Which TV should I get- LG C2 OLED or Samsung QN90B QLED?

[MrHT]

I'm thinking of upgrading my Sony 43X800E TV to something bigger and better. What drove me to this decision is to substantially improve the HDR experience. I don't want to just get a cheap $400 TV since I want to use this opportunity to get something really good that's around $1,000, give or take. After researching these past couple of weeks, I have narrowed down my choices two TVs-

LG C2 OLED- https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c2-oled

or

Samsung QN90B QLED- https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/qn90b-qled

Both seem like top of the line TVs, except one is OLED and another is QLED. I've heard a lot of great things about the OLED TV, but they don't get as bright and there's that risk of burn in. And those are big caveats for me. With the QLED, it's brighter and no burn in risk. And because of that, I'm leaning more towards the Samsung QN90B QLED TV. It may not be as good with contrast and black level, but it's still very good based on the specs on rtings.

I'm going to use it mainly for movies/tv shows. No video games. I'll be watching in a moderately lit room, meaning I'll be watching with the lights on, but no direct sunlight from the windows since I always keep my blinds closed.

So what do you think is the best choice- LG C2 OLED or Samsung QN90B QLED?

Also, I'm aware of the lack of Dolby Vision on the Samsung TV. So please do let me know if that is a deal breaker.

[Retroj23]

I own an LG C1 so I'm going to be a little biased but I would really recommend the C2. I upgraded from an old Panny plasma and it's been night and day in terms of pic quality. I was skeptical of Dolby Vision at first but damn, it just pops. So my recommendation is the C2.

[Spooked]

Is there a reason you omitted the Sony Bravia XR A90K? The price seems to be in line with the LG. Just curious.

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by Spooked

Is there a reason you omitted the Sony Bravia XR A90K? The price seems to be in line with the LG. Just curious.

Sorry I didn't specify, but I'm looking for a 55" and the A90K doesn't come in that size.

Having said that, I am considering the X90K, which is cheaper than the two I mentioned above. But I wonder how much I'm sacrificing with peak brightness because it is significantly lower than the Sammy QN90B

[slimdude]

Another thing to take into consideration about Samsung TVs is that they don't support Dolby Vision, only HDR10 and HDR10+. All the major and independent studios have adopted and are supporting Dolby Vision. There are hundreds of 4K UHD titles that has Dolby Vision, a lot more than HDR10+.

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Another thing to take into consideration about Samsung TVs is that they don't support Dolby Vision, only HDR10 and HDR10+. All the major and independent studios have adopted and are supporting Dolby Vision. There are hundreds of 4K UHD titles that has Dolby Vision, a lot more than HDR10+.

Yeah, that's definitely something that has been making me toss and turn at night. I know some people say it doesn't matter, but it's good to have it to "future proof" the TV since many 4K content uses it. To spend $1,300 and not get DV support is hard to swallow.

After thinking this through, I probably might end up buying the Sony XR55X90K instead. The peak brightness on rtings is fairly good, it's got excellent contrast, local dimming, and supports Dolby Vision. Peak Brightness isn't as good as the Samsung, but it seems ok and with the high contrast ratio and local dimming feature, HDR content should still look very good. It's a little cheaper than the Samsung at $1,000 but if I wait until Black Friday, maybe I'll get a great deal on it. So I'll wait it out until then and see...

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Retroj23

I own an LG C1 so I'm going to be a little biased but I would really recommend the C2. I upgraded from an old Panny plasma and it's been night and day in terms of pic quality. I was skeptical of Dolby Vision at first but damn, it just pops. So my recommendation is the C2.

I second the emotion. I also have a LG 65" OLED, and it's breathtaking. With QLED TVs, the viewing angles are not very good. The viewer will have to sit direct in front of the screen to see the full picture quality.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by Retroj23

I own an LG C1 so I'm going to be a little biased but I would really recommend the C2. I upgraded from an old Panny plasma and it's been night and day in terms of pic quality. I was skeptical of Dolby Vision at first but damn, it just pops. So my recommendation is the C2.

+1 for DV compatibility with LG.

[cminer72]

At the end of the day, if you are worried about burn in (it can happen even on the newer ones), you will enjoy the Samsung more. You won't be worrying about it constantly. And they are very good TVs. I've found LGs electronics to be garbage for reliability. If you bought a Sony OLED, the panel would be LG, but the electronics would be Sony. And I've had better luck with Sony. Plus, Sony's picture quality is always the best. Gamers tend to gravitate to LG, cinema people to Sony. Samsung is a good middle ground.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by MrHT

I'll be watching in a moderately lit room, meaning I'll be watching with the lights on, but no direct sunlight from the windows since I always keep my blinds closed.

I'd get the QLed in that case.

[McGarnigal]

Oled

[Robert Zohn]

Love Samsung's very aggressive promotional prices on all sizes of the QN90B MiniLED TV.

In our showroom we have Samsung's QN90B and the QN900B next to each-other and the QN90B delivers a very similar image quality to the more expensive QN900B 8K TV.

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Love Samsung's very aggressive promotional prices on all sizes of the QN90B MiniLED TV.

In our showroom we have Samsung's QN90B and the QN900B next to each-other and the QN90B delivers a very similar image quality to the more expensive QN900B 8K TV.

Yeah, and the one thing that has me thinking right now and how well that Samsung was calibrated at the factory to give me that WOW reaction.

I really wonder if I'm being swindled into buying the Samsung when the Sony could be more than good enough for me. With a combination of good demo material and aggressive calibration, one can easily make a TV standout as looking significantly better than the other.

