Advice for buying TV (to watch M athletes dominate)
MGoNerds, we bought a second home last year up in scenic Elk Rapids, Michigan. Still in the process of fixing it up as it was in rough condition and being used as a copy business (before that, a daycare, and before that a Baptist church). Progress has been slow but steady and we're at the exciting point of actually being able to stay in and use it.
Which means I'm gonna need a TV. In our smallish Ann Arbor home, we have a smallish living room and a correspondingly smallish TV. But this Elk Rapids house, being a former church, has a very large main living area and can accommodate a large screen. So I'm toodling around online looking at the new generation of TVs, and quickly getting overwhelmed by the lingo and the panoply of beautiful, massive sets. Looking for some input from this occasionally helpful, always entertaining online community.
Parameters: the TV will mostly be used for watching movies & sports and playing antiquated video game systems. 70-85" is what I have in mind. Planning to mount it directly on the wall. Our current set is a smart TV (which it appears they all are now) but we use Chromecast anyway and I prefer it for streaming, so may use it with the new set as well; we can wire directly to the router via network cable - one of the benefits of buying a former copy shop is the ridiculous number of network wall ports. I'd prefer to try a different brand than LG (our current set is LG and it's fine, not great...previous Sony beast lasted forever). Would prefer to end up around $1500 or less pretax.
Main places I've looked are Costco, Best Buy, and Big George's (local to Ann Arbor). I have the Costco credit card w/exec membership so we'll get 4% back if I buy there; otherwise 2% with another credit card elsewhere. Free delivery a huge plus, or pickup at one of the big box places in nearby Traverse City. In stock only as I plan on installing it early next week. Free installation of the wall mount hardware a plus but not necessary.
Any recommendations? What acronyms should I be looking for (OLED? QLED? UHD 4K? 8K? LCD?) What tech specs are important? Should I also plan on buying a sound bar? What brands/models do you love/hate? Hotter governor: Jennifer Granholm or Gretchen Whitmer?
I'm somewhat of an electronics junkie (TVs, surround sound, Chromecasts, Firesticks, speakers synced in every room/deck/yard/pool). With that in mind, I don't really see differences in the high end TV for my main watching area, to the cheap Black Friday TV I got for my garage. I have 19 TVs total. Unless your room has direct sunlight issues or something, any Walmart mid-range Vizio or Samsung level TV will probably be great. I mainly watch football, basketball, and baseball. Looks basically the same on all TVs. Movies and TV Shows are a little different, but honestly I think the higher end TVs make those look worse. Everything just looks very fake when the TV gets too good.
I had the same feeling, things look a bit fake on very HD screens. I am partial to size. The biggest I can afford in my budget. Currently, have a 55" Sony 723 series (bought in 2012) that we watch from about 6 ft away. I think I can put an 85" on that cabinet :) Yes, I know it's way bigger than the recommended size for that viewing distance. But I like it.
The TV hardware right now is faaaaaar ahead of what broadcast can actually utilize. It's like cars that get faster and faster each year, but the speed limit stays the same.
The only real way you notice many of the high end features (HDR, Dolby Vision, OLED, Micro-LED, 120 fps/hz, etc) is if you're a hardcore gamer who has a PS5 or Xbox One X, which utilize these features.
Outside of that, 90% of TV streaming services (Cable/satellite, DirecTV Now, Youtube TV) broadcast in 1080p, with the occasional upscaled 4k live event. Cached streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc) do show in 4k with some shows utilizing HDR/Dolby Vision. But for the most part, you're not going to notice a lot of the super high end features because shows are still years away from actually filming and utilizing these features.
So, my recommendation is get something in the middle of the feature set. You don't want a cheap TV that's going to show it's age 2-3 years from now, but you don't want to spend extra $$$ on features that may not even get adopted (remember 3D TVs a couple years back?).
The TCL 6 series is sort of the go-to for most bang for your buck right now: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/tcl/6-series-r646-2021-qled
He's right you know. The rtings site he linked is by far the most informative and thorough site to help pick a TV . They explain all the specs very well.
No need to buy the fanciest TV out there as you probably won't ever watch anything in 8k. That said, the refresh rate (or response time) matters a ton on a large screen for sports. Gray uniformity matters. Depending on where the TV is installed reflection handling and viewing angle can be rather important too.
If it looks fake (i.e. "the soap opera effect"), it's probably just a settings issue. You have to turn off all the motion dejudder, smoothing, high frame rate BS. Nowadays there are like 3-4 different settings you have to turn off. They're good for sports or gaming, but make movies and TV series look terrible.
