Television recommendations

[cb1111]

In my home office I have a 2008 Samsung 46 inch 720p TV that is starting to die (periodically gets a vertical black line about a third in - not awful but annoying) and the thing is ancient - I probably got my money's worth.

In my family room I have a 50 inch Samsung UN50H5203AFXZA (so mid level from about 2015). That TV would fit into the cabinet from the old 46 inch, so I was thinking of replacing the family room set with a 65 or 75 inch - the wall mount there is properly mounted and rated to 100lbs, so most 75 inch TVs should fit.

Right now, the source is FIOS via TIVO. At some point I might cut the cable if I can find a streaming service that has what I want (Sling?). Locals come in great with a cheap $10 antenna - some Netflix and Amazon, but primarily FIOS.

One concern is that my 97 year old mom lives with us and I don't want to introduce some sort of new system (push here to select local channels, then here for Sling TV that gives you these channels and so forth) - we've had TIVO for probably 10 years so everyone knows how it works.

I'm thinking about the Samsung 75" - TU700D Series - 4K UHD LED LCD TV for about $850 or the Samsung 75" Class - Q6 Series - 4K UHD QLED LCD for about $1100.

I'm not set on Samsung, but I have three other Samsungs in the house and if I can't find a TIvO remote, I can just grab one from a different TV and carry on, but if there is a compelling reason to buy something else (LG/Sony/TCL etc) then I'd certainly listen.

Any thoughts?

​

 

[shovelhd]

So right now you have a TIVO with FIOS providing the cable channels and the TIVO antenna input providing locals? Does the TIVO guide integrate them both?

I don't know of any streaming service that's not associated with a cable company that integrates OTA channels within their guide.

Youtube, Sling, and Hulu all have streaming packages that may also include your local channels in an integrated guide. I have been on Hulu +Live TV for a few years now. It's not cheap but it's still cheaper than cable.

I have Roku devices on all tv's in the house. All TV's operate the same way except for the living room. Different TV's, same remote, same user interface, same guide. In the living room I have a home theater system (not a sound bar) so I use a Harmony remote with the red button programmed for the Roku home screen. Once that button is pressed, it works like every other TV in the house.

 

[cb1111]

So right now you have a TIVO with FIOS providing the cable channels and the TIVO antenna input providing locals? Does the TIVO guide integrate them both?

I don't know of any streaming service that's not associated with a cable company that integrates OTA channels within their guide.

Youtube, Sling, and Hulu all have streaming packages that may also include your local channels in an integrated guide. I have been on Hulu +Live TV for a few years now. It's not cheap but it's still cheaper than cable.

I have Roku devices on all tv's in the house. All TV's operate the same way except for the living room. Different TV's, same remote, same user interface, same guide. In the living room I have a home theater system (not a sound bar) so I use a Harmony remote with the red button programmed for the Roku home screen. Once that button is pressed, it works like every other TV in the house.

Sorry, after I re-read what I wrote, I realized that I implied that I got OTA locals.

Right now I'm getting all channels (including locals) from FIOS using the TIVO as the DVR.

I had ROKU for awhile (including overseas with a VPN and quite liked it. I guess I'll have to look at the packages again - especially since I have a handful of ROKUs hanging around - there were a couple of rooms in my old house that had no cable so I used those.

One issue with streaming/locals (and there is probably an obvious solution I'm overlooking) is DVR for the "live" portion of the TV - either with antenna or whatever the streaming service is.

But my first focus is replacing the TV as that line is becoming more frequent and (oddly enough) is changing color. It used to only be there periodically, but now it is there almost everytime I turn it on.

I picked Fox News for you guys today

 

[MonkeyMD]

Sony X85J better than those Samsungs.
The 75" is $1200

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/com...-sony-x85j/21475/21695?usage=1&threshold=0.10

 

[shovelhd]

Sony X85J better than those Samsungs.
The 75" is $1200

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/com...-sony-x85j/21475/21695?usage=1&threshold=0.10

I have a Sony X900H. The 85J is several generations newer. With the X900H, they oversold the capabilities, released firmware fixes that broke more than they fixed, and two years later, still cannot meet the capabilities they sold it with. Be careful choosing Sony based on specifications and reviews. Don't believe their specifications.

 

[cb1111]

Sony X85J better than those Samsungs.
The 75" is $1200

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/com...-sony-x85j/21475/21695?usage=1&threshold=0.10

Thanks. Good point. Back in the 70's/80's when I was selling TV, we used to say "a good picture is a Sony in the US (NTSC - which we used to call Never The Same Color), a better picture is a Sony in Germany (PAL color system) and the best a Sony in France (SECAM color system).

I've always liked Sony. Thanks for reminding me! I was just really looking at Samsung, LG, TCL - I just assumed that Sony was overpriced and there were few differences between real brand name TVs.

On a slightly related note - anybody know how reliable RTINGS is? There is a wealth of "rating sites" out there and with most, you can figure out what their motivation is, but I haven't been able to figure that out with RTINGS.

 

[cb1111]

I have a Sony X900H. The 85J is several generations newer. With the X900H, they oversold the capabilities, released firmware fixes that broke more than they fixed, and two years later, still cannot meet the capabilities they sold it with. Be careful choosing Sony based on specifications and reviews. Don't believe their specifications.

