Best TVs of 2019 - Editor's Choice Awards - news discussion

I’d buy a 2020 GZ950 with hdmi2.1/custom panel or 2020 GZ2000 with hdmi2.1/without speakers (whatever way you want to look at it), so I hope they do continue to push the tech.
 
It was just a interesting comical observation, not a disagreement.

I bet we won't see a 'Custom Pro Panel' in Panasonic's 2020 line up though
The price and the late release of the GZ2000 seems to be reflective of the engerneering process for the 'Custom Pro Panel'.

I know it was awarded pretty much all picture sub categories (it did in other reviewers awards also), I just feel Panasonic may see that the market priorities have changed and as all OLED screens are good why make the investment and effort to make them better when a GZ950 with HDMI 2.1, advanced Auto cal software and more apps would have given them more chance of bagging 'TV of the year'.
It will give them new goals for 2021!!
 
I’d buy a 2020 GZ950 with hdmi2.1/custom panel or 2020 GZ2000 with hdmi2.1/without speakers (whatever way you want to look at it), so I hope they do continue to push the tech.

Well next year LG's will have HFR, 8K and Disney plus which will stop people buying Panasonic even if they add HDMI 2.1 to the custom pro Panel' 😂
 
Despite all the Panasonic awards, I must admit, I do agree with the choice of the LG C9 as best overall TV - this is despite me currently owning a Panasonic myself.

As discussed elsewhere, I had the LG C8 for a few weeks and ultimately returned this due to a flashing/chrominance overshoot issue that was not acknowledged by LG during my return window. I shortly after snapped up the Panasonic FZ802 when a great deal surfaced.

Admittedly these are obviously 2018 models I am talking about, but it's given me time to appreciate both of them. The LG C8 just ticked more boxes: far greater app support, the best OS/UI that I personally have used on any TV. The remote to me was the biggest surprise, I loved the pointer motion aspect, and a greater added perk that rarely gets discussed is that all of the number keys are programmable. So you can link an app to any number key you like. This is basically like Panasonic's 'My App' button but x10 on the LG.

Panasonic's more barebones OS works well too, and the simplified design has grown on me. Panasonic's app store itself is awful but once you have pinned your favourite apps you never need to venture in their again. I also despise the Panasonic remote.

If you have yourself a Harmony remote and use something like Apple TV 4K or another major streaming device, then both the OS and remote benefits literally become a moot point. However, on the face of supported features, remote, UI and app support - the LG is the clear winner. Even more so in 2019 when you factor in the LG C9's HDMI 2.1 support.

Provided my FZ802 doesn't develop any major faults, I hope it continues to give me some good viewing in the years ahead. I am really fascinated by the Custom OLED Panel from Panasonic's GZ2000, and whenever my next upgrade comes, I hope this will still be something that gets pushed by Panasonic and other manufacturers.

HDMI 2.1 and low input lag is a given for 2020 across all models I would have thought. The victor in 2020 will surely be whichever manufacturer goes the Custom OLED Panel route, but does so without the Atmos speaker fluff.

Clearly the GZ2000 for it's retail price, it's targetted the enthusiast audience, such an audience has no interest in built-in TV speakers - even if they are Atmos upfiring.
 
Well next year LG's will have HFR, 8K and Disney plus which will stop people buying Panasonic even if they add HDMI 2.1 to the custom pro Panel' 😂
And you never know, next years may have 12 bit colour that could pull people again.
Hopefully all will have apple support.
There is always something the other manufacturer has that we want, keeps the competition healthy :)
 
Thanks for the Review, Phil. Nice to see all the relative strengths of each top TV set laid out nice & simply as it is here.
 
I'll take the budget GZ950 over 'The Best Premium OLED' Phillips any time. Can't see Philips in the same league as the Panasonic.

Sony's range of OLED is a joke, not only they're dimmest of all OLEDs but far more expensive than their rivals.
 
This has made my decision even more complicated between C9 and GZ950. The GZ950 is not now the best budget TV because The LG can be had £200 cheaper.
 
