How to buy a premium TV and save thousands

WANT a top-shelf new TV? Here’s how to upgrade to a premium model, while saving thousands.

IF YOU’RE in the market to upgrade your television and budget is no option, you’re going to have fun at the shops as most major manufacturers have announced their 2018 product ranges.

While there is a real temptation to rush out and buy a 2018 model to own the latest and greatest in technology and design, you don’t have to strive beyond your means to buy a quality product.

You could make significant savings by buying one of last year’s models when they are reduced to make way for the plethora of new TVs flooding the market. Doing so will still land you a quality unit.

To help your decision, here is everything you need to know about buying a new TV based on news.com.au’s favourite 2017 models.

WHAT IS A 4K TV?

It’s all about the detail. A 4K TV has enough pixels to fill four Full HD 1080p screens, which means it’s able to display four times the level of detail.

You will need an Ultra-high definition (UHD) Blu-ray DVD player or internet over 15 Mbps to stream content available in 4K, the range of which is limited but growing at a rapid rate.

WHAT IS HDR?

Most of the TVs you will be looking at offer High Dynamic Range (HDR) formats for broadcast and streamed content. HDR heightens the contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks, which results in a more colourful and detailed picture.

HDR10 is the industry standard in consumer televisions. This open-format technology is the first generation, so there is still room for it to improve.

One of the more impressive HDR formats is Dolby Vision, which processes dynamic metadata within each frame to deliver a wide colour gamut — the largest number of colours that can be physically displayed — for a refined, lifelike display like the director intended.

“To a non-technical person, Dolby Vision enables us to get closer to seeing the highlights and blacks that human beings have been able to see for millions of years — as well as the ability to see the richness of colours seen in real life on our displays,” Dolby Laboratories spokesman Pat Griffis told news.com.au.

Spot the difference. This comparison shows the detail and range of dark to light from Dolby Vision.

SHOULD I GET A DISPLAY FLOOR MODEL?

In addition to buying a 2017 model, a number of retailers will heavily reduce floor stock.

While this could be a great bargain, it’s worth remembering these TVs would have been constantly turned on in the store, with the optimal settings used to sell the best picture.

This could greatly decrease the lifespan of your TV, so it’s something to be mindful of.

The panel life for OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs is about 30,000 hours, meaning users can watch the TV for eight hours a day for 10 years, while ULEDs (ultra light-emitting diode) offer 60,000-100,000 hours of continuous operation.

Samsung doesn’t give any information on its panel life, though it guarantees its TVs won’t suffer from burn-in or picture deterioration for 10 years.

OLED VS QLED VS ULED

OLED is built with self-lighting pixels. This means there is no backlight leakage and light is only shown where it is required, producing perfect black on the screen.

QLED describes Quantum Dot technology, which harnesses semiconductor particles about one billionth of a metre in diameter to emit light in its purest possible form.

ULED uses 17 different patented technologies with regard to colour, brightness, resolution and motion, which all come together to create an immersive ultra high-definition picture.

LG OLED

LG’s OLED technology is used for its 2.57mm-thick W Series TV.

Pros

• The biggest wow factor in terms of appearance

• Fantastic viewing angles because there is no backlight

• Produces perfect blacks and displaying more than a billion colours

Cons

• No backlight means the TV can’t reach the same brightness as its competitors

• OLEDs are slightly more expensive

What else do I need to know?

The hottest TV release of 2017 was undoubtably LG’s Signature 4K OLED W series, which measures just 2.57-millimetres thick and weighs only 7.7kg.

The “wallpaper” appearance of the 65-inch or 77-inch screen is helped by stripping all of the input ports from the television and putting them into a companion 4.2 channel LG Dolby Atmos soundbar — delivers moving audio that can be precisely placed in a three-dimensional space, including anywhere overhead.

Sadly LG hasn’t offered a price reduction on the 2017 wallpaper TV just yet, although there have been price reductions up to $1,000 for its C7, E7 and G7 models from last year.

Each of these still offer beautifully razor thin screen narrower than a smartphone — you just have to deal with housing the hardware located at the rear of the TV.

LG is able to create the thin screens by using self-lighting pixels, which is enhanced by a display free from bezel that gives the appearance of a window into another world when watching the OLED in a pitch black room.

