that it wasn't even close to being too big. Look at the chart again. You'll see that 55" was a minimum size for really seeing the benefit of 1080p at 12'. I'm particularly sensitive to these things (I'm constantly pointing things out to others that they don't notice), so I could always tell right away when something wasn't HD, or even very good quality HD. I now have a 110" screen and a projector that I sit ~10' away from. It might be overkill, but it's really nice for movies and the screen retracts when we aren't watching anything.
Hmmm, i think the chart is simply wrong. My situation: I sit about 3.5m~4m away(12 feet?) from a 40" TV. Our "normal" TV channels are 576, and our HD channels are 720p. There's a massive difference. We had one set of GoT on DVD, and one on BD, so that's 576 vs. 1080p. Incredible difference. According to the chart, there shouldn't be any noticable difference at all. There's also definitely a difference visible between 720p TV and 1080p BD, but that may be dependent on the difference between the playser and the sat-receiver. This, I lower a 110" screen in front of my TV for movies, and when going back, the 40"TV is tiny
The chart is pretty much on the money, it is a simple matter of what your eyes can actually resolve. Here is some more information: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/visual_acuity.htm
I'm currently looking at the: Samsung UE55HU7200 Well priced, and seems to review well, My concern is the curve, but i usually sit head on. That H6400 is a very tasty looking display, And it would be the one i would get over LG because of the Plex App, Samsung has it, LG doesn't. Sam
You sleep on the monolith from 2001? Do you have any strange urges to build spaceships and fly-- oh. Forget I asked.
That's so cool, first thing that came to my mind was cutting the wires that tie the bed to walls. What a rude awakening that would be, getting fired across the room.
The same effect can be had much cheaper by sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the middle of a room after a good night out.
Good thread. I'm contemplating a similar upgrade. I probably sit 10-12 feet from my 32" panel and can barely notice the difference from 720p to 1080p (as suggested by the chart)... (but definitely can distinguish 480p and 720p at that distance.) I've more-or-less concluded it's worth waiting until 4k is mainstream and then picking up a mid range 50"+ model.
