Got a new TV set w/mini-LEDs and HDR

[Kazaam]

It’s just a secondary TV set, so it’s smaller: 50 inch Samsung QN90A model.

It’s the one with mini-LEDs. So not quite as good with blacks and starlight as OLED, but maybe a little brighter than a similarly priced OLED. My first one had a bad speaker that buzzed rattled and farted even during commercials. I know TV speakers suck these days, but there is just sucking and then there is truly defective. And so it went back because although I might someday get a sound bar, it is only a secondary TV set and I didn’t want to be forced to do so right off the bat. Second set sounds just fine, thankfully. Picture in HDR demos looks incredible. It’s not my first HDR device (that would be my iPad Pro), but it is my first HDR TV. Unfortunately there are only so many HDR demos to watch on YouTube before I wish for regular programming to watch. As such…. Makes me sad that Xfinity looks like total crap. I mean yeah Xfinity always looks like crap, but now in comparison it manages to look even worse.

 

[Towen7]

Schweet

 

[walls]

Was there a big price difference between the mini led and the oled version?

 

[Kazaam]

You know I never even looked at a Samsung OLED. However I did look at some LGs and a Sony, but had rather quickly ruled out OLED. Not because it doesn’t look great, but because I was just being possibly overly paranoid about burn-in.

Price comparison is a little off because the only OLEDs I looked at were 48” whereas the mini-LED is 50”. My memory is the cheaper LG was $200 less than Samsung’s mini-LED, but that the more expensive LG was $200 more. And I think the Sony was $200 (maybe $300?) more. That said… sales come and go.

In fact, I kind of got unlucky because even though I was waiting for further discounts before pulling the trigger (it had already been discounted multiple times since this is an outgoing 2021 model and the 2022 just came out) it actually got even cheaper after I bought mine. I paid $1100. I was kind of hoping for $1000 even, but figured it was close enough. But what sucks is the day after I got my replacement set Best Buy and Samsung dropped the price down to $900. I thought $1100 was a fair price (the nearly identical 2022 model is going to start at $1600). But $900 would‘ve been much nicer. Oh, well… I’ll survive. At $900 it’s an excellent deal that appears to still be available. My only complaint with the mini-LED is when channel surfing because when using Comcast the screen goes black and you have white letters for program description. And depending on ambient light there can be an annoying amount of blooming because, well, mini-LED just ain’t quite as good as OLED in that particular situation. But when viewing actual programming I can’t say that I ever notice the blooming. Though I’m sure it’s there in some specific scenes if I were to look for it.

 

[Haywood]

I didn't go with OLED when I bought my last set, because I wanted something bigger than 65 inches and the 77 inch OLED was something like $20k. I am still quite happy with my Sony XBR, which still cost a bloody fortune, because it was the first generation of 4K HDR and I had to pay the early adopter tax. I've got a few years to go before it is time to replace it and will be really interested to see what is out there by then. I just saw a new short-throw (7 inches) projector that produces a 120" HDR picture that is bright enough to withstand ambient light and still look good. That is VERY tempting, but that is the nature of upgradeitis.

Oh, by the way, YOU SUCK!