To keep the impressive visual quality of OLEDs in brightly lit rooms, a neutral black polariser has been added to the anti-reflection film — although some reflections are still present.

The latest webOS smart system is easy to navigate and provides all location-appropriate apps like Netflix and Stan in a ribbon bar across the bottom of the screen.

It is also possible to assign shortcuts to your favourite apps to a number on the remote control, which also allows for voice commands.

What’s new on the 2018 model?

• Alpha 9 Processor which uses an algorithm for greater finesse in noise reduction, improvement in the clarity of images affected by distracting artefacts and more effective rendering of smooth gradations.

• The processor also uses an improved colour correction algorithm to allow for more natural colours by expanding the reference colour coordinates sevenfold compared to before

• LG AI ThinQ improves voice commands and provides access to more intelligent content information and will even let the TV turn itself off when a program ends.

• ThinQ TVs will eventually learn to connect and control all of the other smart home devices as well

SAMSUNG Q SERIES

Samsung QLED TV mounted on a studio stand

Pros

• Can produce 100 per cent colour volume and has a brighter display than competitors

• Flat or curved screen options

• Stands hide cables and simple remote controls everything

Cons

• Loses vibrancy and contrast when watching from an angle of more than 25-30 degrees

• Sometimes results in backlight clouding and grey banding due to edge-mounted backlights firing horizontally across the screen

What else do I need to know?

The main selling point is Samsung’s alloy coated Quantum Dot technology, which improves the range of colours and brightness, which means the TV has more realistic, accurate and vibrant images, in both bright and dark scenes.

Samsung’s Q8 and Q7 series come in either flat or curved screens, while the top-tier Q9 only has flat screen displays. All of these models have savings up to $2000.

In terms of appearance, the display has almost no bezel around the screen and has a sleek all-metal design.

A separate breakout box houses all of the ports you would expect on a television — HDMI, power, ethernet, USB, antenna — to ensure there are no messy cables.

Each of the different stands offered by Samsung also come with the ability to hide cables inside for a cleaner appearance. There is also the ability to sit the QLED flush against the wall, with the use of a no-gap wall mount.

The TV’s Tizen operating system has the ability for to detect connected devices automatically and display them in a clean ribbon bar on the bottom of the screen.

Also located on the ribbon bar are all of the location-appropriate apps you would expect to come as standard on a 2017 device — think Netflix, Stan and YouTube.

Continuing its efforts to minimise clutter, Samsung’s new range comes with a single remote that has the ability to control the TV and almost all connected media devices. It also includes a dedicated voice recognition button.

The TV itself also has downward firing speakers located on the bottom of the display and they offer more than enough quality for standard viewing.

What’s new on the 2018 model?

• Ambient Mode, which allows users to take a picture of the wall on which the television unit will be mounted and then use that image as the TV’s background picture to help it remain almost hidden from the naked eye.

• Samsung’s signature One Clear Connect now cable powers the TV also.

• Increased size offerings from 55 to 88 inches

• The ability to monitor and control compatible devices and appliances via the SmartThings platform

• Game Mode minimises input lag and offers lightning-fast refresh rates

SONY OLED

Sony Bravia A series OLED 4K HDR TV.

Pros

• Thin screen measures just 8.6 millimetres in thickness

• Amazing colours and outstanding detail in the deepest of shadows and the brightest whites

• Entire screen acts as a giant speaker cone

Cons

• Strange design with ugly kickstandlimits options and doesn’t look great from the side

• Busy and cheap-feeling remote

What else do I need to know?

Sony Bravia A1E OLED TVs — available in 55- and 65-inch sizes — offer great value, with savings as high as $2400.

While thicker than LG’s flagship, Sony’s offering is still very thin, with the screen measuring 8.6 millimetres in thickness.

The TV rests on an easel-style kickstand, with the bottom of the screen sitting directly on the cabinet, leaning back on a slight five-degree angle.

When looking at the A1 from the front, the stand becomes invisible and when combined with Sony’s anti-reflective coating to reduce screen glare and centimetre-thick bezel, you are left with an unadulterated viewing experience.

The downside of this kickstand set-up is it can force you to sit your television at the front of your cabinet as the dimensions make the whole unit 35cm deep. This looks awkward and means you can’t put the sound bar directly in front of your screen.

