Home Theater Advice - 4K, Dolby Vision, HDR, Atmos & more...

Ah right. I see now.

Can't really comment on the height ones. Mine just face directly down and they're right above my head on the ceiling.

Looks good though!

I think it depends on the capabilities. From memory I'm sure some can do both when I was looking.




That looks good Derblington, how is it compared to the up firing speakers?


I think the perfect setup would be to do something how Quadfather describes with them directly above.

I had to compromise with up firing speakers (5.1.4) as my wife didn't want speakers on the ceiling (it's still good though and even she can tell the difference between a 5.1 / atmos for the same film).

Very clean setup, nice.

I'm mostly jealous of what looks like a very large air conditioner.

I have an Epson tw7100 or whatever. Not real 4K, but of the vibrating 1080p picture presented multiple times variety.

Our main TV for seven years prior to this March was a projector. 120” screen is nice, but going to a proper panel is such a massive step up, mainly for the light requirements. Our new open plan main room has skylights and a bifold wall and it just wouldn’t work. Got a 65CX and love it.

I can definitely see the appeal and if I had the money I’d have a 4K projector in a dedicated cinema room with no windows, but they just don’t work for me in a general room. I want to be able to watch the football on a sunny weekend afternoon with all the blinds open.

Honestly I would put at least 5.1 surround over immersion from a projector!

Yeah, that saved me this summer. This apartment has 9 of the 10 windows on the same face, and the sun travels from left to right of them throughout the day so it's like a greenhouse. Nice and bright but crazy hot.

A couple of years back I bought an LG 49UK6300PLB for about £330. My first new TV in ages and my first 4K set. It's a decent budget set really. I also bought an LG UBK80 UHD player to go with it. I thought I'd see how it goes with 4K UHD Blu-rays and see what I think of them and then maybe think about upgrading to a better TV in a couple of years or so.

So anyway, needless to say, 4K UHD's have just blown me away with how incredible they look. Prior to this set I had an old 720p Sense set (now Hisense), which was great for DVD's and my 360. I never made the jump to Blu-ray and the full 1080p as the leap just didn't seem big enough to me, not like going from VHS to DVD did. That and my interest in films had dropped off quite a bit, as a lot of the new releases seemed rather lacklustre and derivative at the time. 4K though has just been incredible and has really reinvigorated my love of film. The new films look fantastic, but it's the remasters of old films that have really blown me away. Watching films like Blade Runner or 2001 is like looking through a window, it's really eye popping.

For a budget set then, that LG has been really good. Things I would like to improve upon though are the blacks and better audio support, it lacks Atmos and eArc. Although I'm still unsure as to how important eArc is. Also Dolby Vision support would be nice too.

Just recently my Dad has started to develop eyesight problems (cateract issues I think) and he really could do with a bigger TV to see it a bit clearer. Currently my parents have a 32" in the corner of their lounge and they're easily sat about 12' or more away from it. So I'm currently thinking of upgrading mine to a better set and giving them my current 49" LG.

Obviously my first thoughts were about going with an OLED. However they are still fantastically expensive. Currently my set is a 49", but certainly a new one would be 55" at a minimum but I'm thinking about a 65" too. Although I don't sit that far away from my set and I'd have to wall mount a 65" and probably a 55" to be honest given my current setup. Other than OLED's I have also been thinking about the Sony Bravia sets with the full array LED's, as I could get a 65" one of those for the same price, if not cheaper, than a 55" OLED.

So just wondering what everyone's thoughts and recommendations were? I don't want to spend more than £1500 if I can help it, unless it's really, really worth it. My main reason for wanting to upgrade it is for watching 4K UHD's. Will also need to upgrade my UHD player to a Dolby Vision compatible one. I think the UBK90 does that. I do also of course watch regular TV on it, but mostly in the form of streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, iPlayer, UKTV Play etc. Built in Chrome cast would be good too. Are OLED's really worth the extra spend if you're on a tighter budget? Whether I go for a 55 or 65 will be a matter of preference I think. I only sit about 6' away from my TV, so a 65" will be almost like sitting in front of a cinema screen. Which could be kind of cool.




You know I used to feel the same and think that I was only bothered with the visuals. Then last year I caved and bought an Atmos sound bar when LOTR came out on 4K. Got an LG SN7Y with the SPK8 rear speakers. Wow! What a fool I have been. It feels like all this time I have been missing out on half the experience of the films I've been watching.

Take for example the most recent film I watched with it; Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk. With just sound out from the TV, it'd be a good film. With the sound bar, sub and rear speakers, it's suddenly transformed into an amazing experience. The sharp crack of gun fire, the roar and rumble of engines as the planes fly past, the stirring intensity of the music; without all that coming out a surround setup, it's like you're only getting half the experience of the film. I'm now looking at all the films I've watched before getting the sound bar and looking forward to watching them all again but now with great audio. It can take an OK action flick like Assassins Creed and transform it into a really cool experience. The Atmos track on that film is superb btw.

That sound bar was not a lot of trouble to setup. The sub is wireless, as is the rear speaker kit (the rear speakers wire into a wireless receiver). I got that sound bar and the rears for a shade under £500. Although the price of that particular one has jumped up quite a bit now for whatever reason. Probably due to a new model coming out and scarcity of stock etc.

Seriously, don't underestimate what good audio adds to the experience of a film. Even playing games like Red Dead 2 via my Nvidia Shield Pro felt more alive. It doesn't have to cost a fortune with expensive receivers and involve running wires around to speakers etc.

65” LG A1 is £1,599. If you or anyone you know gets Perkbox with their job you can get Currys vouchers for 7.5% off which brings it under £1.5k.

Best time to buy is during the model change, but you get a very small window between the price slash and the stock disappearing. Currys has an OOS listing for the 65” CX for £1,099, so that’ll have been the last price before all stock was replaced with the new model.

If £1500 is the budget OLED is surely attainable?

Decent sound is definitely important, and TV speakers suck balls. But if you offered me a £1500 TV with a good £500 2.1 soundbar, or a £500 TV with a £1500 5.1 rig, I’m going for the good TV every time. I do most of my gaming on it with headphones anyway.

Agreed on the comments about good sound. I have a really nice (for my price range) Dali speaker setup with Yamaha amp. I bought a 65" LG OLED CX a few months back and am now back to Pro Logic because it doesn't have eARC or support HDR. So I can have a great picture OR great sound, but not both.

Hoping to replace the amp around xmas. Not really sure what to do with the other one. It's only a few years old and they're not cheap!

Yeah I'm currently passing through the audio only via ARC, but having had 3 years of excellent quality sound from movies and games it's quite the difference. It all just sounds so... flat and unrefined.

So yeah, still making use of the speakers but it's not a patch on a fully functioning 5.1 setup. I've held off replacing as A) money and B) there seemed to be issues with key manufacturers of amps in terms of HDMI 2.1 boards and 120Hz/4k yada yada.