I’ve been banging on about how great OLED TVs are for years now, and in the last year I’ve been talking about the amazing advance in TV that is 4K – in particular since Foxtel launched their 4K Broadcast channel.
So as the F1 season approached, I got a touch excited that for the first time in Australia we’d be getting a 4K F1 broadcast. Luckily – I had Foxtel 4K installed (You have to be a Satellite customer) last year before the Bathurst 1000, so I was all set and ready for the Melbourne Formula One race.
Except for one thing.
The TV.
Yep, I have a stunning and outstanding TV already, but if I really want to see how 4K could be and should be – perhaps I needed an OLED TV.
Lucky for me, LG had just held their 2019 TV launch, so there was a TV being packed up – so they sent it to me for the weekend.
Oh boy. 77 Inch LG OLED. This is not just enormous, it’s stunning.
Right away, as always it’s the true deep blacks which bring the picture to a next level, and the contrast then in colour just blows you away.
But then I switched on the Foxtel channel 444 for some 4K broadcast. I was disappointed.
Pit lane discussions with the Sky Sports F1 team were blown out like it needed a white balance, and frankly the picture quality was poorer than I’d expected.
Turns out, the Sky Sports F1 coverage outside of the race may not be entirely filmed in 4K, so there’s some serious upscaling going on.
I worked this out because as soon as that F1 intro played and we switched the live on-track action – I was hurled back into my seat and blown away by the quality.
Seriously, the sponsor names on cars never clearer, the fast flowing camera angles as the fastest cars in the world sped round some ultra fast turns looked crisp and blur free.
It’s official – for the best at home sports viewing experience you have to pair the best content with the best screen. Foxtel 4K and an LG OLED is a next level experience.
Of course, it’s also expensive. You’ve got to get all the full Foxtel Experience – there’s no 4K in the streaming Kayo or Foxtel Now – and even if there is in future I doubt it will match the broadcast 4K. And this TV doesn’t come cheap either at $15,999.
That said, there are a huge range of OLED TVs on the market now, so even something much more affordable will offer you a stunning experience.
The biggest issue now is going back. For now, I’ll just have to keep dreaming.
