OT--Time to upgrade our TV in the theater--OT

bucky925

Ok, the time has come to upgrade our TV.  I don't think I need a smart or 4k television for what we use it for.  I have been reading cnet reviews all day and am completely confused.  From my research a 75" will serve us well, as in within our budget. I see some off brands hundreds less than a samsung or other name brands.  What does the braintrust of this forum say?

ColtsFan

I went with Sony Bravia X850E series. Inputs, with or without tuner and the LED lighting zones make a huge difference in price. 

Rtings.com is a great site for comparisons

lousubcap

You are retired and are looking at a 75" TV- living large right there.  I know next to nothing about TV's as I am "on my lawn" with a 2009 Samsung 48" rig. Recalling- look for the fastest refresh rate and beyond that...let the experts bring it home!  

JustOneOfTheGuys

I went with the LG OLED65C7P.  The colors are outstanding.  Once you see 4K content on a 4K set you’ll be amazed.  While you may think a 4K is more than you need now, think about the investment in the set and how long it will be around.  More and more providers are making 4K content and it is even making its way into cable delivered local content as well. Dolby sound and movies are bright and vivid with deep blacks and spot on colors-totaling amazing.  If you can make the jump to OLED, you won’t be disappointed.

bucky925

lousubcap said:

You are retired and are looking at a 75" TV- living large right there.  I know next to nothing about TV's as I am "on my lawn" with a 2009 Samsung 48" rig. Recalling- look for the fastest refresh rate and beyond that...let the experts bring it home!  

rofl...living "large" on a fixed income .  Our current Tv is 10 years old.  We do enjoy entertaining on occasion and the media room is a nice place to host guests.  One of my guilty pleasures. 

lousubcap

My turn to  rofl...media room.  I flunked media training several years ago    No home room involved!

thetrim

Vizio

bucky925

JustOneOfTheGuys said:

I went with the LG OLED65C7P.  The colors are outstanding.  Once you see 4K content on a 4K set you’ll be amazed.  While you may think a 4K is more than you need now, think about the investment in the set and how long it will be around.  More and more providers are making 4K content and it is even making its way into cable delivered local content as well. Dolby sound and movies are bright and vivid with deep blacks and spot on colors-totaling amazing.  If you can make the jump to OLED, you won’t be disappointed.

I figure a set that will last us another 10 years. Then we will need one of these.

Ozzie_Isaac

Depends on your room.  Can you black it out, or do you have windows?

Since Panasonic stopped making Plasmas and Kiros are long gone, I would go OLED.  The blacks are phenomnal. 

Toxarch

Visio makes an awesome 4k for a great price. The one I bought was not a smart tv because all the stuff I plug into it does the smart stuff. Well, it's kinda smart meaning you can select something like Netflix on your phone, tell it to play on the TV and the TV takes over. But you couldn't go straight to netflix on the tv. I just used an old phone for that stuff. Now they sent a new free remote and updated the software and it's a smart TV. No extra cost to me. 

GATraveller

I'm in the market to replace the tv on the screened porch so watching this thread closely.

CarolinaCrazy

I have a Samsung 60" and a Sony Bravia 42". Both LEDs. I've tuned them both, but still find the Samsung colors a tiny bit harsher. Can't seem to get the red tuned the way i'd like it. I like them both and wouldn't recommend one over the other. Vizio's seem to be getting better and better though I haven't had one.

TheWirecutter.com is a great site for reviews and recommendations. Check them out.

Theophan

bucky925 said:

... I don't think I need a smart or 4k television for what we use it for...

You may change "what you use it for" if you get one.  I'm not sure you can get a non-smart TV, these days, anyway, but it can be really handy to have apps like Netflix right there on the TV -- nothing else to buy.

In my own opinion, the 4K thing is about how far away from the TV you sit.  If you're as far away as people used to say you need to be, you won't see the difference with 4K.  But if you're close enough, you WILL see a remarkable difference, and especially with the HDR, it can be very worthwhile, and as someone else said, there will be more and more 4K shows and movies as time goes by.

