# HDR TVs and real world experience



## Taxboy (Aug 23, 2006)

A question for real world viewers (rather than AV enthusiasts) . I'm looking at getting a new TV. My research suggests all TV's in the mid price range are 4k so it appears the quality of the way they output HDR is the defining factor ?

I'm looking for real world experience on whether having better quality HDR on the TV has much of an impact on sources such as Bluray & Freeview HD.

I've been recommended the Sony XE range as that apparently handles sports motion well but would be particularly keen to hear where people chose to "under buy". That is went for a cheaper model in a range and whether they subsequently were pleased or regretted their decision

Any advice appreciated

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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

Not sure on that specific model. But we did recently buy a Curved Samsung 55" 4k HDR series 6 TV. Picked it up for just under £500 and so far have been super impressed with the 4k and hdr picture quality and brightness. It was an early 2017 model so selling off for making space for new models. We did however buy a calibration disc at the same time for cheap that helped no end in getting the settings all right. Most people ramp their back lights up to the max and think it helps, it really doesn't at all. Same goes for contrast etc.

We did notice a huge improvement buying a stand alone 4k player too, as the Xbox one S and the ps4 are nowhere near as good as a stand alone player Imo(I have both), the difference was obvious right away.

But being a member on bluray.com, hdr has zero effect at all on non hdr sources. So if its just HD and Blurays then there will be zero impact. There has been people saying "oh yes it does make a difference to the colour of the hd pictures" bit when actual evidence is shown, there is genuinely zero difference.I will admit on standard hd picture it looks just the same, but show a True 4k ui HDR picture and wow it comes alive, genuinely the colour is the first thing you notice, then you do the "let's sit a foot from the TV" thing and its just crystal clear with no pixel edging to be seen. 
James


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

I’ve just bought a Sony KD75XE9405 after waiting to see what was announced for 2018 at CES thus confirmed that there would be very little change this year from most manufacturers. So I’ve opted for a local dimming direct backlight LCD model as this gives me the best performance in a “normal” living room, so needs to work in daylight as well as blacked out at night. I’ve decided for my room the extra brightness of the Sony beats the better contrast from OLED. And the motion handling is a definite step up from the LG OLEDs (which were my other preferred choice).

So for me a FALD (Full Array Local Dimming) LCD wins out over anything else in most cases right now. And while Dolby Vision/HDR10+ support would be nice, IMO it’s not quite as beneficial for sets with high brightness and wide colour gamut support, so whether Sony manage to come good with the promise of a Dolby Vision update for these TVs is not a deal breaker for me.


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## donnyboy (Oct 27, 2005)

shl-kelso said:


> I've just bought a Sony KD75XE9405 after waiting to see what was announced for 2018 at CES thus confirmed that there would be very little change this year from most manufacturers. So I've opted for a local dimming direct backlight LCD model as this gives me the best performance in a "normal" living room, so needs to work in daylight as well as blacked out at night. I've decided for my room the extra brightness of the Sony beats the better contrast from OLED. And the motion handling is a definite step up from the LG OLEDs (which were my other preferred choice).
> 
> So for me a FALD (Full Array Local Dimming) LCD wins out over anything else in most cases right now. And while Dolby Vision/HDR10+ support would be nice, IMO it's not quite as beneficial for sets with high brightness and wide colour gamut support, so whether Sony manage to come good with the promise of a Dolby Vision update for these TVs is not a deal breaker for me.


I have 2014 Sony just now, and was looking at the LG OLED and Samsung QLED for the extra brightness.

Will check out the Sony too.:thumb:


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

shl-kelso said:


> I've just bought a Sony KD75XE9405 after waiting to see what was announced for 2018 at CES thus confirmed that there would be very little change this year from most manufacturers. So I've opted for a local dimming direct backlight LCD model as this gives me the best performance in a "normal" living room, so needs to work in daylight as well as blacked out at night. I've decided for my room the extra brightness of the Sony beats the better contrast from OLED. And the motion handling is a definite step up from the LG OLEDs (which were my other preferred choice).
> 
> So for me a FALD (Full Array Local Dimming) LCD wins out over anything else in most cases right now. And while Dolby Vision/HDR10+ support would be nice, IMO it's not quite as beneficial for sets with high brightness and wide colour gamut support, so whether Sony manage to come good with the promise of a Dolby Vision update for these TVs is not a deal breaker for me.


