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Any reason to not buy TV?
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franksinatraFull Member
Got spend clearance for a new TV. Current TV is 37in but with a relatively large frame which means the actual TV is around 40in. We don’t really want or need to go any bigger.
We watch normal tele, iPlayer, Netflix (currently use a fire stick) and occasional DVD. Not that fussed about top end stuff as certainly not into home cinema, av forums and that level of geekery.
So, the current shortlist is this:
Anything I am missing or should be thinking of? Don’t want to spend more, should I spend less?
BoardinBobFull MemberAnything I am missing or should be thinking of?
I’m reluctant to buy a new TV simply because the images on new TVs looks really weird to my eyes.
I have a ~10 year old HD TV that looks fine. New ones make everything look like some low rent US soap opera. Yes, the image is a lot sharper but it just looks weird. Like the depth of field is totally different. Really puts me off a new TV
franksinatraFull MemberI totally get what you are saying, I’ve never quite been able to pinpoint what I don’t like about Ultra HD but I think you have nailed it. I just assume I will get used to it.
Anyway, current TV is goosed so I do need to replace it.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTRFull MemberI have a ~10 year old HD TV that looks fine. New ones make everything look like some low rent US soap opera. Yes, the image is a lot sharper but it just looks weird. Like the depth of field is totally different. Really puts me off a new TV
They don’t when they are set up properly.
What you are seeing is tv’s with all sorts of motion control and dynamic contrast turned on. Get that nonsense turned off and the pq on (most) modern tv’s is great
Ro5eyFree MemberI got a 43 inch JVC 4k for £299 from a little local indy shop.
The kids watch kids stuff… the wife, wifey stuff…. and films look good to my untrained eye ??
Only a year’s guarantee but at that price I ain’t worried.
Have a look locally if you’re really not that bothered ??
Warning … I have choosen more than one TV on the the style of the bezel before 😆
thisisnotaspoonFree MemberMy only gripe with my current TV is the dynamic range, so if it were me I’d rummage down the back of the sofa and get next version up with HD, TX-40DX700B (or some other TV with HDR). That bothers me more than pixels.
What you are seeing is tv’s with all sorts of motion control and dynamic contrast turned on. Get that nonsense turned off and the pq on (most) modern tv’s is great
+1, the inlaws TV looks like a load of carboard cutouts moving around the screen.
fishaFree MemberWhat you’re seeing is the motion smoothing features on the newer TV’s. They are trying to add in extra frames between the ones broadcast so that the jagged motion gets smoothed out … meant to make the picture appear more fluid and reduce flickering effects. Trouble is that your own eye/mind does the same thing to an extent by filling in the gaps and movements. Your brain anticipates the movements on the screen, and when the TV tries to do the same, but shows a slightly different motion to what your mind expects, your mind notices it.
Motion smoothing is something that most TV’s can turn off in the picture settings control panel. I have a 4k HDR superduper blah blah blah TV, and I turn most of the so called picture feature settings off.
So don’t necessarily be put off with a newer TV. Ask for the remote and spend some time changing those settings and see if you notice it better.
franksinatraFull MemberMy only gripe with my current TV is the dynamic range, so if it were me I’d rummage down the back of the sofa and get next version up with HD, TX-40DX700B (or some other TV with HDR). That bothers me more than pixels.
What you are seeing is tv’s with all sorts of motion control and dynamic contrast turned on. Get that nonsense turned off and the pq on (most) modern tv’s is great
+1, the inlaws TV looks like a load of carboard cutouts moving around the screen.I don’t actually know what that means. What is dynamic range?
I spent a lot of time working out why the 700B was more expensive but I couldn’t actually spot the difference. I know there is a difference, I just need someone to explain it to me in words I understand, please!.franksinatraFull MemberI have a 4k HDR superduper blah blah blah TV, and I turn most of the so called picture feature settings off.
Do you therefore think you should have just got a cheaper TV?
MilkieFree MemberThe app THX Optimizer is pretty good at dialling in your colour/contrast/tint/brightness settings. It’s free BTW and also on all THZ DVD’s & BluRays. Definitely turn off dynamic crap, cinema black, noise removal and motion crap.
TV PQ is a personal preference, some people like the over it sharpened with unrealistic colours, others prefer softer looking with a warm tone.
I would definitely be looking more at the settings than the TV specs.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTRFull Membercertainly not into home cinema, av forums and that level of geekery.
An hour on AV Forums is invaluable if you are buying some new tech
BoardinBobFull MemberAh
Every bloody one I’ve seen must have everything turned on. Hotels, bars, the in-laws!
