Been good TV knowledge refresh for me too, I'll try catch a Sony 950G around Easter run-out.

zyo:

 

Benoire:

 

I'm curious to know if they've fixed the issues with X-Wide-Angle and the problems with contrast etc.  Apparently it changes the behaviour of dimming and makes the blacks more grey and probably closer to an IPS panel in terms of outcome... The Plasma is progressively getting worse with lovely vertical lines failing on the screen (last time it did this it was a CGA repair in 2014 which required a brand new panel) so I know its on its way out; any ideas of cost/time for the newer Sony models?

 

 

 

 

I'd assume they found some way to mitigate the effect otherwise wouldn't have introduced on the lower tier models.

 

From previous experience we are probably looking at a May launch.

 

Always wait for review though.

 

Doesn't seem like it from the early previews; X-Wide-Angle appears to break the VA dimming advantage more than it is worth... It seems that you might as well go IPS natively!  Will be looking at tvs tomorrow so will check in on the different brands and types...

Sony X950G is still sitting at the top of the LED list but will consult with the missus bout the concept of ghosting / blacks and whether we should justify the extra for a decent OLED... Not that we will, but good to consider it.

Benoire:

 

zyo:

 

Benoire:

 

I'm curious to know if they've fixed the issues with X-Wide-Angle and the problems with contrast etc.  Apparently it changes the behaviour of dimming and makes the blacks more grey and probably closer to an IPS panel in terms of outcome... The Plasma is progressively getting worse with lovely vertical lines failing on the screen (last time it did this it was a CGA repair in 2014 which required a brand new panel) so I know its on its way out; any ideas of cost/time for the newer Sony models?

 

 

 

 

I'd assume they found some way to mitigate the effect otherwise wouldn't have introduced on the lower tier models.

 

From previous experience we are probably looking at a May launch.

 

Always wait for review though.

 

 

Doesn't seem like it from the early previews; X-Wide-Angle appears to break the VA dimming advantage more than it is worth... It seems that you might as well go IPS natively!  Will be looking at tvs tomorrow so will check in on the different brands and types...

 

Sony X950G is still sitting at the top of the LED list but will consult with the missus bout the concept of ghosting / blacks and whether we should justify the extra for a decent OLED... Not that we will, but good to consider it.

 

No one has got their hands on the final production model of X95H yet so I'd wait for a proper review (preferably from rting) before making any assumptions.

sbiddle: If you had a Plasma there is no LED TV that won't look bad. None. Your only option for similar performance is OLED.

It's not a great time to buy a TV at the moment price wise.

It been a few years now but I'm happy with my Samsung 8000 Series TV.

It was a JU8000 (so a 2015 model) I purchased on sale at Easter 2016.

Came from a 2008 Panasonic plasma and while the blacks are better on the plasma the are almost as good on the Samsung.
And surely after 5 years they mush have improved. HDR is definitely worth it (must be just about standard now).

I was impressed that the software upgrades lasted for 2 years - and I must have just caught the start of the new software platform as all the samsung apps (eg Netflix, Prime, TVNZ OnDemand, SSN etc) still work 5 years later.

Long story short have a look at the higher end Samsungs. 
Last time I was shopping Rtings.com seemed to have good comparison reviews, worth checking them out.

Not a whole lot to add to what has already been commented, but I will add that from what I have seen as a follower of the current state of OLED tech, I think a lot of the burn-in/brightness stuff is a bit over-blown now. OEMs have learnt a lot from the first gen stuff and recent OLEDs are a lot better for incorporating features that actively protect against it. If a paused screen is your worst case, I would expect that it a solved problem and that features have been implemented to stop it. I have also heard quite a few stories of out-of-warranty panel replacements for cases of burn-in as well; one thing I learnt recently is that LG actually offers a 10 year burn-in warranty on their higher ranges (E and above). I think only the extreme use cases now are going to be a problem; think Muricans' and their 24/7 CNN habits. Check out the RTINGS Burn-In test if you hadn't already.

