55" TV Recommendations

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BDH55

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Anyone want to toss out a 55" TV recommendation, or more importantly, brands/models to avoid? This is for our living room system which is largely watched either for news, or the zillion gardening/home improvement shows the wife watches. It's in an open space with no real light control and while attached to the upstairs system, we are only running the FL/C/FR ML speakers thru a NAD T 778. Source-wise, we have an OPPO 105 and Roku 3 feeding it in addition to our cable provider. I kind of just started looking at a replacement for our aging Toshiba and it's looking like 4K is kind of the default anymore even though we don't currently need it. That said, LED vs OLED... do I need HDR... HDR+... that kind of stuff. Hoping to get some ideas here...
 
My favorite is LG OLED, LG owns the right to the panels, so any other OLED on the market is LG. As long as your room isn't blasted by full sun all day, it will be more than bright enough.

I had a 55 inch, and just replaced it with their 77 inch.
 
I recommend any LG that is within your budget and size. Even a less than ultra high end LG is amazing. But as I always say if you want a 55 incher, can you fit in a 65 inch? You will NEVER regret getting a bigger screen. I have an LG 75 inch now and I should have gotten an 85 inch. Oh well, live and learn. I'm at around 11 to 12 feet max from the screen and an 85 would not be too big at all. At 7 feet an 85 might be too big.....:) But I'd still go for it!
 
My favorite is LG OLED, LG owns the right to the panels, so any other OLED on the market is LG. As long as your room isn't blasted by full sun all day, it will be more than bright enough.

I had a 55 inch, and just replaced it with their 77 inch.
Robert, I certainly appreciate your suggestion but also have been following your OLED burn-in 'again' thread. In fact, I just re-read it from the top, and I'm not sure I would have the patience to continue swapping TV's out. Also, if room light is an issue with OLED screens, then I probably don't have the correct room for it as it would sit in the center of our living room and gets light from multiple sides. I'll probably focus on one of the LG nano LED sets which look like they will deliver more performance than we even need in this room...

I recommend any LG that is within your budget and size. Even a less than ultra high end LG is amazing. But as I always say if you want a 55 incher, can you fit in a 65 inch? You will NEVER regret getting a bigger screen. I have an LG 75 inch now and I should have gotten an 85 inch. Oh well, live and learn. I'm at around 11 to 12 feet max from the screen and an 85 would not be too big at all. At 7 feet an 85 might be too big.....:) But I'd still go for it!
I understand the bigger is better argument and actually made that same mistake with my first Stewart screen in my main room, I don't think I can go any bigger than a 55" in this situation. I've got two problems... First, I can't move my FL/FR speakers any farther apart because both of them would end up past the end of the wall and blocking openings into other rooms. Second, while we all love our hobby, my wife loves hers as well and it involves art. She has a piece of art hanging above the current TV and she's not really crazy about how close the top of the current 55" is approaching it already. In fact, I would probably score some points if I dropped to a 50"... :D
 
I recommend any LG that is within your budget and size. Even a less than ultra high end LG is amazing. But as I always say if you want a 55 incher, can you fit in a 65 inch? You will NEVER regret getting a bigger screen. I have an LG 75 inch now and I should have gotten an 85 inch. Oh well, live and learn. I'm at around 11 to 12 feet max from the screen and an 85 would not be too big at all. At 7 feet an 85 might be too big.....:) But I'd still go for it!
I would have gotten a screen bigger than 77 inch on the OLED LG, but right now its the biggest they make. I agree 100%.
 
Robert, I certainly appreciate your suggestion but also have been following your OLED burn-in 'again' thread. In fact, I just re-read it from the top, and I'm not sure I would have the patience to continue swapping TV's out. Also, if room light is an issue with OLED screens, then I probably don't have the correct room for it as it would sit in the center of our living room and gets light from multiple sides. I'll probably focus on one of the LG nano LED sets which look like they will deliver more performance than we even need in this room...


