Hunt for TV again & my observations. Requesting suggestions..

[nitz_vision]

both were running on the same/similar settings - dynamic/vivid, then filmmaker & cinema-modes. even the salesperson agreed in a particular scene about the motion judder where it was too apparent.

nevertheless, i also didnt like the colours on the panel of the S90C. although popular opinion seems to be that the S90C is very colourful & bright, to my eyes, the colours looked over-saturated, a thing that is kind-of usual with samsung displays i believe. even back when i was in the market a decade back for my present TV, i had noticed this. had initially gone to check LED TVs & buy something from that stable, but my eyes incidentally fell on a plasma set hung up innocently at the last on a corner & i instantly fell for its natural colours & tone. and thereafter started my month-long quest & research for a good plasma TV and i ended up finally with the present one. at that time too i had noticed this over-saturation with samsung TVs; perhaps its peculiar to them.

anyway, seems i might be once again going the same route, because today i finally got to check X90L, C2, C3 & G3 all of them exactly SBS, and thats when the X90L suffered a blow for the stature it had acquired in mind till now. while alone or at a distance from other TVs, the X90L looked excellent to me esp. in 4K videos with rich colours (just even 'standard' mode was sufficient for me; 'vivid' was quite the colour-pop) & great but not eye-straining brightness, the colours on it indeed looked washed-out when seen with a C2/C3 just on its side.
checked gameplay of TLOU2, and it was all-too-apparent in the ambient & object colours & hues of the gameplay scenes. blacks too were washed out or/and bluish, while text had blooming (not bothersome to me though) so i could imagine that during night-time viewing in a dark scene the blooming might become more prominent on this. plus the panel itself looked not so great, and had the same washed-out look against the exquisite black of the LG OLEDs (even the S90C panel didnt look as great). so it appears that i might be going back on my own words about my budget and may well overshoot it in favour of the (LG) OLED ultimately and here i had initially begun on the note that enough of deep blacks all these years, now am ready for some eye-popping colours & brightness!
still, if possible i'll give another dekko at S90C & C3 SBS in another showroom later today.

to summarize (more for myself)..
final contenders are:
65" C3 (RD says that if i can finalize, they might be able to offer it to me for less than 1.69L, the best quote which i had quote today from a store) / 65" X90L @1.3L OR 75" X90L if possible to get at a bargain-value /
65" S90C (though slim chance) /
75" C755 (albeit, i demoed C835 again today & didnt like the darkish colour tone hiding the details, though motion was good)

still a bit tough choice!

C3 any day for me for the way it performs.. i have 8ft distance for my c2 and absolutely love it everytime i view any 4k/DV contents.. if u get in 1.6L its a steal.. but i wish u got G3 in that range.. if 10ft i want u to go for 75inch !

 

[TheSeeker]

C3 any day for me for the way it performs.. i have 8ft distance for my c2 and absolutely love it everytime i view any 4k/DV contents.. if u get in 1.6L its a steal.. but i wish u got G3 in that range.. if 10ft i want u to go for 75inch !

in 75" sadly i can go only for something like the TCL C755 (even sony X90L in that size will be way over my budget). like you said, the C3 at 1.6 does seem to be a steal.

 

[nitz_vision]

in 75" sadly i can go only for something like the TCL C755 (even sony X90L in that size will be way over my budget). like you said, the C3 at 1.6 does seem to be a steal.

if u going for c3.. make sure u take 2 years extended warranty.. u wont regret on what output u get in all aspects..

 

[TheSeeker]

if u going for c3.. make sure u take 2 years extended warranty.. u wont regret on what output u get in all aspects..

definitely! but few concerns are bugging me. have PMed you..

 

[TheSeeker]

but i wish u got G3 in that range

#MeToo
however G3 & its competitors are exorbitantly & prohibitively priced! i guess the only time which sees these prices coming down substantially or/and even warranties getting extended, is during Diwali. and unfortunately my present TV had to die only once that period had passed!

 

[rajafan]

@TheSeeker I have been using this TV for the last one year. There was no problem until few days ago. Today, I did a factory reset. Now it sounds fine. Probably the Google TV OS was corrupt. After factory reset, everything is fine. Sorry if my earlier opinion has impacted your decision making process in any way.

