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Replacement TV suggestions

Joco

Joco

pfm Member
Hi, I’m struggling to decide on a new TV for the lounge. I’ve got a 32” 7 yr old Samsung and have access to Freesat / Apple / Netflix / Prime, Disney+ and NT Streaming.
The bottom of the TV sits on a dedicated unit approx 23” above the floor in an alcove 50” wide.Viewing distance is 10’ to 11’ from the screen. No wall mounts allowed.
I have read that the ideal size for that distance is around 70” … So given that the max I think I would be comfortable with is about 43” without overly dominating the room the question comes down to -

A - Is the uplift in quality worth it from the distances involved
B - OLED, LED, QLED, NLED etc
C - Will a soundbar be needed? If so access to Spotify Bluetooth would be preferable.
D - Suggestions please. TV budget up to £700 , Soundbar £300
E - Needs to be a Smart type.

Thanks for any help.

John
 
70" sounds HUGE for watching from 10-11 feet. I wonder if they make up these "ideal viewing distance" things to get people to buy more and more and bigger and bigger TVs. I'd get what fits in your 50" alcove (43?).
 
We bought our youngest son a 43” Samsung 4K Smart TV a couple of years ago and it is superb.Whilst it has Freeview, it does not have Freesat. Remember though that the 43” is the diagonal of the TV and the actual screen is just under 1m (39”) wide. The sound on flat screen TVs is generally poor so we added a Sonos Beam soundbar which is superb.

In our lounge we have a 55’ Samsung QLED TV which is actually 48” wide. It has both Freeview and Freesat. I have used an old Sky dish to get the satellite stations without issue. Again the sound from the TV is poor so we use a Sony XT1 soundbase. I normally sit around 8’ from the screen.
 
I agree with PaulMB that 70” would be huge. I bought my present TV in December 2019 (prescient move, given what was coming!) It is a 49” LG 8600 that cost £600 from Richer Sounds to replace an excellent but nonsmart Panasonic 32”. The improvement in the access to the internet, high definition visuals from a 30 year old rooftop aerial and from DVDs after upscaling is remarkable. For me, the more expensive variants like OLED and UHD are just not necessary, as this one is better than good enough. Its physical dimensions are 43” x 25” so it should easily fit your alcove. Our viewing distances are 10 feet for me and 12 feet for my wife due to the disposition of our two sofas. This suits me very well but my wife sometimes pulls up a chair to more easily read subtitles (we are both in our 80s). We don’t have a sound bar as I plug a digital cable into the DAC in the CD player.
The TV is on a swivel wall bracket to ensure viewing square on. I appreciate you can’t do that; when I was considering placing the tele in front of the window I looked into TV supports that were free of the wall and consisted of a vertical pole on a star base and allowed angular adjustment while the base could be slid under a unit for ancillary equipment as long as it had say 3 or 4 “ legs.
When the TV is swung out for viewing it could be said to dominate the room; but tucked back against the wall it is more discreet. I would think that being in an alcove would reduce its impact. I hope this helps.
 
Has anyone ever thought their TV too big?

I'd probably squeeze in a 65" at an angle.

I run the kitchen TV with a screensaver of all my photos which is great, you can do the same with modern TVs and they will sense when you enter the room.

Second hand stereo for the sound, a pair of speakers makes a decent tv stand.
 
Yes. Too big is too big
at 11' a 50/55" TV is ideal. and extra inches cost way too many pounds better spend on a sound bar.

Get this and never look back:

LGOLED55C16LA
 
Thanks very much Guys, yeah, sadly separate speakers won’t fly - I have a dedicated room for that obsession,I’m told..So a sound bar it must be. As for size, I like the sound of a 55” but suspect it might be too much but a 50” may be doable. We like to watch TV in the dark preferably so I like the sound of the OLED variants as the Blacks are just that. Many programmes are nearly unwatchable because our 32” doesn’t discriminate very well in that scenario. Any one know any models which are exceptional at my sort of price range?
Sorry to say R.S won’t export.

Many thanks

John
 
Jamie said:
As long as you stick to Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic.
Click to expand...

We've been buying Panasonics for the last 25+ years, but the latest one, bought last year is a nightmare.

Superb picture, but the OS is pants. Completely non-intuative and a real PITA.
 
The LG C2 is fantastic. 48, 55 inch etc. Blacks are really black and the brightness is amazing. Very good in dark room. I've had to tweak settings but I'm now very happy with shadow detail. Sound is tweakable and I'm now perfectly happy. There is now a C3 model which is much more expensive but not much different. The C2 won lots of best buys.
 
I have just purchased a Panasonic OLED from John Lewis and I love it, plus there is a offer on where you also get a£100 voucher to spend at their shops
 
The A2 lg oleds is there bottom line . If you will be using HDR or Dolby vision this will be to dim to give proper HDR . Look for a good deal on the c2 or a Panasonic or Sony . Should be loads of deals about as the new models are on there way .
 
On various forums I go to, people have begun rating the HiSense tellies quite highly, and they’re bargain prices too. If they’re available wherever the OP lives, might be worth a look.

Edited to say rating, not eating!
 
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