OT - Recommendations for a New TV to watch Football
Mates,
It is time for us to buy a new TV. The old one works, but is 13+ yrs old and doesn't have all the features, bells and buzzers like the newest generations of TV's. We only have the TV hooked up during college football season, so whatever we get will see light duty for 3-4 months, then be dark for the rest of the year. Video games are not part of the equation for us, assuming people still play them on TV's.
General specs would be that it be in the 45-50" size range. I am looking at a Sam's Club catalog which shows a Samsung 48" 1080p Smart TV for $348. There's a couple of Vizio's "Class 4k UHD Smart Cast" TV's, and the 50" is $448.
So the question is: Given the specs and usage, what do you recommend for TV's and features in that size range? What is the most bang for the buck and the 'must have' specs?
Thank you in advance,
XM
EDIT: I want to thank the folks that have responded. This is exactly the content/discussio I was hoping for. Very helpful on all fronts.
When you can get a 35 dollar dongle that does a better job. However most of the good TVs come with smart tvs anyways.
4k isn't that great. When I bought a tv a couple years ago plasma was fading away. Still supposable better than 4k. Also have heard oled is amazing but $$$.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Yeah, iPhones 6/6s can shoot in 4K now. Granted it will eat through storage ridiculosly fast.
I will say that from the 4K content I've seen from Netflix I'm happy I made the move to 4K, even though I did that to partly future proof. I notice the difference. Everyone might not care, but it's nice for House of Cards & etc.
Make sure you do like me & get a nice size TV with great picture, then cancel cable & watch games streamed online with horrible picture clarity.
Given the option you should almost always use 720p over 1080i. Especially if you watch sports. Of course if 1080p is available you should use that.
But 1080i is not the same as 1080p. The "i" stands for "interlaced" meaning that the lines are refreshed on an interlaced fashion, whereas "p" is progressive scan meaning all lines are refreshed. In short, 1080i provides more detail but might also lead to some motion issues.
People often see 1080i and think it's better than 720p, but really that's not the case. Some articles explaining it:
Why are you buying a tv to use 8 days in a year?
Best bang for the buck is not to spend money on something that will last a lifetime at 8 days per year. As long as the old one is above 35", stick with it.
during season football is on th-sat, will (close eyes) watch lions on sunday occasionally too. thanksgiving weekend is hunting and college football. the last half of december gets pretty good with 1-4 games/day. did you mean 18 days? 28 days?
Are you offgrid? For some reason I am thinking you are offgrid so power consumption should be very important. If not I have nothing to offer this discussion.
I like my Panny Plasma but it's getting long in the tooth and my next TV most likely won't be plasma now that the black is true black instead of grey on LED TV.
but with the ability to generate power when it goes out. thanks steve.
No one makes them anymore.
Besides the blacks, Plasmas can be viewed from any angle where LCDs can't and there isn't the same glare factor.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
IMO, 240hz is the minimum and look for the "effective refresh rate". OEMs will manipulate LEDs to the quality of 920hz off of a baseline of 240hz for example.
1080p at 720hz is MUCH better than 4K at 60 or 120hz. Especially for action movies or sports or anything with fast and frequent movement. You'll notice.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Refresh rates are so hard to parse these days. Even the term "effective refresh rate" is used deceptively (see Vizio).
This article is a little old, but it still breaks it down in pretty good detail. More or less you're not getting above 120 Hz right now on a 4K;
Rtings on Actual v Advertised refresh rates
Also, a higher refresh is better yes, but there's an argument that the returns on going from 120 to 240 are marginally observable to most people.
The way...if only it were today. Soon hz will be a thing of the past.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
the OLEDs to drop the control circuitry off the backside and go mirror thin. Next year's CES will show these with adhesive hangers.
OLED is better... but not worth it until the form factor exceeds that of LED offerings.
We got
Sony XBR55X850D 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart TV (2016 model)
1200 bucks... that'll do for a couple years or more for OLEDs to come down in price point and slim down to mount with poster tape.
If you're looking for bang for the buck we got one of the Roku TVs for our mountain share house--55" 4K for like $400 at Costco. It's a great TV for the money but the remote sucks. If you're booking it up to a cable box with a good remote it's a lot of TV for the cost.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
(It had to be done...admit it....although I am ashamed that it was me)
I used to want to get a 4k tv but it seems like the upside is low but the downside is high. Beyond the lack of content content is moving towards streaming. a 4k movie is about 100 gigabites, or 20x or so that of a 1080p movie. manufacturers really wanted 4k tvs to be the leap from tube to hd but its not. if you're on a budget you probably don't want to spend money on 4k just yet.
this and when I bought my tv last year, I bought a high end 1080p Samsung from the previous year (H7150). The problem now is, to get a high end TV with the technology that produces a great picture, you have to pay the premium for 4K, because manufacturers are only putting those features in their 4K models.
I love my TV, and because I was fine with 1080p only, I went with 75" over the 65" 4K that was in my price range. I'm far happier with the bigger screen than with the limited 4K content I would be able to find. If anything, I think the bigger benefits of newer 4K sets is HDR and the wider color gamut that the new TVs are offering. Those things will improve picture quality far more than greater resolution, especially since very few people sit right on top of their televisions for viewing. I sit 15+ feet from my tv, and at that distance I would need something like a 140" screen to see any benefit of 4K over 1080p!
Right - and very few current 4Ks even have HDR too at this point. I needed a new TV to replace another one, so I went cheap because I know I'm going to want a new one that has HDR in a few years. So I compromised got a 60" Vizio 4K (M-60). It will cover me for a few years untilt he 4Ks (and possible OLEDs) come down in price and HDR is more common. Then I'll splurge.
I like my Vizio, but I will say my friend's Samsung SUHD (w/ HDR and Samsung's "Quantum Dot") is a better picture. He also paid way more for it.
You are right about the fact that almost all new technology is being pumped into 4K, so 1080p is not getting the newest and best stuff at this point.
About screen size, rule of thumb is that optimal viewing distance is twice that of the screen size. 70" screens are great for a large party in a large room, but who usually sits 12 feet away from the TV?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
we've got too much going on and so many video games are not good for building character - lots of heads cut/shot off, sexually risque stuff for kids too young, etc. we process our own livestock so my kids have seen more real blood (there's a lot even in one steer) and guts than just about anybody you know, but that is hands on, not in the abstract, with an actual purpose of providing food for ourselves and our customers, and harvested in a humane fashion.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I have a 70" 4k Samsung and love it. For those of you who say nobody broadcasts in 4k that is true for cable but you can find TONS of 4k content out there online and it will only grow.
My 60" 1080p Vizio is ok but there is just something off about the picture. It's not as crisp as the Samsung. Still good and got it for less than $600.
Above all else, I would focus on the number of HDMI ports and the refresh rate. Some look nice until there is movement and that blur looks pretty bad.
Generally you need to fine-tune your Vizio picture through advanced picture settings.
Even then I prefer others screens (Samsung, LG OLED, Sony) in terms of picture quality, but obviously those come at a steeper cost.
I agree - generally Vizios have more issues. However, you are balancing cost versus likelihood of issues. I have had zero repair issues with vizios TVs I have had - some for multiple years.
Consumer Reports does a reliability survey rating the number of repairs or serious problems as a percenteage and Vizio is fourth-worst and comes in at 5%. Samsung is in the lower thid at 4%, Sony near the top at 3%.
There is no doubt if money is no object then you I'd buy a different brand (I'd buy an OLED despite my complaints about my LG HDTV), but it just depends on what you're looking for.