Sony’s choice of kickstand also detracts from the beautiful thin display when looking at the unit from side on, with the focus shifting to the bulky black bar holding the unit in place.

There is the option to mount the television, but it is not going to sit as flush as competitor brands.

In addition to offering structural integrity, the base of the stand has four HDMI inputs and the other connectors are removed from the display.

The thick bar across the back contains four speaker drivers spread across the screen and a backwards-facing subwoofer that makes the entire screen act as a giant speaker cone with good stereo separation and a wide sound stage.

To my surprise, the audio was impressive and can be tweaked using a number of different settings built into the TV such as “cinema mode” or “night mode”, which enhances voices and reduces explosions and music to stop you from having your hand on the remote.

As you might expect, this television is one of the best on the market in terms of picture, with eight million self-illuminating pixels precisely and individually controlled by the processor.

Sony’s A1 also pairs the brilliance of 4K clarity with a variety of HDR formats.

What’s new on the 2018 model?

• The A8F features a more conventional rectangular stand, which sits the screen upright

PANASONIC OLED

The EZ1000 Series reduces reflections to deliver precision and depth in challenging technical conditions.

Pros

• 14-speaker “sound blade” stand that works similar to a sound bar

• Able to reach nearly 100 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour space

Cons

• Only more expensive model has “Absolute Black Filter”

• Doesn’t look as nice as other OLEDs around the same price

What else do I need to know?

In an attempt to challenge LG, Panasonic has three top-of-the-line OLED TVs on the Australian market.

The EZ1000 and EZ950 “Master OLED” displays are very similar, except the former has a 14-speaker “sound blade” stand that works similar to a sound bar.

Panasonic says the EZ1000 offers the most accurate and detailed picture ever, with the OLED able to reach nearly 100 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour space. If accurate, this would put it close to Samsung’s QLED.

The EZ1000 Series also features Panasonic’s “Absolute Black Filter”. This reduces reflections to deliver precision and depth in challenging technical conditions such as off-black scenes with deep shadows, which can look grey due to OLED’s brightness.

The range also offer the benefits of HDR multi-format capabilities and is fully compatible with HDR10 — a compulsory feature on UHD Blu-ray content that is also used by Netflix and Amazon Video.

All Panasonic’s 2017 4K TVs feature the My Home Screen 2.0 interface, which is simple to navigate and can be easily customised.

Like the competitors, Panasonic’s TVs offer decent savings on the 2017 models.

What’s new on the 2018 model?

• Advanced Hollywood Cinema Experience (HCX) 4K processor delivers professional-grade colour control

• New OLED panel

• Absolute Black Filter on more than just one model

• Upgraded Smart TV platform

• Voice control technology via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant smart speakers

• Ultra-thin panel with glass bezel that creates a clean, elegant frame around the top and sides of the TV

• Dynamic Blade Speaker has been enhanced for 2018 with a 40 per cent volume increase and a new design for wall mounting completely flush with the TV.

HISENSE 4K ULED

The Series 9 ULED is Hisense's most premium offering.

Pros

• One of the cheaper premium options

• Longer panel life when compared to OLED

Cons

• Don’t look as fancy as some of the competitors

What else do I need to know?

Having delivered quality mid-range ULED TVs, Hisense have answered demand from consumers and retailers by bringing their premium range to Australia.

By moving into the premium market, the Series 8 and 9 TVs offer a better viewing experience and sexier design, the things you would expect for the price range.

Both models offers a sleek, industrial design with neat cable management and minimum bezel.

The range boast “HDR Supreme” capabilities which provide a peak brightness of 1000 nits and improved colours.

The more expensive 9 Series is also Hisense’s first Australian offering to integrate Quantum Dot technology.

Similar to the Samsung and LG models, Hisense’s range has an easy-to-use interface, with pre-installed with services like Netflix, Stan and Freeview Plus located in a tidy ribbon display.

The TV platform, known as VIDAA U, can also detect any external devices that are connected.

What’s new on the 2018 model?

• Prime Array Backlight technology opens up more than 1000 zones of local dimming on Series 9  

• Game Mode allows the TV to display the gaming console at full speed directly to the TV

Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.