Time for a new TV....advice/recommendations

My 4 year old Samsung UHD TV took a dump tonight (screen went blank in the middle of a show and now the backlight just flashes randomly).

I've always had Samsung products (TVs, washer/dryer, fridge, etc) and have enjoyed them so I am a little biased but would like to hear everyone's thoughts. I'm gonna use the opportunity to upgrade to an 85 or bigger.

Let the conversation begin...

 

Go with an OLED... Samsung or Sony. Samsung edged out the Sony a few years ago, but the tables may have turned...

 

I've been reading up on the difference in OLED and Mini LED (NEo for Samsung) TVs interesting the price difference between the two in different sizes

 

The big deal with OLEDs is that each LED is emissive - it emits it’s own light, which means you don’t need a backlight. Other LED technologies require a backlight, which can make a screen very bright for viewing in a brightly lit room but wash out the black levels, or turned down for viewing on a dark room to get better black levels but whites can seem dark or dingy. To get around this, most LED panels use zoned dimming, creating multiple zones of dimmable areas on the screen that can be selectively dimmed or brightened to give better black levels in dark scenes and brighter whites and brightness levels in lighter scenes. Most folks notice the zones and the dimming, but get used to it.

Because OLEDS create their own light, they don’t have this issue. You can get ‘pure black levels’ because the individual LEDs can turn off completely, while the adjacent LED can be white at 100% brightness. Think, sparkling stars in a black night sky.

Colors are also very accurate because, again, brightness levels are controlled at the individual dot level, keeping colors from shifting or washing out. They also use a completely different color-producing technology.

The two downsides are cost and a somewhat limited brightness level compared to QLED and other LED technologies. If your tv is in a very bright room, you may feel it’s a tad darker than other sets. Else, OLED is the bees knees, IMO.

 

My recommendation is the LG C2 Series. The picture is amazing.

Long story: Do your research. Most of the public buys the biggest panel at the cheapest price. Unfortunately that means people are rocking 85" TV's with bottom of the barrel panels.

I have a Sony XBR 75 Series in my living room, it's OK. Nobody complains about the picture and it's perfectly adequate for watching sports, movies, etc.

My bedroom has an LG C2 and the picture is just insane. The blacks are black and whites white, and the color is so vivid and sharp. Going to the Sony TV downstairs feels like I'm taking off my glasses.

Anyway, happy shopping and good luck!

 

Best screens from my eyeballs opinions:

Samsung
LG
Sony

OLEDs look amazing for all the reasons listed above, but a quality unit can be had without it. Once you get locked into a show, your brain seems to tune out some of the details. I noticed this with our shitty Walmart TV purchase. The picture is meh at best with poor backlighting control. But it’s like you get “noseblind” with your eyes after a while of watching. This TV was a need to fill the spot at the moment we bought it cheap. It will get replaced with one of the above sets when the funds make sense.

 

I’m on the cheaper end of the bell curve

I get the almost cheapest one that is the size I need

Which means I have Samsung

in the garage I use Hisense brand. I just need to see what song I’m playing on pandora

 

LG makes the glass for the major manufacturers. I’ve got an LG nano in my living room and OLED in the media room. Both 75’s. OLED has a risk of burn in if left on to long similar to old plasmas but the picture quality is way better than the Nano in the living room. Much crisper and brighter. I will say the LG interface with the remote and the built in apps is crap but I use Roku so it’s not a deal breaker.

Being in the av industry, just go to Best Buy and find the tv that looks the best to you. There really is very little difference between them all. I’ve had great luck with Hisense all the way to Sony.

 

Samsung for the two main TVs in our house, always been very happy with them. I am with @nobodyintexas for other areas, garage TV is a cheap one I bought at Costco with built in Amazon video so I can stream sports or whatever else I want.

 

Do you have a Costco near you? If so just go look at the ones in your price range that look good to your eye and leave with a great warranty.

 

Sage advice

and pick up some of those almond croissants

 

I had an early gen LG OLED, so unsure of current hardware advances, but the panel didn't last terribly long, had many dead pixels, and was taken out by a lightning storm (the other backlit sets survived). After investing in service entrance and cascaded SPDs I haven't lost anymore electronics, but that OLED experience made me go back to standard LG backlits.

 

I keep hearing about LGs but I have also been told that Samsung has LG parts in it so what's the difference? The processor?

 

Unfortunately no Costco near me just a Sam's club

 

Most major tv manufacturers use each others parts and there are only a couple of actual manufacturers. Like I mentioned above, LG builds the glass for most of them. Those giant LED video walls you see in sports stadiums and time square? There’s maybe 3 manufacturers and over a dozen distributors. That’s why it doesn’t really matter which brand you buy. They are all pretty much identical.

 

I was always a Sony XBR fan back in the CRT days. I converted to Samsung when LEDs came out and currently have 90 series 4K Samsung. Samsungs are overpriced and use a weird proprietary Tizen OS so you can’t load a lot of good apps. I was an early adopter of OSMC and Raspberry Pi to stream movies and shows but lately that’s been locked down. If I was buying a new TV I’d get an Android TV which give you great choices of apps. Avoid any TV with a proprietary OS. If you have that get a Firestick TV 4K and then you can get the apps.

 

I went with a 77" Samsung OLED. So happy I did. Outstanding picture.

 

I like my Samsungs.

Picked up an 82" QLED on sale at Costco a couple years ago and very happy with it. Paired it with a Samsung soundbar, small sub, and wireless satellite speakers next to the couch... not super booming but nice full sound.

The refresh rate isn't as good as I'd like for sports but upping the refresh rate puts you in a whole other price range. It's not a big deal, just lose track of the ball on kickoffs sometimes.

When we got the 82" for the living room, the 60" Samsung that was in the living room went into the bedroom, and the 40" Samsung that was in the bedroom went on a rolling cart to use in the backyard.

When I was in line at Costco where they check your receipt at the door with the huge 82" on the flat cart, I was feeling pretty manly... Some poor bastard rolled up next to me with his puny little 75"...

It was all I could do not to go "Awwww, that's cute."