Another thing to consider is well is how well lit most retail showroom floors are, yet I don't feel like I have ever had an issue with watching content because of the brightness. Granted, those TVs are pretty cranked up, but I think unless you are subjecting the TV to task lighting scenarios ie. direct light from a source, I don't think you are going to have an issue with more diffuse ambient lighting. Reflection handling has also improved a lot since your Plasma.

Those are only my non-owner observations though, and time will tell how present day panels will fare in future. But one thing is clear: the bigger incumbents (Samsung and LG) are betting big time on OLED tech and leaving LCD-LED that to the lower end of the market.

One thing you may also have noticed is the difference in motion handling on LCD-LED coming from your Plasma set. It seems to be a big complaint of Plasma owners and while OLED is not quite perfect for it yet, I have heard that rumors that a few 2020 OLEDs may have finally cracked it, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out come review time circa April. But if you don't notice it, and you have to buy now, probably not helpful for you, but something to keep in mind if you could make your Plasma last until later in the year when prices get reasonable.

It really comes down to which compromise you are prepared to make: do you want greater brightness and not disproportionately worrying about burn-in (LCD-LED) vs perfect black/dark scene performance and the best picture quality currently available, but having to watch your BP go up as your kids use it(OLED)? And if you stick with LCD-LED, do you need wider viewing angles (IPS) at the expense of contrast and greyish-blacks vs greater contrast, but washed-out colors at wider angles (VA)? Don't get anything other than FALD if you have a choice, edge-lit/frame dimming is gonna be a bad time...

I have been on the fence as well, but after a bit of comparison, I can't get past the blooming that appears in all LCD-LED implementations.  The higher up Q series Samsung panels are probably the best it gets in the current market as they get quite bright and have high dimming zone counts, (higher than the X950g above: ~50 vs Q80's 96 vs q90's 480). But I think they are over-priced compared to either OLED or LED-LCD competitors, and they miss out on Dolby Vision as well in favor of the barely registering HDR10+. DV has won the standards war so far, but really it only really applies if you intend to watch DV content via built-in apps, a capable streamer, or the smattering of UHD Blu-rays. But those aside if you want the best of LCD-LED tech at this time, GOTO q90r.

Sidenote: QLED is just an intentionally confusing marketing name for quantum dot display tech, which essentially allows for more saturated colors. Which also sounds remarkably similar to LG's NanoCell. I would not consider either a differentiator, as most higher level LCD-LEDs use that tech or some other flavor of it to achieve the same thing.

One other option is to buy a cheaper stop-gap TV for now, with an eye for replacing it in a few generations when OLED has been further refined and is presumably cheaper, or other alternatives have appeared. Then demote your cheap TV to a kids or bedroom TV or something like that. There are probably going to be a few more players in the lower end of the market this year, so if you use your Shield (AND MY AXE!) and are prepared to accept maaaayyybbbeee some quality issues, you could try out some of the new Chinese sets. We don't get the good stuff here from the likes of Vizio and TCL unfortunately.

Edit: Not a whole lot to add.... then a fricken essay. Do you even waffle bruh

ShinyChrome:

 

Edit: Not a whole lot to add.... then a fricken essay. Do you even waffle bruh

 

Heh thanks :-)

I went and committed to a Sony 55" X95G this morning, setup and running fine.  I had various places running videos from Youtube and other sources to see the issues with the bloom; yes the LEDs have it and I accept that.  Spent ~1800 on the TV and will keep it for a few years until I'm confident with the OLED side of things and also my 3y is no longer 3 and is a bit more responsible about TV rules... by then OLED might have evolved or even a new tech come out.

The Sony is fine, missing some of the nVidia shield tweaks such as double tap home for the task manager etc. but generally has been good and stable so far, all my apps I needed are now installed.  Have to take the remote back however as the dpad is busted and wont move left.. got the shield remote paired but I can't turn it off remotely and there doesn't appear to be a tv off command via voice.

