Hello Folks,
After waiting long enough (about 18 months), I finally pulled the trigger and got myself an OLED TV to replace a plasma model.
Below are first impressions. I am no expert.
Old: Panasonic Viera P42VT (42" Full HD Plasma)
New: LG OLED 55C8 (55" 4K OLED)
A few words about the plasma:
This was bought in 2009 (at Diwali time). Has served the home needs very well for all these years.
Excellent contrast, fantastic viewing angle and very good for sports viewing. No breakdowns or issues.
This set will continue its service at my parents' place.
First impressions of the new puppy (at store):
Design - Minimalistic, stand doubles as speaker reflector
Sound - Sounded OK at store; was not nitpicking on this aspect during audition
Picture
- Inbuilt 4K/Dolby Vision Demo content was fabulous (unfortunately limited use at home for daily viewing)
- Tried out SD/HD channels (entertainment, movies, news, sports)
- HD channels were an improvement over plasma, SD were satisfactory (mostly due to larger size screen)
- Sports/action scenes were as good as the plasma (if not better)
- Bluray movie was also also very good (except it was Baahubali; so colors were in your face for the scene playing)
Remote/UI - Lots of features, yet intuitive and simple for a dinosaur like me; loved the voice control thingy
Verdict - Sold on the set
What else did I consider:
Sony AF8 - Almost similar showroom experience (vis-a-vis LG picture); I was not convinced about the price
Samsung QLEDs - bright picture; but otherwise did not wow (me)
Panasonic - if only they were available to audition
The logistics:
Price - About 1.4L after cashback (0% EMI of 6,999/- for 19 months) 12,019/- down payment + 2,200/- EMI processing fee
Dealer - LG Shoppe Banashankari 3rd stage, Bangalore
Best price/deal? - Prices will drop further closer to festival is my guess
As I had a Bajaj FinServ Account and have purchased at this store earlier, the EMI paperwork and billing was quick (10 minutes)
Booking date - 18/10/2018 (evening)
Delivery date - 19/10/2018 (morning)
Install date - 19/10/2018 (afternoon)
What's in the box/offer:
- Panel, remote, table stand, user manual, wall mount unit (unlikely to ever use it)
- Reliance Jio hotspot (useless at my place; will give it to parents)
The at-home experience (I am no TV expert, so only impressions):
Design
- Sits pretty on my AV stand (had to move a few cutesies that were previously there)
- I suggest at least 6 to 9 inches from all edges of set to table/rack edge; the display is frighteningly size zero
- Also a cover when not being used; I live in an apartment on 7th floor away from streets, yet very dusty
Seating/Viewing distance
- 8 feet from couch; 8 - 11 feet from recliners; 15 feet from dining table (yeah I watch while I eat sometimes)
- TV set horizontal center line is at 1 meter (40 inches) from ground; sit down eye-level
- Recliners are at 40 degrees (max) from TV set vertical center line; so good at these viewing angles
- Kitchen door is at 60 to 70 degrees from TV set vertical center line; no perceptible loss in picture quality
Sound
- Much better and tighter at home (store was open floor and a bit noisy)
- I have a soundbar for "better" sound
- TV volume goes from 0 - 100
- News 20 to 30 is good enough (they always scream)
- Football/Cricket needs 30 to 40 to get involved
- Movies/TV needs 30 - 50 based on content
Picture
4K content
- Demo is there to remind me of how good the display is
- Have Netflix HD plan; maybe worth to upgrade to UHD
- Prime has some 4K content (need to explore)
HD Channels
- Really good; better clarity than my older plasma
- Sports channels are a pleasure to watch (my son and I watch football regularly)
- Movies and entertainment channels are also quite pleasurable with increased display size
SD Channels
- I don't really watch them; not very appealing earlier; definitely not appealing now
News Channels
- Scary experience; could see panel members nose hair clearly; ugh!!