Same thinking here, although I swayed to the LG OLED rather than Panasonic of Sony FALD. :thumb:

I've watched a couple of things with HDR (Netflix has Dolby Vision for a couple of shows) and it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. Arguably the lower peak brightness of OLED makes HDR even less effective anyway! Quality of the panel was a much higher priority in my list, which meant either FALD or OLED.


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## haagendasz (Sep 16, 2014)

insanejim69 said:


> Not sure on that specific model. But we did recently buy a Curved Samsung 55" 4k HDR series 6 TV. Picked it up for just under £500 and so far have been super impressed with the 4k and hdr picture quality and brightness. It was an early 2017 model so selling off for making space for new models. We did however buy a calibration disc at the same time for cheap that helped no end in getting the settings all right. Most people ramp their back lights up to the max and think it helps, it really doesn't at all. Same goes for contrast etc.
> 
> We did notice a huge improvement buying a stand alone 4k player too, as the Xbox one S and the ps4 are nowhere near as good as a stand alone player Imo(I have both), the difference was obvious right away.
> 
> ...


How about the picture quality for gaming with PS4 Pro and Xbox One S ?

I have both console but only 1 TV and I would like to buy a bigger one (55-65") for either of them. Right now I only have 43" Full HD LG Smart TV.

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## gatecrasher3 (Jul 21, 2006)

donnyboy said:


> I have 2014 Sony just now, and was looking at the LG OLED and Samsung QLED for the extra brightness.
> 
> Will check out the Sony too.:thumb:


I had convinced myself that I wanted an LG OLED as I was blown away by the picture I had seen on various different instore units.

In the end I got nervous of screen burn and the fact that LG specifically don't cover it under warranty and went for the Samsung QE557F QLED and I couldn't be happier.


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## donnyboy (Oct 27, 2005)

gatecrasher3 said:


> I had convinced myself that I wanted an LG OLED as I was blown away by the picture I had seen on various different instore units.
> 
> In the end I got nervous of screen burn and the fact that LG specifically don't cover it under warranty and went for the Samsung QE557F QLED and I couldn't be happier.


The LG I was looking at has went back up in price too. It was down to £1499.

Prefer the stand on the C7 to the B7.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-an...VBLXtCh0UKgJ4EAQYASABEgK9LfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Was looking at that QLED too. The remote and the external connection box puts me off abit though.

https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-55-inch-4k-ultra-hd-premium-smart-qled-tv-tvplus.html


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## OldskoolRS (May 5, 2011)

Taxboy said:


> I'm looking for real world experience on whether having better quality HDR on the TV has much of an impact on sources such as Bluray & Freeview HD.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk


Sorry, I am an AV enthusiast, but can I at least comment that HDR will not be in effect if you are feeding the TV with BluRay or Freeview HD? These are 1080p sources which should be displayed as SDR/rec709. However all 4K displays will upscale the image to fill the screen, so there can be some variation as some devices upscale better than others.

To be honest though, many viewers sit far enough back that the benefit of 4K is lost, so it's more about general picture quality such as black level, motion and colours.


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## huxley309 (Apr 8, 2006)

Why not look at a good laser projector, heard they're better than most if not all TV's, they've really come along.


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

huxley309 said:


> Why not look at a good laser projector, heard they're better than most if not all TV's, they've really come along.


Depends what you are looking for - if you have a "normal" room without good light control then a projector (laser or not) is not going to be bright enough for daytime use without accepting washed out images. Even light rejecting screens can struggle if the windows allow light in from behind the projector.

Most modest (under 10k) laser projectors still do not go that bright and can struggle with black levels. And even when you step up to double the price (like the Sony ultra short throw laser projector) then it still does not give as bright a picture as a TV so HDR will not pop in the same way.

However if you want to go bigger than 75" screen size and and can make the room dark/semi-dark then a well chosen projector is the way to go provided you can also accommodate a decent screen to go with it.

So laser projection has its benefits (mostly instant on/off, stable light source output over time, long life) but it's not a perfect replacement for a TV just yet.


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## huxley309 (Apr 8, 2006)

Ok just that the gadget show did a comparison, Samsung quantum dot TV against some Epson short throw laser projector that seemed pretty new.

6-13 for the projector, they even said in a lit room it still looked decent.
I'm only going by what they said of course.


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