 

[Donivlapog]

thanks for that detailed post @lightgamer! unfortunately i wont be in india during 26th jan to avail the benefits of sales & offers. i could still order a TV online/offline while away, but there'd be nobody back at home for installation & checks. also have deliberately restricted my budget to <1.5L as there may be some chances of me relocating abroad this year or frequent travelling atleast, plus the shorter lifespan & some unreliability factor of today's TVs, so couldnt justify the thought of spending more than that.



y'day i went to VU's experience store and had a demo. in itself the TV PQ looked good. nothing very special, and not bad either. other TVs on display were samsung frame, sony X90J, VU's gloled, and a couple more. i focused mainly on comparison with the X90J, and particularly in upscaling sub-4K content, surprisingly the VU TV seemed better to me, with smoother & lighter textures than patchy/pixelated & darker/more contrasty picture on the X90J. other than this, the motion-handling & all appeared decent. somewhat tempted for 75". but checked 1-star reviews on amazon, of people complaining about their sets going kaput exactly 1-year after purchase, and recommendations against the TV here (although some FMs also have VU TVs still running, but different models & smaller sizes), am in a fix. offline price of 65" i was quoted was ~93k, while for 75" it was ~1.37L. amazon has far better prices.



TCL C755 is what is tempting me the most for 75", with its features & the said-PQ. further, the S90C is under offer this weekend at kohinoor electronics, being sold for 1.4L as per their advert, and the offer will last only till today as per their sales. checked the TV SBS with the X90L on same/similar PQ-modes, and the S90C seemed darker/more contrasty to me than the X90L, plus i felt slight juddering motion too on the S90C while X90L handled it perfectly. the salesman was insisting that its smooth on S90C, but i didnt feel that. also, no DV support on S90C (or the QN90C) - should that be a factor worth consideration? (@Donivlapog you too, kindly advise)



for a moment i was tempted for 75" X82L too, but then realized it doesnt have a 120hz panel!



this one's what's tempting me the most for 75". however, its a step below the C845 i checked, and C845 doesnt seem to be available in india right now; couldnt find it online & offline. any idea if it'd be released here & when, and whether i should wait for it?



C3 is over my budget. 65" C2 am getting at close to X90L price after cashback, at RD. but during a SBS viewing, the C2 seemed to me a lot dimmer. infact i even viewed C3 against the X90L, and while the blacks are deep & rich, but during dark scenes, objects & colour seemed virtually indistinguishable to me on the C3, making me think that it'd be not so pleasing to watch such scenes on this TV esp. during daytimes. also, colour-tones on faces were having a reddish tinge while background colours looked subdued (C3). still, i may make a run again to RD today & check the C2 again.

about S90C, is it a good deal at 1.4L, but with no DV? should this be opted over the C2, if at all?



was thinking about it, but croma personnel told me that with all the cashback/offer-price, it'd still cost 2.5L. so, i can only buy the 65" in this, the best price possibly being ~1.3-1.4L from croma.



with the C755 now in picture, not considering the U7K anymore. mi q1 75 @1.3L on amazon not a good price? unfortunately the mi store at my place closed down, and croma-RD etc dont have it, so cant check it locally.


thanks again!

Yesterday in Almaty airport, in the lobby before hand luggage security check near the duty free shops, there were LG EVO OLED compared to Samsung Neo QLED in display left and right and from far distance LG C3 beat it Earth to hell. So I believe i myself doubt NEO QLED. I took a pic in my co passenger's phone but he hasnt sent me it so far. Just go with Lightgamer's suggestion. (Tbh). As he is never wrong.

 

[TheSeeker]

Yesterday in Almaty airport, in the lobby before hand luggage security check near the duty free shops, there were LG EVO OLED compared to Samsung Neo QLED in display left and right and from far distance LG C3 beat it Earth to hell. So I believe i myself doubt NEO QLED. I took a pic in my co passenger's phone but he hasnt sent me it so far. Just go with Lightgamer's suggestion. (Tbh). As he is never wrong.

i also am due to travel very soon, and have been hoping to be subject to such a sight on the way somewhere at some airport or mall

anyway, i am not counting the samsung neo-qled in my shortlist now. its just the S90C from the samsung-stable. that too i will try to have a look at again tomorrow at a store for the 3rd time and then decide if i should really consider it anymore or not, because so far, despite popular opinion & reviews, personally i didnt find its 'richer' & brighter colours quite appealing, nor its motion-handling as against the LG C series compared side-by-side. plus i have some concerns about samsung's QC, and may be gen 1 panel on the lot available with the local stores (not that much of an issue though), samsung's just 1+1Y warranty as against LG's full 3Y warranty (serious concern about this point!), etc. so, not very sure still.

further, i am now thinking to defer the purchase to the next month or towards march after i am back, because i dont have enough time left now to decide on a model, place the order, wait for the delivery & installation & then simply have no time to sit back & setup+test the TV at leisure, as will be busy in making arrangements for my travel. so most likely will order now after returning. by then i hope that LG C4 might arrive (C-series iterations usually released in march every year though may arrive late in India) and there'd be some price-cuts on the existing model(s), or/and better deals at that time. plus there'd be hopefully some reviews to read about the newly-launched (in India) TCL C755 model which is another TV i have shortlisted but for 75" size, and it may come on display too in some stores. i can see that there are now 2 reviews of it on amazon and both arent positive. one of them tells that its panel is not true 120/240hz but 60hz only, like other TCL models which use DLG tech for higher refresh-rates. nevertheless, hoping to see it on display.
will also check in the meantime during 26th jan sale, what offers amazon throws up.

