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'true black' - half marketing spiel, half logic
Effectively what TV manufacturers say is that with a regular LCD, it's impossible to achieve a true black on the screen. This is because the backlight of the TV is always on 100%, and the LCD panel adjusts the colour being shown, creating the image. In an area of black (the night sky for example), the pixels try to show nothing, but the backlight behind is still pushing light through. This presents itself as inky blue/greys. More advanced LCD/LED tvs recently have a few tricks - either they can adjust the brightness of the backlight (known as local dimming) across the screen, so one area of the screen that is largely black can be dimmed more than a very light area.... though this doesn't work that well if there's a small bright part amongst black - say a single star in the night sky.
There are two types of advanced backlighting tvs. Conventional edge lit, where the backlight (made up of maybe 8-10 parts) is along the bottom and fires light up, and FALD (Full Array local Dimming), which sees individual backlights in rows and coloums behind the panel. FALD is better, but often more expensive. Edge lit will see noticable 'bands' of light..... So if you have a night sky and a moon in the corner, most of the screen will be dark, but the 'band' on the edge of the screen will be illuminated, not just the moon. With FALD, the idea is that only the moon is illuminted, but in practice there is some light leakage into the black, though better than edge lit.
True black as an idea in modern tech is pushed with OLED, where the panel, by creating its own light in the pixels has perfect contrast. That means you can have some pixels on very bright, immediately next to a pixel that is off, showing black.
Simply put, 'true black' is the idea that black is not a colour, more the absence of light. In current TVs, only OLEDs can produce true black, as the technology allows them to shut off all light creation when not needed.
What does this mean for you? Regular TV, probably not a lot. If you're a movie fan, you might prefer the better contrasts between the colours and blacks, particularly of the 'letter box' ratios. An FALD TV (both of the ones you chose) will give you brighter pictures with decent contrasts and pretty good black performance - definitely better on the Sony than the LG .Unfortunately at current, there are no OLEDs in your size, but there are plans to start production of a 48 inch oled next year.
Between the two tvs you're interested - put simply, the Sony is the better TV for picture quality, the LG the better option for operating system and connectivity.
The Sony uses a VA panel, which enables the TV to go brighter, more contrast from front on, arguably better accuracy for movies. Sony's processor means that sports/gaming may look slightly better as Sony's motion processing is potentially the best available. The OS is OK, not the best on the market but still usable and gives you all the main apps.
The LG uses an IPS panel, which means it can't go as bright, black performance isn't as good, contrast may not be as good. However, this means its better from an off-centre angle (the colours won't wash out as much/brightness won't fall away from sharper angles) and LG claim their technology delivers more accurate colours over brighter images. LG's OS is arguably the best on the market with the magic remote, brings a cursor on screen for easy navigation. Full Google/Alexa control if you need it, has HDMI 2.1 (will be beneficial if you choose to upgrade to the PS5/Xbox Scarlett in the future).
 My best value TVs, 2019-2020 Edition My best value TVs, 2019-2020 Edition So here we are again. Its that time of year. The first time it usually becomes viable to purchase a newly released model! Please read this post before posting and asking for advice. Include all the information we need to recommend you the right TV! Before... www.avforums.com
On balance, despite being an LG fan, my choice would be the Sony - one could argue its the best 49 inch tv on the market. It's small shortcomings in the OS compared to the LG are more than compensated for in the picture, it depends on what matters to you. Of course, you might want to wait until January to see whether LG officially announce a smaller OLED......
@Dodgexander don't know if you agree? And whether you wanted to move the thread to Which Tv..... |
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1-12-2019 22:08:46
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