I will say that an OLED 4K TV with HDR looks incredible with the right content. But you're right that the law of diminishing returns comes into play, and there's very little to be gained by getting the upper echelon of price points.
If it looks fake (i.e. "the soap opera effect"), it's probably just a settings issue. You have to turn off all the motion dejudder, smoothing, high frame rate BS. Nowadays there are like 3-4 different settings you have to turn off.
This. There are websites and reddit pages out there now solely dedicated to specific model sets and what the settings should be set on. But yeah, if it looks fake it's likely motion smoothing of some kind.
Very true...if you have a good set like an LG or Sony OLED and it looks fake you need to adjust your settings or get the set calibrated. A relatively new OLED TV can almost make a game come alive. Many of the streaming services have 4K content with HDR and even with lossy compression, it still makes for a great viewing experience.
I'm not saying you have to spend big bucks to get decent quality. It is all about what matters to you. TV tech has come a long way, but one reason why fan attendance is down in many venues is what one can get at home and not break the bank.
19 TVs? Hell, I'm 2nd oldest in a family of 10 kids and my always-practical Dad never let the family have anything bigger than a 19" portable TV (it was B&W, too!) until my grandparents got us a 25" color TV for Christmas 1972, middle of my senior year in high school. And even now I'm only up to 3 TVs, largest of which is a 55" plasma Samsung 1080p TV that's now over 10 years old. While I know all the electronics companies stopped making plasma TVs, I still love the picture on this one and would definitely buy one again if that's where TV technology still was. Truth is, I still have my "practical" side I inherited from Dad, and for almost all practical purposes, nearly everything that is broadcast is at best in 1080p and if it's via cable or dish, the signal is even further compressed.
That said, seriously thinking about my next TV before the summer ends and football begins. Have just started reading up on them, I've been in a couple stores taking a peek this last week and the pictures are amazing on the new large screen TVs, even the dinky 65" sets I'm looking at.
We only have 2 TVs, and one has been mostly dormant since the "end" of the pandemic August 2020 (functionally, my wife is a teacher and they all went back to school).
I'd love to go back to a plasma TV, but ours died twice in 6 years, once under warranty and once out, which made it terminal. Better screen than anything I've seen even now, that's reasonably priced.
Yeah, I'm probably living on borrowed time with my plasma TV, I've always read that their screen life typically is half or less that of LEDs and beyond, so I should constantly knock on wood.
I've got a seldom-used-anymore 32" Samsung LED that was my first HD, purchased in 2008 and works fine even if it's only a 720p, and a dirt-cheap 40" Vizio brand smart tv (decent picture but piss-poor sound) that was a Meijer Black Friday special from two years ago. I think I only paid like $199 for it, but it's a piece of junk compared to the Samsungs---you get what you paid for, sometimes even less.
Love those old plasma tvs. Wish I kept mine.
I just removed my last plasma last month. It was a 50" that was about $2k and weighed about 200lbs (might be exaggerating, but it's a two man job to carry it). My first big purchase of my adult life after college. Honestly, football looked better on that than any fancy TV I've bought since.
I bought a 70" LG last year from Best Buy. Don't have too many technical recs, but definitely get something name brand. My biggest advice is 1.) Make sure you actually measure and have cargo space in your car to fit a large tv (including the box!). 2.) Make sure you have help lifting and mounting the TV to the wall. They are way too heavy/risky for one person to lift. If you can get the retailer to deliver and install it, all the better.
Good luck!
I second the car issue. I've seen several people at Costco scratching their heads when their purchases don't fit.
I drive a Honda Accord and the backseats don't fold down, so yeah, can't get a very big set in that mama jama. Renting a Jeep Grand Cherokee via Turo for my next trip up north so I can bring a big load and (potentially) move a big TV without issue.
First time trying Turo; seems like a nice alternative to the rental car places for anything larger than a sedan.
Be careful with the Best Buy install. Geek Squad mounted it into a heater duct, not a stud. Held up for a bit but stated pulling away from the wall. Had to do it correctly once I found the issue.
Agree with others - 4K is plenty (not sure there are 3 things in 8k now). OLED or QLED. I bought the 2021 LG 73” (I think). Fantastic TVs - been tracking these for like 7 years and finally broke down (mostly because it was PS5 time).
there is a great Sony and the Samsungs I believe are the best.
that said - cheaper 4K TVs are a vast step up if you have a 10+ year old plasma (like I did).
