Did you upgrade your TV/monitor for the current gen?

[partious]

And for those of you who got something more modest than a 4K OLED(we know they're great), how worth it was the upgrade when compared to your old 1080p, 60fps screen?

 

I recently put together a decent PC, mainly for playing VR games. My previous PC was still doing OK at 1080p in non-vr stuff despite being ancient (old i7 and gtx780ti).

Now that I have the PC I'm feeling like I should upgrade my monitor since 1080p 60fps feels like a waste of the hardware/doesn't feel any different than my old PC in most games. Large 4K OLED TVs and other high end displays aren't on the menu. To be honest I haven't been blown away by 1440p/4K display monitors in shops (aside from high end OLED TVs) and the "compare 60hz and 144hz by moving a mouse in a fps demo" thing in my local computer shop did nothing for me. 

Are these the type of things that once you spend some time with them you realize they're a big jump, or is 1080p and a rock solid 60fps good enough?

[Mr. Gerbik]

I upgraded to a LG CX 55" OLED and man that was one of the best gaming investments I've ever made going from a 1080p LCD. It's astounding the difference it made. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. I could never go back. It was transformative - playing old 360 games like Mirror's Edge and FFXIII which have been enhanced on XSX is mind-blowing seeing it on that telly. It's almost as if you're looking at a fancy Bluepoint remake. I bought the CX right before the start of the current gen and it *still* impresses the fuck out of me every time I fire games like that up. Worth every penny and then some.

 

Edit: it's not just the resolution, it's the OLED visual quality and the HDR/Dolby Vision. It's mind-blowing.

 

[partious]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

I upgraded to a LG CX 55" OLED and man that was one of the best gaming investments I've ever made going from 1080p LCD. It's astounding the difference it made. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. I could never go back. It was transformative - playing old 360 games like Mirror's Edge and FFXIII which have been enhanced on XSX are mind-blowing to look at on that telly. It still impresses the fuck out of me every time I fire them up. Worth every penny and then some.

 

 

Yes, this is the one upgrade I know is definitely a major step up, it's the options below it that I'm not so sure about. 

[englishbob]

Yes I did, eventually - only since around March this year - updated the 1080p screen for an LG C1 OLED 4K for the PS5 and 4K Blu-Ray. It was an expensive outlay, but I managed to plan it so that I didn't have to upgrade the AV Amp so half what I thought it might be

[Nick R]

Still on a 720p Panasonic plasma.

 

No upgrade yet because:

 

1. I rarely replace stuff that's still working perfectly well.

2. I don't want to lose my SCART socket!

[dataDave]

1. I upgrade my PC monitors and our downstairs TV every five years or so. Never for any particular purpose. By far the biggest improvement has been the jump from 60Hz to 165Hz. Games are butter smooth when the 3080 can actually push them fast enough, and even just moving windows and code around improves my working experience immeasurably.

 

2. The second most impactful upgrade has been seeing games drenched in full-fat RTX ray-tracing and all the other embellishments that come with the RTX suite. That's a GPU thing though, and not necessarily linked to the display hardware. I didn't need to upgrade my monitor for this.

 

3. Finally getting my hands on a PVM back in 2017 was pretty special. I went on a rampage sampling everything I could on it, and I still do this thanks to the MiSTer. Playing all the 16-bit consoles and 90s arcade games with literally zero lag and reference quality RGB has been a life goal of mine for as long as I remember. I'm upgrading to a 20" PVM shortly, and will be making the drive over to the UK mostly for that purpose.

 

That said I've yet to try the MiSTer on our new 77" LG G1.  I salvaged our old 4K 55" Samsung LED from downstairs and it looks incredible on there as it is.

 

If I lost everything and had to start again on a budget (this has happened twice, almost three times before) I'd chose 1080p/240Hz over a higher resolution or HDR. That's an easy decision to make. OLED/HDR/Dolby Vision is great, and definitely an upgrade... It just doesn't blow my balls off, and doesn't quite make the top three up there. Maybe because I've always had everything calibrated to the hilt in the past. I'd say that initially getting the 55" Samsung and calibrating it had much more of an impact than seeing HDR/Dolby Vision for the first time.

 

I'm due a PC monitor upgrade next year, so I'm looking into the ultra wides. I mostly play Skyrim/Cyberpunk, so I think I'd benefit there.

[Fry Crayola]

I haven't upgraded as I lack the space, plus I've always been of the mind that ignorance is often bliss. Or at least cheap.

 

If I move in the next year or two then I might get something bigger but for the time being, playing at a desk on my 22", 1080p screen will just have to do.

[bumgut]

Nah. 1080p for my ps5.

 

I figured if my baseline is 60fps, why go for 4K when that will probably be 30 fps or drop frames?

