You have to go and check by yourself
Hi guys, I just returned from the showrooms and it was an interesting experience.
Firstly, I visited Chroma. Checked the Sony X7500H on display there.
It was exactly like the rtings review said. Greys weren't uniform leading to a lot of Dirty screen effect. Also banding was clearly visible in the colours. I used test videos from QuantumTV on Youtube. Then tried my own video which was a 4K trailer of Into the Spider Verse and Fullmetal Alchemist anime intro in 1080p. I found no complains. Couldnt notice any DSEs, banding, etc. I also had a 4k demo video sample but forgot to play it :/
There was also the Panasonic gx800 55". And here comes the interesting part. The Panasonic TVs were all playing an HD channel whereas the Sonys and the Samsungs were playing demo videos. Particularly, in gx800's case, the colours were completely washed out. I was surprised since Panasonic's lower models while the PQ wasn't as good but were better in terms of colors. I asked the guy for the remote and he said "Sir, there was another guy who had it and now he has gone to his village and no one knows where he kept it" Lol WTF?! I tested some more on X7500H, then again asked him like ask around if you can find it. So he again said Sir you tested all size of the same TV, why would I not give you if I knew where it was. I was like okay. But it definitely felt fishy. It's like they didn't want people to check out out Panasonic.
Final price of the 55" Sony X7500H: 71k. He wasn't ready to reduce any further. I showed him screenshot of some guy here on the forum getting it at 57k. At first, he was like, sir we only match Amazon's price. I argued a bit and he's like no sir that was just because of Independence Day blah blah. His logic was nonsense but looking at his demeanor I realized he isn't gonna budge. But didn't mind since the 7500H isn't my first choice.
Visited 2 more stores but they didn't have anything I wanted. By the way, I couldn't find the Sony X9000F anywhere
The store guy from Kohinoor seemed downright offended when I asked him
Anyway, my fourth stop was Reliance Digital. They had the Samsung Q60R and the RU8000 on the display. No Sony X9000F. I started testing my videos and here's the thing: Even though Rtings put both Q60R and the RU8000 on the same level, the colors looked quite better on the Q60R. on the Spider Verse trailer as well as on the HDR video I had (and yes, it was a real HDR video and not a youtube downloaded one). For my needs, I realized Q60R is the best (even though its hated quite a lot in the US/EU market). The guy who was attending me promised if I buy today he'd get me the best price. And then he quoted me 83K for the 55inch model with cashback on HDFC/ICICI of 7k effectively making it 77k. I told him it's too much and then began an hour long to and fro where he tried a lot to pitch me the RU8000 and the newer TU series. I didn't mind the RU8000 but it was a display piece, which I was hesitant buying. TU series on the other hand are a step down from the RU. Wanted to give TU8570 a try but it wasn't even on display (He was telling me to buy it blindly :/).
I have to say though, Reliance Digital was the best experience of the 4 stores I visited today. Very patient and polite guys. Gave my mom a chair to sit and also offered water. So definitely an A for service.
I also tested the Panasonic GX750 but it was just okay tbh. All TVs I tested I made sure to turn off the image and motion filters.
So all in all, I didn't get a TV but it was a good experience. Another thing, while the Q60R had better PQ, the Sony was just easy on the eyes. I dunno why - the difference in lighting at chroma and Reliance, Sony's flicker free backlighting, personal bias or simply tiredness.
I'd request you guys to advice me regarding this. What do I do next? Do I increase my budget or wait? I do want to see the Panasonic GX800 in person. The 55" is right now 50k on amazon.
