THE BUDGET HDR CONUNDRUM The affordable AV setup

LOOKING FOR A GREAT VALUE LIVING ROOM SETUP? LOOK NO FURTHER

Putting together an affordable home entertainment system has been made a lot tougher by the arrival of HDR. Even many expensive TVs struggle with HDR’s challenging brightness and contrast requirements – never mind the wider colour range HDR is also typically accompanied by. So for budget TVs, where contrast and brightness are traditionally limited, HDR is pretty much a nightmare. In fact, many budget TVs look worse with HDR than they do with SDR. So what are your options?

One would be to get a TV that simply doesn’t support HDR; unfortunately, though, precious few budget TVs dare to ditch HDR when so many rivals carry it.

The other thing to look out for is a budget TV which, like the Hisense R50S8, combines direct LED lighting (where the LEDs are placed directly behind the screen rather than around its edges) with a VA panel (which sacrifice viewing angles but provide good contrast).

THE TV HISENSE R50S8

On paper, the R50S8’s numbers don’t add up. Surely a 50-inch screen with a 4K resolution and hundreds of apps for just $700 can’t possibly be right? Especially when that TV’s picture and sound are also both above par for the budget TV market? It even has HDR compatibility, and with the manufacturing might of Hisense, miracles really can

happen.

$695, hisense.com

THE USB HDD SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS SLIM 1TB

Despite the proliferation of catch-up TV streaming services, being able to record shows you can’t watch live still matters. Which is where the 1TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim comes in. Attach this straightforward, good-looking and ultra-reliable USB HDD to your TV and you’re good for storing hundreds of hours of telly. Enough to get you through even

a second lockdown.

$85, seagate.com

THE SOUNDBAR SAMSUNG HW-T400 SOUNDBAR

The bad news about Samsung’s T400 soundbar is that it only delivers stereo. The (very) good news is that it gets levels of volume, dynamism, detail and impact from its two channels that no remotely affordable TV can get close to – despite also supporting the ‘tap and connect’ NFC system for playing music from your smart devices and costing less than a couple of next-gen video games.

$182, samsung.com

THE BLU-RAY PLAYER PANASONIC UB150 4K BLU-RAY PLAYER

Panasonic’s impressive dominance of the 4K Blu-ray player market

continues down to its entry level UB150. Inevitably this deck’s pictures aren’t quite as crisp and rich as those of more expensive models that appear elsewhere in this feature, and it loses support for Dolby Vision. Having said all that, its 4K Blu-ray performance still knocks the best efforts of streaming services and HD Blu-rays into the proverbial cocked hat.

$270, panasonic.com