I'm out of touch with the brands and models of the current offerings for a new 75" smart TV, and looking for recommendations of which brands or models to consider in the range of $3K to $5K. I am replacing an 8? year old Samsung 55" that I have been happy with, but the LED backlight diffusers are starting to detach again, for the second time.

I don't use the TV for gaming (or very rarely with an old PS3), nor for watching sport. The main use is watching movies and FTA TV. I'm not a home theatre buff, it's just for TV in the lounge room, at a distance of about 4M. I don't need high quality audio from the TV as I use a Yamaha Receiver set up for 5.1 sound.

I've read where some TVs seem to be very laggy in the menu operations, which would annoy me. And that some of the cheaper brands can have screen anomalies.

So advice on what to steer clear of, and the reasons why, and also what is worth considering, would be greatly appreciated.. Cheers.

There are great savings right now on both 65" and 77" OLED TVs from Samsung, LG and Sony.

E.g. at Harvey Norman (but also no doubt at all their competitors, depending on who is located in your area).

There are also some great YouTube videos on how to set them up/get the "best" out of which ever one you choose.

Previously have only had LED/LCD TVs, but a very happy "convert" to an OLED TV late last year.

For your listed uses - great picture quality, and ability to adjust them to a picture setup which suits you personally.

When you say you only want it for watching movies and FTA TV, do you mean movies on DISC, or streamed movies as well.

I mean pretty much everything on Apple TV is HD 4K with Dolby Vision, so if you want that it removes Samsung entirely from the equation, as none of their TV's have it.

The other main factor to consider is the menu system, they may seem similar on the surface, but that's where the always cheaper brands like Hisense, TLC and I'd have to include Samsung again, are lacking in easy of use where you compare them to LG and Sony.

IMHO Sony has the best and easiest to use menu system , buy the way, a laggy menu system can happen to the best of them, if not inherent to a poor menu system, it can slowly begin to happen because the Cache is too full, which can be cleared to make as snappy as when new, but a lot of people don't seem to realize that and so their TV's lagginess get progressively worse.

The next big question is LED/LCD or OLED ?

Both have their Pro's and Con's.

PRO's

LED/LCD is inherently brighter, so if you have a room with a lot of ambient light while watching, it will still cut through, and they picture doesn't slowly dim over time, like OLED's eventually will [Caveat to that I'll mention in a moment]

CON's

Limited angle of view before the picture becomes unable to be seen, unless you are watching the TV from straight on, the picture on the opposite side of where you are sitting will look washed out.

High reflective screen, any room light, open window etc will show a reflection off the screen, TBH this is the deal killer for me, and why I went to OLED, it can be immensely annoying.

Never a true Black, the backlighting inherently makes Black look Greyish, plus you have blooming around highlights [how bad this is, depends a lot on the amount of separate zones the TV has], the more the better, but even then, a lot will depend on the TV's processing to combat this, the higher up you go the better this is controlled.

OLED/QDOLED

Pro's.

Infinite contrast, Black is a true black, as OLED's work like individual pixels, so they can be turned off entirely, this give a true 3D like picture [True 4K Add Dolby Vison and its WOW!], you can see finer details because of smooth picture graduation, like the weave in people cloths, the folds in Dark Vaders black cape in a dark environment, everything appear as it should, this sort of detail is lost with LED/LCD in comparison.

Far great angle of view, I can watch my TV from my kitchen at almost 45 degree angle from the screen and I can still see everything like I was directly in front of it, no way I could do that with my old Panasonic LCD.

No screen glare, nothing reflects off the screen.

CON's.

More expensive than LED/LCD

Picture is not as bright as LED/LCD, that's the biggest difference.

Picture will washout if direct sunlight hitting the screen, to get the best out of OLED, well any TV really, but particularly OLED, its best to watch in a light controlled room, thick curtains with 3 pass blockout lining across the window will do.

Shorter life span, but I don't mean the TV fails, just the picture will dim over time, as OLED is made from organic compounds [That's what the O stands for]

BUT

That depends on how much use the TV gets - I've had my 77"Sony OLED for about 4 years now, and because of illness, I'm pretty much confined to my home so it is on around at least 12 hours a day, so around 4500 hours, if not more on it ATM, it has faded a tiny amount over that time, but barely [I'm a videophile, and also have my own calibration gear, so I tend to notice things most others wouldn't] when they begin fading, its the Blues tend to be not as colour saturated as they were when new, but when playing 4K UHD material still looks spectacular, far better that any LED/TV on the market ]

Personally I'd still opt for a OLED, once you have one LED/LCD looks unimpressive, even the newest top of the line ones with all the fancy processing, that Infinite contrast [True Black] is impossible to give up.

Recommendations.

OLED in 75ish size.

Sony 77" [they don't do 75"] Bravia 8 - JB has it at a great price ATM - $4475 they are asking only $20 less for the 65" model.🫨....Trust me, the larger screen size is a deal changer, there is a LOT of truth in Bigger is Better when it comes to TV's, you'll never regret it.

Nothing larger than 65" from LG ATM, the LG 65" OLED EVO G5 AI 4K UHD Smart TV at JB on Sale currently $3i88

LCD/LED

Sony again - if only because of the far better picture processing and menu system. Sony 75" BRAVIA 7 4K HDR Mini LED Google TV JB have it for $3562.

OR if you are up for it, the top of the line Sony 75" BRAVIA 9 4K HDR Mini LED Google TV JB price ATM is $4993, but this is more one of those Light Cannon TV's, really designed for people who have open planned houses with huge amounts of light coming in, TBH I think the slightly lower tiered Bravia 8 is the sweet point.

Right now is the best time of year you could buy a TV, as they have CES in Jan each year where the TV manufacturers show all the latest TV's, but these have yet to hit the shops yet, so the current prices are run out prices of last years models.

Sony will be introducing RGB LED/LCD in its 2026 TV's, but with the current war going on, and fuel prices rocketing for everything, I can imagine TV prices will go through the roof, so If you are going to buy a TV, do it quickly, as the current TV's won't last long at these prices, I'd say weeks at best.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Tweaky

I have the Sony 77 oled bravia 8, which I bought from JB about 6 months ago.

I am super impressed with it, picture quality is awesome and I do watch quite a lot of FTA and also play both 4k and blu-ray discs.

As mentioned above it is a reflective screen and I do have one window which luckily I can close the door of that room. It would be very annoying if I couldn't stop that reflection.

The current deal at JB is the lowest I have seen it, I bought mine for $4500. Keep in mind JB will refund the difference if they advertise it cheaper for about a month after you bought it. They do honour this policy without argument as I bought mine originally at $5500.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Whites
Minor

1 hour ago, Tweaky said:

Nothing larger than 65" from LG ATM, the LG 65" OLED EVO G5 AI 4K UHD Smart TV at JB on Sale currently $3i88

A great breakdown of options etc in your post, with one exception - where I live, LG 77" C5 and G5 OLEDTVs are currently available at great prices/significant savings off RRPs

1 hour ago, parrasaw said:

A great breakdown of options etc in your post, with one exception - where I live, LG 77" C5 and G5 OLEDTVs are currently available at great prices/significant savings off RRPs

It seems JB have sold out of the larger size LG's as none are listed, that's why I didn't list them.

The new LG G6 and C6 should be in stores soon I imagine, quite a bit of new technology with them as well. 13bit colour depth for a start.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Tweaky

Just go to JB and buy the 77” LG Oled on sale at the moment. Anything else is a compromise.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Jakeyb77_Redux