[Hitcher]

Twice.

 

First for a 65" LG C8 (4K, HDR) which I then upgraded to a 65" LG CX (Dolby Vision, VRR).

[Uncle Mike]

I think I've linked purchasing the next gen console and a new TV for the last couple of generations, it's a great decision. 

[Shimmyhill]

I would say if you do upgrade you need a top tier LCD, OLED or QD-OLED to really get the benefits if you arent impressed with 4k or 120+hz. Assuming your current monitor isnt HDR thats one of the biggest improvements with the resolution jump and higher frame rates being the icing on the cake but going for a mid range LCD isnt going to give you as much of a ‘WOW’ upgrade.

 

I say this with an OLED in the main room with Xbox and Switch and a LCD in other room with PS5 - its a mid range tv with HDR and 4k but it doesn’t hold a candle to the OLED, its a nice enough tv but the jump between them is very noticeable even if on paper they are both 4k HDR tellies.

[Jamie John]

1 hour ago, partious said:

Are these the type of things that once you spend some time with them you realize they're a big jump, or is 1080p and a rock solid 60fps good enough?

 

If you're happy with it and you don't notice the difference on a 1440p/4K monitor, then stick with what you have.

 

As @Mr. Gerbik says, the biggest and most immediate picture quality upgrade I've seen (apart from perhaps switching from SD to HD, back when I played my 360 in 720p for the first time in about 2007), was switch from an LCD/LED TV to an OLED. There's a reason why people going on about their LG OLEDs has become a meme - they really are sensational.

 

As far as monitors go, there are some OLED ones around, but the price is very high compared with OLED tellies, which are almost always bigger, too. Quite a few people are now using the 42" LG OLED as a monitor (lots of videos of this on YouTube), but you need to be sat a fair distance from it to avoid headaches with a screen that size being used as a monitor.

 

Bear in mind as well that any increase in resolution will require an increase in graphical grunt, obviously, so if you suddenly switch from playing in 1080p to 1440p or even 4k, your older GTX780 won't be able to cut the mustard. It's a slippery slope!

[Qazimod]

I'm playing PS5 games (well, Elden Ring) at 1080p for now, but I've had vague plans to get a 4k display for a while. Although I'm in no hurry.

 

And I'm not a Master Race type - I only tend to play Destiny 2, P4G and some indies/emulators on my PC - so I've just got a modest 22" LCD for those.

[Garibaldi]

1 hour ago, Nick R said:

Still on a 720p Panasonic plasma.

 

No upgrade yet because:

 

1. I rarely replace stuff that's still working perfectly well.

2. I don't want to lose my SCART socket!

 

Bonkers, but still slightly less bonkers than my flatmate who is using a PS4 on a cheap, probably fifteen years old at this point, LCD. My family were getting rid of a quality 1080p LED which I offered but he declined, much to my bafflement. 

[df0]

Last gen I did because my 1080p LCD Sony telly died on me. Replaced it with an LG OLED in 2017/18. I doubt I'll upgrade any time soon, tis not like 8K is going to become the standard any time soon. I do kind of miss out on the 120Hz support but that's not worth buying an upgrade for.

[Kryptonian]

1 hour ago, Nick R said:

Still on a 720p Panasonic plasma.

 

No upgrade yet because:

 

1. I rarely replace stuff that's still working perfectly well.

2. I don't want to lose my SCART socket!

 

We have a 1080p plasma in the playroom but I’m going to replace it as the spec says it’s 505w and it turns out the running costs are a bit high!

 

For the OP, the plasma moved to the playroom to make way for the LG OLED and yeah, it’s amazing.

 

I also got a 1440p monitor for a series s and I do notice a difference between that and the one that’s connected to the plasma. It has HDR too (not a brilliant implementation but still decent) and the refresh rate is great too. I do prefer playing on the monitor or oled because it looks and feels nicer

[Vorgot]

I had a 10 year old 42" 1080p plasma that the sound was going on, so upgraded, but couldn't afford a lot, so got a 55" Philips LED 4K and the difference is remarkable for me. Would have loved to have gone for an OLED, but this was an amazing upgrade for me. Some stuff is a bit dark with the HDR on but thats not a problem at night, only during the day. 

 

But the screen size, resolution and sound upgrade were all 100% worth it. I know I'm a bit behind on the tech, but for just shy of £500 at the end of last year I'm pretty pleased

[Kayin Amoh]

One of my buds upgraded to a 65 inch LGC1 OLED so he gave me his old one - a 65 inch Hisense. Sure, it's a budget brand, but it's a good size and does 4K, so it's still an upgrade from my beloved Panasonic plasmas.

