Top end OLED Replacement

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Quinny

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#260270 18-Nov-2019 16:05

So my beloved Sony A1 65 inch has now died for the second time and having already replaced the motherboard, panel and tuner Harvey Norman have given me a full store credit for any OLED I want. They have offered me the new Panasonic TH-65GZ2000U with an RRP of just under 10k. But I can have anything I want.

As a Panasonic VT owner I am fine to go back to Panny as it was app support and sound why went Sony in the first place. Sound on the above Panny model seems top of the range along with the panel. App support still seems the let down but I can just add a chromecast Ultra.

Thoughts if you had a rather large store credit and could get any OLED? Off to scour YouTube and HDTV Test.

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#2355898 18-Nov-2019 16:51

I'd consider either Panasonic GZ or LG E9.

I've owned my Panny FZ OLED for almost a year and so far there's no complaint whatsoever. My original concerns were: Dolby Vision support and apps. Now, I am happy with HDR10 and HDR10+. In fact I don't bother with DV anymore since I don't have any material in that format. In terms of Apps, I have an AppleTV 4K which pretty much covers the media we consume through streaming; Netflix, YouTube, etc.

LG seems to have the best HDR support and HDMI 2.1, which makes it high on my list.

Movieman

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#2356871 18-Nov-2019 17:06

The Panasonic TH-65GZ2000U is reportedly a superb OLED TV, and I'm sure that you would be happy with it. I am waiting for Black Friday, to see what I can get a Panasonic TH-65GZ1000U for. Hoping that there will be some great prices available. If not, I'll wait for the Boxing Day sales. I don't need the audio capabilities of the GZ2000U, as I have a separate Dolby Atmos system complete with ceiling speakers. I couldn't afford the GZ2000U anyway😄.

The 2019 LG OLED's have HDMI 2.1 ports which, if you are a gamer, will future proof you for the upcoming new Playstation and XBOX models. Personally I am not a gamer any more, so I would jump at the chance to have a GZ2000U as a replacement.

Do you have an extended warranty on your Sony. I still have two years to go on my Panasonic 58" TH-DX58900U LED warranty, but really want to upgrade to OLED now that the prices have come down so much. Just watched Black Panther on 4K UHD disc, and it looked superb, but we Home Cinema Nerds are always on the upgrade trail.

MAN CAVE: 2019 Panasonic GZ1000 65" OLED TV - Panasonic DP-UB 820 4K Blu-ray Player - PlayStation 5 Console - Yamaha Aventage RX-A1080 Receiver - Dolby Atmos / DTS:X 5.1.2 Surround Speaker System - Apple TV 4K 32gb (2nd Gen) - LIVING ROOM: 2021 Sony 75” X95J LCD TV - Apple TV 4K 32gb (1st Gen) TECH: iPhone 15 Plus, iPad Gen. 10

Movieman

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#2356873 18-Nov-2019 17:11

Panasonic have the best HDR support. With Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HDR10 on board. LG don't support HDR10+. But the Jury is out as to whether there is much difference between them.

Here is Vincent Teoh's You Tube review of the GZ2000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpQc8qjw84w

BlinkyBill

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#2356890 18-Nov-2019 17:57

Vincent Teoh is a great reviewer. I like my Panasonic, would recommend, I have no idea if it’s better than the others or not. Hate LED/QLED.

Dingbatt

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#2356893 18-Nov-2019 18:12

Have you got a wall to hang it on? If so, see if they’ll do you an LG OLED65W9? I certainly paid less than the $10K you quoted for the Panasonic for my W8 last year, and I have definitely seen the W9 for less this year.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Batman

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#2356931 18-Nov-2019 19:45

LG Z9 88"

Quinny

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#2356938 18-Nov-2019 19:51

Many thanks for the feedback. Yes, tv is going on the wall, was not under warranty but as CGA (both times). They suggested 2 and think other the LG W9. Overall the main things are sound (as no sound system as in 2nd lounge) and apps as dont run from a device (in particular outside main ones will be Twitch and Plex - found some info on one but no idea on twitch). Likely may need a chromecast ultra as well.

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corksta

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#2356941 18-Nov-2019 19:56

You wouldn’t consider staying with Sony and getting an A9G? I have the A8F and it’s a fantastic TV, last year’s A9F was subtly better so I imagine the A9G would be pretty awesome too.

ShinyChrome

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#2356954 18-Nov-2019 20:12

Dammmmmnnnnnn full store credit, HN coming to the party.

It's too bad anything >65" is fricken extortionate, otherwise I would say go for the 77" C9. $14K here, $4K USD in the States... Even those dude riders over the sea can get it for $9K AUD. I would still try it on though, because bigger is definitely better. The small quality differences between OLEDs at this tier is worth less than the size.

As others have said, if you are a gamer, go for the highest LG 9 series up the chain you can. After the C9, they are all the same for picture quality; just more premium designs, sound, and materials. Gaming is probably going to be the biggest use case for HDMI 2.1 and the 4k120 refresh rate that those TVs are capable of for a while. WebOS is also one of the best onboard TV OSes, if you aren't going down the external streamer device route.

