Topic: Gaming TVs, Soundbars, Headsets and Shelving

So I’m torn between the LG OLED C2 and the Samsung QN90B Neo QLED and the Samsung S95B OLED. Due to my vision issues most of the bells and whistles on tvs don’t matter to me so I only care about the picture quality for gaming and lack of lag. As such I turn off most extra post processing features but I last bought a TV a decade ago so I don’t really know how different current TVs are. All are in my budget, so pricing doesn’t matter. However I am essentially buying a new tv because I need the HDMI 2.1 inputs for a series x and ps5 (which I don’t yet have because f scalpers). I use an av receiver and sound system so sound quality of the tv itself also doesn’t matter. Not worried about burn in. Does anyone have any of these TVs? Thoughts? Pros? Cons?

My only real con with samsung is I really only need a 48 inch which LG makes but samsung does not. Not a deal breaker at 50 inches but there is a viewing angle adjustment.

I recently bought a new Samsung QLED TV with HDR10+ and good Lord it's so much nicer than HDR10. I don't think I could ever go back to playing games in SDR again. I do have a 140Hz 4K monitor with HDR for my PC but I don't think anything can beat playing games on a larger screen though.

Sennheiser finally revealed its cheaper version of the Ambeo Soundbar, called, "Ambeo Plus". The original is now called "Ambeo Max" (the one I have). The Plus is only $1499 compared to the Max at $2499. It gets down to 38 Hz whereas the Max gets down to 30 Hz. But if you pair with an optional sub that won't matter anyways (and I do recommend a sub- Ambeo is billed as not needing one, and can do incredible bass on its own, but with a sub its on another level).

"The AMBEO Soundbar Plus and AMBEO Sub build on the success of the award-winning AMBEO Soundbar Max, ranked by reviewers as the best soundbar in the world," said Maximillian Voigt, Sennheiser Product Manager, at IFA 2022. "Thanks to the deep, immersive sound and more compact housing, our new AMBEO Soundbar Plus offers even more choices for those who want a home theatre experience with audiophile-quality sound."

Here's a pic, as well as a comparison to its big brother, and the new optional Ambeo subwoofer they're selling for $699 (I recommend an SVS-1000 Pro... they're $499 but I got mine open box on eBay for $350, and it rips... hard)

@Ryu_Niiyama
Did you ever buy a new TV? Just saw your post. I have an LG C1 OLED (basically the 2021 model of the C2) and its glorious to the very core of the word. I haven't tried the other. No doubt Neo QLED is a fabulous TV and I don't think you'll be disappointed either way you go. But personally... nothing tops OLED. Absolutely nothing. It's not perfect and does have its drawbacks, but none of them are things I care about. It also has insanely low lag for gaming. Like, 7 ms and even less at 120fps. Other tvs struggle to do twice that number.

I vote OLED. The infinite contrast ratio and true blacks are too good to go with anything other than OLED, imo.

@JaxonH not yet I’ve been so busy with work (in the airport right now) that I decided to wait until around BF/CM to get it. Since I have a series x and ps5 now it’s a certain purchase, and I settled on the OLED C2 from LG. since I don’t need anything larger than 48 inches.

Only issues I've dealt with on my OLED TV are the dreaded dead pixels. TwT

But other than that, yeah I love my C9.

I have a Samsung QLED, but which one, I can't quite recall (it's 65-inch I think)......I had bought it to run Disney+ for the kids (yeah, for them......). I also have Sonos bar, it's an older one (maybe the Touch) but I really like both. Nice sound and fantastic picture for gaming.

..........lol, quickly looking back at my older posts from earlier this year...man getting surround sound on Switch was so infuriating. So glad that's done and over with. xD

There's still one issue it has but it doesn't involve the Switch, think it only happens with the PS4 Pro, or 4K bluray. It's also rare...still annoying, though.

The Ambeo is soooo good for gaming, especially for Switch, as toggling the Ambeo boost mode on takes any audio and makes it so much fuller and richer in a massive sound bubble. 5.1 audio sounds great on it, and a lot of Switch games have 5.1 audio nowadays. Turn that mode off and suddenly it sounds so flat and lifeless.

But throw a show on like Rings of Power with full Dolby Atmos? Oh man. It's an experience. I remember hating surround as a teen because every set up I heard, the voices were too low to hear properly. Maybe that was just from being early days, but with Ambeo you hear the voices flawlessly. Not too soft, not too loud. Just right.