When I purchased my first home in rural west palm I bought at the time the top of the line Sony 32”. As I struggled with a Costco employee to get into our rx 300, it just then occurred to me “how the hell am I going to get in my house. Having just moved in, didn’t know any neighbors. Ended up strapping it to my 250#+ neighbors back and he walked it in and backed into the entertainment center lol. Sounds crazy but it worked. Great neighbor.
If there's one great thing about modern society is that TVs nowadays are amazing and pretty affordable compared to like 10 years ago. I'd recommend going to Costco finding a few TVs that look good and fit your price range, then go online and check the reviews, then make your decision. Most TVs are pretty damn good nowadays. IMO stay away from 4k/8k TVs because you're not going to be watching anything in 4k/8k anyway
The down side of cheap TVs is that China has taken over nearly all manufacturing and these connected TVs definitely sell your data in order to subsidize the low prices.
Everyone collects and sells your data, it's just a matter of how forthright they are about it.
Gotta disagree with you on the 4K. The content isn’t there yet but will be soon. Sports in 4K are awesome and totally worth it.
Yep this ^^^
4K sports content is amazing with the right TV and some can upscale. 8K for now is a waste of money. The most "bang" for the buck is what format the porn industry standard is (and always will be)...minimum 1080P, some content in 4K/5K, and nothing in 8K....a friend told me this always.
I'm a huge OLED fan but they are more expensive. I think you can get a 65 inch LG C1 right now for around 1500 as they are starting to blow them out as the C2 is showing up. I'm a movie buff so I'm a picture quality snob. LCD screens look inferior to OLED in my opinion. If you are in a bright room I might go QLED because they are brighter but I just love my LG OLED's. There some new tech that comes out this year that is called QD OLED that is getting good reviews but it is very expensive currently. That will probably be the next big thing in the coming years. Good Luck!
Do you stream or use Blue-Rays? I like to play from a disc, the quality is way better. That could just be my net connection as well.
I was a huge disc snob for awhile but now most stuff I watch via streaming at least initially. The Apple streams are pretty high quality and it is so convenient. I will say there are certain movies I have bought over and over on disc. I think I've owned Jaws on VHS, DVD, Blu, and Ultra-DVD. I was going on and on about how great the print was on the movie Jaws was and also on the 50th Anniversary edition of the Godfather and my friends just look at me like I'm a loser.
Costco is probably going to be your best bang for the buck but as to which one to buy I'll leave that to people more versed than me since mine is a 3 year old one.
Re: the sound bar - most recommendations I've seen say that if you want to take full advantage of a big TV experience then yes you want something, but the sound bar reviews seemed pretty mixed. I didn't want to deal with running tons of wires or hiding wires so I bought a wireless surround system and love it.
Agree re: soundbar. OP has an expansive living area and a soundbar or TV speakers probably won’t cut it. I’d spend my $ on the receiver and speakers to optimize the experience. But that’s me. Lol.
Every time I buy a TV, I rely heavily on rtings.com. They test every TV very thoroughly and also break things out into useful groups, like best 65", best 70-75", best TV for a budget, best LED, best OLED, etc. If interested, their TV launch page is here, see the table of contents at the left. https://www.rtings.com/tv
If you don't want to dive into the details, they have big picture ratings for different categories (sports, movies, HDR) and a pros & cons summary.
cnet.com reviews
Best of 2022
https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/best-tv/
TLC-6 Series....best for the price
Good link, I've never been let down by a cNet review.
This. Just buy what they recommend. They have high end and budget option recommendations. And they even give advice on the settings to get the best picture possible out of the tv.
For my money in that range, andsince you're a member, 75" Sony X90CJ 4K UHD from Costco. Nice true blacks, great picture. And yes, sound bar is a must. But I don't believe in overspending on soundbars (I'm positive there are those who will disagree, it's just not my thing). A nice Vizio bar for a couple hundred is plenty IMHO.
Must be popular, it's out of stock! I do like Sony products.
For my money it's how you should go. I think the ratings sites back me up as well. Sony is a dependable brand, if you like the products they do, then you will be happy. I also noticed a few people here talking TCL. I have a TCL as my "value brand" set and I'm very happy with it. If you're the type of person who doesn't really "care". Then you can get a very good TCL set for under 1000.