And you never know, next years may have 12 bit colour that could pull people again.
Hopefully all will have apple support.
There is always something the other manufacturer has that we want, keeps the competition healthy :)

As we now consider a TV a necessity of life I hear Labour are going to bring all of these companies under public ownership and provide each household with a free TV. let's see what new features they add in the coming years ;)
 
At this point in time - when this years models are cheaper and CES is on the horizon - I think HDMI 2.1 is a must have baseline for any choice. Although if you have zero interest in gaming maybe not. VRR could be a huge benefit for so called ‘performance‘ modes on ps5/xb2 which will likely often drop below 60fps and variable refresh will mask that and make it a meaningful mode to choose

HZ950 next year could be killer. Or a HZ999 with custom panel but no audio bobbins so slightly less expensive than the 2000
 
As we now consider a TV a necessity of life I hear Labour are going to bring all of these companies under public ownership and provide each household with a free TV. let's see what new features they add in the coming years ;)

Can you imagine, BritOled - Take control black :)
 
Clearly the GZ2000 for it's retail price, it's targetted the enthusiast audience, such an audience has no interest in built-in TV speakers - even if they are Atmos upfiring.
I read this a lot and can appreciate where the opinion comes from however, a number of GZ2000 owners, myself included, would disagree with you.

Paul
 
They have to be items we have reviewed and there is no interest in TVs under £500 or smaller screen sizes. We have spent the time in the past trying to cover these items and nobody read them or showed any interest. When you get to that price point and screen size, it seems people are not interested in reviews, they just go and buy what looks good to them.

Surprised to hear this, I tend to lap up the reviews of the cheaper TV's. I'm sure I'm not the only AVForums member who gets into conversations with non-enthusiasts who have a budget of around £4-500 and like to be able to offer some more coherent advice than just, "check out HiSense."
And I know a number of us look for cheap second sets too.
In fact I tend to read those reviews of lower end sets more readily than the high end sets because it's of greater value being informed on them than the latest and greatest high-end OLED that will be obsolete before I'm looking to buy a premium set again. (I'm saying that reviews across the budget range have their place before anyone starts, not that I'm against reviews of high end products.)

I'm sure the stats don't lie and I understand the point, but there's something to be said for being able to say, "Buy this if your budget is £500."
And it seems that "Best budget XXXXX" is readily trotted out article for anything from toasters to graphics cards amongst tech review websites. I presume it's the comparison that attracts people. I can see that the latest budget set might not attract as much traffic, but a shoot out might.
 
I read this a lot and can appreciate where the opinion comes from however, a number of GZ2000 owners, myself included, would disagree with you.

Paul
All I mean is the majority of people who would be willing to pay the retail price for a GZ2000, most of those people will have a dedicated sound system already.

It's the same if the GZ2000 did not exist, the home cinema enthusiast would then opt fo a GZ950 over the GZ1500, or the LG C9 over the E9. As those upper models are just including a soundbar.

I just think that 90%+ of people who pay upwards of £4000 for a TV already have their audio taken care of.
 
I'll take the budget GZ950 over 'The Best Premium OLED' Phillips any time. Can't see Philips in the same league as the Panasonic.

Sony's range of OLED is a joke, not only they're dimmest of all OLEDs but far more expensive than their rivals.
Granted Sony OLEDs are a strange one. When it comes to pro reviews they don't do too well, at least in the UK anyway. Surely they can't be that bad. Plenty of users out there who have actually bought one praise the Sony OLEDs big time. For example Richer sounds buyers of the AG8 love it!

Prices have dropped recently the AG8 is only £1299.
 
This has made my decision even more complicated between C9 and GZ950. The GZ950 is not now the best budget TV because The LG can be had £200 cheaper.
Yeah its strange the gz950 has held firm at £1499 unlike the c9. I wonder when the gz950 will shift downwards again and how much will it be.
 
This has made my decision even more complicated between C9 and GZ950. The GZ950 is not now the best budget TV because The LG can be had £200 cheaper.

In terms of the 65" size, the GZ950 is fractionally cheaper than the C9 if you know where to look ;).

The GZ950 was top of my list until I discovered that you need eARC in order to output Dolby Atmos to an external system/soundbar and the Panasonic doesn't have it. The C9 has this feature but of course no HDR10+.

My other option is the Philips 934 - Dolby Vision, Atmos & HDR10+ covered and with the B&W Atmos soundbar. But at an extra £500.
 