With the new lower priced version, I hope more ppl get to experience it. Not only does it sound phenomenal, it just works. For both Switch, Wii U, Xbox Series, PS5 and PC. No issues. No problems. It just works.

Anybody know a place to look up tv models and their lag time? Looking at Samsung TV's in the 32-40" size range, and I don't want it to be terrible for gaming. I know Samsung TVs have a "game mode" setting, but I don't know if I can trust that game mode is effective across all models.

(I'd settle for a 43", if needed, but I really don't want something bigger than 40". The TV market seems to really suck in the 32-40 inch range. Samsungs 32" N5300 has ridiculously small & possibly under-powered speakers. I don't want a dumb sound bar for this location. Samsung does not offer models higher than the 5300 in the 32-40" tvs. -stupid.)

(Pardon the inch screen size measurements. That's how it works in US)

@WoomyNNYes
Retailer listings should specify lag in ms for game mode.

But here's a comparison of a sample of TVs across various brands, with game mode on and off at 1080p vs 4k

@JaxonH Yeah, I'm not finding Best Buy or Samsung's site helpful in that respect. Do you see lag time in the specs?

Samsung 40" N5200
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-40-class-5-series-led-fu...

samsung site
https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/full-...

@WoomyNNYes
I know you say you want 43" or less, but there's a deal of the century happening right now for a 55" 4K OLED Sony Bravia with a screen that IS the speakers and has built in subwoofers, with low lag, HDMI 2.1 and normally runs around $2,000, on sale for $999. Even the LG 48" OLED 4kTV is on sale at the same price, and that's considerably smaller.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-55-class-bravia-xr-a80j-ser...

Otherwise there's tons of tiny tvs for super cheap. I prefer LG OLED as it has the lowest lag and best picture, but they don't make smaller than 48" for OLED (though they have announced a 43" model is coming, it's not clear whether it's a TV or monitor afaIk)

@WoomyNNYes
Not looking good.

The N5300 is closest I could find and rtings scores it very low and notes high input lag.

You get what you pay for, as they say.

@WoomyNNYes
I found this 43" TLC 4ktv which sports incredibly low input lag, at just 11 ms for both 1080p 60fps and 4k 60fps content.

Probably the best you're gonna find input lag-wise for a 43" in the $200-250 price range. Don't know about the sound or anything else though. At this size and price you can't get everything. For $500 you could get better, but if you're gonna spend that much, may as well get the 55" 4k OLED with HDMI 2.1, VRR support, built in screen speaker and subwoofers, etc. At least imo.

https://www.amazon.com/TCL-Class-UHD-Smart-Roku/dp/B09QY14MZS...

@JaxonH Yeah, looks like I'll have to recalibrate how much this will cost. Thanks for the help & input. This is more of a desk set up. So a 55" is too big for this setting. I already have a 65" 4K for the main tv-watching tv.

Seems like finding 43" TVs with low input lag isn't hard. Although, every time I thought I found a decent TV model & price, I found caveats. Those TVs lacked something basic: They don't get bright, or have motion blurring issues, or suck at upscaling lower res content (Vizio D, V, M series).

43" Sony X85K is probably the cheapest TV that is good all around. $600
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-43-class-x85k-4k-hdr-led-go...

I never thought I was going to have to spend that much for a 40" TV that can also game OK. But here we are.

If this was my main TV, I'd justify the $1000+, get an LG C2, but it's not.

Would a monitor be better, @WoomyNNYes ....? Might be worth considering

@BruceCM It's a good idea. I've wondered that, too. I wish I could just get a monitor, but I also watch cable TV on this TV, which is nice to have a remote control. I want decent built-in speakers, and a usb port to play usb drive media.

EDIT: You know, my main 65" TV, is a Samsung NU8000 (2018) also happens to be a great gaming tv. It would have been nice to just get the 43" version of it, but this year's version, the AU8000 (2021-2022?) is downgraded, it has motion blur (slow pixel response time), and also doesn't get nearly as bright as the NU8000. AU8000 has 60% the brightness(nits) of the NU8000.

That LG C2 is getting close to 1000. It’s in my cart just trying to see how low it will go.

Ah, well, it was something to check, @WoomyNNYes .... I'm very happy with my little gaming monitor, personally! But I don't watch TV & obviously there's still all the online stuff available if I do want any of that, as well