43" TV recomendations?

[Terry - Somerset]

If your current TV is more than 10 years old and obviously under performing, most decent makes will provide improved and totally adequate sound and picture on a 43" TV.

The additional quality of expensive technology may be apparent on very large screens - for instance a 75" screen will have an area 3 times that of a 43" which makes the number of pixels and processing power critical.

 

[Amplidyne]

To be honest I've never really explored all the stuff on that LG.
It reacts fast enough though. Just seems normal for sound and stuff. The menus the set take a second or two to come up, but then you don't need them that often.
I stream stuff off Prime, and did have Now for a bit, and they worked fine, as does YouTube.

 

[Ollie78]

If your current TV is more than 10 years old and obviously under performing, most decent makes will provide improved and totally adequate sound and picture on a 43" TV.

The additional quality of expensive technology may be apparent on very large screens - for instance a 75" screen will have an area 3 times that of a 43" which makes the number of pixels and processing power critical.

I must disagree about the sound quality, most of the tvs are so skinny now there is only room for crappy speakers which despite modern technology still sound rubbish. I recommend a soundbar and sub woofer as a minimum.

People forget about pixel density.
I have a 1440p monitor which is unusual in that it is only 24 inch size, the advantage of this is very high pixels per inch. It looks so much crisper than a 27 inch with the same resolution. The crispest screen in our house is probably a tablet with a 2k screen 12 inch size.

 

[whatknot]

Curious about the need to change the brightness as we've never changed ours on our Samsung 55". Another thing to think about is streaming services if you're into that as most TVs these days have the ability to instal streaming apps.

As far as the main 43" TV goes, my wife says its got gradually darker and darker over a long period, so have tried every setting with this TV but to no avail, so conclude its just gradually passing away, having someone look at it is not cost effective these days, its a few years old so its done its time

Re the bedroom TV I mentioned, the old Samsung had an ECO setting (I think that was what it was called) to easily change it from a full bright picture to a couple of different settings which effectively dimmed the picture, the full bright screen was to much on my eyes in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, this new JVC has no such setting, in fact its so convoluted to change a setting I have given up trying, its just to much faff in the wee small hours, when the old set was a couple of clicks with the remote

I don't think they make a set these days that does not have the ability or has streaming built in, both the present sets do

I find the TVs these days far to complicated for even the smallest changes

 

[whatknot]

If your current TV is more than 10 years old and obviously under performing, most decent makes will provide improved and totally adequate sound and picture on a 43" TV.

The additional quality of expensive technology may be apparent on very large screens - for instance a 75" screen will have an area 3 times that of a 43" which makes the number of pixels and processing power critical.

I just had to scout around for the model number and work out the year, which it appears is a 2016

Yes I can see the point of more bells and whistles with a larger screen but she is happy with a 43", anything larger would look silly where the TV lives

 

[whatknot]

Last year we bought an LG 43" TV - excellent but a search shows the model as currently unavailable.

It replaced a smaller stop gap 32" TV bought during house renovations which was poor - mainly as the processor/software was very slow when watching online rather than through an ariel. It was tried in the kitchen (which had no ariel socket) eventually replaced with another 32" LG.

Although tempting to go for cheap - in this case it may be better to pay a little more for good.

Yes not so bothered by budget as its her main form of entertainment but knowing what is a good or not so good set is proving to be harder than it should be

We don't have a shop with working TVs you can try unless you do a 35 mile round trip, not sure evn that would help as set ups in a store are likely to be different to a home set up

I wouldn't mind so much but I don't even watch the thing ;-)

 

[whatknot]

I am drowning in a sea of choices, even limiting it to just a 43" LG

Curries have 11 42" LG sets from £200 up to £1500
(just an example, not saying I would buy from them)

The top three are OLED from £900 to £1500 which we can't justify spending unless there was a paramount reason for doing so

So what dictates the speed of the remaining £200 to £430 sets (as in speed it reacts to a command)

They all say they are smart TVs, all HDR all but the cheapest say a5 AI processor , all state 60hz refresh rate

So whats the difference ?

Thoroughly cheesed off spending the night on this :-(

 

[Ollie78]

I am drowning in a sea of choices, even limiting it to just a 43" LG

Curries have 11 42" LG sets from £200 up to £1500
(just an example, not saying I would buy from them)

The top three are OLED from £900 to £1500 which we can't justify spending unless there was a paramount reason for doing so

So what dictates the speed of the remaining £200 to £430 sets (as in speed it reacts to a command)

They all say they are smart TVs, all HDR all but the cheapest say a5 AI processor , all state 60hz refresh rate

So whats the difference ?

Thoroughly cheesed off spending the night on this :-(

Pretty much all tvs will have a 60hz refresh rate, some may have more and pc monitors often have way more like 165hz etc. 60 hz is fine.

