Talk to me about TVs

In My Humble Opinion
1

I find myself in the market for a new TV – I last bought one about 6 years ago, so I’m sure there’s been a bunch of changes in the hardware since then. I’m looking for something decently-sized (at least 55") but I’m finding it hard to navigate all the terms (LCD, LED, OLED, UHD, 4K). I will be mostly watching stuff coming in through a cable box or streaming via Netflix. I don’t mind paying more for higher quality, but not to the point where the differences are insignificant in regular viewing, if that makes sense.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

2

I’ve just started looking at new tvs also. From what I can tell the most common sets “at this moment” are LED 4K UHD sets. They seem to make up the bulk of whats out there.
If you’re on a budget you can find cheaper straight up LED sets that will still have a decent picture at 1080p resolution.
OLED sets seem to be the “high end” sets these days and are priced as high end. They supposedly have superior black levels.
4K UHD resolution is still not that common but everything changes so fast that by buying a 4K UHD set you will be ready when it does become the norm.
I’m in the market for the common 50" LED 4K UHD and there is still a broad price range even with the same manufacturer. $500-$900 for a Sony 49" for example. Looking at what makes the $900 set more expensive there is another buzzword acronym I found. HDR or High Dynamic Range. CNET has an article about it. Not sure if it’s something you want to pay the extra for but it looks nice.
While I dont want to splurge on an OLED set I probably will get an HDR set.
The most recent issue of consumer reports tested them and gave out some recommendations. I’ll probably end up with a Samsung.

3

For all intents and purposes, LED is the best/long lasting picture deliver-er (versus LCD) and 4K is cool to have, but I don’t think very much is broadcasting in it, so it might be a bit of a waste.

Also, size is more dependant upon how far away your couch/bed is than anything else.

4

Actually Netflix has a fair amount of 4k content. You do have to pay an extra $2/month for it though.

5

Moving to IMHO.

6

My understanding is that LED TVs are ones with LEDs for backlighting of the LCD panel, rather than the fluorescent tube used on the older LCD sets.

And aren’t UHD and 4K synonymous?

7

Advice I’ve seen on cNet and it was true when I got my new TV, first thing to consider is size. All other features don’t measure up to bumping up the size (within reason). It was right as I increased my set from the one I wanted to get (and did but it was defective), by 5 inches which is about the max this spot can hold (55">60") and WOW all else being equal that is the thing to spend the money on first. I sometimes fantasize of how to get another 5 inches, and how awesome it would be.

Next thing 4K is pretty much standard, it’s not a huge improvement over 1080, mainly because everything is so compressed on streaming services, but it is a little bump up. But again most every TV will be 4K now.

Black level, make sure the picture is black enough, nothing like seeing the Starship Enterprise cruising through gray space:smack: . Local dimming does a great job at this. Even with a corse local dimming like 12. Not perfect and you can notice it at times but all in all not distracting unless you really care to look for it. Do not get edge lit.

HDR, it can make a difference in a high end set, but on low end it looks like crap. 4 TV’s I’ve tried had HDR turned off by default. Now that was Christmas time last year, and I’ve heard many were rushing HDR to market and did a shitty job of it, so perhaps that has changed.

Does it have a tuner, and do you need a tuner? I got one without a tuner, I got a additional box that would allow me to use rabbit ears on the rare occasion that home and cellular internet are both out. Something to consider.

Number of HDMI ports, in general the more the better, 4 being a good basic amount, 3 is skimpy and may result in plugging/unplugging HDMI cables.

Legacy connections, if you need them

Audio out: Optical, RCA, headphone, make sure you get what you need. There is also HDMI audio but I have not met her yet. Don’t consider a optical adapter, I find it doesn’t sync properly, get the right audio connector or consider a different sound solution to match the set.

8

Both points are correct. LED is LCD. LED is only the lighting for the LCD panel.

UHD/4K is not going to be much use to you unless you get a UHD/4K disc player. If all you will be watching is NetFlix and cable/satellite, I don’t think you would see much of a difference at all.
I’m wondering if there are any decent TVs over 55" that aren’t UHD/4K, though.

OLED is a new technology available now, and supposed to be very good, but it’s VERY expensive.

9

Yes to both.

The different one is OLED where the pixel itself lights up and does not need backlighting, which is very pricy, but very nice.

10

Four HDMI ports is a “basic amount”? I’ve never seen a TV with more than four, although with all of the streaming devices people have, it would be useful.

11

It’s like any other technology… the more devices the more content. As I mentioned before Netflix has a 4k option and back in August they had 122 titles available.

12

If money was no object I would get an OLED TV. My Samsung Galaxy S4 has an OLED screen and it’s beautiful.

From what I understand LCD screens have an all-over backlight, so the default state of the screen is fully white/lit. The older backlights were fluorescent or incandescent but the new backlights are LED for more consistency and longer life. The LCD panel selectively blocks/alters the light shining on the screen to make the colored pixels that compose the picture. So ironically from an energy consumption aspect, showing a fully black screen on an LCD takes the most energy.

OLED screens don’t have a backlight, the default state of the screen is pure black and each individual pixel is a separate element/group that is lit as needed. The result is blacker blacks, no light bleeding around the edges, and brighter colors.

13

OLEDs are emissive displays (the pixel elements themselves generate light) which- like CRT and plasma- are susceptible to image burn-in. Also, they haven’t really been able to solve the problem that the blue subpixels are much shorter-lived than red and green, so there’s likely to be a gradual color shift as the display ages.

14

Maybe I should forward you some of these e-mails I keep getting…

15

Well, I am biased, but until OLED came along, Samsung 8500 series plasmas were the ones to envy. I’ve been watching enough news with banners, of late, to notice IR is not the nasty artifact of the past. It still exists, but modes to compensate for, and having a properly adjusted picture with regards to brightness/contrast, has made it only a potential issue under extreme conditions, and not something one has to ‘worry about’.

My Sammy 650 model plsama (2008) was much more susceptible and I would periodically run a scrolling feature to even the stimulus to the plasma cells. Not sure to this day it was really necessary.
I think gaming became the biggest problem and even LCD could suffer IR, but usually healed quite rapidly.

That aside, the 8500 has excellent color balance, black level, and resolution. Yes, a plasma with 4K would have been nice.
i would include a couple of the top models from Panasonic as well. They too will be missed. Although, the 8500 had the honors of breaking the brightness barrier for a plasma.
My next one will be OLED, unless a newer technology comes along.

I have not seen the latest ‘QLED’ from Samsung but it appears to offer a notable improvement in LCD from what I’ve read.