In terms of the 65" size, the GZ950 is fractionally cheaper than the C9 if you know where to look ;).

The GZ950 was top of my list until I discovered that you need eARC in order to output Dolby Atmos to an external system/soundbar and the Panasonic doesn't have it. The C9 has this feature but of course no HDR10+.

My other option is the Philips 934 - Dolby Vision, Atmos & HDR10+ covered and with the B&W Atmos soundbar. But at an extra £500.

You don't need eARC to get Atmos sent to an external soundbar/system. Unless you NEED lossless audio to go through the ARC connection and even then you'll need your receiver/soundbar to also have eARC also.
 
Wait what?

Best Home Cinema TV - Panasonic GZ2000
Best HDR OLED TV - Panasonic GZ2000
Best TV innovation - Panasonic GZ2000
Best TV under £1500 - Panasonic GZ950
Best gaming TV - LG C9

Best overall TV..... LG C9

I've said it before and I'll stay it again. Panasonic are going to quit trying to deliver the best accurate picture (especially out of the box accuracy). What's the point? might aswell just pay for HDMI 2.1 certification and you win TV of the year


Heh...I said the same before. The irony is that the U.S. Value Electronics Shootout which is the longest standing by far is setup for Panasonic to win since it's focused on an expert panel and mostly focuses on reference and Panasonic can't enter because of lack of U.S. presence.
 
You don't need eARC to get Atmos sent to an external soundbar/system. Unless you NEED lossless audio to go through the ARC connection and even then you'll need your receiver/soundbar to also have eARC also.

Thanks for the info - I read in at least one review that the lack of eARC prevents Dolby Atmos output. Maybe I misunderstood what they were saying.

So just so I understand correctly, conventional ARC allows Dolby Atmos to be sent via the TV's HDMI to a Dolby Atmos soundbar but in lossy form, whereas if the TV has eARC then the signal can be sent without any loss of data (lossless)?
 
So just so I understand correctly, conventional ARC allows Dolby Atmos to be sent via the TV's HDMI to a Dolby Atmos soundbar but in lossy form, whereas if the TV has eARC then the signal can be sent without any loss of data (lossless)?

A regular ARC connection will allow lossy Atmos (Dolby Digital based) to be transfered through it, the type normally used on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.
eARC has the potential to send lossless audio through it if you wanted to but I still think in most cases people would still be connecting their 4k player/device to to one of the available inputs on the soundbar/receiver to get lossless audio.
 
Again with a best of I am at a loss how it is decided.
For me 6 categories count.

Best Home Cinema
Best under £1500
Best Premium
Best HDR
Best TV sound
Best picture processing

Panasonic and Philips each win 3 of these oh
and best overall LG! Am I missing something obvious here?
 
Again with a best of I am at a loss how it is decided.
For me 6 categories count.

Best Home Cinema
Best under £1500
Best Premium
Best HDR
Best TV sound
Best picture processing

Panasonic and Philips each win 3 of these oh
and best overall LG! Am I missing something obvious here?

It's clear it's not an accumulative comparison in the sense it's not adding all categories together simply by how many 'wins' each set has but rather it's looking at how well each TV performs overall in each category and with this criteria the C9 has managed to come out on top even though it may not have snagged as many individual 'wins' also the fact it's gaming performance is 2nd to none and its future proofed beyond what any of the other sets are. That's just my observation.
 
I'm still struggling to choose a 55" oled.

I currently have a perfectly working 50" Panasonic ST30 and use it with a Xbox one (original) through a Yamaha rx-v677 5.1 setup.
I want to make the 4k leap with an oled but can't decide.

Basic thoughts are c9 with a professional calibration, is my best bet, future proof ready for next year's Xbox, minus hdr10+ 🤷but will I need to upgrade the avr to get Dolby true hd or dts master?

Or Gz950 and a Nvidia shield, as the smart os on the TV won't cut it for my needs. But will the avr pass through Dolby vision?

Or continue doing the overtime and wait for next year's crop?
 
Again with a best of I am at a loss how it is decided.
For me 6 categories count.

Best Home Cinema
Best under £1500
Best Premium
Best HDR
Best TV sound
Best picture processing

Panasonic and Philips each win 3 of these oh
and best overall LG! Am I missing something obvious here?
I've already explained this in the thread.
 

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