Editor's Choice Awards – Best TVs 2018 - article discussion

I might consider a new TV but every review I read has caveats as regards what it can process. This one lacks DV, that one lacks HDR10+ etc etc. I do not change my TV often to say the least. Currently using a Philips 47PFL9664H some 8 yrs old and still going strong. I think the PQ on it is superior to a lot of todays current sets. So if I am to go for a new tv, purely a size requirement, I need something future proofed which does not make for an easy choice.
 
Nice round up, although I am surprised you chose a 55” TV for best Home Cinema TV, as it is way too small to get a cinematic experience, except perhaps in a bathroom or garden shed. (65” is the bare minimum)

It should be interesting to see what comes out at CES, however as both Sharp & Toshiba have had 8K TVs for some time (Samsung is late to the party) I can see that 2019 will be the start of the decline for 4K TV, which as 4K is currently mainly limited to budget/mid (£3500 or less) TVs is not surprising.

Bill
 
I might consider a new TV but every review I read has caveats as regards what it can process. This one lacks DV, that one lacks HDR10+ etc etc. I do not change my TV often to say the least. Currently using a Philips 47PFL9664H some 8 yrs old and still going strong. I think the PQ on it is superior to a lot of todays current sets. So if I am to go for a new tv, purely a size requirement, I need something future proofed which does not make for an easy choice.

Well! Providing Samsung keep their promise about upgrading their main box for their 900 series 8K TVs, these are probably as future proof as you can get at the moment.

Bill
 
I might consider a new TV but every review I read has caveats as regards what it can process. This one lacks DV, that one lacks HDR10+ etc etc. I do not change my TV often to say the least. Currently using a Philips 47PFL9664H some 8 yrs old and still going strong. I think the PQ on it is superior to a lot of todays current sets. So if I am to go for a new tv, purely a size requirement, I need something future proofed which does not make for an easy choice.
I don't think there is such thing as a future proof TV, it's not in the manufacturers interest to produce one. However many of these so called technological advances are really only making small differences to picture quality and only then if they are implemented correctly, so I really believe that most people would be satisfied with a decent full HD TV and content for many years to come. Certainly you would be hard pressed to see much of a difference between 2K and 4K on an average sized living room TV, HDR may make a difference but only if the TV is good enough to deliver it.
 
Nice round up, although I am surprised you chose a 55” TV for best Home Cinema TV, as it is way too small to get a cinematic experience, except perhaps in a bathroom or garden shed. (65” is the bare minimum)

It should be interesting to see what comes out at CES, however as both Sharp & Toshiba have had 8K TVs for some time (Samsung is late to the party) I can see that 2019 will be the start of the decline for 4K TV, which as 4K is currently mainly limited to budget/mid (£3500 or less) TVs is not surprising.

Bill
This is based on what we have reviewed in 2018, although we do mention that the 65-inch F952 we did review, is the same TV but with the soundbar. 65-inch being a minimum is your opinion and we always say get the biggest screen you can, but many users will be stuck at just how large they can go because of the room sizes in UK homes. So we try to be balanced.

Sharp and Toshiba have had commercial screens available, but not through consumer channels and not with the processing development that Samsung has introduced. If they stick to what they have promised it should add up to serious improvements in image quality during the life of those products - we shall see, but it is a good start. We have also not reviewed the Sharp and Toshiba and our awards are based only on what we have seen.

Thanks for your comments.
 
Looking to buy my first 4K TV upgrade from my excellent VT55 Panasonic Plasma.
So difficult to choose like bogart99 nothing ticks all the boxes. Panasonic seems the excellent TV for watching movies but no Dolby Vision. LG as motion issues a friend of mine is disapointed (B7 Model) after upgrading from the same TV i have. Then we have HDR+10, so waiting for next years models nothing is quite good enough for me. I like to keep a TV for 10 years unlike many members on here who update every year.
 
Looking to buy my first 4K TV upgrade from my excellent VT55 Panasonic Plasma.
So difficult to choose like bogart99 nothing ticks all the boxes. Panasonic seems the excellent TV for watching movies but no Dolby Vision. LG as motion issues a friend of mine is disapointed (B7 Model) after upgrading from the same TV i have. Then we have HDR+10, so waiting for next years models nothing is quite good enough for me. I like to keep a TV for 10 years unlike many members on here who update every year.
Your experience is not unique, we know many members are the same on the forums. We might see TVs announced at CES which fit the bill but will not know for sure for another couple of weeks.
 
Your experience is not unique, we know many members are the same on the forums. We might see TVs announced at CES which fit the bill but will not know for sure for another couple of weeks.

Yes i am looking forward to the announcements really want to buy into 4K next year. Just hoping Panasonic include Dolby Vision despite LG having more features, better interface, i only have interests in movies.
 
So, you think that both the Philips and the Panasonic OLEDs ultimately produce a better picture than the Sony AF9..(?)

That's...interesting.
 
How does the Philips beat the Sony and Panasonic for picture processing even more so when reading reviews of the philips it did not get rave reviews. Also Vincent did a n in depth video review and the Philips had many picture flaws
 
I might consider a new TV but every review I read has caveats as regards what it can process. This one lacks DV, that one lacks HDR10+ etc etc. I do not change my TV often to say the least. Currently using a Philips 47PFL9664H some 8 yrs old and still going strong. I think the PQ on it is superior to a lot of todays current sets. So if I am to go for a new tv, purely a size requirement, I need something future proofed which does not make for an easy choice.

I had the Philips 9664, brilliant telly and still doing sterling service with a relative. But the money we paid to replace it with a 55" LG C6 was some of the best we've ever spent.

