Bigger TV (65") Recommendations

That might also be ASBL, which is problematic on many makes of OLEDs. LG has released patched firmware for some of their newer TVs. It can be disabled in the service menu on many other makes, including Samsung, at your own risk of course.

 

I will answer your question, then a story ;-)

I have 2 plasma (TC30? and TC50), a Sony OLED A8F (?), had a Hisense (ick) and The Frame 55". My favorite is The Frame. It's in a crazy bright room, literally has an unobstructed view of the setting sun with 2 story windows so afternoons are blinding. That matte is a lifesaver.

It's "smartness" is easy to damp down.

None of my TVs are calibrated so OOB, The Frame has the best low-level black. I can see things on it that are just blurry black blobs on the other TVs. The colors on it seem like eggshell paint, if that makes any sense. It's very pleasing and very easy on the eyes.

And the fact that it's an electronic photo frame is fun.

--
'K, now the story.

I bought The Frame open-box from Best Buy. Saved 300-400 that way.

Don't usually have a problem with open-box but this The Frame did not have the stand and we weren't going to wall mount it. (which, if we did, would look stunning).

So, I go back to the Best Buy and say, "You forgot the feet."
Them: It goes on the wall, Samsung doesn't make any feet for it.
Me: It has feet in the picture on your website.
Them: That doesn't count, the manufacturer has to show it with feet.
Me: You mean like this picture from Samsung's website?
Them: That's a different model, the model you have doesn't have feet.
Me: You mean this picture from Samsung showing the model I have with feet?
The Manager: blather blather blather.
I walk out. I will never darken the doorstep of that Best Buy ever again.

I call Best Buy support services.
Them: (after hearing the above). That's terrible, we'll give you a credit. All TVs come with stands.
Me: Exactly, I don't know what they are thinking.
Them: Well, all TVs except that fancy Samsung one. That one doesn't come with feet.
Me: :-O

I ordered some feet off eBay, $30-60 each. Stlll a win if a bit of a ridiculous hassle.

 

I'm looking at replacing my 14 year old 42" LED. I was looking to spend $1500-2500, but having a tough time making a decision.

I sit 7-8 ft away and can't decide between the 55 and 65. Honestly, the 55 is not much bigger then what I have now ( my tv has a huge bezel), but 65 seems huge! I stream a lot of low bitrate content so I was worried that a larger screen might be to pixilated at that viewing distance.

I'm also hesitant to spend so much money on a TV in the hopes of it lasting another 10 years, probably wishful thinking. I've been looking at last year's LG G3 or maybe a sony 80l.

 

How low bitrate? I'm about 8-9 ft from a 65" and routinely watch 720p, low bitrate stuff. Not saying it looks good, but it doesn't make me want to get a smaller TV From your distance, you shouldn't be able to make out the pixels on a 4K TV. If your content is a pixelated mess, then there isn't much you can do. Might as well enjoy the larger screen size if you watch better content.

 

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a quality name brand TV to last ten years. I typically replace mine in 6 or 7, but both of my previous main TVs (both LGs), which would be around 8 and 15 years old are still in use by the people I gave them too. This assumes you are not messing with non-standard settings in the service menu and take reasonable precautions against burn in and environmental issues.

 

Yeah, 720p would probably be the lowest for certain streams. I am thinking of stepping up to a 75" and pushing back the distance to 9ft. After reading about OLED's it does seem that some degradation happens with the colors and possible burn-in over time. I don't know, a mini-led like the Sony bravia 7 would be less to worry about in general.

 

Unless you keep your TV on static screens alot, I don't think burn in is really a thing anymore. I've had my oled for over 5 years and no indication it is happening. This includes a ton of time on video games with static status bars. But get whatever makes you happiest.

 

Keep in mind that most TV's today have pretty decent upsampling algorithms. I have a 4k TV that is noticeably sharper than the 1080p TV it replaced, and I don't have any 4k sources. Even old SD DVD's (480p?) aren't all that bad once the TV is done with them. I would look at the upscaling capabilities of whatever TV you're looking at. I know Rtings used to review upscaling algorithms on TV's, not sure if they still do (and I know Rtings has a checkered opinion here, but some of the raw testing they do I find valuable)

 

Once you've gone OLED there is no turning back. But if you are not yet ruined by it, sure.
I have old 55'' LG OLED upstairs that had played almost daily for 6 years - it has gotten all sorts of abuse from kids. Can't really tell any burn in symptoms.

 

I've got a 77" Samsung S90D being delivered this afternoon. Samsung sale + an additional $300 off from Costco put it just above the top of your range. I reasoned like you that this would be a once-a-decade purchase, and now that I've lived with a 42" LG C2 as my office monitor for the better part of two years I couldn't imagine not having an OLED. I went bigger than the 65" Vizio it's replacing because, while we only sit about 9' away, there was no way an extra 12" of screen real estate was going to be too much. At 7' I think 65" would be pretty much ideal. The S90C is a better price/performance pick but not quite as bright. I don't have any ambient light issues but the brighter the better in my experience. This is now the third TV I've purchased where my decision was heavily influenced by RTINGS.com. Will report back once I've had a chance to get eyes on it.

 

Please do. I am in a similar situation (65" LG, thinking about going to 77, sitting about 11' away, deals are tempting right now)

 

My considered first impression is that I have some doubts I would be less happy with the S90C. For Samsung models the S90C really does seem to be where it's at. The 10% increased peak brightness with the S90D isn't worth the upcharge. 50% better w/ the S95D at 1600 nits peak brightness vs. 1100 with the S90D would have cost 50% more. If I cared enough to do this over I would have swallowed "buy once, cry once" and got the S95D. Now that it's mounted (it's freaking heavy and the mount had to be moved to accommodate the extra size) and looks genuinely excellent regardless I'm staying put.

There are claims the built-in OS is better in the S90D over S90C but I can't do a direct comparison. The Samsung OS/Tizen is just fine for my needs. I'm a normie when it comes to calibration - I just copy whatever RTINGS says is most accurate and don't plan to pay for professional calibration so to that extent the OS was easy enough to use. Feels snappy. I wish we could transition for streaming apps but my wife/kids actively fear using anything except the ROKU box.

The choice of 77" was the right one. I just measured with a laser distance measurer and my eyes are exactly 11' from the TV and it feels perfect. I was never bothered by 65" but the feeling of only seeing the screen and nothing else / sense of immersion at 77" is *chefs kiss*.

My wife/kids reaction was, "Wow, it's incredible it's so bright / you can see so much more" (oldest child) "It looks the same, why did you care about this?" (youngest child) "Looks great, honey. Just don't switch it off the ROKU." (wife).