I would urge you to spend some serious time in a showroom where you can actually SEE all of these TVs, and spend some time comparing them.  It's hard, because in a showroom they may not all be adjusted properly, so some will look worse just because they're not being displayed at their best.  But still, CNET reviews can't show you what your own eyes can show you.  Actually go LOOK at some of these TVs.

fishlessman

my biggest concern was sun glare off the lake.  when i went shopping i read everything, asked questions etc, way too confusing.  someone responded on line just to go to the store, dont bother looking at the tvs on display showing movies etc. just turn them all off and pick the  darkest flat black screen in the room. worked for me   i dont need all the gadgets anyways

saluki2007

GATraveller said:

I'm in the market to replace the tv on the screened porch so watching this thread closely.

I'm getting ready to purchase a new outside tv too.  I'm going with the new TCL 49" 5 series.  It's built around Roku and is 4k.  For the price and use as an outside TV (which will be stored in the garage when not in use) hard to beat the price.  Best Buy has them listed at $399 right now on their website.

GATraveller

saluki2007 said:

GATraveller said:

I'm in the market to replace the tv on the screened porch so watching this thread closely.

I'm getting ready to purchase a new outside tv too.  I'm going with the new TCL 49" 5 series.  It's built around Roku and is 4k.  For the price and use as an outside TV (which will be stored in the garage when not in use) hard to beat the price.  Best Buy has them listed at $399 right now on their website.

Funny you say that because that's the one I was looking at (along with the 58').  Saw it for the same price on Amazon and I have some money waiting from Christmas returns.  

saluki2007

I don't know why, but I always laugh when people say they need to replace their TV in their theater room.  In my mind a theater room should have a projector.  Any ways, I would suggest going with a 4k TV, especially if you like to entertain in there.  Agree with Ozzie, need a little bit more info about the room.

JohnEggGio

Picked up a 55” LG OLED last month and really loving it.  Got the upgraded UltraHD Netflix for an additional $3 per month - wow - game changer.  Came out of a 5 or 6 year-old 3D Panny Plasma.

saluki2007

GATraveller said:

saluki2007 said:

GATraveller said:

I'm in the market to replace the tv on the screened porch so watching this thread closely.

I'm getting ready to purchase a new outside tv too.  I'm going with the new TCL 49" 5 series.  It's built around Roku and is 4k.  For the price and use as an outside TV (which will be stored in the garage when not in use) hard to beat the price.  Best Buy has them listed at $399 right now on their website.

Funny you say that because that's the one I was looking at (along with the 58').  Saw it for the same price on Amazon and I have some money waiting from Christmas returns.  

Be careful as the 2018 model is supposed to be a lot better than last years model and not every where has it yet.  Amazon does have the new 5 series models, but BB is $50 cheaper on the 43 and 49.

GATraveller

@saluki2007 thanks for the tip.  That's good to know.

Theophan

saluki2007 said:

... In my mind a theater room should have a projector...

I love the idea of a really huge screen, but I've never seen a home projection image that was anywhere near as good as a really good flat screen TV.  Especially with the 4K or higher / HDR screens, these days, I'm not sure the dynamic range of a projected image (from a home projector, that is) can rival them.  Obviously they do so in theaters, but I didn't think home projectors were anywhere near their flat screen competitors.  Am I mistaken on this?  Are there home projectors now that are as good as a 4K or higher HDR TV?

saluki2007

Theophan said:

saluki2007 said:

... In my mind a theater room should have a projector...

I love the idea of a really huge screen, but I've never seen a home projection image that was anywhere near as good as a really good flat screen TV.  Especially with the 4K or higher / HDR screens, these days, I'm not sure the dynamic range of a projected image (from a home projector, that is) can rival them.  Obviously they do so in theaters, but I didn't think home projectors were anywhere near their flat screen competitors.  Am I mistaken on this?  Are there home projectors now that are as good as a 4K or higher HDR TV?

There have always been home projectors that were/are better than flat screens and still are.  The thing with projectors are you can manipulate them more/better than most TVs, especially large screens.  They do come with a heftier price tag though.

Ozzie_Isaac

saluki2007 said:

Theophan said:

saluki2007 said:

... In my mind a theater room should have a projector...

