OLED tvs
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Alert!! These opinions are still valid but tv prices change so fast that OLEDs now cost less
For up to date prices give us a call, or look at Currys website, we almost always sell at the same price as them anyway!
They've been around for a few years now so what's the story with OLED tvs?
I'll try to be only a little geeky!
In 2015 LG showed advance models of OLED tvs available in small quantities. These were widely well recieved as the technology had a very important trick that LED sets just couldn't do.
This was to display blacks well, which hadn't been seen since the last of the Pioneer KURO plasmas.
Unfortunately these early prototypes had other problems with brightness and processing speeds that meant that many people wrongly discarded the OLED technology as the problem.
I know, I was one of them. If it wasn't actually better then Lyric Hifi wasnt going to sell them!
Geek alert!
So what's different from other technologies? Well, an Organic LED display works without any backlighting. This is more like a plasma display as it can display deep black levels. It is also thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD). In low ambient light conditions in a dark room, or most of our living rooms, an OLED screen will achieve a much higher contrast ratio than an LCD, regardless of whether the LCD uses fluorescent or LED backlighting.
Remember that the manufacturers built-up LED as a new technology to replace plasma when it was just the same LCD panels with a brighter whiter light behind it. Plasma had to go as it was more expensive to manufacture and was too power hungry to get through the latest energy consumption limits, not because LCD/LED was better.
Ok back to the story:
Moving on two years picture processing has improved tremendously, due in no small part to the advent of 4k sources not only pushing manufacturers to do better but also these sources meaning that rubbish processing was obvious on sets that 'read' well on the spec sheets but really weren't very good, especially on moving objects.
There are actually quite a few sets available that really aren't too good, but Currys don't often play sources that show this up. Can't blame them though, it suits them for everything to look the same!
While all OLED panels are made by LG they have different processing technologies applied to them in sets by Sony, Panasonic, and Loewe
I've always been a fan of Loewe's processing. Over more than 20 years they have always been at the forefront of making panels made by someone else look better than the originals although usually this carried a price premium of 25%
They're at it again, but with one huge difference.
The latest Panasonic 65" OLED is £ 6999, the new Sony? £ 6999, the Loewe? £ 5999
There are cheaper models from Sony and Pana but for the best picture the Loewe is supreme and cheaper!
How do they do it? Well there is a drawback. Their online stuff just isnt as comprehensive so if you use iPlayer/Itv hub etc add an amazon prime box, which is always a good idea anyway as it also provides 4k content.
Also when you compare it to the LG the Loewe is still better, although to be fair the LG is £600 less
The biggest player in tv just now is actually Samsung and disappointingly the haven't yet entered the OLED market
Instead they now offer QLED. See what they did there? QLED at a glance looks like OLED but it's actually a normal LED set with a Q in front
It is their best effort yet but it's basically a high brightness LED with none of the performance benefits of OLED
So when is the right time to buy OLED for your new set? First that depends on size. The high manufacturing cost of OLED means that it will mainly apply to sets of 55" and above for the next 3-4 years.
And then it depends on money. If you want a decent 55/65" set for £ 750-1999 then I will sort you out with a really good Pana/Sony that you will be happy with
If however you want the best 55-65 right now then shell out £ 3500-5999 for an OLED and you wont be disappointed
The Loewe Bild7 65" is on demonstration in the shop right now, call in for a look