 

[TheSeeker]

the S90C is under offer this weekend at kohinoor electronics, being sold for 1.4L as per their advert, and the offer will last only till today as per their sales.

price-update (from kohinoor):

65" S95C - 1.85L + 10% off on credit-card
65" S90C - 1.45L + 10% off on credit-card

didnt reveal the prices on G3 & C3 but said can give "attractive" pricing on both if/when finalizing.

checked TLOU2 4k gameplay on YT on S95C/S90C & C3. colours on the former were better on standard mode while on C3 they looked washed out.

 

[TheSeeker]

further, i am now thinking to defer the purchase to the next month or towards march after i am back

hello everyone. so am back now. and after too much thinking have now seem to have shortlisted for purchase either of these - 75" TCL C755, or 65" LG C3 (or LG G2 if i can find one; currently no stock anywhere here), or 65" sony X90L. even though was getting good deals on the samsung S90C & S95C, but not very keen on those because of their colour which seemed oversaturated to me, and the motion.

from the video, the C755 looks quite close to the S95C, and have read posts on how it can achieve that through tweaking some settings. now i am confused whether a 10" difference is worth it to opt for the TCL TV instead of the 65" LG or sony.

 

[vkalia]

If the image quality of the TCL is good enough when you look at it, I’d get the 75” variant of that over a smaller, slightly better TV.

(FWIW, not sure why the consensus seems to be so harsh against the Hisense - well, either that, or I seem to have lucked out with mine. Perfectly happy with the picture quality on mine, especially for the 1L i paid for the 75” version).

 

[TheSeeker]

If the image quality of the TCL is good enough when you look at it, I’d get the 75” variant of that over a smaller, slightly better TV.

(FWIW, not sure why the consensus seems to be so harsh against the Hisense - well, either that, or I seem to have lucked out with mine. Perfectly happy with the picture quality on mine, especially for the 1L i paid for the 75” version).

thanks. as @lightgamer also puts it, for a living room TV, one can compromise a bit on PQ in favour of size. unfortunately couldnt/cant actually take a look at it as it isn't in stock here in any store and i just got to know (through croma) that it can only be ordered, with delivery in 10-15 days. however from what i've read, its a level up from the U7K (for upto 75" models), and only the 85" one in U7K is a better display than the C755 in the no. of dimming zones etc. the 85" U7K also isnt in stock anywhere, offline or online, but i have requested croma to check and tell me. even the 75" U7K is OOS online.
(yes some members here have had issues with their hisense TVs).

 

[vkalia]

thanks. as @lightgamer also puts it, for a living room TV, one can compromise a bit on PQ in favour of size. unfortunately couldnt/cant actually take a look at it as it isn't in stock here in any store and i just got to know (through croma) that it can only be ordered, with delivery in 10-15 days. however from what i've read, its a level up from the U7K (for upto 75" models), and only the 85" one in U7K is a better display than the C755 in the no. of dimming zones etc. the 85" U7K also isnt in stock anywhere, offline or online, but i have requested croma to check and tell me. even the 75" U7K is OOS online.
(yes some members here have had issues with their hisense TVs).

Fair enough.

Personally, I am in the camp of either trying to maximize my value or getting the best possible TV. If i was going to pay 1.6-1.8L for a TCL, I would add a bit more and just get the Sony 75X90L instead. At that point, the difference isnt that much more and over the lifetime of the product, I’d feel better knowing i got a really good TV.

In other words, either get the best TV or get one which saves you a lot of money. IMO, the TCL is neither here nor there.

That said, i can also understand the opposing POV. Not saying one is better than the other - just my 2 cents.

 

[TheSeeker]

one thing i forgot to mention is that i got an nvidia shield pro now, so TV OS wont be an issue.

i got a price of 1.8L for the 75" TCL C755 + 10k cashback using ICICI card, so effective price being 1.7L, at croma.

from another store i had got a price of 1.7L after cashback for LG C3 65" one month back. in a couple of days or may be tomorrow i'll be checking up about the 75" C755 & 85" U7K pricing & stock too, as well as whether 65" G2 can be made available.

