The 65" JZ980 is not a bad price for $2997 @ HN, good ~$400 difference with the JZ1000, and more with the C1 and the A80J

jonathan18:

Gemini: I can probably also consider JZ980Z. Panel is "OLED" vs "Master HDR OLED" but that doesn't stop it getting a Highly recommended from HDTV. Don't need a swivel stand.

@Gemini - if you’re thinking of getting the JZ980, now may well be a good time to press that ‘buy’ button: it’s still down to $2094 at a couple of retailers (though has gone back up at HN’s), but I imagine it’ll go back to normal price soon.

I’ve debated grabbing a JZ980 myself, realising that this could well be the best price for a main brand 55” OLED until Black Friday sales, but just can’t justify it as an essential purchase!

Anyway, links to both current cheap prices on Cheapies (which, in a nice circular way, references this very thread): https://www.cheapies.nz/node/33247

Edit - all retailers as on Price Me (noting PriceSpy shows only two sellers; man, that can be a useless site): https://www.priceme.co.nz/Panasonic-TH-55JZ980Z-55in/p-911676276.aspx

 

Gemini: 65" OLED - which one? JZ1000Z v C1 or A80J
For summer use as I have a projector I use Autumn, Winter, Spring
No HDR content atm
No 4K either atm
Occasional gamer on previous gen console
Have a Mi Box, prolly won't use TVs inbuilt smarts.
Use an AV Receiver with 3.1 speakers so won't use TVs inbuilt speakers
Leaning towards the Panasonic due to price, perceived quality and the narrower stand.
Struggling to find comparisons to C1 or A80J anyone here in the know about how it stacks up?

Just went through this process and landed on a 65 LG C1 @ $3,592 approx 2 weeks ago.

Freaking marvelous TV - stoked with the picture.

Quite the upgrade from the 2011 59 inch Samsung plasma - which despite being flagship of the day, pales in comparison.

Blacks/contrast outstanding, colours natural to my eye, movement smooth and brightness more than OK for me / our room.

Paired with the Series X for 4k/120Hz/VRR/Freesync/Dolby Vision Gaming - excellent.

Sound is actually pretty good - but I use a 5.1.2 setup.

OS is actually OK too - and you will get 4K DV when using that e.g. Netflix - as opposed to the MiBox (or in my case Shield) which only gives 4K HDR.

Highly recommended - and maybe with the LG C2 releasing soon it may even drop down in price a bit more?

That said NL Ormistion had a 65 Pana OLED (not sure which model) - on the shopfloor for $2,995 - which looked great, so that was pretty tempting too.

And the Sony OLED's looked great too.

Seriously I reckon ALL OLED's look outstanding....  so have fun with your decision  :)

Had my C1 for a while now and I am still working stuff out.  Some settings are accessed from the Dashboard for instance rather than the settings menus.  That's where you rename inputs as well as other stuff.  I remember one of the reviews saying that the sound is OK, but I would think that most people savvy enough to choose a C1 are going to run some sort of amp.  I have the Yamaha 6VA which I kind of love, but I did misinterpret the reviews.  I thought I could run ceiling, rear and sides and it would automatically switch between ceiling and sides according to source content, but that was wrong.  So I spent some dollars and a great deal of stressful clambering about in my loft space fitting the ceiling speakers that I now don't use. 

TLD:

 

I have the Yamaha 6VA which I kind of love, but I did misinterpret the reviews.  I thought I could run ceiling, rear and sides and it would automatically switch between ceiling and sides according to source content, but that was wrong.  So I spent some dollars and a great deal of stressful clambering about in my loft space fitting the ceiling speakers that I now don't use. 

 

While a bit off-topic... it does look like that particular receiver is limited to using its built-in seven channels of amplification, yeah? So can do 5.1.2 or 7.1, but not 7.1.2 or 5.1.4 - whereas some seven-channel receivers can manage those other setups by using an external amplifier for the additional two channels. (Similarly, my receiver has nine channels of amplification, but can do 11.1 with an external amp.) Man, that must be frustrating. Would you consider swapping out the receiver for one that can make the most of your speakers? (It could well be you don't lose a huge amount s/h, as people are aware they need to pay more these days as they're so expensive; also, could look for a replacement s/h - my receiver may have been a couple of years old when I bought it at the start of the year but it's in mint condition.)

Just purchased a 65" C1 through our commercial channels for a friend. Ended up being $35xx delivered which is exactly the same that I paid through the same channels in May 2021 when the C1 first released.

No sign of inflation increases yet...

ShinyChrome:

 

The 65" JZ980 is not a bad price for $2997 @ HN, good ~$400 difference with the JZ1000, and more with the C1 and the A80J

 

Man, bad timing for me!

I took my wife into HN this afternoon to show her the 55JZ980 and the first thing she says is 'that's so small'. Given it would be replacing an existing 55" it was going to be like-for-like size-wise, but she's now thinking a 65" may be better. (Then again, she thought the 85" screen there was the same size as our 65" TV!)

An additional $905 over the 55" isn't too bad so will ask them if they'll sell one to me at that price, but really a 60" screen would be ideal.

Magness Benrow and 100% both have the 65" C1 OLED for $3332

https://magnessbenrow.co.nz/lg-65-4k-oled-smart-tv-with-freesync-premium/

ShinyChrome:

@Gemini honestly, whichever is the best price.

They are all good TVs, they all have similar feature levels and the only stand-out differences between them are the C1 has 4 HDMI 2.1 ports vs the A80j and JZ1000, and slightly lower latency for gaming, which it sounds like it won't be a massive deal.