I shall investigate further.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTRFull MemberYes Bob – most folk will just get them out of the box and turn them on without altering anything
CougarFull Membermost folk will just get them out of the box and turn them on without altering anything
… where they’ve been set up to look good in a shop next to a load of others.
So, the current shortlist is this:
As shortlists go, that’s pretty short!
devashFree MemberYou really need to spend some time tuning a typical modern LCD HDTV. Most come with a shocking picture out of the box.
thecaptainFree MemberYeah, TV is shit, you can easily catch up the handful of interesting things on your laptop. Or watch live if you’re really desperate to be up to date.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTRFull MemberYeah, TV is shit, you can easily catch up the handful of interesting things on your laptop. Or watch live if you’re really desperate to be up to date.
Or actually watch whatever you want and find interesting on an actual telly, without being preached to on the internet?
thisisnotaspoonFree MemberI don’t actually know what that means. What is dynamic range?
It’s kind of like contrast ratio, or the number of colours if can display.
Basically high dynamic range means a TV will be able to show details in both shadows and in bright areas. The same in colours, it’ll have a greater range from light to dark blue, red, green etc.
At the really cheap end of TV’s it is (one of the reasons, the other being compression) why you get lines delineating shades of grey in dark scenes, because the TV simply isn’t capable of showing that many shades of black, so it tries to paint the whole scene in only three of four.
A couple of examples:
A theatre stage with a spotlight on a cast member. HDR would allow you to see the floorboards in the dark areas.A cowboy in a western. HDR would show up both detail in the clouds (white) and the rifling in the barrel of the gun (dark).
Conversely, it can be done REALYY BADLY in photography. That light bit around the horizon is what the sky looked like before the photographer took another much darker photo and cut and stuck the two together to make one shit image.
captainsasquatchFree MemberA theatre stage with a spotlight on a cast member. HDR would allow you to see the floorboards in the dark areas.
A cowboy in a western. HDR would show up both detail in the clouds (white) and the rifling in the barrel of the gun (dark).
Can the human eye do that?molgripsFree Memberthe images on new TVs looks really weird to my eyes.
Read about the ‘soap opera effect’. TVs come with this stupid shit setting on by default, incredibly. Turn it off, problem solved.
Can the human eye do that?
Dynamic range of the human eye is a few stops greater than most good cameras IIRC so yes probably.
mattyfezFull MemberDepends how die hard you are, I replaced a CRT telly about 6 years ago with a bog standard LG 1080p flatscreen, 37 inch think.
I don’t plan on upgrading it any time soon as I don’t really watch tv.
I do have a smaller more expensive fancy pants 27″ monitor for my pc though, because …reasons.
CountZeroFull MemberIt’s worth doing a search on AVForums for tips on setting up the picture controls on a specific TV, then sitting down with some well-shot programming with outdoor natural light, and tweaking the settings slightly, then watching for a while, then tweaking a bit more, and so on. It needs subtle adjustments, and time, and it might mean going back a bit at times, but it’s worth the time.
This is what I did when I bought my Bravia seven years ago, I must have spent several hours in total doing little adjustments to the settings on AVForums, but I’ve never had a need to touch it since.allfankledupFull MemberBought one of those after our 37″ samsung died on New Year (at least we avoided Hootenanny).
We’ve got sky HD/ps3/apple tv plugged into it – it’s pretty good – better sound than we’ve had from our older tellys, 400 or so from John Lewis – they price matched.
Happy to recommend – What Hi Fi recommendations have always been pretty good in my experience. YMMV
bungleFull MemberJust got one, looks good. Tiny room so didn’t want anything bigger.
Mind you some of the available 4k content on Netflix just misses the point. Who needs Jimmy Carr in 4k FFS?
thisisnotaspoonFree MemberMind you some of the available 4k content on Netflix just misses the point. Who needs Jimmy Carr in 4k FFS?
IIRC Netflix demands that content is produced in 4k. And I guess relative to every other cost involved in making the show, the cost of the camera (and a bit of processing power in the editing suite) is fairly marginal. So why not film Jimmy Carr in 4k?
It’s differentiating themselves from Freeview, Sky, BT etc who either don’t, can’t or charge you extra to view in 4k.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTRFull MemberMind you some of the available 4k content on Netflix just misses the point. Who needs Jimmy Carr in 4k FFS?
I think you maybe miss the point – I’d rather everything be in 4k.
When HD came around, I wasn’t sat here saying ‘who needs XYZ in 1080 FFS?’
bungleFull MemberEverything in 4K, fine by me.
Except Jimmy Carr’s face. Weirdly creepy, looks like something inside is trying to get out
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