 

[TheSeeker]

Personally, I am in the camp of either trying to maximize my value or getting the best possible TV. If i was going to pay 1.6-1.8L for a TCL, I would add a bit more and just get the Sony 75X90L instead. At that point, the difference isnt that much more and over the lifetime of the product, I’d feel better knowing i got a really good TV.

In other words, either get the best TV or get one which saves you a lot of money. IMO, the TCL is neither here nor there.

agreed. am also not on a very different plane of thought. infact was thinking the very same thing now. 75X90L at croma was quoted upwards of 2L, a boundary i am very reticent to cross having already shot over my earlier set budget of 1.5L. am gonna be checking up on the price of this one too at the other store i mentioned in my above post.

 

[k-pad]

Hi Seeker,
No model reccos from me, because I am as confused as you are/were.
But will strongly recommend that you stick to a minimum of 75" for your viewing distance. You will not regret it.

Also, a couple of things since you are Thane/Mumbai. Please add Vijay Sales in your hunt. Back when I was looking for a unit, they offered the best price, was lower than RD, Kohinoor, etc.

And I think there might be some good Gudi Padwa offers here, though the discounts might not be as big as Diwali/festive season ones.

Good hunting...

 

[TheSeeker]

Hi Seeker,
No model reccos from me, because I am as confused as you are/were.
But will strongly recommend that you stick to a minimum of 75" for your viewing distance. You will not regret it.

Also, a couple of things since you are Thane/Mumbai. Please add Vijay Sales in your hunt. Back when I was looking for a unit, they offered the best price, was lower than RD, Kohinoor, etc.

And I think there might be some good Gudi Padwa offers here, though the discounts might not be as big as Diwali/festive season ones.

Good hunting...

hi! thanks!
i still AM! not was my mind is royally torn right now between LG C3 v/s samsung S90C/S95C in the OLED category (S95C because i got better pricing on it than LG G3, at kohinoor), to the point that i am thinking of ditching the OLED PQ altogether & save myself the headache, in favour of bigger size, ie, the 75" TCL C755 (even though the consensus by a slight margin seems to be in favour of going for better PQ than size, from what i've read people's opinions online so far). BUT i read some comments on C755 having issues with motion & upscaling (dont know if my shield pro would help resolve that, if at all there's any such issue). its like when i am apparently just about on the cusp of shortlisting & finalising a TV, some or the other point crops up in my mind & am back in the loop of 'analysis-paralysis'!

i did visit vijay sales twice, but neither they had these models on display which i have shortlisted, nor were their listed prices attractive. plus no salespersons bothered to come to talk to me. may be i will visit them again or look for some other outlet of theirs. for now the best pricing & most knowledgeable consultation with very courteous discussion i've had was with the owner of shree jain traders (mr. jatin jain), so am leaning more in favour of buying with them (if i decide on the LG C3, because they dont have samsung OLEDs & TCL C755). TOUGH to decide! i'll spend the day today visiting more stores. i dont think i can wait till gudhi padwa, because am not sure if i'll be here again during that period or travelling again then.

may i know if you are also on the lookout for a TV?

 

[TheSeeker]

the essential info-points first:
viewing-distance: 8~10 ft

really sorry!! i was under a grossly incorrect impression on this and it needs urgent correction - the actual viewing-distance is not just 8~10 feet but its actually 12~14 feet!!

 

[TheSeeker]

few observations i made today:

- the LG C3 seems to have a little bit sharper image than the samsung S90C, while latter has more colour-pop that many people like and some not as much. C3 isnt a slouch in colours but they had a more 'natural' tone. observed the sharpness in image in close-up shots of the face of will smith in a 4k action scene from 'gemini man'.

- X90L gave a surprisingly good competition to the OLEDs (C3, G2, G3, S90C, A80L) in colour tone & vibrancy. in a particular scene from the hindi series 'farzi' where kay kay menon is conversing with shahid kapoor, the colours on the face & t-shirt of kay kay menon looked vibrant (not popping) & natural while on the OLEDs they had a yellowish tint & looked very muted. and then there was a particular 4k demo clip in which the details in the darkness of a forest & the depth-of-field of camera-view from the forest of the starlit sky plus the details on a shot of moon were practically absent (smudge of white/overly bright) from the OLED displays while the X90L showed them in a crisp & clear manner. even the TCL C835 did good here & was close to the X90L.


given the viewing-distance am now inclined towards bigger-sized TVs and i have narrowed-down my list to look like this now:

1. 85" hisense U7K. but not available anywhere either offline or online. croma guy talked to his hisense contact & said the TV *might* arrive in stock again but no surety. however i also feel that 85" may also feel a bit overkill too. so not really sure if i should wait for it. no price-indications as well.