Everything else comes down to panel variation, OTOB calibration, and picture processing where subjectively, I lean towards the Sony or Panasonic, but I don't think you would really notice unless they were side-by-side.

Gemini: shinychrome Interested in your thoughts if possible. I went instore to look at said OLEDs today. Told the salesguy that I use and I'm keeping a projector for afterdark viewing Autumn to Spring and that my lounge has lots of windows. At this point he recommended a QLED over OLED (even though they are cheaper). He then pointed out how the Q80 and Q90 were noticably less affected by reflections. I also noticed the Q90 had better shadow detail than the OLED playing the same spiderman movie. Given what I've watched/read about OLED I was expecting this at all... not sure if I should be considering JX900/Q80/X90J now for my scenario??

TL;DR: for a bright living room, I think the QN90 is a good way to go as long as the price delta isn't obscenely high

While I have been pretty vocal about OLED > LCD-LED, I must admit I have been impressed with the QN90A; since they added the MiniLED backlight, it has gone along way to fixing the back-light issues that even good LCDs have with blooming etc. The other point you have touched on is something that LCDs inherently do better than OLED, which is reflection handling.

One thing to keep in mind is that the shop floor is far from the ideal place to test, as the ambient light levels will always favor the higher brightness levels of the LCD while messing with your perception of the contrast, much like how bias lighting works. On the other hand if your lounge is quite a bright room with no light control, then it might actually be more representative of how they perform; if you watch a lot of TV in daylight conditions, the QN90 will be the better experience. I still think an OLED would be the better experience overall, but there is no getting around the light control required to get that... at least until we can see what QD-OLED is like, which in turn has already pushed LGD out of stagnation with the likes of the new EX OLED panels.

Personally, I would leave the Q80 off your list, it's an IPS-like panel and a pretty average one at that. Putting the other 2 (X90J/JX900) against the QN90 is no contest, the Samsung is a better TV, but quite often carries the price-tag to match that fact.

One thing to note that is Samsung specific: you will be giving up Dolby Vision support in favor of HDR10+, which IMO is kinda neither-here-nor-there; DV is by far the winner in the market, but unless you are watching a lot of lossless quality videos, it doesn't add a massive boost in experience over regular HDR IMO (and both HDR10+/DV default back to regular HDR when not supported).

ShinyChrome:

Gemini: shinychrome Interested in your thoughts if possible. I went instore to look at said OLEDs today. Told the salesguy that I use and I'm keeping a projector for afterdark viewing Autumn to Spring and that my lounge has lots of windows. At this point he recommended a QLED over OLED (even though they are cheaper). He then pointed out how the Q80 and Q90 were noticably less affected by reflections. I also noticed the Q90 had better shadow detail than the OLED playing the same spiderman movie. Given what I've watched/read about OLED I was expecting this at all... not sure if I should be considering JX900/Q80/X90J now for my scenario??

TL;DR: for a bright living room, I think the QN90 is a good way to go as long as the price delta isn't obscenely high

While I have been pretty vocal about OLED > LCD-LED, I must admit I have been impressed with the QN90A; since they added the MiniLED backlight, it has gone along way to fixing the back-light issues that even good LCDs have with blooming etc. The other point you have touched on is something that LCDs inherently do better than OLED, which is reflection handling.

One thing to keep in mind is that the shop floor is far from the ideal place to test, as the ambient light levels will always favor the higher brightness levels of the LCD while messing with your perception of the contrast, much like how bias lighting works. On the other hand if your lounge is quite a bright room with no light control, then it might actually be more representative of how they perform; if you watch a lot of TV in daylight conditions, the QN90 will be the better experience. I still think an OLED would be the better experience overall, but there is no getting around the light control required to get that... at least until we can see what QD-OLED is like, which in turn has already pushed LGD out of stagnation with the likes of the new EX OLED panels.

Personally, I would leave the Q80 off your list, it's an IPS-like panel and a pretty average one at that. Putting the other 2 (X90J/JX900) against the QN90 is no contest, the Samsung is a better TV, but quite often carries the price-tag to match that fact.

One thing to note that is Samsung specific: you will be giving up Dolby Vision support in favor of HDR10+, which IMO is kinda neither-here-nor-there; DV is by far the winner in the market, but unless you are watching a lot of lossless quality videos, it doesn't add a massive boost in experience over regular HDR IMO (and both HDR10+/DV default back to regular HDR when not supported).

JPNZ:

 

Just purchased a 65" C1 through our commercial channels for a friend. Ended up being $35xx delivered which is exactly the same that I paid through the same channels in May 2021 when the C1 first released.

 

 

 

No sign of inflation increases yet...

 

A bit pissed with LG and HN now, LG just cancelled the order from HN and no more C1 stock in NZ. Bloody frustrating as now my friend potentially misses out on a 2021 model on clearance 

JPNZ:

 

A bit pissed with LG and HN now, LG just cancelled the order from HN and no more C1 stock in NZ. Bloody frustrating as now my friend potentially misses out on a 2021 model on clearance 

 

roderickh:

 

That is good to hear! Themarket cancelled my order with NLG without notifying me/updating my order... so there's a help ticket logged for the past week.

 

Sadly also been there done that.

I hope your friend gets a resolution though!

roderickh:

 

Sadly also been there done that.

 

I hope your friend gets a resolution though!

 

 

 

Apparently very common thing for LG to do. Harvey Norman have issued a full refund and my friend has just gone into a retail HN and ordered a 65" JZ1000 he can take home tonight.

Not perfect but he will be happy as soon as he sets it up