Looking at:

HDR

Panasonic No

LG Yes

Sony Yes

10 bit

Panasonic

LG Yes

Sony Maybe via Firmware Upgrade

Local Dimming

Panasonic Yes

LG No

Sony No

4K'ness and image quality

Panasonic - Not a lot of into to be found.

LG Might use that RGBW pixel structure thing.  That's not a good thing.

Sony Appears to have an image retention issue.  Ghosts of past images can linger for many minutes?  Seems to take a long time to power on, but this comment might be from full off rather than standby mode.  Has a great viewing angle.

I bought the LG 43" 4K HDR for my bedroom a couple of months ago and have been very happy.

LG ones looks to come with their fancy magic remote, and lots of owners of that seem to rate it.

I'll be harmony remoting it, so this is of less importance to me.

I want to get the 55inch Sony model, but i have a perfect condition samsung 40inch model which is literally flawless, so my brain is not able to justify the expenditure.

Sony as it has HDR and ANDROID

The other TV's smart functionality for me personally are not worthy compared to Android TV

And if you physically see these TV's you will find Sony being very slim compared to the other two. This will be very nice if you wall mount.

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews

Try to find the TV's at this review site.

We have the Sony and are happy with it. http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/sony/x700d

Did buy a soundbar but wasnt too bad using native speakers

Wished we bought a 65"after installing on the wall, but thought a jump from 42 to 55 was enough beforehand.

Yeah it's frustrating trying to sauce info on NZ models, as they're slightly different numbers than international review sites.

Thinking about it from my personal requirements, I might need a wide viewing angle.  It will be wall mounted.  And I don't want judder during motion in movies.

I'm all about the image quality really, as the in wall speakers will handle audio and I've the Xbox One for smart duties.

They're all pretty good price wise, but I'm leaning towards the Sony.  It's funny at this price how there are pros and cons to all.  No 10 bit on any by the looks of it?  Local dimming on some etc.  At this entry level there is always going to be some compromise, but I do like that these are priced low enough for a real brand name vs a Veon with dubious quality and no chance of harmony remote integration etc.

graham007:

 

I want to get the 55inch Sony model, but i have a perfect condition samsung 40inch model which is literally flawless, so my brain is not able to justify the expenditure.

 

Yeah I notice Samsung are not in the cheap mix here.

Noels has offered up 3 55" 4K TVs for around $10 less and with flybuys now also.

I would go with sony to get android tv personally.  user experience/features are more important to me than a slightly better picture.  

just my 2cents.

reven:

I would go with sony to get android tv personally.  user experience/features are more important to me than a slightly better picture.  

just my 2cents.

mattwnz:

reven:

 

I would go with sony to get android tv personally.  user experience/features are more important to me than a slightly better picture.  

 

 

 

just my 2cents.

 

I would avoid paying extra just to get smart features, as Sony can remove them in the future. My previous Sonysmart TV is now just a dumb Tv due to the removal of its advertised smart features. Instead put the money into a media device to connect to it

not as easy with android tv.  with samsungs tizen os, lgs webos, panasonics firefox os, yes they can easily remove apps.  but with androidtv, its by google, sony etc dont make a heck of a lot for it, its mostly android and other app developers.  so i would go with android tv if you had the choice.

mattwnz:

reven:

 

I would go with sony to get android tv personally.  user experience/features are more important to me than a slightly better picture.  

 

 

 

just my 2cents.

 

I would avoid paying extra just to get smart features, as Sony can remove them in the future. My previous Sonysmart TV is now just a dumb Tv due to the removal of its advertised smart features. Instead put the money into a media device to connect to it

An Android TV is slightly different to smart TVs of old. It comes with built-in Chrome cast and voice activated Google searches. As Google services, you would reasonably expect these to be updated over time.

I purchased the Xbox One as it was capable of playing HEVC / X.265 files directly from my computers drive, without the need for transcoding, via the new xbox VLC player.

I've got smarts covered that way, although freeview plus might be a viable option to replace the TiVo I have, which is about to get real dumb in late October.

Am really not keen on LG's RGBW approach, as it doesn't stack up as real 4K. They tried something similar with passive 3D, which effectively halved the resolution in 3D mode also, so they're getting pretty good at those sorts of tricks.  Everything else about them seems good though.

Panasonic have long been a good do to brand for image quality, but I can't find anything about this TV.

Sony seem to have a good viewing angle, but in this price bracket, and without localised dimming, I don't expect a lot in the dark from these machines.

I'm replacing a Full HD plasma, so unfortunately accept I'll be taking a black level hit moving to these newer machines, but will also be saving about 300W+ whenever the TV is turned on!

dafman:

 

An Android TV is slightly different to smart TVs of old. It comes with built-in Chrome cast and voice activated Google searches. As Google services, you would reasonably expect these to be updated over time.

 

not every sony tv has a mic in the remote i found out.  my 65" does, my 55" does not.  kinda annoying, but not a huge deal, since 99% of the time I just use netflix/plex.  

i just wish other tv manufacturers went with android tv, easily the best TV OS out there.