New remote now, replaced without hassle and it works... will need to play with the motion settings and other things to deal with the clarity... the old plasma was crap but it create quite a nice smooth/blurry 1080p image in motion!

Great! Its a solid choice for the price and I had been contemplating doing the same thing (in a 65"). Buuuuttttt I'll probably still be contemplating when we are strapping dogs to our heads and beaming psychic barks at each other. This is the way.

Unfortunately I'm not sure you will have much luck with the motion, since it seems to be a common complaint of owners who are reluctant to move on from Plasma. You could always try switching all the post-processing stuff off and see if that makes it any better.

ShinyChrome:

 

Great! Its a solid choice for the price and I had been contemplating doing the same thing (in a 65"). Buuuuttttt I'll probably still be contemplating when we are strapping dogs to our heads and beaming psychic barks at each other. This is the way.

 

Unfortunately I'm not sure you will have much luck with the motion, since it seems to be a common complaint of owners who are reluctant to move on from Plasma. You could always try switching all the post-processing stuff off and see if that makes it any better.

 

Yeah I felt so, and weighing up the alternatives I'm happy.  The Android TV bit is actually working well as I've managed to remap a couple of Sony only buttons to launch Kodi and then the Kodi EPG guide, effectively making the remote far more usable for my digital approach.  Steam link appears to be ok wired via the ethernet port but the port itself is pretty poor so I'm checking out the cables to make sure I can hit the 100mbps link speed.  To be honest, the plasma dying on us forced me in to this... I was holding out for the next generation of OLEDs from a resiliance perspective and would have survived fine with the nVidia Shield / Plasma for a few more years.

The motion is better now and is working closer to smooth, still slightly jarring at times but I accept that due to the tech involved; the panel refresh is part of teh issue and no amount of tech or eyeball replacements will deal with that.

Panasonic 65" 4K Pro HDR OLED Smart Television - $2997 from Noel Leemings 

You can get a further $200 off at the Market using code: FEBRUARY 200 sor close to your Budget

Also I currently have a LG C8 OLED and using the aggresive powersaving mode it automatically dims screen / launches a screensaver if it detecs a static image on screen for more than a few minutes which would mitigate most burn in cases. I myself have left it paused an it trigges this and then automatically switches the screen off after 10 odd minutes.

biggie000:

Panasonic 65" 4K Pro HDR OLED Smart Television - $2997 from Noel Leemings 

You can get a further $200 off at the Market using code: FEBRUARY 200 sor close to your Budget

Also I currently have a LG C8 OLED and using the aggresive powersaving mode it automatically dims screen / launches a screensaver if it detecs a static image on screen for more than a few minutes which would mitigate most burn in cases. I myself have left it paused an it trigges this and then automatically switches the screen off after 10 odd minutes.

ShinyChrome:

That's not a bad price for a 65" OLED, but then again it is a 2 year old model and misses out on a few features like Dolby Vision. Id be fine with that tradeoff since the HCX processor is top notch for tone-mapping, but i am curious to see what 2019 models are gonna go for on run-out. Might be worth posting it in the bargains and deals forum though.

Do not yet have enough points to post there I think.

Can someone explain to me why the NZ Samsung QLED TVs like Q60R, Q75R, Q80R, etc have lower Motion Rate (200), compared to the North American Samsung QLED TVs of the same models with Motion Rate (240) (120Hz actual refresh rate @1080p & 1440p )?

Does this have to do with PAL legacy?
and does NZ Samsung QLEDs limited to 100Hz actual refresh rate @1080p & 1440p?

Thank you guys.

The USA's TV broadcasts are 60 frames per second while ours are 50fps. So multiples of those are 100Hz, 120Hz etc. 50fps can't be cleanly frame doubled into 120fps. 

PAL and NTSC used the same Hz rate as the Hz of their countries of origins' electricity supplies.