Looking at TV's

[Donut417]

I have an old 32" Samsung LCD TV, by old I mean the TV still has the builbs in it and not LED's like the newer TV's. I have been thinking of possibly getting an Xbox One, not sure about S or X yet. Im specifically looking at 43" models and I was looking at 4K because, well the Xbox One does 4K media play back and Id like to maybe get some 4K movies. I primary stream media to my current TV via a Fire stick, I use Netflix, Hulu and I have a Plex server setup with a network TV tuner. Ive seen some TV's have Roku built in and if I get one of those Ill probably use the Xfinity Stream app as it does not cost against the data cap. Due to TV speakers being shit now days, I was also looking at a 2.1 channel soundbar and I seen I could mount that soundbar to the TV via the Vesa mounting holes on the TV, was thinking of mounting it above the TV. 

 

Whats going to be connected to the TV:

• Possibly an Xbox
• Nintendo Switch
• Raspberry Pi with Retro Pi
• Maybe my Firestick 

 

Any way what I want to know:

• What features should I be looking for?
• What brands should I consider?
  • Been looking at Samsung, LG, TCL, Sony 
• With soundbars, Im guessing they come with a remote for volume? 
• Any other suggestions

My budget was around $800 USD for all of it. BUT I think that might be a stretch. So Im thinking I might A) Do the TV and Soundbar first, then maybe wait a month or so for the Xbox, or B) I have $4000 limit on my credit card and I can leverage that, dont worry Im good at paying it off, Plus I get 1% cash back which I can use for Gift cards and such, maybe like an Xbox Live sub or something. OH before some guy comes in an tells me to go big or go home, because theres always that ONE GUY. The TV is going at the foot of my bed when I do my room redesign, also due to space constraints in my room I cant go much bigger if any. 

[xdeathshot20]

so when it comes to tv's most of the brands are pretty comparable today with all of them having there own features.   Samsung are known for the brightness and contrast, lg is usally known for the sound and sony is for the motion rate.  Those are the big three tv brands.  If your looking at samsung try and stick away from the 6 series and below as they are usally really dark.  another thing to look at is hdr.  while almost all 4k tv's advertise hdr some of it isnt real so look for that.  

[RobFRaschke]

LOW INPUT LAG!

[TheFlyingTraut]

There is no point getting an Xbox ONE X if you don't have the tv to take full advantage of it. The S will look fine on a lower end tv. For the 43" models they are all 60hz panels, but at that size it's hard to tell the difference. Are you set on the size? There are still 49" LG SK8000's on sale for like $440. Still a 60hz panel, but has good motion simulation and is probably the best tv under $500 with that sale price. If you still want 43", maybe take a look at the Samsung 7100 series tv's, as they have a great game mode, and basic hdr. Remember though, at 43" there's a lot of tv's that will look good in that size. I think you're overpaying for Sony in that size IMHO. Don't buy the low end 6300 series LG tv's, they are poo. They have terrible edge light issues out of the box. Maybe a 5 series TCL? LG just released their 7100 series tv's, but I haven't seen one in person, so I can't give an opinion on it. They took away the 7 series last year. However, from experience, Samsung always had a better "mid level low end" tv. The LG panels were too dark (low end).

 

As far as soundbars go. Man you can probably find a steal for open box right now. It's the season for newer models. If you are buying new, don't worry about brand matching, but for the $, I don't mind LG soundbars. But get one on sale, maybe like a SK8Y when they are on sale under $200 or $250. As much as I hate the company Vizio, their soundbars aren't terrible. I actually enjoyed mine because it played music over WiFi, not BT, so significantly better sound quality.... IFFFFFFF you can use the app without it crashing. Just saying.

 

Just my $0.02. 

[Donut417]

20 minutes ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

Are you set on the size?

The issue is during my room redesign Im planning on putting a smallish table at the foot of my bed and putting the TV on that. So the TV will be between a wall that has a mall shelf on it and a dresser. I have very limited space between where the TV is going and the closet, dont want the dresser blocking access. I could put the TV on the dresser I suppose, but then it will be off center from my bed. To be clear, Im not mounting the TV to the wall, as I mounted my last one, but I need to take it down because it no longer works where I put it. 

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

Just my $0.02

Let me ask this then. Whats the sweet spot in terms of size? So I have an idea. I want to take my time and really look at this, I dont buy TV's very often so I want to make sure I get the right one for me. 

[TheFlyingTraut]

There really isn't a "sweet spot" with size. Everyone's different. Also from your specific use case you could do a 43 or 49. 55 may be too big. But say a 55 you would notice the difference between a premium panel with 120hz native and a mid to low end panel with 60hz panels. 43 and 49 are forgiving. Without physically seeing your space. It's what you think fits best. I've had 75" TVs and have went to 65" but higher quality and I'll take quality over size any day. 

[Donut417]

On 4/10/2019 at 10:03 PM, RobFRaschke said:

LOW INPUT LAG!

Easier said then done. That info is not always aviable on all the TV's. But I know that. 