I understand the bigger is better argument and actually made that same mistake with my first Stewart screen in my main room, I don't think I can go any bigger than a 55" in this situation. I've got two problems... First, I can't move my FL/FR speakers any farther apart because both of them would end up past the end of the wall and blocking openings into other rooms. Second, while we all love our hobby, my wife loves hers as well and it involves art. She has a piece of art hanging above the current TV and she's not really crazy about how close the top of the current 55" is approaching it already. In fact, I would probably score some points if I dropped to a 50"... :D
I had their Nano 86 inch and had them take it back. It had the "dirty screen effect". Just not acceptable in a brand new tv. Im not sure, but it might just be something you have to accept in those tvs. I tried LED, but after going OLED I just cant go back. Buy a 5 year warranty and youll get credit for a new tv if it burns in. Thats what I have come to accept as the state of affairs in today's tv.
 
Robert, mine is a75 inch Nano 9 series and it is awesome. But, I know that all brands have screen issues. It is a crap shoot. Once you get a good one you need to hang on to it until it dies many years in the future!
 
Robert, mine is a75 inch Nano 9 series and it is awesome. But, I know that all brands have screen issues. It is a crap shoot. Once you get a good one you need to hang on to it until it dies many years in the future!
Yeah, youd think the quality control would be a lot better. So far the best tv I have had since CRT is my 55 inch LG OLED. Even though it has burn in, its not really easy to see most of the time and the rest of the picture is brilliant. Most of my LED tvs have broken down in one way or the other. One had pixels that were all garbled up one has a horizontal line of dead pixels only 2 years after buying it and barely watching it, and another broke down for reasons I cant remember. I do have a small 32 inch LED tv in the bedroom that is just about good as new and it is about 10 years old. It happens to be a Samsung, while all of my other Samsungs were crap.

I think you are right about your crap shoot observation! Ive come to the conclusion now that I should just plan on buying a new tv in the main viewing area every 4 or 5 years. As long as I get the warranty I make out pretty good on it. Spend $500 on the warranty and then get back $3100 for a new tv later.
 
Anyone have any experience with any of the Samsung Neo QLED sets that use their 'Mini LED's?' I just happened to come across a review on CNET, and the reviewer was raving all over the 65" set he reviewed. The highlight was that 'this high-end TV gives LG's OLED a run for the money'. The only real negative he had was that these sets cost almost as much as the OLED sets.

I'm really looking hard at the Samsung 55" QN90A. It appears that it has the features we need plus it sounds like it may work better in our well lit living room (with the added benefit of avoiding screen burn-in). While I'm sure an OLED screen is the better option in a room with good light control, that just isn't our living room. Also, we aren't really worried about off-axis viewing.

spkrdctr, I did take the measurements of the LG 65" Nanocell 90 and the little women and I tried to make it fit. Unfortunately, it just won't work without having to move a piece of her art, and that's a showstopper. The way I look at it, it's much better to compromise in the common space, while maintaining full control in my space!!! ;) :LOL:
 
Anyone have any experience with any of the Samsung Neo QLED sets that use their 'Mini LED's?' I just happened to come across a review on CNET, and the reviewer was raving all over the 65" set he reviewed. The highlight was that 'this high-end TV gives LG's OLED a run for the money'. The only real negative he had was that these sets cost almost as much as the OLED sets.

I'm really looking hard at the Samsung 55" QN90A. It appears that it has the features we need plus it sounds like it may work better in our well lit living room (with the added benefit of avoiding screen burn-in). While I'm sure an OLED screen is the better option in a room with good light control, that just isn't our living room. Also, we aren't really worried about off-axis viewing.

spkrdctr, I did take the measurements of the LG 65" Nanocell 90 and the little women and I tried to make it fit. Unfortunately, it just won't work without having to move a piece of her art, and that's a showstopper. The way I look at it, it's much better to compromise in the common space, while maintaining full control in my space!!! ;) :LOL:

Your a wise man. Like me you know who is the boss, and it is not us! What she says goes, period. Well almost. She says I can make the important decisions. She tells me which ones are important and what she thinks. It is amazing how I have a perfect track record of making the correct decision when she tells me what she thinks!
 
Anyone have any experience with any of the Samsung Neo QLED sets that use their 'Mini LED's?' I just happened to come across a review on CNET, and the reviewer was raving all over the 65" set he reviewed. The highlight was that 'this high-end TV gives LG's OLED a run for the money'. The only real negative he had was that these sets cost almost as much as the OLED sets.