As far as things generally. Somebody above said don't worry about 4k/8k. I agree on 8k. Good luck finding a set that isn't 4k in 2022. They just don't make them anymore. That said, don't worry about 8K. OLED is amazing, but it's out of what you're wanting to spend. If you find yourself wanting to really go for it, OLED is the way to go. And TVs just do not have good built-in audio anymore. I think the assumption is that people will buy the bar at this point. It's a must, even if you're getting a "value" bar at around $125. I wouldnt do a super cheap bar. ALTHOUGH, I bought a Roku Bar last year, basically i wanted to replace my Roku device on my bedroom TV and I wanted also to get a soundbar to control loud commercials/sound fluctuations at night (my wife likes to watch TV to go to sleep). I've been pretty impressed with the Roku bar - relatively speaking for what it is - a basic bar with a built in Roku and a night mode to squash obnoxious sounds while I'm sleeping.
Oh and Gretch all the way.
I recommend checking out rtings.com, they're one of the better review sites out there.
I have a LG CX OLED and have been very happy with the purchase.
The key advantages of OLED are: (source)
- Infinite contrast ratio because it can turn off individual pixels (good for content with dark scenes)
- Wider viewing angles
- Picture quality is more consistent across OLED brands whereas QLED tends to have a wider range of quality.
Key disadvantages
- Brightness, OLED can't get as bright as other TVs (e.g. QLED)
- Small but existent burn-in risk. I personally haven't had any issues (nor do any of my friends who have an OLED) but if you plan on keeping it on for hours at a time on a channel that has a static image (e.g. logos) there is some risk but it's minimal.
- Price. I haven't seen a 70" OLED for <$1.5k
4K is pretty much a must have at this point (1080p only TVs are rare). 8K is a nice to have but with very limited content out there it's not a must have. Next-gen gaming consoles do support 8K but I'm not aware of any games that currently do so and your plan is to use antiquated video game consoles so it's really a moot point.
If you do end up using a next-gen console for this TV, make sure the TV you buy supports HDMI 2.1. It's a standard that supports higher bandwidth which unlocks 4k/120Hz gaming.
I recommend sticking with one of the major brands (e.g. LG, Sony, Samsung, etc). Having embedded apps in the TV is nice (bigger brands tend to offer more support) and allows you to avoid having to supplement it with another streaming device (e.g. fire stick, apple tv, chromecast, etc).
If you have a chase freedom card, you can get 5% off Amazon this quarter.
Oooh, I do have Chase Freedom. I'm annoyed that they constantly change the 5% category so I'm never quite sure what it is, but in this case that could be pretty useful. Can't sneeze at 2 day free Prime delivery either!
I purchased my last TV at Costco. I was loyal to Samsung buying a new TV, sound bar and DVD player all their brand.
-Get the sound bar and don't go cheap.
-I just grabbed one that had a better picture. I stayed with a bigger known brand versus the Visio's, etc. Don't over think it.
-There is something about Gretch. I can't pin point it, but I like her look. Note - I'm 64 years old so maybe I'm a dirty old man?
Totally agree re: Whitmer v Granholm. Also, the Michigan accent totally does it for me. Granholm's was never as pronounced.
Go retro! In the days when I was "drawing" on my TV screen as I watched Winky Dink and You, I was watching on something like this TV set.
But seriously, I like Samsung and usually buy from Costco where they often go on sale. Pretty satisfied with an Amazon fire stick for sets that aren't as "smart" as the latest models.
Always wanted a Curtis Mathis but we could only afford a Zenith
In the first place, I love that this was posted by a user named "Great Cornholio." He writes:
"Still in the process of fixing it up as it was in rough condition and being used as a copy business (before that, a daycare, and before that a Baptist church)."
Forget the TV for a moment. The place is probably harboring several types of ghosts.
Funny you mention ghosts. The previous owner left crystals and little angel figurines scattered around the building, and when I asked her about them she said they were there to ward off evil spirits. I haven't said anything about them to my 8-year-old, but if I walk in and find him with his hands pressed up against the new TV, I'll know: theyyyy're heeeere.
That movie fucking terrified me as a youth.
But Mr. Cornholio, you've always been here.
OLED:
https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-oled77g2pua
QLED:
https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/samsung-neo-qled-8k/75-class-qn900b-samsung-neo-qled-8k-smart-tv-2022-qn75qn900bfxza/
Pick your poison. You're welcome.
Might as well be poison, cuz Mrs. Cornholio would kill me if I blew $4000+ on a TV.
Wait until August, they'll be 50%-75% below that price.
Kristi Noem
Just googled her. Whoa. I'd mount her Rushmore. Spelunk in her wind cave. Explore her black hills...okay I'm out of South Dakota geography references, and I can't come up with a sexually suggestive use for "Pierre."