Questions on LG IPS TV displays

[her209]

I'm in the market for a "4K" television and was doing some browsing at the local Best Buy. I noticed the LG televisions market the IPS technology being used in their panels. Are all televisions IPS panels or is this something that is unique to LG? Are IPS panels considered good or bad? My understanding of IPS panels from the computer monitor realm is that color reproduction is better but pixel refresh rate is slower compared to TFT. Should I stay away from IPS tech in televisions panels for the latter reason?

 

[darkswordsman17]

You're mostly right, IPS tends to have superior colors and often superior color shift (or lack thereof). Although, now there are lower quality IPS panels that dither and there are higher quality TN and VA panels.

I don't think LG is the only one that uses IPS, but they're about the only ones that markets it. But large IPS panels are less common. I assume VA is probably popular as it tends to feature better color than TN. The color shift on TN I think would be really pronounced on a TV.

I'm not real familiar with the TV market, so I can't say what say that high end Sony Bravia that is supposed to be spectacular uses.

But to put it simply there's a lot of other factors at play and it really depends on your use (if it is in a bright area you'll want a TV that can get bright but still maintain good color) and budget. If you play games then you'll need to research the input lag (some TVs are horrendous). And now you have to find out how the built-in "smart" functions work.

I don't think pixel response is a big issue and TVs get around it using the high refresh rates, although often times that adds input lag (although if it did black frame insertion with no interpolation or anything to try and smooth things, maybe it would be better for movement?).

 

[mohit9206]

Well there's a lot of techno jargon in terms of television displays. You have IPS, VA, LED, OLED, Edge lit, local dimming, edge dimming, etc. It can be too confusing for an average buyer. As for IPS and VA, they both have their pros and cons, neither of them are better than the other. Its best to read reviews on the Internet for particular model you're interested in and check out the television personally in showrooms.
Personally i prefer IPS panels of LG as they're of usually very good quality and i like the large viewing angles and nice colors.
Make sure to get a tv with atleast 120hz refresh rate and a low input lag time if you're going to play games on it.
Also go for 4K only if its above 50 inches as below that you would hardly notice the difference between 1080p and 4K.
If you're interested in smart tvs then LG's WEBOS 2.0 is the best smart tv interface followed by Panasonic's 2015 models. You also have these new Android based TVs but the reviews on them aren't so good because of its confusing and complicated interface.

 

[s44]

On the TV side you're really looking at IPS vs VA, which offers better contrast (darker blacks) with slightly worse side-angle saturation. TN is too crappy to be a consideration except maybe on super-cheap sub-30" sets, but maybe not even there any more.

Because the main fidelity issue with LCD sets is black output in a dark (movie-watching) room, people and manufacturers tend to favor VA.

I'd look at http://www.rtings.com/ for good 4K TV reviews and details. Right now the best options are probably Samsung on the high end and Vizio 2015 M/2014 P series (basically the same units for the 60"+ sets) for better pricing at each size point. I'd probably wait a few months for the 2015 Vizio P series myself...

Make sure to get a tv with atleast 120hz refresh rate

More than that - make sure to get a TV with at least a 120hz *real* refresh rate. Most companies have taken to advertising an "effective" refresh (or some brand-variant thereof) at double the real number.

 

[TheAdvocate]

I just bought an LG 55UF6800. it's 4k, IPS, with WebOs 2.0, but it doesn't have their magic remote (which works kinda like a Nintendo controller).

It's a budget set, and not one that has much in the way of info or reviews. Just got it for a decent price to use as a 2nd, wireless/smart set (my main is still my Panasonic Plasma w/ Fire TV, until OLED gets cheap.

Anyway, I'm about to set it up. Not expecting miracles, but I did want smart features and wide viewing angles for that room.

PS its only 60Hz refresh @4k. I know people lose their minds over that, but in my experience, I don't care unless using as a PC monitor. Not worth doubling price to get a good 120 or 240 set.

 

[mohit9206]

How much did it cost? According to articles I've read an average person cannot perceive the difference between 1080p and 4K umder 70 inches in size.
You can tell the difference however if you will sit 4 feet away from your tv which you won't because its a 55 inch TV.

