Help! TVs All Look the Same-

[Dave9]

Why not buy the cheapest one that looks good to you? I bought a $250 55 inch Insignia model that has an excellent picture. The $500 or $1000 TVs didn't look any better.

I've tried that before and the result was they had less than half the lifespan before the capacitors popped. Granted this was sets that had a lot of on-hours per day but got less than 3 years out of one of them. My longest lasting LCD TV or monitor has been a Samsung so that's what I'd pick, would spend the money on a major brand before paying more for high tech specs. That is unless it isn't your main use TV. If it has fewer running hours per day, translates into more years of service, except that some smart TVs never turn off the processor circuit, just the display panel so are still subject to wear on that subcircuit.

 

[Dave9]

Android powered TCL or Hisense is my preference - a lot of performance and value for the money.

I would never get a budget tier Hisense Android TV again. Mine seemed like a good value but turns out that the Android interface and playback is sluggish, and it locks up, even if not using any android features (just HDMI input), even if it is turned OFF! I can plug it into the wall, only use an HDMI input, turn it off, and while soft-off it has to be power cycled, won't turn on or turns on to a lock up state.

New firmware didn't help, nor did Hisense support. Hisense is not effectively debugging Android before releases, which is the problem not a hardware defect. The way I keep it running without perpetual wall outlet disconnections and reboots required, is disable everything Android related possible including the wifi and ethernet so it can't talk to the outside world.

 

[ChrisMU]

After at least nine light diffusers fell off my 4-5 year old Samsung 75,” I decided to go with a 77” LG OLED because the pixels themselves light up. It’s supposed to arrive tomorrow.

 

[JavierH19]

bought a cheap emmerson tv 6 years ago and it still works perfectly fine today. Tuned the picture and sound and it's good now. Aint a 4k oled but a 1080p 50 inch lcd is just fine to be honest.

 

[measureman]

5 years ago I bought my first 55" 4K and thought the picture was great.
After a couple months the sound went out and Best buy could not fix it with in their 30 window.
They Said bring it back for full credit.
I settled on a Samsung 55" 4K and paid a couple hundred dollars more.
Once the Samsung was up and running and adjusted to my liking I discovered that the great picture on the Insignia was not nearly as good as the Samsung.
Theres a reason some brands are just more expensive.

 

[Kawiguy454]

+1 on LG OLed. And it also has HDMI 2.1 so can be used as PC monitor with sub 2ms latency. With 10 bit HDR color it is fantastic.

 

[Silver]

Android sticks, etc preferred over "smart TV". Can be updated, usually more storage.

Look for number of inputs you need and response time. A lot of newer flat screens have poor response time and it shows in laggy, tearing video. Also pay attention to the black level because you don't want black areas looking washed out and pixelated.

I have a cheap Sceptre from Wal-Mart, look as good as any more expensive TV unless you get into 4k high quality video signals which I don't. It replaced a Samsung that crapped out after about 2 years.

 

[ad244]

I bought one of these Sonys on sale and its pretty **** nice.

Sony X80J 65 Inch TV: 4K Ultra HD LED Smart Google TV with Dolby Vision HDR and Alexa Compatibility KD65X80J- 2021 Model

If you're not offended by bleh picture quality then just get whatever is cheapest

 

[Duffyjr]

In the show room as mentioned they're getting fed the best signal possible and most TV's have a built in showroom setting but you should still be able to see some differences, if you truly can't then I wouldn't spend a ton of money on one.

One of the things I like about my Sony 950H is the upscaling form the satellite and blu ray player, even DVD looks amazing.

Watching Longmire from Netflix on DVD right now.

 

[Malo83]

In the show room as mentioned they're getting fed the best signal possible and most TV's have a built in showroom setting but you should still be able to see some differences, if you truly can't then I wouldn't spend a ton of money on one.

One of the things I like about my Sony 950H is the upscaling form the satellite and blu ray player, even DVD looks amazing.

Watching Longmire from Netflix on DVD right now.

Watching over the air channels is awesome also.