2. next best, 75". either sony X90L or TCL 755. croma gave me a good pricing on the X90L (for some reason the person there has been enthusiastic more about this model, although the points he told were fair & was open to listening to my points too without being too pushy), 2.15L and said "this is still open for bargain/negotiation & is not the "full price"". for the TCL C755 he said it should come back in stock in 10 days and he will then ring me up. i demoed TCL's C835 & personally felt the display & picture quality to be between OLED & X90L. hence i feel the C755 can be a good model for me.

3. 65". this size has now taken the last priority in my list now, given, again, the viewing-distance, as i fear now that my eyes might quickly get adjusted/used to the 65" size at that distance. LG G2 (available again in croma offline now) / samsung S90C >> LG C3.

am leaning a bit more towards TVs in point no. 2 because of the size, plus the glare/reflections on the OLEDs. all these years have faced the same thing with my plasma with the reflections & all, controlling lighting etc. and now i feel to have a little carefree viewing-experience without bothering much about all this. lets see....

 

[TheSeeker]

SOS!
@lightgamer @Donivlapog @nitz_vision @vkalia and others

finally in a couple of RD outlets here i was able to get confirmation for the C755 (and U7K). these're the options with prices i have now:

1. U7K 85", mrp 1.99L. availability is suspect; will be confirmed by RD in a couple of days. pricing can be worked out, they said. lightgamer previously said that if it dips down to 1.5L (or even 1.6L) then its worth considering.

2. TCL C755 75". mrp 1.8L. ready availability with RD (not on display though). and with ICICI credit-card, can be had for 1.7L. RD folks were/arent willing to bargain any further on this price, nor was croma (but croma has asked for 10 days for availability). though i can try to haggle if finalising this model.

3. Sony X90L 75". best price from RD as well as croma is 2.15-2.18L plus 10k cashback on cc. there's room for further negotiation.

3. LG G2 65". yes, finally found it, at croma! listed for 2.5L there but best price offered was 2.05L plus 10k or so cashback and again, there's still further room for negotiation.


now i am in royal confusion about size v/s quality and which model to go for! as i stated earlier that my actual viewing-distance is 12-14 ft. for that distance, 65" seems to be just about okay, 85" might be a bit overkill (perhaps), while 75" size seems to be the sweetspot. again, room-conditions are semi-bright during day (no direct sunlight on the TV but large windows to the side of the TV perpendicular to it). we prefer to keep the curtains open during early noon, while after that can draw-in the curtains (esp. so during summers). evening hours lights remain on, unless watching a movie late night (usually me alone).

so my doubts are:

A) should i opt for the 85" U7K if stock is confirmed by RD? i can quote a price of 1.4L and see where it goes from there.

B) or if not, then in 75" size which one would be better to have - the TCL C755 or the Sony X90L? confused esp. because there's not too much of a price-difference between the two. through online-reading the consensus seems to be with the X90L (and even one digitaltrends review tells positively about the X90L when pitted against Hisense & TCL mini-LEDs). i watched a few clips on the C835 & the X90L side-by-side. the C835 seemed like in between an OLED & the X90L, lesser bright, panel similar to OLED, good blacks, fluid motion while the X90L seemed to have brighter & more vibrant PQ & colours, like a perfect daytime-viewing TV! and the C755 is considered a tad above C835 with its newer chipset. (@vkalia your earlier post about maximizing value rang in my mind while i typed this. very fair and logical point you had made. still wrote this because i found the C835's PQ & panel likeable, almost like an OLED couldnt test at considerable length though...and C755/C805 is between C835 & C845. i might eventually go with the 75X90L only though if opting for 75" TV going by your suggestion & several others' on the web.)

C) or, ditch all these in favour of the best tech among these, the LG G2 OLED BUT at 65"?

one thing that both the outlets, croma & RD have cautioned me against hisense & TCL is that their customer-service is like non-existent and in case if something goes awry you'll have to get in touch with these makers yourself & the retailer wont play any role in between (RD esp. said so while croma person told me about the woes of a recent TCL customer who's been forced to wait for parts for his TV since >2.5 months now). not sure if RD said that to dissuade me from buying TCL, but kind of believable, because we know the poor support-service of these manufacturers. if only i could've had the G2 at 77", wouldnt have had to think so much! :/

kindly advise & suggest whenever free..

(P.S. - @k-pad i visited vijay sales both outlets here. but these above were better prices from RD & croma plus found the models too here i was looking for.)