Saying that the picture difference is night and day doesn't come close. Didn't realise just how milky the 9664 picture was until I saw a space scene on the OLED.

Pretty sure the footprint is near as damn it the same too given the bezel width on the 9664 and the total lack thereof on the LG, hence 55" screen in same slot as 47" previously.

I've not seen anything regarding formats to concern me. HDR10+ seems to be a response to DV, sans hefty license fee, and I understand the new LG models do some clever dynamic HDR10 thing, which is what HDR10+ and DV do? My C6 doesn't have the dynamic HDR10 feature and HDR10 looks amazing, HLG on iPlayer looks amazing and DV looks amazing so I'm happy.

If I still had the 9664 I'd pick up a bargain LG B8 and never look back. Just my two penneth and YMMV of course.
 
How does the Philips beat the Sony and Panasonic for picture processing even more so when reading reviews of the philips it did not get rave reviews. Also Vincent did a n in depth video review and the Philips had many picture flaws

They’ve just reviewed it here and it got a nine, like most other OLEDs.

Vincent’s opinion is irrelevant here, surely? I don’t see why it’s even mentioned.
 
They’ve just reviewed it here and it got a nine, like most other OLEDs.

Vincent’s opinion is irrelevant here, surely? I don’t see why it’s even mentioned.
So did the Panny 802 which got 10s across the board on picture quality rightly so as The Panny is the best picture i have seen on an oled along with the Sony and all online reviews say the same . Where as the Philips got 9s on the picture scores even if it was not the Panny it should have been the Sony for processing

Why is mentioning Vincent irrelevant this is a discussion forum unless i am breaking some Vincent rule here
 
Why is mentioning Vincent irrelevant this is a discussion forum unless i am breaking some Vincent rule here
Mention him all you like, but it doesn't mean he is right, it's his opinion.

Its a list of the best products based on what I have tested here and in comparison with each other. I don't know of any other reviewer who has 5 TVs available for instant side by side comparisons, so we are not going by memory of what a certain TV looked like when it was in for review, we have it here to actually compare.
I happen to think Sony dropped the ball this year by reducing the available processing on the AF9 and ZF9 compared to the others, and out of those, I think the Philips was best, with actual side by side testing. You are free to disagree because someone said differently in a video somewhere or on the internet, it's a free world and you can pick and choose what you want to believe, or better still, go and see for yourself.
It's a list on the internet, people are not going to agree 100% on our results and I accept that. But please don't dismiss the effort that goes into these things.
 
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Because Vincent is not an editor here so his opinion is irrelevant in the context of this being Editors Choice.
 
I think Phils picks are great, great he's seen the Q900R as best hdr tv. As for other reviewers we all see things differently, and pro calibraters will all have a different input. Do you think flatpanelshd would ever pick LCD for having the best hdr? Never
 
Great article Phil and in my mind I would have listed the same models based on your chosen categories, with only 1 exception. I am not entirely convinced about Philips having the best picture processing as they can’t beat Sony when it comes to smoothing out colour graduation.


The one TV I was most disappointed in for the same critical issues you highlighted in your Review is the Sony ZD9 successor - ZF9. To me that is a bad TV for the price unless firmware can fix blooming on the black bars. ZD9 is much better in this area. Also contrast compromised with that VA Panel.


DOLBYVISION. Why are some manufacturers so resistant to taking up DOLBYVISION, is it really the license fee? They still pay DOLBY AUDIO license fees. What if Dolby decides to reduce the fee, interesting to see what would happen.
 
Mention him all you like, but it doesn't mean he is right, it's his opinion.

Its a list of the best products based on what I have tested here and in comparison with each other. I don't know of any other reviewer who has 5 TVs available for instant side by side comparisons, so we are not going by memory of what a certain TV looked like when it was in for review, we have it here to actually compare.
I happen to think Sony dropped the ball this year by reducing the available processing on the AF9 and ZF9 compared to the others, and out of those, I think the Philips was best, with actual side by side testing. You are free to disagree because someone said differently in a video somewhere or on the internet, it's a free world and you can pick and choose what you want to believe, or better still, go and see for yourself.
It's a list on the internet, people are not going to agree 100% on our results and I accept that. But please don't dismiss the effort that goes into these things.

I appreciate what your saying and its difficult to compare all side by side but the reviews are written and scores given so there is a log if you want to call it that to go on. your reviews are always a good read and ai am not knocking your work

I can not speak for the Philips as i have not seen it in action so can only go by pro reviews.

I have read all reviews on the Sony, panny and Philips inc yours and all make true as I have seen both the panny and sony at long viewing periods due to my friend owning the sony and uncle having the panny 802. I have the LG C8. Overall picture quality on the Panny and Sony are superior to the LG i just find it hard to see those two having 10s across the board in picture quality and the Phillips not, but being the best for processing it just seems inconsistent.
 
Good round up of reviews and if the worse came to the worse and my Panny plasma went bang it would almost certainly be the 55'' Oled would get the nod, especially after reading the recent review.
 
Good round up of reviews and if the worse came to the worse and my Panny plasma went bang it would almost certainly be the 55'' Oled would get the nod, especially after reading the recent review.
Having owned the VT50 and i see you have the vt65 they are amazing sets. They wont go bang so if you decide to go for an oled soon. YOU u will be see how deep the backs are compared to the already great blacks on the Plasma.

I am just glad i have the best overall tv LGC8
 
C8 is hands down the best bang for the buck TV but to each their own. The picture quality on these TVs are so close this year. You won't go wrong with any of these TVs. I just wish we had an AVF shootout comprising these TVs.
 

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