[Popo]

I appreciate that OLED monitors are even more costly than their big brothers, but it really is the biggest improvement I’ve seen when I upgraded during the first lockdown (although HDR is good too). I’m near-sighted, I don’t know if that makes any difference, but I can’t tell the difference between HD and UHD, and anyway, I always choose higher frame rate when playing games that allow you to toggle between performance or resolution. 
 

Playing Control on my old LCD TV, and then finishing it on the OLED, was like playing a different version of the game. 

[CurryKitten]

Yes... well, kind of.  I had an aging 720p 32" LCD screen which weighed a ton, but the screen seemed to have developed these area of pixel damage I guess you could call them, so I went for a new screen.   We've got a 65"4k Samsung QLED TV in the lounge which is fantastic, but my gaming is in my office/man cave and I needed something that would fit on my desk next to my iMac.

 

When I tried to buy a TV that could do this, I found that nobody seemed to make 32" 4k TV's - which was a bit confusing and gaming monitors of that size that could also do 120hz we're a bit new and very expensive, so I went for a Samsung 32" Odyssey G5 1440p screen which can do up to 144hz.  On the plus side this fitted the desk easily and was so light to move around compared to the old TV - on the downside though: connectivity.

 

My old TV had several HDMI's in, component in, and 2 scarts in.  It also had it's own speakers.  The Samsungs got a single HDMI and a DisplayPort and no speakers - so I had several weeks of buying various "something" to HDMI convertors, HDMI switch boxes and then I needed to get an audio extractor that would grab the sounds out of the HDMI and link it optically to an old 5.1 system (I ended up with 2 of these as the first one couldn't handle HDR or 4k 120).  Lots of effort, but it eventually worked.

[moosegrinder]

Not done it yet because I only like upgrading when something breaks or becomes unusable so our TVs aren't going anywhere yet. Besides it's a game of chicken between me and my other half; whoever blinks first and upgrades their TV will make the other one want to upgrade theirs too and that's way too much to lay out in one go.

[aidey6]

I went from a Panasonic DX802 to a LG C1 last October. 

 

Even my missus was impressed with the picture improvement on the C1 

[spanx]

Ditto with many others with the CX OLED. Got it a couple of months before I got my RTX 3080 and the step up was jaw dropping. Running CP77 and MSFS at native 4K with everything turned up to max still gives me a massive grin two years down the line. I usually get buyers remorse after big purchases, but not this one

 

 

[JoeK]

I wish the 42'' LG OLED had come out a year or two ago. I had totally limited space on my setup, so went for a Panasonic LED - and it's a really good screen. 

 

But it's not an OLED and it does HDR as well as...well...an LED can do I guess. It's okay, but nothing special as far as I can tell.

 

But, the undoubted joys of proper HDR on an LG are not quite enough for me to justify forking out more dosh on a TV just yet really.

[Corranga]

Yes, sort of…

 

I bought a 65 inch Sony 120HZ 4k LCD that promised HDMI 2.1 features but never delivered.  It’s a lovely TV though and as I didn’t need it I was able to set a budget and wait for it (Black Friday 2020).  Before it, I had a Samsung 51 inch plasma (1080p) that was 10 years old, I’d already repaired and was showing signs of the same problem returning. It also had permanent IR from gran turismo sport.

 

I’ve also replaced my living room TV twice since COVID as the old one broke in the first week of lockdown and the Hisense I panic bought was ok but not amazing.  I replaced that with a TCL (also 4k 120hz, but only hdmi 2.0) which is surprisingly good, perhaps even better than the Sony in normal viewing.

[Mr. Gerbik]

1 hour ago, aidey6 said:

Even my missus was impressed with the picture improvement on the C1

Totally this, same here. This is probably the most remarkable metric. Going from SD to HD didn't impress missus Gerbik at all. But the CX OLED really impressed her. She even showed her mum, look at the telly we got now. And my in-laws are now going to buy that new 42" LG OLED

 

 

 

[moosegrinder]

How much and how recent is the CX? Is the a newer model?

[Stanley]

29 minutes ago, moosegrinder said:

How much and how recent is the CX? Is the a newer model?

The X is 2020, C1 2021 and most recent C2 has just come out this year. Not sure of CX availability but you can still pick up a C1 fairly easily, about a grand for 55”

[Popo]

C1 (2021 model) I believe is still current, and various retailers have discounted it over the past month or so - presumably in anticipation of the C2’s release - and has been available for less than £900, which is a very nice bite-price for anyone curious. 
 

A quick search of Hot U.K. Deals shows this current offer, but I’m not familiar with the retailer. 
 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lg-c1-55-oled-ps899-at-prcdirect-3951475?utm_source=mappshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=3951475&utm_campaign=2022-06-18

 

Edit - sorry yes, C2 is current. 

[moosegrinder]

Brilliant, cheers.