no idea why people are using external devices.. surely the internal apps are more picture accurate. i dont want an external box doing any unnecessary picture processing, i want netflix calibrated mode etc etc
It's like buying a car, some people want a Caterham so they get the purest experience possible, others just want something comfortable and easy to use that doesn't cost too much so they end up with a Korean crossover. Fidelity and calibration doesn't matter too much if it's mostly being used to watch Peppa Pig or Coronation Street!
On the menus/interface, I like Samsung. I've always found LGs (used in holiday homes/friends houses) to feel laggy and unintuitive.
Needing 3 remotes is only when the user has not bothered setting it up properly, or they’ve tried, it’s been a frustrating process and they’ve given up.
we’ve got a 75” (I think) Samsung OLED - chose Samsung because the staff offers platform at work gave a hefty discount.
size wise, the suggested tv size just suggested the biggest screen they make which felt excessive - I just put masking tape up on the wall and chose based on that. I’ve removed a 120” projector screen and don’t miss it really
my setup is Apple TV into an AV receiver that feeds video to the TV. Apple remote powers everything on, controls the volume of the amp etc. all other remotes are used only for initial setup then packed away.
it does seem a shame that the top end screens come with internal speakers nobody uses, fancy remotes nobody uses (the Samsung came with 2) and an interface nobody uses either - if they offered a “display” with a single HDMI in and no other features I’m sure they’d make a killing and save resources
Wall mounting it was a royal pain in the arse too
How so?
It's a standard VESA mount and the TV side of things is four bolts. The only issue I had in switching between broken and replacement TVs is I needed washers because the bolts are smaller on the new one.
no idea why people are using external devices.. surely the internal apps are more picture accurate. i dont want an external box doing any unnecessary picture processing, i want netflix calibrated mode etc etc
I don't know but I would assume that the amount of processing done by what we used to call a set-top box (back when sets had tops) would be "none whatsoever."
I don't know but I would assume that the amount of processing done by what we used to call a set-top box (back when sets had tops) would be "none whatsoever."
I'm not sure that's correct TBH.
no idea why people are using external devices.. surely the internal apps are more picture accurate.
Not sure about that one either - maybe.
External devices are brilliant in extending the life of a TV once the manufacturers have stopped maintaining the app for that model.
I always use the internal app if possible and use the firestick/chromecast as a fallback.
(External devices can also run apps that the TV can't)
ok, there is that, but im yet to encounter any obsolete apps on my Sony, i maybe its due to it being on Google?
the Panasonic is slightly different story, i think? i maybe had to run Redbull via it's browser instead...
I'm not sure that's correct TBH.
Perhaps.
My thinking is that what comes in should broadly be what goes out. What's a STB doing, it's taking some form of transmission or stream and spitting it out over HDMI, it's a digital signal end-to-end so the box is just a decoder for H.264 or whatever it's arriving as. You don't send someone a zip file and when it's decompressed by the recipient all your Excel workbooks have turned purple. An external box could add effects I guess but there's no reason why it should, it's not like an analogue signal path where every 'hop' means a degraded signal.
Like I say, I don't know. I'm just reasoning through how I believe it works, I could be talking complete bollocks.
What’s all the hate for LG software?
I was about to say similar. I don't fine the LG interface too bad - but I literally never have to interact with it. I use either the Sky remote or Apple TV remote to turn which I want on and it opens to that input.
Other tips on the LG interface;
- You can turn it off opening to the LG Home screen when you turn on the TV (so I never see it)
- Make sure you set up Quick Access, so you can hold down defined number keys on remote to go straight to channel/input/app you want.
- You can turn off adverts on the LG Home screen.
Like I say, I don't know. I'm just reasoning through how I believe it works, I could be talking complete bollocks.
I agree it's how I/we would expect it to work but a quick google seems to show that the firestick, for example, carries out image processing before sending the data stream to the TV.
Why? I have no idea - maybe it alters the data stream to match the TVs capabilities? 🤷♀️
Just be aware that you cannot use the OLED as a monitor. There is a thing called 'burn in' where icons etc, task bar being in the same spot unchanging can leave a ghosting where whatever's on the screen, you will always see the ghosting of those icons etc left on the screen.