 

[willbur]

In the show room as mentioned they're getting fed the best signal possible and most TV's have a built in showroom setting but you should still be able to see some differences, if you truly can't then I wouldn't spend a ton of money on one.

One of the things I like about my Sony 950H is the upscaling form the satellite and blu ray player, even DVD looks amazing.

Watching Longmire from Netflix on DVD right now.

great series. Watch "The Expanse" if you can

 

[DuckRyder]

Yes in Best Buy they are probably all on "demonstration mode" which is super bright.

It has been years but when we bought ours (a Sony XBR) if you put is on something and looked in flesh tones the Sony seems to have a more natural looking picture, the Samsung's were defiantly redder...

However i do agree if they all look the same to you, buy the cheapest one with good legitimate reviews.

 

[JustinH]

Ten year old first generation LCD TV Insignia sitting in my bedroom. $149 open box purchase, still kicking. Best buy.

50 inch CHANGHONG 1080p tv from HEB Black Friday $299 about 6 years ago.

Next TV will be 4k as Youtube has the content now.

I use a 4k Android TV Box for all my apps.

 

[Rmay635703]

Some TVs show movies better (OLED or Plasma) as they can do a great job with the brightest to the darkest scenes.
These days I would not buy less than a 4K TV.

I do not see the need of a "smart" TV. Get a Roku and use TV as a monitor.

Me personally having had to buy for a computer illiterate relative would buy based on the ease of use and quality of the smart tv interface

Roku, personally sucks and will likely loose support for things as basic as YouTube due to corporate legal disagreements and licensing, not to mention the usual spying and spreading of personal data

LGs smart tv interface (guide) with all its flaws is easy to use consolidating streaming content into channels to surf.

 

[tmorris1]

Me personally having had to buy for a computer illiterate relative would buy based on the ease of use and quality of the smart tv interface

Roku, personally sucks and will likely loose support for things as basic as YouTube due to corporate legal disagreements and licensing, not to mention the usual spying and spreading of personal data

LGs smart tv interface (guide) with all its flaws is easy to use consolidating streaming content into channels to surf.

What personal data does Roku have access to? I guess they could tell people what I watch, but they all do that? All of these companies are selling your data, that Google/Youtubes entire existence?

 

[Jim74]

I just bought an LG C1 series OLED and the smart Tv capabilities are worth it, at least for me. And the picture is gorgeous.

 

[GrtArtiste]

And our 2010 Samsung 46inch 1080p LCD just keeps chugging along with never any problem. just as good as when new . nothing bad enough to make me run out and get something better.

 

[JC1]

I picked up a used LG oled 55 inch about a month ago. If you watch Netflix or some content with UHD You'll see the picture difference. I agree cheaper tvs usually have a poorer picture quality.

I bought a TCL QLED 55 last cyber monday and it's been a good tv. I'm using a 4k fire cube.

 

[nthach]

I bought a 50” LG LCD “smart” TV with the IPS panel. I’m happy with it. If you can swing it, OLED’s the way to go but burn-in is an issue.

LG and Innolux/BOE are licensed by NEC(or was it Hitachi) to make IPS LCD panels, Samsung chose not to, hence why they’re still using TN/VA panels.

TVs these days are a just a big monitor without DisplayPort/USB-C alt mode with an embedded computer(probably using eDP). Get the one that you can live with. I usually pick first-tier brands. The Chinese stuff has privacy concerns or poor code. Smart TVs will be slower than using a separate streaming device - price point and performance constraints. An Apple TV has the same SoC as a iPhone 7/8, while a Amazon Fire’s using the same Mediatek SoC as a low-end Android phone. A smart TV is using a lower-end SoC.

 

[cbear]

If you're the only one watching it, and can't see the difference, don't spend the extra money. If other family members will be watch as well, get their opinions on how they look as well. Everybody sees a little different. And yes, when the put them up in stores, they are defaulted to demo mode from the factory, which max out brightness and contrast. Most homes are a much different environment, and will have different settings once you select "for use in home" upon setup.