Yeah, and then there is that. Does any manufacture not oversell their capabilities.

What happened to a good no-frills TV that focuses on picture (and maybe) sound?

 

[shovelhd]

One issue with streaming/locals (and there is probably an obvious solution I'm overlooking) is DVR for the "live" portion of the TV - either with antenna or whatever the streaming service is.

They all offer a cloud DVR service that pretty much does what your TIVO does for cable. You can record individual shows and series, and time shift past commercials (except for live broadcast TV, i.e. locals).

 

[shovelhd]

Yeah, and then there is that. Does any manufacture not oversell their capabilities.

What happened to a good no-frills TV that focuses on picture (and maybe) sound?

I like LG for exactly that. OLED has astounding picture quality but like plasma before it, you need to be careful about burn-in. That is not hard to do. Every technology and manufacturer has their warts.

The picture quality of the Sony Bravia 4K LED's is really good. I have some motion issues with mine but streaming adds issues that cable doesn't have. The Samsung QLED look very nice as well.

 

[cb1111]

Thanks guys

 

[MonkeyMD]

I have a Sony X900H. The 85J is several generations newer. With the X900H, they oversold the capabilities, released firmware fixes that broke more than they fixed, and two years later, still cannot meet the capabilities they sold it with. Be careful choosing Sony based on specifications and reviews. Don't believe their specifications.

The main issue has been adaptive refresh rate which i really don't care about. It's not for gaming. I really just care about picture quality (and budget pricing) and the Sony does really well. Not just looking at specs, but at reviews.

Disclaimer : although i pretend to know about this stuff, most times i can't tell the difference between a great TV and a good one

 

[MonkeyMD]

Thanks. Good point. Back in the 70's/80's when I was selling TV, we used to say "a good picture is a Sony in the US (NTSC - which we used to call Never The Same Color), a better picture is a Sony in Germany (PAL color system) and the best a Sony in France (SECAM color system).

I've always liked Sony. Thanks for reminding me! I was just really looking at Samsung, LG, TCL - I just assumed that Sony was overpriced and there were few differences between real brand name TVs.

On a slightly related note - anybody know how reliable RTINGS is? There is a wealth of "rating sites" out there and with most, you can figure out what their motivation is, but I haven't been able to figure that out with RTINGS.

From what I've seen, they don't have an agenda or sponsored brands that they push. I was wary to at first. Normally just looked at CNET and Toms Guide, but started to see that Rtings was the only one to test so many TV's. Didn't trust at first but as i read more and more reviews, it seemed legit.

 

[Ragdude]

In my home office I have a 2008 Samsung 46 inch 720p TV that is starting to die (periodically gets a vertical black line about a third in - not awful but annoying) and the thing is ancient - I probably got my money's worth.

In my family room I have a 50 inch Samsung UN50H5203AFXZA (so mid level from about 2015). That TV would fit into the cabinet from the old 46 inch, so I was thinking of replacing the family room set with a 65 or 75 inch - the wall mount there is properly mounted and rated to 100lbs, so most 75 inch TVs should fit.

Right now, the source is FIOS via TIVO. At some point I might cut the cable if I can find a streaming service that has what I want (Sling?). Locals come in great with a cheap $10 antenna - some Netflix and Amazon, but primarily FIOS.

One concern is that my 97 year old mom lives with us and I don't want to introduce some sort of new system (push here to select local channels, then here for Sling TV that gives you these channels and so forth) - we've had TIVO for probably 10 years so everyone knows how it works.

I'm thinking about the Samsung 75" - TU700D Series - 4K UHD LED LCD TV for about $850 or the Samsung 75" Class - Q6 Series - 4K UHD QLED LCD for about $1100.

I'm not set on Samsung, but I have three other Samsungs in the house and if I can't find a TIvO remote, I can just grab one from a different TV and carry on, but if there is a compelling reason to buy something else (LG/Sony/TCL etc) then I'd certainly listen.

Any thoughts?

​

I'd say stick with what ya know. TV's these days all have such superior pictures vs years past it's tough to complain about any of them imho.

 

[cb1111]

The main issue has been adaptive refresh rate which i really don't care about. It's not for gaming. I really just care about picture quality (and budget pricing) and the Sony does really well. Not just looking at specs, but at reviews.

Disclaimer : although i pretend to know about this stuff, most times i can't tell the difference between a great TV and a good one

Back when I was selling TV's and high end audio, I could tell you the difference between everything, but now I'm happy as long as what I'm replacing it with is better than the old one. Back then, I'd get the latest and greatest even if half of the functions weren't supported yet (like buying 8k today - or 4k a few years ago). Now, UHD will do me nicely for the next 5 or 10 years.

 

[cb1111]

I'd say stick with what ya know. TV's these days all have such superior pictures vs years past it's tough to complain about any of them imho.

Yeah. years ago, the only thing that really changed was that TVs got larger (and heavier). In 2000, I bought a 37 inch TV (huuuuuuge for the time) that weighed 180 lbs. Today, the 50 inch LCD weighs 35lbs and is considered small'ish.

Today, my 7 year old 50 inch is far better than my 15 year old 47 inch and I'm sure that even the cheapest new TV will be better.