If you are more into enjoying movies, I would probably lean more towards the Panasonic for the higher picture quality and the HDR10+/DV support. I think DV is definitely winning the war here, but you never know.

Check out RTINGS as well for good reviews (for the stuff that North America gets anyway)

Sorry @Batman, I somehow don't think they will spring for a $30K TV.

Quinny

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#2356998 18-Nov-2019 21:36

corksta:

You wouldn’t consider staying with Sony and getting an A9G? I have the A8F and it’s a fantastic TV, last year’s A9F was subtly better so I imagine the A9G would be pretty awesome too.

This is my struggle tbh. I just love the Sony, the acoustic surface and the android app support. The picture is incredible and upscaling perfect. I can dump anything at it and its a joy to watch. But I am totally over the issue I have (the screen will flicker and even roll like a faulty vertical hold). I spent 6 weeks without the tv and was hopeful it was behind me. The new panel was stunning and I am still in love. Then it did it again twice in apps just for a few seconds. Enough for me to know the issue was not fixed. Last week I had it do the same in a big way and got a video of it faulting in Freeview. Can I have faith that a year from now the issue will not have gone from intermittent to full-on once more like last time - no I can't. I know all models/brands can fault but since I know of someone else with the same tv and same issue (still very intermittent tho for them) I just worry that this issue could be in the later models as well.

Its very hard to go model to model as the A1 was stripped down the following year/s to get the price down. The A9F is the logical choice but sounds like HN do not have stock.

Quinny

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#2356999 18-Nov-2019 21:39

ShinyChrome:

Dammmmmnnnnnn full store credit, HN coming to the party.

It's too bad anything >65" is fricken extortionate, otherwise I would say go for the 77" C9. $14K here, $4K USD in the States... Even those dude riders over the sea can get it for $9K AUD. I would still try it on though, because bigger is definitely better. The small quality differences between OLEDs at this tier is worth less than the size.

As others have said, if you are a gamer, go for the highest LG 9 series up the chain you can. After the C9, they are all the same for picture quality; just more premium designs, sound, and materials. Gaming is probably going to be the biggest use case for HDMI 2.1 and the 4k120 refresh rate that those TVs are capable of for a while. WebOS is also one of the best onboard TV OSes, if you aren't going down the external streamer device route.

If you are more into enjoying movies, I would probably lean more towards the Panasonic for the higher picture quality and the HDR10+/DV support. I think DV is definitely winning the war here, but you never know.

Check out RTINGS as well for good reviews (for the stuff that North America gets anyway)

Sorry @Batman, I somehow don't think they will spring for a $30K TV.

Thanks for the great reply. More tv/movies as my only console is a PS3. I do watch a huge amount of gaming so lack of the Twitch app is gonna drive me batty as will need a chomecast. One tv one remote with the Sony has been awesome.

Movieman

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#2357002 18-Nov-2019 21:43

I was in HN last week, and the salesman told me that they are not selling Sony TV’s for the foreseeable future. Don’t know the reason for it

Dingbatt

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#2357013 18-Nov-2019 22:04

Quinny:
Many thanks for the feedback. Yes, tv is going on the wall, was not under warranty but as CGA (both times). They suggested 2 and think other the LG W9. Overall the main things are sound (as no sound system as in 2nd lounge) and apps as dont run from a device (in particular outside main ones will be Twitch and Plex - found some info on one but no idea on twitch). Likely may need a chromecast ultra as well.

Obviously the LG W9 comes with a Dolby Atmos sound bar. In fact all the gubbins to run the display are in it. Can't say I've really missed not having the 5.1 system that I had with the 50 inch plasma that my W8 replaced. It obviously has to be wall mounted. I would have liked to have hidden the cable from the sound bar to the display but I have wooden sarked walls and it wasn't feasible to cut holes. I still love my W8 more than 12 months later. One thing I do wish was that LG would have followed through on their promise of Google Assistant/ Amazon Alexa support for the W8 (Panasonic have for their 2018 models).

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Movieman

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#2357204 19-Nov-2019 12:11

AV Forums UK has chosen the Panasonic GZ2000 as their Best Home Cinema TV for 2019.

https://www.avforums.com/news/best-tvs-of-2019-editors-choice-awards.16834

ShinyChrome

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#2357213 19-Nov-2019 12:29

Interesting comparing C9 and GZ2000 reviews from flatpanelshd, looks like the Panasonic can get quite a bit brighter as well.

In your case though, I think the LG might be better fit as the more complete experience. WebOS is a whole lot more fully featured and user friendly than others. Unfortunately I don't think many non-Android TV OSes will have Twitch, so in any case here you will need another device. 77" C9 if its an option > W9 or E9 .

Personally with the amount of money you have invested in your TV, I would choose the TV that does TV things best (picture quality for movies/gaming) and cover the rest of your bases with a good quality external streamer (ATV4K or Shield) to use in place of your TV's OS with good app compatibility and long term updates; for sound, if form factor is a consideration, a good quality ... *gasp* ... sound-bar; and tie it all together with a Harmony remote for a one remote experience. Setup properly it will all feel like, but be holistically better than, an all-in-one TV. As as been said many times on the subject, TV's all suck to some level for app and update support.

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