Not necessarily the case these days. I've got an Alienware OLED 34" ultrawide monitor for my 'gaming' PC. I wouldn't choose it for doing 8 hours a day spreadsheets but as a multi use monitor it's fine and as a gaming monitor it's incredible. OLED monitors have loads of features in them to minimise burn in now.
Alienware even have a 3 year anti burn in warranty as standard.
As for a normal TV to be used as a monitor, the same applies really. I run the pc to the monitor for some specific streaming uses and multiplayer games occasionally.
That distance graph suggests that I should be just under five feet away from our 43” tv. I have just tried that and it’s uncomfortably close. I also find it funny that our tv is now considered a small unit. Oh, and it’s an LG
I sit about that, if not a bit closer to my 65” LG, when gaming and watching films/sport. No issues for me.
My 65" is wall mounted(oh how common) and im sitting 3.2m away.
My thinking is that what comes in should broadly be what goes out. What's a STB doing, it's taking some form of transmission or stream and spitting it out over HDMI, it's a digital signal end-to-end so the box is just a decoder for H.264 or whatever it's arriving as. You don't send someone a zip file and when it's decompressed by the recipient all your Excel workbooks have turned purple. An external box could add effects I guess but there's no reason why it should, it's not like an analogue signal path where every 'hop' means a degraded signal.
Like I say, I don't know. I'm just reasoning through how I believe it works, I could be talking complete bollocks.
There's a ton of processing going on in a TV, particularly if the input signal is not the native format for the TV and it has to upscale it.
Upscaling is not an easy process and can leave behing lots of picture artifacts.
I've seen old LG sets trying to show Wimbledon with pictures so messy you wonder how anyone could have deemed it suitable for sale. That was years ago and they are quite a bit better, but they are still not up wqith Sony standards.
In the early days of HD I used to have a Sharp Aquous 'Made for PAL' TV - it had 540 lines of vertical resolution - for a PAL picture it would just ignore ssome of the top and bottom lines and made the picture straight on to the screen. For a 1080i picture, which was most broadcast HD, it would made every interlaced line.
Brilliant picture qualilty with minimal motion artifacts - when I changed to a larger Sony HD set it took loads of the tweaking to get the picture to be as good and it would only be better with material that was the same resolution as the TV so that the TV minimised it's processing.
I've just upgraded from my old 50 inch Panasonic plasma TV which was 1080P, to a 4k Sony that was highly rated for handling broadcast TV as well as movies.
Whereas the plasma makes HD material from things like iPlayer or broadcast look fantastic, because it is native format. The Sony has to upscale anything that is not 4K and the success of the upscaling is very dependant on how good the original material is, which means that most HD stuff from iPlayer doesn't look great as the barsteward BBC try to keep the quality as low as they can get away with it seems.
Often a set-top box, particularly an Apple TV, will have vastly more processing power than the mimimum amount of procesing power they can get away with in the TV.
This can be very evident with things like Youtube, even when it is high quality. Panning shots can be quite juddery on the TV app, wheras they will be smooth as silk on the Apple TV.
From reading comments on this forum on the TV threads I've come to the conclusion that most forum members need to go to SpecSavers...
re processing etc..
always found the apps to work perfect in that respect on my 2020 Sony
However, i generally put them in modes like netflix calibrated mode etc
if there isn't a locked down app, i'll generally go with the calibration recommendations, and that is to turn off smoothing, all that good stuff.. I want to see it as the producer intended it to be seen, they know more than me
anyway, went down a rabbit hole, and and decided that a tcl 7k miniled would suit be lovely
I've just upgraded from my old 50 inch Panasonic plasma TV which was 1080P, to a 4k Sony that was highly rated for handling broadcast TV as well as movies.
Whereas the plasma makes HD material from things like iPlayer or broadcast look fantastic, because it is native format. The Sony has to upscale anything that is not 4K and the success of the upscaling is very dependant on how good the original material is, which means that most HD stuff from iPlayer doesn't look great as the barsteward BBC try to keep the quality as low as they can get away with it seems.
@gravedigger that's interesting. I've got a 'final generation' 50" Panasonic Plasma that must be 12 years old now, that I spent some time calibrating. I still think it has a better picture quality than anything I've seen at anyone elses home. Have a hankering for something slightly larger but quite apart from the waste of an upgrade not convinced a new set will actually be better in use - it's all going to be 1080 content.