I would not worry too mich about the processor speed, all will be better than your old one I suspect.
OLED is fantastic but possibly not worth the money, it has super good contrast because the black pixels are turned off.

A lot of the tvs will use the same panels as each other even on different brands I think LG and Samsung make them mostly.

I suggest a decent brand name is helpful . My Samsung is 20 years old and won`t die, Sony are good as well.

There are websites that review and compare tv`s but you can be easily confused by too much information and caring about details that are not relevant to your use case.
The currys comparison thing is not too bad.

The differences can be basic likeis it full hd or 4k or smaller things like which HDMI standard is it on (1.4 or 2 etc) does it have Dolby atmos ( a Dolby licenced sound processor) , does it have a standard led, qled or OLED , which HDR standard can it do, type of backlighting, energy efficiency.

do you use freesat ? or freeview ?
do you want alexa ?

I was in Currys last week looking at the tv`s the choice is insane but most are huge. I find a lot of them almost too bright but I am sure you can adjust them. Quite liked the qled ones, kind of in the middle between normal lcd and OLED.

If you buy online you can return it within 14 days if you really don`t get on with it.

 

[MikeJhn]

You can't go wrong with a Sony Bravia Smart TV, I would go as far as saying it's as near instantaneous that it's not noticeable on changing anything.

 

[okeydokey]

Hi whatnot
I sympathise and had the same problem a few years back.
If I've read this correctly you currently have a JVC TV. JVC are a budget brand, any of the big names such as Samsung Lg will be much better in picture quality which is probably most important.

Size, although you state 43 is fine you will be surprised as I was that you will be able to go a bit bigger and after 5 minutes be pleased you went that touch larger, so do look at 48 or so don't be blinkered. Screen size is measured diagonally. When fitting it onto a space the actual horizontal measurement ls as or more important than the stated screen size. I suspect that as the frame around the screens have become thinner the picture is larger within the same size horizontal measurement.

How do you receive your TV aerial signal should be considered, if a traditional TV roof aerial you should be able to have freeview and you can stay with that. I expect you have broadband so you can easily connect your TV wirelessly to the router and get a larger selection of channels both TV and radio. If you have a dish so much the better.

So in summary get a big name not a shop own brand. Really look at size
Consider how your TV is connected.
Although distance to a good retailer might be an issue consider the number of hours the TV will be watched so it's worth the journey
Richer Sounds - Currys - John Lewis etc will be able to advise. I think Currys will deliver and set it up for you. Good luck

 

[Jester129]

Many Sony tv's emit the sound THROUGH the screen! And the sound from the tv's are quite good. Super fast to start, and channel-hopping is a breeze.

 

[Chief Sawdust Maker]

Yes not so bothered by budget as its her main form of entertainment but knowing what is a good or not so good set is proving to be harder than it should be

We don't have a shop with working TVs you can try unless you do a 35 mile round trip, not sure evn that would help as set ups in a store are likely to be different to a home set up

I wouldn't mind so much but I don't even watch the thing ;-)

I would certainly make the trip so as you can see the difference side by side

I have brought over 10 tv's all from the same small family owned shop. The service is fantastic

I always call before I visit and the owner saves various programs that I watch on a recorder for me ready for my visit, I feel that's important as often some of the larger stores run a network with clips and programs perhaps enhanced to show the best aspects of the TV.

The shop i use also will site tv's next to each other for a direct comparison, unlike the big stores that tend to group by manufacture. He has even sent out a couple of tv's for me to look at when I couldn't make my mind up as to which size i wanted.

Another point to note is to ensure the tv is set up correctly for your room auto this and auto that are all ok in an ideal setting, I always have mine set up by an engineer and the difference they can make to picture and sound is great

I aim to change mine around ever 5 years as most now offer 5 year warranty, I move the main tv to another room for the new one to come in.

I have no brand loyalty, I have owned Sony, Philips, Panasonic & LG, I have spent many thousands over the years I have probably owned more Sony's than anything else to be honest if i had more spare cash i would most likely change mine every 12 months.

Sometimes its not the right time to change and on a couple of occasions my supplier has said to me just stick with what you have for x more months as there is some revised stuff due out or a certain manufacturer is bringing out new model which may have the edge over an existing model.

I am just about to commence research for an upgrade I will do a lot of looking online and also buy a few magazines as well as contacting my local supplier for his thoughts, just a brief chat as i never want to waste his time.

Please make sure you compare exact models against exact models when it come down to price a letter or number missing or added on a model number can make a lot of difference and I have in the past noticed that some of the big nationwide retailers sometimes have models exclusive to them.

Sorry for the long ramble which most likely hasnt helped with you choice, I suppose I am an advocate for local retailers

 

[whatknot]

A lot of the tvs will use the same panels as each other even on different brands I think LG and Samsung make them mostly.