I'm really looking hard at the Samsung 55" QN90A. It appears that it has the features we need plus it sounds like it may work better in our well lit living room (with the added benefit of avoiding screen burn-in). While I'm sure an OLED screen is the better option in a room with good light control, that just isn't our living room. Also, we aren't really worried about off-axis viewing.

spkrdctr, I did take the measurements of the LG 65" Nanocell 90 and the little women and I tried to make it fit. Unfortunately, it just won't work without having to move a piece of her art, and that's a showstopper. The way I look at it, it's much better to compromise in the common space, while maintaining full control in my space!!! ;) :LOL:
The one thing that prevented me from even considering Samsung is the fact that none of them have Dolby Vision. If thats not important to you then disregard. It is very important to me because I use it on everything I stream off of my Apple tv 4k and play on my 4k player. Dolby Vision has the best picture still IMO.
 
I have looked at and compared almost everything out there ,side by side, and the best for the money and quality ( in my opinion) is the TCL 6 or 8 series. After viewing everything under the sun I purchased a TCL 8 series 65".
 
I have looked at and compared almost everything out there ,side by side, and the best for the money and quality ( in my opinion) is the TCL 6 or 8 series. After viewing everything under the sun I purchased a TCL 8 series 65".
They have QLED with dolby vision! That's a winner. I'm assuming the QLED tech they have is the same as what Samsung uses?

First time I've heard of the company. Looks good.
 
Nominally I would not chime in on this, but I have some personal relevant experience. Before I retired last year, I was an application engineer for a large semiconductor manufacturer. I worked on some technical issues with TCL televisions. I would NEVER consider buying one. I personally own LG, but have nothing negative to say about Samsung or Sony.
 
The one thing that prevented me from even considering Samsung is the fact that none of them have Dolby Vision. If thats not important to you then disregard. It is very important to me because I use it on everything I stream off of my Apple tv 4k and play on my 4k player. Dolby Vision has the best picture still IMO.
Sure, Dolby Vision would be nice but thinking about how (and where) we will be using this TV, I think I will just have to live without it. Screen performance in a non-light controlled room is probably the biggest factor, and I just read a couple more reviews on how good their screens are... including one calling the Samsung QLED screens 'the best OLED alternative'...

I have looked at and compared almost everything out there ,side by side, and the best for the money and quality ( in my opinion) is the TCL 6 or 8 series. After viewing everything under the sun I purchased a TCL 8 series 65".
When I read your post the first thing I thought was who is TCL? What turned out to be interesting was once I was looking at the various best TV listings posted online, TCL was up near the top of a couple of them. What surprised me was seeing other names I wasn't familiar with like Hisense, Konka and SunBriteTV. I guess I've been stuck in my basement too long...
 
The LG LED tv I tried out was definitely brighter than the OLED, but overall the picture looks washed out and colors not as good. That was the Nano. I didn't try Samsung because they have no Dolby Vision.

If you're just going to watch TV off of a cable box, led without dolby vision is ok. My room gets a lot of bright sun and the OLED still looks better than the LED.
 
If you're just going to watch TV off of a cable box, led without dolby vision is ok. My room gets a lot of bright sun and the OLED still looks better than the LED.

I'm certainly not debating that OLED screens will have the better picture. I'm just saying that in my room, and in our situation, I think that an LED screen is the better way to go. Less expensive... brighter overall... and since this TV gets a fair amount of network logos... I also shouldn't have the burn-in issue. Our sources are cable, Blu-Ray and a Roku Ultra, but if we are looking for more of a movie experience etc., we head down to the main system, dim the lights and away we go...
 
I'm certainly not debating that OLED screens will have the better picture. I'm just saying that in my room, and in our situation, I think that an LED screen is the better way to go. Less expensive... brighter overall... and since this TV gets a fair amount of network logos... I also shouldn't have the burn-in issue. Our sources are cable, Blu-Ray and a Roku Ultra, but if we are looking for more of a movie experience etc., we head down to the main system, dim the lights and away we go...
Yeah, if it's not the main screen then that makes sense.

Since you're getting a 55 inch, you'll probably not have any troubles with the TV right out of the box. I never had problems until I tried buying 77 inch or larger.
 
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