On today’s episode of You Asked: How long should your OLED TV last? Will you actually notice a difference between different TV types? And why is Dolby Atmos not making it from your Blu-ray player to the speakers?
Can you see the difference between OLED and QLED at a distance?
@mk1976mk asks: Can a normal person sitting 15′ away really notice the difference (between OLED and QLED)?
If the TVs are side-by-side, yes, you’ll notice a difference, especially if it’s HDR or content with lots of contrast. You can see the difference in the black levels, at least in person. I think you’ll also notice a difference in color, which works alongside contrast. When contrast is increased, so is color saturation. So, another win for OLED in many cases.
Although in terms of brightness, if you need it in a room with windows, for example, that’s where a QLED TV could be an advantage.
But if the TVs are not side by side, you probably wouldn’t know what you’re missing unless you’ve had an OLED TV that you lived with for a while and grew used to how it looked. Pretty much every TV we talk about, including a lot of QLED TVs that continue to improve contrast each year, looks great on its own and would make 99 percent of people very happy with its picture.
How long should an OLED TV last?
@freg1959 asks: I’ve got an LG C1 i bought new in Dec 2021 , just wondering how long this model should last ? It’s on 10 hrs a day as an avg.
Good news. I think it’s going to last you a very long time, whether you want it to or not.
Via Consumer Affairs, LG claims their OLEDs can last up to 100,000 hours. I’ve seen others say between 30,000 and 100,000 hours. That’s a very wide range, but let’s do the math. If you’re running the TV 10 hours a day for 365 days a year, that’s 3,650 hours per year. To hit the low end of that range, it’ll take more than eight years. It would take more than 27 years to hit 100,000 hours at that rate.
Stating the obvious here, I question what lasting 100,000 hours looks like. I certainly wouldn’t expect the picture quality to hold up to what it looked like during its first few years. And also, who thinks they’d really hold on to a TV for 27 years? Although I think some of our parents have certainly tried to hit that mark.
In the case of your LG OLED, I’d be more concerned about the content it’s playing during those 10 hours a day. If you’ve got a lot of static logos that sit in one place on the screen, like watching sports or news or gaming, make sure you take advantage of some of LG’s OLED care options.
Why isn’t Dolby Atmos working properly?
Sebastian asks: Hello, I have a question regarding my home theater setup. For context, my PlayStation 5 Pro is connected to a Govee AI Sync Box 2, which runs into my JBL Bar 1300X soundbar, and that is connected via eARC to my LG C2 OLED TV. When I play 4K Blu-ray discs, my soundbar displays “Dolby TrueHD,” while my console indicates “Dolby Atmos (TrueHD).” However, I’ve noticed that during scenes that should feature prominent Dolby Atmos effects, the audio is not as immersive as when I stream the same content. For example, in The Batman, during the opening narration with the helicopter flyover, the Atmos effect is clearly noticeable when streaming on HBO Max. But when I watch the same scene on the 4K Blu-ray, the overhead effect is significantly less pronounced or seemingly absent. I’ve done quite a bit of research but haven’t been able to find a clear explanation. Could you help me understand what might be causing this discrepancy?
Hey Sebastian. Thanks for the question. I think I can help with this.
I think the issue is with the Govee AI Sync Box 2. I’m not super familiar with that specific product, but based on what I’ve seen, it seems like there have been some passthrough issues. That means it’s not passing the format from the source all the way through to the TV or speaker setup. It looks like it affects Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
I think that’s what you’re seeing if your PS5 says Atmos, but your soundbar doesn’t indicate Atmos.
Some people mentioned that a firmware update fixed their problems. If you haven’t already checked for one and updated your device, I suggest doing that first.
If that doesn’t work, it’s worth trying a few experiments.
You could change the order of your chain by going from your PS5 straight to your soundbar, then to your LG C2 using its eARC port, and then out to the Govee box. Or go PS5 to the TV, then out of its eARC port into the soundbar, and then out to the Govee box.
The LG C2 and the JBL 1300X support Dolby Vision and Atmos and should pass those signals just fine. What I don’t know is if one component in the chain, in this case the Govee box, doesn’t support Dolby Atmos, will that stop the rest as well, even if it’s the last destination for the audio signal.
If you’re still having the issue, then as annoying as it may be, I’d suggest leaving the box out of the equation completely when you’re looking for Dolby Atmos sound. Without it, you should be good to go.
I do understand your frustration because that Govee box does support HDMI 2.1, so these advanced Dolby formats should not be a problem. But it does feel like more of a gaming product, so maybe it’s geared more toward that than outputting high-end audio.
