Considering upgrading to 4K tv on a budget

[captainsolo]

I’m tired of missing out on UHDs and hdr. Not to mention only being able to review 1080p discs. The technical upgrades every year have made me keep waiting for bugs to be worked out and prices to come down.
I’m thinking about finally going for the 55” Sony a80j oled since they’ve been marked down. My concern would then be the new quantum dot oled panels coming out for 2022 but it seems the prices will be astronomical for now.
I would get a Panasonic UHD player and Down convert UHDs to my plasma but those players are already very expensive and I’m sick of the headaches with my Panasonic plasma-meaning I rarely if ever use it.

I was just wondering what everyone’s experience here has been with 4K TVs. I think I’ve driven myself crazy with reviews and videos thinking about upgrading for years now.

[Stamper]

I would suggest trying to grab a brand new, less than 2 years old TV still with warranty on second hand sites.

Rich people change their sets very often, and literaly sell the old one for like 200 bucks. You just have to grab the right offer.

I got one for 100. The guy even came to my house and set it up. He said it was the one in his guest-room. That's completely nuts.

[captainsolo]

Funnily enough that’s how I got my plasma. It was a Craigslist ad for $105 and turned out to be an extremely rich guy with a giant house who had this low hour mint Panasonic ST60 and only used a standard def streaming box.

I thought it was the steal of the decade until I got it home and discovered the infuriating parts of plasma TVs first hand.

[stwd4nder2]

I have a couple of LG OLEDS. They weren't cheap, but overall I'd recommend them.

[BDgeek]

Hi captainsolo! Great to read you're considering jumping on board!

Sure, it's a whole new world you shouldn't be missing out. But it's not all flowers (LOL, I don't know if this expression exists in english language, but it's very common in portuguese). As great as HDR and DV are, they are a hassle to get right and I find myself meddling with my settings almost on a title to title basis.

Curiously enough, having watched most of what's been released up to now, I find catalog titles are usually mastered too bright and too hot (Sony and Vinegar Syndrome are the worst). This blows peak highlight detail and make grain look like digital artifacts, and I just looooove film grain (I could bath in it LOL), so I strive for a more film like image in these cases. On the other hand, lots of new releases are more subdued, sometimes lacking brightness and pop (Disney is the worst offender in this regard followed by Sony and Warner).

But this is all regarding out-of-the box playback, and most displays/players have tons of adjustments that make the image of UHD a real thing of beauty!

As for displays, I started back in 2018 with Sony XBR X-900 series displays. They were really good for back then, and the best we could find here in Brazil (lots of manufacturers don't retail here and most reduce their model range). In late 2020, I moved on to LG CX OLEDs and I absolutely love them.

I've had plenty of experience with other LED/QLED displays from family and friends, and for now, I wouldn't go any other way than OLED. The difference is huge, specially if you're used to Plasma displays, like I was before moving on to UHD.

Sony no longer sells TVs here in Brazil, but from what I've read, the A80J is a great display and I don't think you can go wrong with that, specially if you can get it for a good price. The best I've seen so far, from what's available around here, are the LG OLED C1/G1 displays. You might find them more affordable now too, with the release of the C2 line.

As for players, I'd recommend a PC setup. I have used standalone players in the past, before a PC solution really came into play, but now I stream all my content losslessly to either the living or the bedroom from my PC.

I hope this might be of some help.

[stwd4nder2]

Sure, it's a whole new world you shouldn't be missing out. But it's not all flowers (LOL, I don't know if this expression exists in english language, but it's very common in portuguese). As great as HDR and DV are, they are a hassle to get right and I find myself meddling with my settings almost on a tittle to tittle basis.

A full and proper calibration will fix all your issues with HDR. The out of the box HDR experience is borderline unwatchable on almost every TV I've ever seen.

[BDgeek]

Hi stwd4nder2!

Indeed a proper calibration is essential and woks wonders, specially for SDR. And I do think my displays are fairly well calibrated, but not professionaly as there's no such thing as ISF service around here. But in my experience, the lack of standard for any of the HDR formats, makes it impossible for a one size fits all.

Curously enought, I was just looking at this solution: Calman Home for LG + X-Rite OEM i1Display colorime. Since it doesn't have official manufacturer distribution here in Brazil, it's a hassle to import CE products on your own by mail order. But I'm seriously considering taking the plunge.
https://store.portrait.com/consumer-soft...or-lg.html

Anyway, even with proper calibration, there's no way such huge discrepancy we find on HDR content (including streaming) can be properly playedback with a single parameter setup on the TV.

Since you mentioned also owning LG OLEDs, I just watched a few Sony discs this week:

For Ghostbusters Afterlife I had to turn on "Dynamic Tone Mapping", which I try to avoid at all costs, because the image was so dimm and dark (crushed). Once I turned it on, the image shinned beautifully and I could get back all the detail in the dark, without exposing the image too much.
Actually, with this feature on, switching back and forth with the BD, they became about the same brightness, but with all the range and detail of the typical UHD.

For Spiderman: No Way Home, the image was perfect with Dynamic Tone Mapping off.

For Oliver!, Sense and Sensibility and Ghandi not only i had to leave it off (as usual), I also had to disable "Peak Brightness" (as I usually have to do with Sony catalogs). This turned the hot overblown mage into a beautiful thing and closer to a film like image. It's not for anything that their catalogs were branded " Sony Lightcannon TM" by some GeoffD at bluray.com.

So from your experience, can you watch such a range of titles with no further settings tweak?

[BDgeek]

Forgot to mention, all these adjustments mentioned are made on Filmmaker Mode, that I use as my base setup for both SDR and HDR.

And now that I think of it, "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccon City" and "Don't Breath 2" were also recent Sony titles that were too dim and back crushed withtout "Dynamic Tone Mapping".

I intend to take a look at Uncharted later today and compare it with the BD. I hope it's more like Spider-man NWH than these other recent Sony titles.

Speaking of which, this is one I had the lowest expectaions going to theaters, I was pretty sure it was going to be awfull. But it turns out I was quite suprised, it was a fun experience! I think it will shine even better on UHD as HDR tends to work wonders for CGI.

[Turisu]

My first 4K HDR TV was a budget model and I found myself messing with settings more than actually watching it to try and get HDR looking right.

My current set is a Sony that cost twice as much and, beyond the standard initial adjustments, I haven't had to change a thing. HDR is just right.

[stwd4nder2]

Curously enought, I was just looking at this solution: Calman Home for LG + X-Rite OEM i1Display colorime. Since it doesn't have official manufacturer distribution here in Brazil, it's a hassle to import CE products on your own by mail order. But I'm seriously considering taking the plunge.
https://store.portrait.com/consumer-soft...or-lg.html
....
So from your experience, can you watch such a range of titles with no further settings tweak?

That's exactly what I used to calibrate my display. Not too difficult for a beginner, and great results. Worth it IMHO

And yes, I never touch any of the settings on my TV. Getting the grayscale dialed in would solve a lot of your problems with black levels and dark scenes.
Also watch in dark room. HDR and ambient light don't mix very well.