 

9 hours ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

There really isn't a "sweet spot" with size. Everyone's different. Also from your specific use case you could do a 43 or 49. 55 may be too big. But say a 55 you would notice the difference between a premium panel with 120hz native and a mid to low end panel with 60hz panels. 43 and 49 are forgiving. Without physically seeing your space. It's what you think fits best. I've had 75" TVs and have went to 65" but higher quality and I'll take quality over size any day. 

I could probably fit a 55 inch if I really wanted. I did look online at a few, but nothing in my budget. Seems like unless you get the really expensive models they all suck. Ive looked at TCL, Samsung and LG, the reviews are not promising. Seems like Samsung is pushing ads and harvesting shit loads of data on their TV's. LG's seem to have build quality issues, Not surprised the place im employed has an LG contract and I see shit loads, metric shit loads of their 5K MAC monitors on the repair floor. TLC also suffers from quality issues. 

 

 

[circeseye]

heres the thing with samsung.....i have the 65" 7100...game mode works really good (at least to me) 7100's hdr sucks so dont even look at a 7100 if you want that (but then most low/mid end 4ks hdr isnt good).....do not turn on the apps..you using a firestick..stick to that....i use mine for my computer and enjoy it (pissed the hdr sucks but what ever it still looks gorgeous)...we have another smaller samsung and again we didnt enable the apps. we just plugged in a roku (has more options anyway then using the tv apps ) oh and also depends on what year samsung..i think thhe 7100 is a 2017...last year is when they changed up and started using more ad crap (not completely sure cause mine didnt have ads when i first checked it out before shutting the aps down since i didnt need them)

[TheFlyingTraut]

TCL does have quality issues. But getting it from like a best buy and get the geek squad with it. You're worry free. The best price on a mid range TV is the LG 49" sk8000 for like $440. Great gaming TV. I bought one myself. Just a good deal. Still 60hz but as I mentioned earlier it has good motion simulation and nano cell panel for gaming. And the price is beautiful. Samsung and LG are part of the big 3. I think LGs low end panels are poop but their mid range is good. Samsung makes a better low end  and TCL makes good stuff when you don't have bad panel lottery out of the box. 

[Donut417]

16 minutes ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

TCL does have quality issues. But getting it from like a best buy and get the geek squad with it. You're worry free. The best price on a mid range TV is the LG 49" sk8000 for like $440. Great gaming TV. I bought one myself. Just a good deal. Still 60hz but as I mentioned earlier it has good motion simulation and nano cell panel for gaming. And the price is beautiful. Samsung and LG are part of the big 3. I think LGs low end panels are poop but their mid range is good. Samsung makes a better low end  and TCL makes good stuff when you don't have bad panel lottery out of the box. 

Looked at that LG, B&H has it for like $650. So I’ll see if I can find it cheaper. The fact is I don’t shop at Bestbuy. They tend to cost more for shit. 

[TheFlyingTraut]

They have it for $440 right now for the 49" .... they also price match....

[RobFRaschke]

I have the LG 43UK6300 which I got specifically because of the incredibly low input lag. Independent tests have put it around 11-12ms with the correct settings enabled, and I can attest at least that it's FAST. It has less input lag that my Asus or HP monitors by a pretty small, but detectable amount, and DRASTICALLY less than my older Samnsung 50". 

 

I am very impressed by the colors with 8-bit color depth on at least, and RGB 4:4:4 full spectrum on. I was unable to visually detect a difference on a test pattern bumping up to 10 or 12 bit, which is completely unsurprising IMHO. The only thing I really miss on it is the lack of synchronous refresh rate, as at 4K on an RX-580, I spend no small amount of time below 60fps in certain games and the stuttering and tearing at real, especially when ARK hits 20fps because I have the draw distance cranked all the way up.

[Donut417]

While I would have to settle for a smaller screen than I have now, Part of me wonders if I should consider a 4K monitor instead. I dont need a tuner, and I was planning on buying a sound bar anyway. The only other thing Id have to buy is an HDMI switch, so I could change inputs. I found clamp style vesa mounts that could be mounted to my bed frame. 

[TheFlyingTraut]

Up to you, the PITA of switching inputs and no remote control is a no go for me. Everything has it's place, for me, a monitor is for a computer. Just get a tv for the intended purpose.

[dDave64]

23 hours ago, Donut417 said:

While I would have to settle for a smaller screen than I have now, Part of me wonders if I should consider a 4K monitor instead. I dont need a tuner, and I was planning on buying a sound bar anyway. The only other thing Id have to buy is an HDMI switch, so I could change inputs. I found clamp style vesa mounts that could be mounted to my bed frame. 

 

Valid option. Slightly annoying not having a remote and decent built in speakers but very manageable.

 

Be careful when looking at HDMI switches, most of them you can buy out there are cheap quality that will break. Most of the ones that advertise 4K can only do so at 30hz.

 

Read very carefully to be sure it can do 18gbps and 4K @ 60hz.