Netflix/Prime/YouTube
- Ah a pleasure with good streaming quality and display
- Need to figure out aspect ratio tweaks when required
HDD movies
- Mostly HD except some oldies
- Very watchable and enjoyable; got a kick watching Mad Max Fury Road scenes again
Remote
- Remote has a good ergonomic design; hefty at the bottom and slim/tapered at top
- Does not need to be line of sight with TV; it works through walls; guessing its wireless
- Logically placed keys; numbers at the top; scroll button, voice button and navigation in the middle; others at the bottom
- Volume buttons are + and - tactile keys; program buttons are ^ and v tactile keys; useful in dim lit rooms
- Netflix and Amazon have dedicated keys
- Voice commands are easily recognized; I tried simple words/phrases only; in thick accents too; I would say 80-90% hit rate
- App menu has a dedicated key so does settings; selection can be using pointer or navigation buttons; personally prefer navigation buttons
- I find the motion enabled pointer a bit annoying/disorienting; my boy loves it
- "Select" button has up down scroll; nice
- "Back" button could be better placed; just above "Netflix" key; easy to press it instead
- "Guide" button could be better placed; just above "Amazon" key; easy to press it instead
- TV and STB power buttons are separate; most used TataSky remote operations can be done easily
- My wife, who is left handed, prefers an alternate arrangement of buttons/keys; fair enough
UI/Apps (the left click)
- "Home" key gets you to all the apps
- Long list of preloaded apps (netflix, prime, youtube, google browser, Indian content apps, etc)
- Easy to navigate, select and rearrange; have not tried downloading new apps; but it is possible
- My 2 TB HDD is readily recognized
- Music player plays many formats from USB; I have tried MP3, FLAC, WMA; panel off during playback is available
- Video player plays many formats from USB; I have tried AVI, MKV
- Remote integration for Netflix/Prime/Youtube is great and intuitive; music/video players are easily controlled by remote
Settings (the right click)
- "Gear-wheel" key gets you to all frequently used tweaks and the full menu (when required)
- Frequently used radio buttons are picture mode, aspect ratio, sound mode, sound output device, sleep timer, network, full menu
- Not going to talk about the full menu; please refer user manual
Network
- Wired, wireless, 3G/4G, Wi-Fi Direct
- I am using wired as my router is next to TV
- Strangely, TV could not pick up the wireless on this router; but connected to my secondary connection; proximity issue on Wi-Fi
Picture Calibration
- Used Standard, Cricket, Expert (Bright Room), Expert (Dark Room)
- Tweaked Expert modes as per RTINGS.com recommendations for now
- Tweaked Standard and Cricket (sport) modes using my intuition
- Lots to play around and fine tune
I/O
- TataSky on HDMI
- HDD on USB
- Optical out to soundbar (for movies)
- Analog out to Integrated Amp (for music); my DAC went kaput recently
Others
- Can access Google Drive/Photos (not tried as I don't use cloud storage)
- There is something on Mobile Connection which I was shown at store; need to explore
That's it for now. Will update when I explore other features.
Cheers,
Raghu
After waiting long enough (about 18 months), I finally pulled the trigger and got myself an OLED TV to replace a plasma model.
Below are first impressions. I am no expert.
Old: Panasonic Viera P42VT (42" Full HD Plasma)
New: LG OLED 55C8 (55" 4K OLED)
A few words about the plasma:
This was bought in 2009 (at Diwali time). Has served the home needs very well for all these years.
Excellent contrast, fantastic viewing angle and very good for sports viewing. No breakdowns or issues.
This set will continue its service at my parents' place.
First impressions of the new puppy (at store):
Design - Minimalistic, stand doubles as speaker reflector
Sound - Sounded OK at store; was not nitpicking on this aspect during audition
Picture
- Inbuilt 4K/Dolby Vision Demo content was fabulous (unfortunately limited use at home for daily viewing)
- Tried out SD/HD channels (entertainment, movies, news, sports)
- HD channels were an improvement over plasma, SD were satisfactory (mostly due to larger size screen)
- Sports/action scenes were as good as the plasma (if not better)
- Bluray movie was also also very good (except it was Baahubali; so colors were in your face for the scene playing)
Remote/UI - Lots of features, yet intuitive and simple for a dinosaur like me; loved the voice control thingy
Verdict - Sold on the set
What else did I consider:
Sony AF8 - Almost similar showroom experience (vis-a-vis LG picture); I was not convinced about the price
Samsung QLEDs - bright picture; but otherwise did not wow (me)
Panasonic - if only they were available to audition
The logistics:
Price - About 1.4L after cashback (0% EMI of 6,999/- for 19 months) 12,019/- down payment + 2,200/- EMI processing fee
Dealer - LG Shoppe Banashankari 3rd stage, Bangalore
Best price/deal? - Prices will drop further closer to festival is my guess
As I had a Bajaj FinServ Account and have purchased at this store earlier, the EMI paperwork and billing was quick (10 minutes)
Booking date - 18/10/2018 (evening)