Nice thing about plasma's is that they also heat your room 😉
+1 for LG OLED from Richer Sounds, although I got an LG QNED from Richer Sounds outlet as I couldn't quite justify 3x price for an OLED. If you can I think it will be one of those price forgotten things soon enough though. Unlike the others I can't say I find the LG interface too bad for watching telly, definitely better than my old Sony, and I was quite prepared to dump it for a smart box but haven't found the need. All the standard streamer apps seem to work fine and launch quickly, about the only thing that could be better is the local media streamer - I am having to put up with that, but it's no worse than what it replaced.
Definitely get a soundbar and preferably 2+1 surround though - enhanced telly watching far more for me than the screen technology.
From reading comments on this forum on the TV threads I've come to the conclusion that most forum members need to go to SpecSavers...
All this stuff about image processing spins my head out. I know what you mean - so often you wander through a department store and the picture on half the TVs looks absolute dogshit. Like some Paraguayan soap opera from the 90's. And they're not cheap!
I'm just praying my late 2000's LG Whatever-It-Is never dies, because I really don't want to have to learn about all this....
so often you wander through a department store
Many modern TVs have a Store Mode which has all the settings turned up to 11. It's been the first question asked during setup on both of my LGs.
In most stores they won't let you have a play with the TVs, taking them out of store mode.
I bought my latest Sony from Richer Sounds in Cardiff as they guy let me have the remotes for several sets and have a play around, and I even logged into my Apple TV account so I could stream known content - hence I bought my TV from them. Otherwise I would just be going off reviews and might have bought the LG G4 as people put it close to the Sony for processing, but it wasn't quite as good and also it was a bit of a light cannon.
I've just upgraded from my old 50 inch Panasonic plasma TV which was 1080P, to a 4k Sony that was highly rated for handling broadcast TV as well as movies.
Whereas the plasma makes HD material from things like iPlayer or broadcast look fantastic, because it is native format. The Sony has to upscale anything that is not 4K and the success of the upscaling is very dependant on how good the original material is, which means that most HD stuff from iPlayer doesn't look great as the barsteward BBC try to keep the quality as low as they can get away with it seems.
@gravedigger that's interesting. I've got a 'final generation' 50" Panasonic Plasma that must be 12 years old now, that I spent some time calibrating. I still think it has a better picture quality than anything I've seen at anyone elses home. Have a hankering for something slightly larger but quite apart from the waste of an upgrade not convinced a new set will actually be better in use - it's all going to be 1080 content.
My Plasma is a 2014 P50VT65B.
For broadcast TV it just looks better - iplayer stuff like Silent Witness and Shetland look great, it is distinctly only OK compared on the upscaled Sony. It is definitely the BBCs fault as upscaling from decent 1080P sources, or Blurays, is very good and can fool you into thinking it is 4k.
And 4k stuff is only fractioanlly better - this all depends a bit of viewing distance but assuming that you are using a 'normal' and appropriate distance there is not much difference, and skin tones, etc can be better on the plasma.
I upgraded because I wanted a bigger panel size for movies, etc, and I was watching mostly Netflix, etc that were in 4k.
If you don't need the size you can stick with the plasma, have only fractionally worse 4k performance and distinctly better 1080p performance and save the extra subscription cost you need to get the 4k feed.
And this Sony was one of the best OLED sets for broadcast TV.
Over the last 40 years or so I’ve had four TV’s, starting with a Panasonic 21” FST, which was basically a cube, and very similar to a 21” monitor I had on a Mac at work, and which I bought through the hifi and av shop I worked at, and got a 30% trade discount, it cost me around £800. That eventually got replaced by a Philips 32” CRT widescreen, which weighed a ton, and also cost about the same, because I got a discount from the same place.
That finally developed a fault after around ten years, and was replaced with a 42” Sony Bravia, which I got from Curry’s in a Boxing Day Sale, again cost around £800, reduced from just over £1000, and that finally developed a screen fault after ten, twelve years, and I replaced it with another Bravia, this time a 55”, and it cost around £880. It’s a superb set, the screen is lovely, both Bravias I set up using information from AVForums on fine-tuning various makes, and honestly is an essential part of buying a modern tv, it takes maybe 30 minutes, but it’s worth every second!