I love the idea of a really huge screen, but I've never seen a home projection image that was anywhere near as good as a really good flat screen TV.  Especially with the 4K or higher / HDR screens, these days, I'm not sure the dynamic range of a projected image (from a home projector, that is) can rival them.  Obviously they do so in theaters, but I didn't think home projectors were anywhere near their flat screen competitors.  Am I mistaken on this?  Are there home projectors now that are as good as a 4K or higher HDR TV?

There have always been home projectors that were/are better than flat screens and still are.  The thing with projectors are you can manipulate them more/better than most TVs, especially large screens.  They do come with a heftier price tag though.

Home projectors can easily push $30k.  There are some great models in the $5k-$10k range though.  Make sure to budget for a proper screen too.  No bedsheets or painted walls.

andersa

The JVC projectors  - RS540 and RS640 have insane contrast ratio, so they do blacks very well. They are not true 4k though as they shift the panel around (called eShift) to support 4k. Hard to notice much difference compared to native 4k projectors from Sony on real world material.
HDR is supported and works well, but the bigger the screen, less brightness, so a smaller screen can be beneficial. No projector will work well with background light, windows etc. In a bat cave, a properly calibrated PJ is tough to beat.

Botch

fishlessman said:

...dont bother looking at the tvs on display showing movies etc. just turn them all off and pick the  darkest flat black screen in the room. worked for me   i dont need all the gadgets anyways

A pimply-faced kid in a furniture store pointed this out to me, and I ended up buying my TV from him.  My "home theater", as it were, has windows on two walls and there's a glaring reflection off the shiny plastic frame of my LG from windows, that just doesn't show on the screen itself.  It's an LED with local dimming, 8 years old now, and I have no reason to replace it.  Matte screen is definitely something to look for, unless you're in the basement.
If/when it dies, I will be going with the OLEDs too; from your description ("I don't think I need a smart or 4k television for what we use it for."), as suggested above, I'd look into the Vizios too, especially for your size preference.  Good luck!  

bucky925

I think I'm going with this one...As soon as I can figure out how to collect the wife's life insurance 
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-100-class-led-z9d-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/5481100.p?skuId=5481100

Ozzie_Isaac

bucky925 said:

I think I'm going with this one...As soon as I can figure out how to collect the wife's life insurance 
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-100-class-led-z9d-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/5481100.p?skuId=5481100

Man, 100" prices have come down.  They used to be 100K.  That one is a steal.

JohnInCarolina

bucky925 said:

I think I'm going with this one...As soon as I can figure out how to collect the wife's life insurance 
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-100-class-led-z9d-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/5481100.p?skuId=5481100

For $60k it had better blow you on command.

DoubleEgger

JohnInCarolina said:

bucky925 said:

I think I'm going with this one...As soon as I can figure out how to collect the wife's life insurance 
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-100-class-led-z9d-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/5481100.p?skuId=5481100

For $60k it had better blow you on command.

That model costs $130k 

Ozzie_Isaac

DoubleEgger said:

JohnInCarolina said:

bucky925 said:

I think I'm going with this one...As soon as I can figure out how to collect the wife's life insurance 
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-100-class-led-z9d-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/5481100.p?skuId=5481100

For $60k it had better blow you on command.

That model costs $130k 

I see what you did there, and I approve.

jtcBoynton

bucky925 said:

Ok, the time has come to upgrade our TV.  I don't think I need a smart or 4k television for what we use it for.  I have been reading cnet reviews all day and am completely confused.  From my research a 75" will serve us well, as in within our budget. I see some off brands hundreds less than a samsung or other name brands.  What does the braintrust of this forum say?

Does anyone make a 75" model in 1080p these days?  Think you will need to get a 4k.  Does anyone make a 4k 75" set that is not a "smart" tv?  If you aren't that concerned about the "smart" feature set of the tv, just ignore it and buy a tv based on the picture quality.  Also remember that a lot of tv sales marketing is focused on shiny objects.  Try to ignore them.

There really is a difference in the picture quality between some sets.  Off brands can save you some money, but often do so by sacrificing picture quality.  Contrast ratio, refresh rate, and viewing angle are the primary things to look at.  Marketing speak for all three areas makes it hard to compare between brands.

If you are willing to spend the bucks, you should seriously consider OLED tv rather than the standard LCD tv.  That narrows it down to Sony or LG.