Delivery date - 19/10/2018 (morning)
Install date - 19/10/2018 (afternoon)
What's in the box/offer:
- Panel, remote, table stand, user manual, wall mount unit (unlikely to ever use it)
- Reliance Jio hotspot (useless at my place; will give it to parents)
The at-home experience (I am no TV expert, so only impressions):
Design
- Sits pretty on my AV stand (had to move a few cutesies that were previously there)
- I suggest at least 6 to 9 inches from all edges of set to table/rack edge; the display is frighteningly size zero
- Also a cover when not being used; I live in an apartment on 7th floor away from streets, yet very dusty
Seating/Viewing distance
- 8 feet from couch; 8 - 11 feet from recliners; 15 feet from dining table (yeah I watch while I eat sometimes)
- TV set horizontal center line is at 1 meter (40 inches) from ground; sit down eye-level
- Recliners are at 40 degrees (max) from TV set vertical center line; so good at these viewing angles
- Kitchen door is at 60 to 70 degrees from TV set vertical center line; no perceptible loss in picture quality
Sound
- Much better and tighter at home (store was open floor and a bit noisy)
- I have a soundbar for "better" sound
- TV volume goes from 0 - 100
- News 20 to 30 is good enough (they always scream)
- Football/Cricket needs 30 to 40 to get involved
- Movies/TV needs 30 - 50 based on content
Picture
4K content
- Demo is there to remind me of how good the display is
- Have Netflix HD plan; maybe worth to upgrade to UHD
- Prime has some 4K content (need to explore)
HD Channels
- Really good; better clarity than my older plasma
- Sports channels are a pleasure to watch (my son and I watch football regularly)
- Movies and entertainment channels are also quite pleasurable with increased display size
SD Channels
- I don't really watch them; not very appealing earlier; definitely not appealing now
News Channels
- Scary experience; could see panel members nose hair clearly; ugh!!
Netflix/Prime/YouTube
- Ah a pleasure with good streaming quality and display
- Need to figure out aspect ratio tweaks when required
HDD movies
- Mostly HD except some oldies
- Very watchable and enjoyable; got a kick watching Mad Max Fury Road scenes again
Remote
- Remote has a good ergonomic design; hefty at the bottom and slim/tapered at top
- Does not need to be line of sight with TV; it works through walls; guessing its wireless
- Logically placed keys; numbers at the top; scroll button, voice button and navigation in the middle; others at the bottom
- Volume buttons are + and - tactile keys; program buttons are ^ and v tactile keys; useful in dim lit rooms
- Netflix and Amazon have dedicated keys
- Voice commands are easily recognized; I tried simple words/phrases only; in thick accents too; I would say 80-90% hit rate
- App menu has a dedicated key so does settings; selection can be using pointer or navigation buttons; personally prefer navigation buttons
- I find the motion enabled pointer a bit annoying/disorienting; my boy loves it
- "Select" button has up down scroll; nice
- "Back" button could be better placed; just above "Netflix" key; easy to press it instead
- "Guide" button could be better placed; just above "Amazon" key; easy to press it instead
- TV and STB power buttons are separate; most used TataSky remote operations can be done easily
- My wife, who is left handed, prefers an alternate arrangement of buttons/keys; fair enough
UI/Apps (the left click)
- "Home" key gets you to all the apps
- Long list of preloaded apps (netflix, prime, youtube, google browser, Indian content apps, etc)
- Easy to navigate, select and rearrange; have not tried downloading new apps; but it is possible
- My 2 TB HDD is readily recognized
- Music player plays many formats from USB; I have tried MP3, FLAC, WMA; panel off during playback is available
- Video player plays many formats from USB; I have tried AVI, MKV
- Remote integration for Netflix/Prime/Youtube is great and intuitive; music/video players are easily controlled by remote
Settings (the right click)
- "Gear-wheel" key gets you to all frequently used tweaks and the full menu (when required)
- Frequently used radio buttons are picture mode, aspect ratio, sound mode, sound output device, sleep timer, network, full menu
- Not going to talk about the full menu; please refer user manual
Network
- Wired, wireless, 3G/4G, Wi-Fi Direct
- I am using wired as my router is next to TV
- Strangely, TV could not pick up the wireless on this router; but connected to my secondary connection; proximity issue on Wi-Fi
Picture Calibration
- Used Standard, Cricket, Expert (Bright Room), Expert (Dark Room)
- Tweaked Expert modes as per RTINGS.com recommendations for now
- Tweaked Standard and Cricket (sport) modes using my intuition
- Lots to play around and fine tune
I/O
- TataSky on HDMI
- HDD on USB
- Optical out to soundbar (for movies)
- Analog out to Integrated Amp (for music); my DAC went kaput recently
Others
- Can access Google Drive/Photos (not tried as I don't use cloud storage)
- There is something on Mobile Connection which I was shown at store; need to explore
That's it for now. Will update when I explore other features.
Cheers,
Raghu
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