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  • Beany2013 - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    Damn, those prices are very tempting as a large display replacement. Shame I'm currently not working, eh?

    I'd sort of ignored 4k up till now, but it looks like displays are getting manufactured at a rate that's bringing price down to the level the rest of us can justify. I'm sure they'll get cheaper, but under £500 (the 40" current version is available on Amazon Uk for £300) is really not bad, given that only a couple of years ago I paid £200 for a 42" 1080p TV that, er, I almost never use...
  • Murloc - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    why buy a 4k TV since you never use the full hd TV either?
  • CSMR - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    It would be good to know if any of these tvs support standby mode when the htpc tells the screen to go into standby.
  • jann5s - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    what is uled?
  • atcronin - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    and thats the beauty of marketing.
  • nathanddrews - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    ULED = Snake oil marketing, nothing more. It's a Quantum Dot Film on a FALD backlight, nothing more. I like HiSense, they offer some decent products for cheap, but this is just pure PR.

    "However, a side chart indicated that OLEDs have trouble reaching brightness levels that can be achieved via ULED technology. In addition, the quantum dots technology being used in ULED TVs can deliver 106% of the NTSC color gamut, while the best OLEDs can only reach 85% of the NTSC color gamut."

    Quoting the HiSense charts taped to the TV?

    For starters, when calibrated properly, the peak brightness of the display is less important, even with HDR. What matters more, especially with HDR content, is the static contrast ratio - which OLED destroys even the best local-dimming LCD. Even with ABL holding it back, OLED is impossible to beat in this area. Compared side-by-side, an LCD will appear brighter than an OLED, but it will also appear more washed out.

    As for NTSC color reproduction, I assume they mean CIE 1953. If so, many current 4K TVs are over 100%, including every OLED I've seen reviewed. I have no idea where they are getting the 85% figure. The inherent problem with that measurement when used as marketing is that one need only reach the same color space area (as a factor of CIE 1931) - but it could be shifted red, green, or blue, and have a bizarre white point - it says nothing about color accuracy. On top of that, there's nothing too impressive about that since 100% NTSC is only ~60% of Rec. 2020, which is the future (present) of 4K and HDR content. Likewise, all current 1080p content is Rec. 709, which is even narrower than NTSC. If HiSense (and LG, Samsung, etc.) wants to impress, they need to publish Rec. 2020 numbers and DCI-P3 numbers.

    I think all but two high-end commercial laser projectors and a couple of OLED professional video monitors are currently capable of getting even close to 100% Rec. 2020. The latest Ultra HD Premium spec from the UHD Alliance requires displays to reach 90% of DCI-P3 in addition for static contrast ratios and specific peak brightness and minimum black levels. All of LG's OLEDs pass and only the best LCDs pass. The Ultra HD Premium badge is the target to hit for 2016.
  • nathanddrews - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    Dat 8K tho...
  • Dug - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    Thanks for pointing all of this out.
  • ganeshts - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    I specifically mention "a side chart indicated" - I didn't say that I agree with those :)

    FWIW, I still prefer the OLED - I don't like cranking up the brightness in my TVs, and the OLED is definitely more pleasing to the eye.

    The problem is mainly the cost and the power consumption for the OLED TVs. I actually don't agree with the other marketing points posted by Hisense.
  • nathanddrews - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    I didn't intend my comment to be accusatory, just inquisitive. OLED is indeed the most impressive display tech I've seen in a long time, but they just need to sort a couple issues (screen door effect is my biggest pet peeve) in order to really go mainstream. Obviously price will have to come down a lot as well, but that's not going to happen as long as LG can lord it over LCD as a premium product.
  • ketacdx - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    Thanks for this. I was thinking it but couldn't say it quite as elegantly.
  • Shadow7037932 - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    It's basically normal LCD but using improved LED back lighting compared to normal LED back lighting.
  • ssj4Gogeta - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    Way to name things deceptively. I thought ULED was a non-backlit display. Turns out it's just a backlighting technique.
  • bds71 - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link

    most LED's (OLED being the exception) are all backlit. technically, OLED is too, but the LED itself is actually the source of the lighting.

    to be more specific, ULED is simply a "full" panel backlight vs the cheaper models that are edge lit. full backlighting gives better brightness uniformity compared to edge lit (backlight elements are only on one edge of the monitor/TV). while this sounds like a small point, it's actually not. with the addition of quantum dot technology, a fully backlit screen can produce "better than average" color gamut, brightness, and overall picture quality. until I can afford OLED (and convinced they will last more than 5 years) this will be precisely the "type" of screen I will have - though probably in the Samsung SUHDTV or Sony XBR version. (both of which are full backlight, quantum dot screens)
  • Techguy53 - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    Hisense has a great picture but they suck at sound. With Vizio you can run any speakers off their headphone jack that you want. Not so with Hisense, try that and it will ruin whatever you connect to it with the exception of headphones. Hisense tech support reps are extremely condescending. I will never purchase one of their products again. Vizio is much more end user friendly all around and perhaps even a better picture, remote and menus.
  • cjs150 - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    Personally I am ignoring 4k until all standard TV channels upgrade to Full HD and there is plenty of 4K content around.
  • douglasm - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    These are supposed to be shipping in two weeks (at least the H7 series), and we have yet to see any details of the TVs themselves. How many HDMI inputs? How many support HDMI 2.0a ? What chips is providing the logic? etc.
  • nobozos - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link

    "in the Smasung SUHDTV series"

    Is Smasung one of those bizarre clone vendors?

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