I have two remotes, one for the set, the other for my Sky+ box,which gives me Netflix, Prime, various other apps, and from next month I get Disney+ and a couple of other streaming services as part of my service.
Works for me, but whatever set you get, most importantly, look it up on AVForums for recommended setting tunings, it makes an amazing difference!
It will be interesting (mildly) to see what happens once the deal for TCL to take a controlling stake in Sony TV division comes into play. Given that Sony are still regarded as having the edge in picture processing will this software end up in TCL sets without the Sony price premium.
I've just upgraded from my old 50 inch Panasonic plasma TV which was 1080P, to a 4k Sony that was highly rated for handling broadcast TV as well as movies.
Whereas the plasma makes HD material from things like iPlayer or broadcast look fantastic, because it is native format. The Sony has to upscale anything that is not 4K and the success of the upscaling is very dependant on how good the original material is, which means that most HD stuff from iPlayer doesn't look great as the barsteward BBC try to keep the quality as low as they can get away with it seems.
@gravedigger that's interesting. I've got a 'final generation' 50" Panasonic Plasma that must be 12 years old now, that I spent some time calibrating. I still think it has a better picture quality than anything I've seen at anyone elses home. Have a hankering for something slightly larger but quite apart from the waste of an upgrade not convinced a new set will actually be better in use - it's all going to be 1080 content.
My Plasma is a 2014 P50VT65B.
For broadcast TV it just looks better - iplayer stuff like Silent Witness and Shetland look great, it is distinctly only OK compared on the upscaled Sony. It is definitely the BBCs fault as upscaling from decent 1080P sources, or Blurays, is very good and can fool you into thinking it is 4k.
And 4k stuff is only fractioanlly better - this all depends a bit of viewing distance but assuming that you are using a 'normal' and appropriate distance there is not much difference, and skin tones, etc can be better on the plasma.
I upgraded because I wanted a bigger panel size for movies, etc, and I was watching mostly Netflix, etc that were in 4k.
If you don't need the size you can stick with the plasma, have only fractionally worse 4k performance and distinctly better 1080p performance and save the extra subscription cost you need to get the 4k feed.
And this Sony was one of the best OLED sets for broadcast TV.
same set I’ve got. Thanks for the advice. I reckon I could squeeze a 60” in the same space but the OLED sets see, to be 55 and 65. Will stick with the plasma till it dies I think.
yer, not many, if any 60" screens around, i could do with a 60 myself.. but have to settle for a 65 overhanging the chimney brest...
I was thinking about a 60 inch Panasonic Plasma I saw second hand but the weight of the thing would have been a challange for the TV unit I use, which has an integrated TV stand/vesa bracket on with a unit underneath with enough room for my power amps and external crossovers. Definitely wouldn't have been able to slide it out the way and put the golf net up indoors so I could hit some balls over the winter !
Get one that you can actually switch off without going scrabbling for the 3 pin plug socket. Not just asleep with a little red light glowing at you but off. Bear in mind it's only a telly. Something to be used when you haven't got anything better to do such as watching grass grow .
I reckon I could squeeze a 60” in the same space but the OLED sets see, to be 55 and 65.
Bear in mind the bezels around a modern screen are minimal. The actual outside size of my old 42" is 47" whereas the new 75" is 75.5".
Wanted something worthy of the PS5, so got a Samsung Q90F or something, 120hz, 4k, I dunno, stuff like that or something. 🙂 It replaced our trusty old 32" LG that we'd had since before we moved in here 15 years ago, a small living room so "comparatively small" was a factor - it's 43" but, with the bevel being so much smaller, not actually that much bigger. Was quite startling watching films to start off with - colours were crazy vivid and Ralph Bellamy in Trading Places had so many wrinkles, he looked about 138 years old, but a quick dig through the settings found some AI enhancement stuff turned on. Turned that and the voice activation stuff off and it's been peachy ever since. 🙂
Don't ever buy a Samsung washing machine though
Going off topic here but our Samsung washing machine has been brilliant over the last decade or so and one of the reasons we bought a Samsung telly because it was so good.
TBH with TVs I think we are at the iOS/Android stage. Pick one side and be a dick about it. 😂
The Samsung smart features are OK. When they stop working then I'll buy whatever is the fastest firestick at the time.
I use a Majority Soundbar and Sub with mine. Occasionally loses connection but its not a disaster.
Bookmarked for later!