Help a guy out? Renovating home theater system after 10 years and have a few questions.

Technically, I believe you’re correct that Samsung’s QLED is the most recent technology. IMO, however, OLED is the much more impressive technology. The latest 65" LG and 65" Sony (which uses an LG panel) 4K with active HDR models clearly offer the superior picture quality.

Don’t get me wrong, I think your Samsung 65" QLED offers probably the best picture quality of any 4K LED/LCD FALD hdtv on the market and Samsung’s new QLED technology could be the reason why. But OLED panels, especially with the 4K and HDR improvements, are definitely superior. Just view both and compare off axis picture qualities; the OLEDs pq will remain consistently unaltered as off axis viewing angle is increased while the QLED’s pq will fade in brightness and resolution as off axis viewing angle is increased.

OLED also offers superior color, resolution and black levels since each of the multi-million pixels on a 65" OLED panel are controlled individually and emit their own light intensity and color while also being capable of being completely turned off for ideal black levels. Samsung’s QLED uses backlighting which is less precise although the FALD technology likely helps.....

@noble100

I participate regularly in the AVS forum, have read tons of literature (before and after my purchase) and also have a rather pragmatic perspective here as well. Suffice it to say I’m well aware of the OLED pros/cons (and there are many), LCD/LED pros/cons (and there are many), and OLED vs LCD comparison pros/cons (and there are many).

That said I DISAGREE that OLED is clearly superior. I knew before hand about the off axis viewing angle and in my case this is a complete non-issue as I sit dead center (using both THX and SMPTE standards). Also, IMO the off axis viewing of LCD is better than it is typically purported to be.

By the way, OLED does NOT offer superior resolution. 4K is 4K. Also, OLED suffers (can and is more prone vs LCD) from burn-in and assumes all 8,294,400 pixels always work as intended, and they do not (necessarily).

Each technology has plus/minus.

OP can search on his/her own as there is an abundance of info available on each technology.

And I do agree with you that FALD definitely helps. It’s essentially technology if you wish to compare black level performance of OLED to an LCD. Without FALD, an LCD couldn’t perform as well.

gdhal,

     I really don't visit the AVS Forum too often (except to view their annual coverage of the hdtv shootout) so I'm not familiar with most of the discussions there.  But I have read numerous professional reviews on both OLED and QLED models, heard the comments from A/V store employees, friends and family members and many a/v store customers that are strangers to me who have all compared the Samsung QLED and LG/Sony OLED 4K HDR hdtvs in a store setting.  I've also watched the AVS coverage on approximately the last 8 Value Electronics yearly hdtv shootout videos on You Tube  and listened to the panelists (consisting of professional A/V reviewers and calibrators) discuss their rankings,test results and general comments. There's typically a Samsung hdtv in the competition; the initial shootouts had plasma contenders and more recent shootouts usually had a QLED model. 
     You've kind of caught me by surprise by your comments since, of all the feedback I've received from those listed in the paragraph above, you are literally the first person I've encountered that hasn't noticed a stark distinction between the pq of these 2 technologies and preferred the OLED sets.  The only pro comments I can recall hearing about the Samsung QLED hdtvs was that the off axis viewing angle wasn't as bad as expected and they cost less than the OLED hdtvs. These same individuals expressed many more pro comments about the OLED hdtvs, using various superlatives that  would generally translate as different forms of 'wow!".  The common cons I recall hearing were comments such as "it's too expensive" and "let's wait til the price comes down".
     My surprise stems from your response to this obvious contrast in pq between these hdtvs being so different from all these other individuals and my own reactions.  As if you're comparing a Lexus to a Chevy Malibu and claiming  the cars are so similar you're having a hard time deciding which car you like best and just ignoring the large quality and price differences. 
    Maintaining that the Samsung QLED and LG/Sony OLED 65" 4K HDR hdtvs are somewhat similar is plainly and simply a false equivalency.  You have the right to your own opinions but not to your own facts.       
     You may want to watch the 2016 and 17 Value Electronics HDTV shootouts  below to get a better understanding of the professionals viewpoints on these hdtvs and their underlying different technologies.that result in their pq differences.

     2016: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLw0ypM4Zvo016: 
     2017: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHdqjtuE03Y

      My main point to you in my recent posts is that you're misrepresenting the difference between QLED and OLED by minimizing the differences between them.  For example, these shootouts  entail about 100  A/V industry professionals rating each hdtv on a 1-10 point system (10 is best)in 9 important performance areas.  These scores are then averaged to determine the winner.  The LG OLED won this shootout for 2016 with the Samsung winning 2nd place.  However, the OLED outscored the QLED in each of the 9 categories, interestingly including the "High ambient light performance" category (performance in a bright room).  A Sony LED/LCD actually won this category with the OLED 2nd and the QLED 3rd.  
   Even given the above evidence that the LG/Sony OLEDs thoroughly outperform the Samsung QLED according to about 100 A/V experts, you continue to spread inaccurate information such as the difference is like splitting hairs and that the OLED hdtvs perform poorly in bright rooms.

     I have no vested interest or bias in which hdtv is proclaimed the best each year, other than staying current with the latest hdtv developments, since I don't own any of the shootout contenders in the past 2 yrs -I own a Panasonic 65" VT60 plasma that was an earlier winner of a shootout in 2013 or 2014.  You, OTOH, do have a vested interest and perhaps bias since you own one of the recent shootout contenders, the Samsung QLED.  I'll leave it up to the readers of this thread to determine if that's influencing your comments.
    As I stated previously, I believe your Samsung QLED is a very good hdtv that you seem very pleased with.  However, the OLED has been judged by A/V experts to perform better in at least 9 important areas.  Please don't pretend otherwise and continue to spread misinformation.

Thanks,
  Tim

@noble100 

Hi Tim. I don't have a QLED. I merely stated QLED is Samsung's latest technology. I further indicated that I have a UN65KS9800 (which is an SUHD with FALD). Compare an LCD with full array local dimming to OLED and whatever you prefer by all means get it. 

Depending on your budget,  I would also suggest going with Anthem Audio. They make great Hi current/Hi votage/ Hi wattage separates and receivers. ARC room correction on board many units.  

As for speakers, also depending on your budget,, I might look here on audiogon for some used Paradigm Reference speakers. Great match with Anthem gear. 
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-paradigm-studio-100-v3-2017-11-27-speakers

As asid earlier, to punch up the experience, deffinetly augment with subwoofers. 

Best of luck.

I have not checked out FALD or QLED. All I can say is that in 2016 the top of the line OLED beat everything else very very easily. It has no black lighting so blacks are excepetionally black - just like plasma. Of course a $6000 TV should be significantly better than most $1500 TVs. I understand OLED prices are coming down and my wifes new Iphone X has an OLED display and so does my Nord Keyboard. Also Sony seems to have got on board with OLED. So a lot of momentum and folks voting with their feet by marching towards OLED - this is despite the extremely high cost compared to LCD or LED.

I dont know about the overall longevity of the OLED screens (a loss of brightness over time can be expected) but after a year I have ZERO screen burn in problems and I do use the OLED TV as a computer display fairly often but NOT for gaming (where burn in can be the biggest problem if you are an addict of certain games)