I suggest a decent brand name is helpful . My Samsung is 20 years old and won`t die, Sony are good as well.

There are websites that review and compare tv`s but you can be easily confused by too much information and caring about details that are not relevant to your use case.
The currys comparison thing is not too bad.

The differences can be basic likeis it full hd or 4k or smaller things like which HDMI standard is it on (1.4 or 2 etc) does it have Dolby atmos ( a Dolby licenced sound processor) , does it have a standard led, qled or OLED , which HDR standard can it do, type of backlighting, energy efficiency.

do you use freesat ? or freeview ?
do you want alexa ?

I was in Currys last week looking at the tv`s the choice is insane but most are huge. I find a lot of them almost too bright but I am sure you can adjust them. Quite liked the qled ones, kind of in the middle between normal lcd and OLED.

If you buy online you can return it within 14 days if you really don`t get on with it.

Thanks for your reply, yes refresh rate appears to be the same on all I have looked at
The processor doesn't worry me but obviously just want the best available for the price

Given the extra cost OLED is out

I did suspect a lot of these TVs will have similar innards made by one or two assembled or labelled by various companies, like so many things these days

Yes I am looking for a known brand, LG, Samsung or Sony appear to be top of the list

I have no idea what the difference is between full HD or 4k or HDR? (sorry I do now, well to a point) ;-)

As I said originally I don't watch the TV, or only rarely so, its used by my wife for Disney+, freeview, and the various ITVX etc, we have had NOWTV

I was not aware that buying online gave you 14 days to return, reading the sales of goods on the GOV site its ambiguous

 

[glenfield2]

Following this thread with interest as our 32in smart Samsung is mortally wounded. It can no longer receive ‘live’ tv via the aerial channels. Our local aerial specialist has checked that the aerial itself is ok. (Oddly all the live channels suddenly reappeared one day, only to vanish again next day.)
We currently watch everything via the internet which is fine in theory but makes channel changing laborious and ITVX is unusably bad (fortunately not a big problem here.)
Sound quality on slim TVs is awful for oldies like us. We have a small sound bar which helps.Old programmes are relatively clear but modern ones much less so as prog makers like to use more ‘atmospheric’ effects - like mumbling!
Our aerial man’s advice was ‘unless you want a fancy one they’re pretty much all the same these days. Just go to a big store like Curry’s or Tesco and buy one’.

 

[accipiter]

I'm in the process of looking at a replacement TV as you are. I'm drawn to the Hisense range - which appear to get good reviews. Available from Argos, Amazon and, no doubt, PC World... 43" range from around £300 to £350

Something else to consider seems to be the differences between "Freeview" and the newer "Freely" - Freely not being the same as Freeview, and a new type - I'll not try to explain here but Google (or other) would help. Same goes with the differences between UHD etc.. & QLED...

As for the JVC... yep! I've one in the bedroom... pain in the butt for slowness when first switched on... I've found that, sometimes, switching off and back on will speed things up - but I won't get another JVC tv.

 

[whatknot]

You can't go wrong with a Sony Bravia Smart TV, I would go as far as saying it's as near instantaneous that it's not noticeable on changing anything.

Looking at Sony Bravia they seem to only do one 43" at £500

I still don't know what I would get for a £500 Sony compared to a £300 something else

 

[whatknot]

Following this thread with interest as our 32in smart Samsung is mortally wounded. It can no longer receive ‘live’ tv via the aerial channels. Our local aerial specialist has checked that the aerial itself is ok. (Oddly all the live channels suddenly reappeared one day, only to vanish again next day.)
We currently watch everything via the internet which is fine in theory but makes channel changing laborious and ITVX is unusably bad (fortunately not a big problem here.)
Sound quality on slim TVs is awful for oldies like us. We have a small sound bar which helps.Old programmes are relatively clear but modern ones much less so as prog makers like to use more ‘atmospheric’ effects - like mumbling!
Our aerial man’s advice was ‘unless you want a fancy one they’re pretty much all the same these days. Just go to a big store like Curry’s or Tesco and buy one’.

I had a 32" Samsung in the bedroom which died one day, diagnosed the problem and ordered a used board online, worked a treat for a further two years then had problems watching any channel through the aerial, so bought a JVC to replace it, I can categorically say that just buying one as they are all the same is definitley not correct, the JVC is rubbish compared to the Samsung, incredibly slow to do anything, from start up to changing channels, sound isn't a problem as most of my watching is in the middle of the night so no sound and use substitles ;-)

The Samsung is being used by our daughter for her games so is still in use

 

[MikeJhn]

Looking at Sony Bravia they seem to only do one 43" at £500

I still don't know what I would get for a £500 Sony compared to a £300 something else

In a word "Reliability"