Does TV picture quality even matter with less than reference quality material?

[caiman]

For years I've been obsessed with picture quality on the TVs I buy. I'm currently enjoying my Panny 65ST60 plasma, which I purchased for its stellar PQ reviews. When I first got it I popped in Prometheus to bask in the set's inky blacks and superb colors. But I soon went back to my more typical viewing habits, which consist mainly of 80s horror, silent films, low budget indie movies, and grainy 70s stuff.

Now that I've had this set for a few years, I've begun giving consideration to my next TV. OLED seems like the logical option. But the vast price difference between OLED and top-performing LEDs is what led me to start thinking about this. Do I REALLY need to pay an extra $2,500 considering the type of stuff I spend ~85% of my time watching? Will Basket Case, Buster Keaton shorts and Luis Buñuel films REALLY benefit from OLED technology?

[grodd]

Originally Posted by caiman

For years I've been obsessed with picture quality on the TVs I buy. I'm currently enjoying my Panny 65ST60 plasma, which I purchased for its stellar PQ reviews. When I first got it I popped in Prometheus to bask in the set's inky blacks and superb colors. But I soon went back to my more typical viewing habits, which consist mainly of 80s horror, silent films, low budget indie movies, and grainy 70s stuff.

Now that I've had this set for a few years, I've begun giving consideration to my next TV. OLED seems like the logical option. But the vast price difference between OLED and top-performing LEDs is what led me to start thinking about this. Do I REALLY need to pay an extra $2,500 considering the type of stuff I spend ~85% of my time watching? Will Basket Case, Buster Keaton shorts and Luis Buñuel films REALLY benefit from OLED technology?

In short yes. I'm a huge 80's horror fan and I'm watching all of my movies over again. Halloween, Nightmare on Elm street, Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw (in 4k). All of them look so much better.

[Bourne1886]

I think so, lots of films have been remastered in 4K all be it down scaled to 1080P and look so much better than DVD and previous Bluray transfers. Having a better quality to helps you appreciate the film more as you are getting the full benefit of the lovely shiny discs!

[slimdude]

If you don't desperately need a new HDTV, and your current Plasma still looks good and performing to your satisfaction, hang on to it! I wouldn't spend the extra money unnecessary for a new TV, especially when you don't have to. You can save that money for a raining day, or spend it for something else that you really need. Plasma are now classic HDTVs, and they are no longer being manufactured. I have a 58" Plasma for four years now, and as long as it's still playing and functioning good, I'm not going to get rid of it just to keep up with the Joneses.If that's the case, you'll be buying a new TV every two to three years, whenever a new video technology arrive on the market.

[punisher]

I'm very happy with my Panny plasmas. The video quality is superb no matter what the 4k OLED people say theirs is. All you see is them *****ing and bragging.Most never owned a plasma and were foolish LCD LED owners so this is their first time ever seeing what a tv should look like.The video world is 1080p, blu rays, and a lot of sd dvds and telecasts. 4K and Oled have a lot of catching up to do. They make great show pieces for video loops but real world use they offer little improvement and in some cases, motion/sports, a whole lot less.4K blu ray players have issues and 4K discs have a limited library and are mostly up conversions. As much as I love new technology and enjoy were it's going, at this point in time I see no reason or feel no need to "upgrade". I felt entirely different when I invested in my plasma tv's. No regrets there..well..just one..I should have never sold my Pioneer 111fd Elite tv.

[Steedeel]

Yes, it matters.

[SPIDERone]

Will 80's horror look better on an OLED? Probably not. At least not enough to really see it as an 'upgrade'. I think where you see the biggest benefit is in how well they handle the content and what processing they can do.

I had a late model Panasonic 50" Plasma until a week ago and loved it. I still use a smaller 32" Panasonic LED (one that cost way too much, but handled 1080p and 3D content beautifully) but I also just bought a 65" LG OLED to replace the plasma.. and I love it.

One thing I noticed though, was that while the 50" Plasma handled older content (DVD content) beautifully, the newer 32" LED handled them terribly. Anything below 1080p was pretty much unusable. I'm happy to say that the OLED also handles content amazingly with the right settings turned on - this applies to DVD content, streaming and lower budget 80s movies that never looked great.

If your plasma worked great, I'd stick with it. I bought the 4k set to get a large screen 3D set, something a bit bigger than the plasma (50" -> 65") and figured why not future-proof it by going with an OLED and HDR.

[Moonlight Shadow]

I've had plasma TVs by Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung.
The picture quality on my current LG OLED is the best I've ever seen.
Yes, it matters.