 

[TheAdvocate]

I sit 59.25 inches from this TV. It's a long narrow room. By comparison, 14' from 60" Plasma. I thought I might be able to notice it, but I mainly did it for future proofing cause I got a deal for $100 more than comparable 1080p LG. :shrug: $100 isn't much, even if its not much difference.

 

[mohit9206]

Only $100 than 1080p is pretty awesome deal. Congrats.

 

[jpeyton]

LG's IPS 4K displays work great in brightly lit rooms, but have poor contrast and will look average in darker rooms or viewing at night.

I owned one of their new 2015 4K IPS sets for about 2 weeks before I returned it for a Samsung.

 

[TheAdvocate]

..

 

[TheAdvocate]

Alright, so here's a fairly interesting story.

When I posted the other day, my TV was supposed to be delivered that day. I posted in anticipation of unboxing it when I got home. Only... it didn't arrive, despite what the shipping update said (I had a delivery appt, it was on the truck to my house, etc etc). Fast forward several days later. Still hasn't shown up. Amazon support, which was awesome and apologetic, admitted they dropped the ball, had no idea where it was, and gave me a full refund plus a little more for several days of frustration and sitting around waiting for delivery that continued not to happen.

After a couple of days, I realized I still wanted a TV and saw a good deal on the 55UF7600 (also Amazon fulfilment). I ordered it from them, and awaited shipment for yesterday. Just a day later, I got a call from the shipper saying the TV was there and could they bump up the delivery date."Of course".My non techie wife signed for it while I was at work. Got home late that night, and whaddya know, its the lost UF6800. The next morning, the 7600 arrives too. To make a long story short I had a moral dilemma, as I had one TV at my house that I hadn't paid for, and I don't think Amazon realized the mistake.

But I am of course going to do the right thing and call them today to return the over shipment. I explained the situation to my buddy from Jersey and he had me rolling about it "falling off a truck", and what an idiot I am. I have to admit I did wait long enough to unbox the 7600 , get it setup, and make sure I was satisfied. But for the moment, I have over $2200 of TVs that I have collectively paid a grand total of $800 for.

The 7600 for about $800 ($1200 retail), is still a great deal, and its legit, so no guilt.

As for a review, I spent most of yesterday putting it through its paces. Setup was fairly quick and easy. The Nintendo style remote some may find gimmicky. The TV and remote learns devices so well that I can almost use it as a universal remote. The TV integrated my cable box so I can browse/set favorites /look at guide through the LG overlay system which is part of the web OS 2.0. The issue is that I can't get it to output optical audio with that system link setup, so I have to use a separate audio remote. Also, the TWC guide so far loads slowly in the LG OS.

I saw a reviewer talking about how convenient it is for every viewing option to be handled as an app by WebOS 2.0. I have to say, I agree. Instead of having various menus and switching inputs, everything from OTA to cable to all the streaming apps are all on the single app bar, and not only can you switch with a single click, but if you leave one, say a streamed movie, it remembers where you were if you click back. Might not be explaining that well, but its such a logical setup that I can't imagine why any other company would do it differently.

The picture... After playing around with settings, I followed rtings.com advice to use Expert 1 settings, and have been fine tuning since. I threw 4k streaming, An NFL game on Cable, and The Matrix (for dark scenes) at it so far:

*True Motion sucks. I despise the Soap Opera effect. Biggest improvement was turning that off.

*Black levels: still tweaking this. It's what I expected though. The 55" OLED has fallen to $1800. If you want (better than) Plasma black, go OLED. I've seen it person several times now, and it lives up to the hype.

*4k upscaling. Seems to depend on the source. Like a tired CSI joke, it can't turn low resolution into 4k clarity, but even a legit 1080i source looked great (I have an ancient HD-DVD player). Handles compressed 1080i cable well, but not perfectly. I did not see any of the supposed judder from 24p blu Ray. You have to tweak settings to make it a workable PC monitor. If that is going to be a primary use, please do yourself a favor and get a 120Hz (240 trumotion) panel. I don't think you'll be satisfied with this. Again, that OLED is 240... Just sayin.

Overall though, its a great bargain TV. I absolutely love WebOS 2.0. The IPS panel is solid except for weakness in black level detail, and 60Hz is not really viable as a dedicated PC monitor. Viewing angles are good as expected. 4k content is limited at the moment, but future proofing is nice, and anything above or equal to 1080i uncompressed looks fantastic on it. I am very satisfied with the purchase.