Question Newby looking for a 4K UHD HDR 55 OLED for under £1800 - high nits and upscaling key

nontechmike

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I love the look of the OLED blacks/contrasts in rooms where there is not too much ambient light but with bright sunlit room not so great.
1. Which OLED models have the highest nit ratings or are all the main suspects pretty much the same - LG, Sony, Panasonic?
2. Since some of my viewing material to start with will not be 4k (or in some cases not even HD), which models provide for the best upscaling or again are they all much the same?
3. If you want to freeze live TV or programme timed recordings do you still need a set top box or is this built into latest models now?
4. Is there a general consensus on which OS is best?

Apologies if these are stupid questions - just starting to find my way around the latest technologies.

PS Having a Freesat tuner built in is very desirable for me as well
 
I love the look of the OLED blacks/contrasts in rooms where there is not too much ambient light but with bright sunlit room not so great.
1. Which OLED models have the highest nit ratings or are all the main suspects pretty much the same - LG, Sony, Panasonic?
2. Since some of my viewing material to start with will not be 4k (or in some cases not even HD), which models provide for the best upscaling or again are they all much the same?
3. If you want to freeze live TV or programme timed recordings do you still need a set top box or is this built into latest models now?
4. Is there a general consensus on which OS is best?

Apologies if these are stupid questions - just starting to find my way around the latest technologies.

PS Having a Freesat tuner built in is very desirable for me as well
No such thing as stupid questions on here! Most of the time :laugh:

to answer them
1. Difference between the peak brightness of the top models is not too big, 50-100 nits either way at most, different reviews give different readings. There tends to be a difference between models in the same brand though (C9 brighter than B9, AG9 brighter than AG8, GZ2000 brighter than 950) due to processor differences (or new panel for Pana)
2. They all tend to be very good at upscaling, possibly a tiny marginal win for Panasonic GZ950, Pana are known to be very good at dealing with low quality content
3. It is possible to pause and rewind live tv, but not easy, a set top box is the easiest solution, but to do it through the tv, you would need a formatted usb drive in the side - but even with it, it’s flaky at best on all models. Can’t switch channel mid recording etc
4. depends on what you want it for. if it’s for a bit of everything, LG WebOS is your best bet (best smart home connectivity and functionality, most stable, most intuitive, pointer remote). Sony is good if you want lots of apps (though I’m not sure what else you need that the other brands don’t offer) but it isn’t known for stability. Pana is functional but pretty basic, looks slightly outdated imho.

for the budget, the main TVs to consider will be the LG B9, C9, E9, Panasonic Gz950/1500 and the Sony AG8 or AG9 (There is Philips as well, not too knowledgeable about them thoug)
Happy to divulge on the differences if needed
it depends on what matters to you... sound, motion, os, brightness, aesthetic design, smart features, ‘futureproofing’.... there isn’t really a ‘best tv‘ to buy.
 
I love the look of the OLED blacks/contrasts in rooms where there is not too much ambient light but with bright sunlit room not so great.
1. Which OLED models have the highest nit ratings or are all the main suspects pretty much the same - LG, Sony, Panasonic?
2. Since some of my viewing material to start with will not be 4k (or in some cases not even HD), which models provide for the best upscaling or again are they all much the same?
3. If you want to freeze live TV or programme timed recordings do you still need a set top box or is this built into latest models now?
4. Is there a general consensus on which OS is best?

Apologies if these are stupid questions - just starting to find my way around the latest technologies.

PS Having a Freesat tuner built in is very desirable for me as well

the problem is that in reality you are asking about different aspects of capability, and each of these brands recent oleds have areas where you could argue they are better than the others. For your budget you can stretch to a 2019 model and, whilst there will be differences, they are going to be subtle rather than glaring.
Remember that highest nits isn’t the whole story when it comes to best viewing in brighter conditions. The differences won’t be massive anyway.
Sony has had a reputation for very good upscaling, especially lower quality sdr material, but these days the other brands are much closer. The same goes for motion handling. Sony’s sound is also impressive and clever.
panasonic is strong in terms of colour accuracy out of the box, but I’ve been very impressed with the Sony and LG models.
i would say the LG web os is easily the most comprehensive and the best, but again it depends on how you use it. For me, my Panasonic os is far more basic but does everything I need very fast and is very stable.
For me it was a close call between the LG and Panasonic, and I went with the latter, but probably would have been extremely happy with the LG.
i Don’t think you can really say that one is significantly better...
 
Philips are bright for an OLED read Phil's review of the 854.
 
Main use will be HD and 4K from Sky but with some SD. No gamming. Mainly watch TV in evening but keen that I dont need to draw curtains when I watch during day (south facing room). I really like the look of the Sony AG9 with minimal stand offset and want to be able to use voice control without using handset (which I think is available with Sony but not LG). SD upscaling is important to me and looked better to my eye with Sony rather than LG. But is the £200 premium for the Sony worth it given the LG E9 is a little brighter (less natural?) and has the Web OS/Freeview Play?
 
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