So I still need to think about this some more. For all I know, the Sony X90K may be all I really need and I'm being tricked into buying the more expensive one.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by MrHT

Yeah, and the one thing that has me thinking right now and how well that Samsung was calibrated at the factory to give me that WOW reaction.

Samsung generally boost everything for more pop, and if it was in store mode I'd assume it was really boosted. They even double the brightness for Filmmaker Mode and that's supposed to be the most accurate. They have made some efforts with EOTF tracking, but they're always trying to "out pop" the display next to them.

[Robert Zohn]

One thing to keep in mind is that we're comparing a very very nice Backlit LCD/LED TV vs a MiniLED LCD/LED TV. The fairer comparison when you just consider the display type would be Samsung's QN90B vs. Sony's X95K.

Of course, Sony's X95K is higher priced than Samsung's QN90B, but they are both in the same category of MiniLED and both the same class in the TV line-up.

With all this said you are considering two of the very best TVs in their respective price category so they are both excellent choices.

[Lozin]

I've had my QN90B for two weeks now and the first few days before full calibration everything looked good except for satellite tv which looked just ok but after full calibration I'm totally amazed at how great the QN90B really is, everything looks phenomenal. I was saving up some 4K titles to watch as I knew I was getting a new tv and over the weekend I watched Morbious, Spider-Man No Way Home, Doctor Strange & The Multiverse Of Madness and Thor Love & Thunder all were on 4K Blu-Ray except for Morbious which was Digital Itunes and I used the Panasonic UB820 set to super high luminance as per the tv's peak brightness of 1700 - 2000 nits and I was absolutely blown away they all looked incredible and it showcases just how far TV's have come since my last & first 4K set Panasonic DX900 of 2016. The movie that hit the most was Doctor Strange & The Multiverse Of Madness, that movie was meant for displays like the QN90B it was an absolutely incredible movie watching experience, the brightness was insane. I almost went X95K but the lack of HDMI 2.1 ports that are non-earc took it off my list. I have no regrets and would recommend it to anyone. Fomo was right when he said that the lack of Dolby Vision is a non issue especially with higher end Samsung sets as they do HDR so well.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Lozin

I've had my QN90B for two weeks now and the first few days before full calibration everything looked good except for satellite tv which looked just ok but after full calibration I'm totally amazed at how great the QN90B really is, everything looks phenomenal. I was saving up some 4K titles to watch as I knew I was getting a new tv and over the weekend I watched Morbious, Spider-Man No Way Home, Doctor Strange & The Multiverse Of Madness and Thor Love & Thunder all were on 4K Blu-Ray except for Morbious which was Digital Itunes and I used the Panasonic UB820 set to super high luminance as per the tv's peak brightness of 1700 - 2000 nits and I was absolutely blown away they all looked incredible and it showcases just how far TV's have come since my last & first 4K set Panasonic DX900 of 2016. The movie that hit the most was Doctor Strange & The Multiverse Of Madness, that movie was meant for displays like the QN90B it was an absolutely incredible movie watching experience, the brightness was insane. I almost went X95K but the lack of HDMI 2.1 ports that are non-earc took it off my list. I have no regrets and would recommend it to anyone. Fomo was right when he said that the lack of Dolby Vision is a non issue especially with higher end Samsung sets as they do HDR so well.

Even though HDR10 looks good in general, it's nice to have Dolby Vision compatibility on an 4K TV as well, considering there are hundreds of Dolby Vision 4K movies available, with many more coming soon. If a person is going to buy a high end 4K TV, it's best to get one that includes all the premium features of the 4K technology, and Dolby Vision is one of them, especially if you have a 4K Blu-ray player that's Dolby Vision compliant. I can't imagine having a high-end or state of the art 4K TV without it. Personally, If I was going to pay $1,500.00 plus for a high quality 4K TV it would have Dolby Vision.

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Even though HDR10 looks good in general, it's nice to have Dolby Vision compatibility on an 4K TV as well, considering there are hundreds of Dolby Vision 4K movies available, with many more coming soon. If a person is going to buy a high end 4K TV, it's best to get one that includes all the premium features of the 4K technology, and Dolby Vision is one of them, especially if you have a 4K Blu-ray player that's Dolby Vision compliant. I can't imagine having a high-end or state of the art 4K TV without it. Personally, If I was going to pay $1,500.00 plus for a high quality 4K TV it would have Dolby Vision.

That's the part I don't get. I don't understand how Samsung could charge so much money for a TV when they're not even paying the licensing for DV.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by MrHT

That's the part I don't get. I don't understand how Samsung could charge so much money for a TV when they're not even paying the licensing for DV.

Absolutely. Samsung is the only brand that doesn't support Dolby Vision, and I think it's out of stubbornness. It's not because of the money because they can very well afford to pay Dolby Laboratories and the extra manufacturing cost to make their 4K TVs Dolby Vision compatible. If the three main budget TVs such as: TCL, Vizio and Hisense can support Dolby Vision so can Samsung, who's been manufacturing TVs for decades before TCL, Vizio and Hisense.

[Lozin]

Originally Posted by MrHT

That's the part I don't get. I don't understand how Samsung could charge so much money for a TV when they're not even paying the licensing for DV.

I think it all depends on where you are buying it from. Here in Canada I got the 65" QN90B for $1900 where the Hisense U88H is $1800 so for only a $100 more it was a no brainer for me and the LG G2 I was going to buy was $2900 from a different dealer and they wouldn't budge from that price. As good as the G2 is its not $1000 more good to me. Now if you buy straight from the manufacturer I'd expect you to pay more and wouldn't recommend it at all.