HDTVs

Samsung announced its going to stop plasma production late this y ear. Wonder how long before LG follows.

I saw a couple really nice looking 55"-65" 4K TVs at Costco the other day, hadn't really been thinking about getting a new TV but my old 42" LG is honestly too small for where we live now, it's a bit of a strain playing my PC games on it from the couch. I see a few people saying 4K isn't worth it right now, but what's the estimation on when it WOULD be worth it? Considering I'll probably use the next TV I buy until it breaks down, and all we use it for is Netflix and PC games. Don't have or want cable.

I guess it would be annoying switching resolutions every time I hop from monitors to the TV though.

the two problems with 4k is that there is no uniformity in display output and lack of 4k sources. Most/all current sets will only do 4k @ 30hz over HDMI 1.4, some will do 4k @ 60hz over displayport. The second problem is 4k output, there are no 4k blu rays, and things like netflix or amazon prime may say they do 4k for certain content but its a joke since no one except google fiber users really have the bandwidth to get "true" 4k digital streaming content. Outputting at 3840x2160 is meaningless if you are compressing the data stream to hell to fit low bandwidth lines.

Its going to be years before 4k is useful probably, we need first HDMI 2.0 full support to get the bandwidth for 4k @ 60hz or higher, then 4k content sources (new blu ray formats may be needed), then 4k streaming support using new codecs like x265 and high bandwidth to the homes over fiber or cable. who knows if 8k will take over instead.

I'd buy a good 55-75" 1080p tv from costco instead, I personally prefer Samsung but I've read good reviews on the LG and Vizio models they sell too.

when all is said and done will anyone even be easily able to tell the difference from a true 4k resolution to a true 1080p resolution? i still think 720p is almost as good as 1080p and since directv gives me bullshit 1080i resolution on my 1080p tv i dont see them ever being able to give true 4k streaming until the infrastructure is massively upgraded

Yeah 4k is all about sources- no point really in 4k unless your sources match up- but it seems a lot of manufacturers are battling this with impressive sounding built in up scaling tech-lingo. That said I would love a LG w/ WebOS 60" 4k curved TV if anyone has a few grand they don't need.

Maester Chuk_sl said:

when all is said and done will anyone even be easily able to tell the difference from a true 4k resolution to a true 1080p resolution? i still think 720p is almost as good as 1080p and since directv gives me bullshit 1080i resolution on my 1080p tv i dont see them ever being able to give true 4k streaming until the infrastructure is massively upgraded

Click to expand...

Its really all just dependent on screen size vs viewing distance as far as if your average person can tell a difference or not. If you have a 42" TV and you're sitting 10 feet back from it, 720p, 1080p, and 4K are all going to look the same, it just really doesn't matter. Now, get a 60" TV and sit 4 feet away from it and 720p is going to look terrible, and you'll see a noticeable improvement from 1080p to 4K.

4K isnt really going to shine for most people until we have access to affordable 75-100" screens in our homes, IMHO. There's almost no point to 4K in anything less than about 60" when viewed from average living room distances(8-12 feet). Theres not too many people out there watching their 55" LED from 3 feet away.

Can we discuss wtf is with these new curved screens? What is the point? I dropped by the Samsung shop the other day and one of their top model 65" curved TVs were positioned right next to a traditional 65" flat TV. I honestly thought the flat one looked significantly larger and better overall. I mean, if you were sat a foot away from the TV, maybe I can see the curved wrap around appeal. But most people are 8+ feet away from their sets (especially of this size). The very slight inch or two of curve seems to have no appreciable effect whatsoever.

Anyone with me on this?

I've read several articles and reviews on the subject of the inward-curved OLED screens and the general consensus seems to be that it is mostly gimmick. Now, OLED screens themselves are absolutely badass, but the curvature is questionable. The only thing the curve actually does is reduce reflective glare, which is a nice perk, you can't really argue against that.

However, the main purpose of curving the screen was to re-create the same reason why IMAX screens are curved, to make sure that every area of the screen is equal distance from your viewing point(assuming you are centered in the middle). Proper, full-sized IMAX screens are so large that if they didn't curve them inwards, the outer edges would be SO much farther away from you than the center, that the picture would look distorted. Well, a 60" OLED screen just isnt large enough to need that curvature. On a typical home TV screen, the outer edgers are never so much further away than the middle that they cause any perceivable distortion at all. In theory, if you got to the point that you had a 200" curved OLED that covered an entire wall of your living room, then the curvature *might* be useful, but even at that size its still probably not a big deal. You literally have to get into 2-3 story tall IMAX screens before that curvature becomes useful for the purpose of picture quality.

Exactly my point. I think this fad is worse than the 3D one.

well its the industry trying to continue to get people to waste money on dumb shit. 480p then 720p then 1080p which is still not really practical since many stations do not broadcast in hd and cable does not send out 1080p signals to customers (i think). then we have outright failures like 3d hd and smart TVs. i think 4k is destined for the scrap heap unless some kind of dramatic breakthrough in streaming occurs in which case people will be hitting the their data walls very quickly and on cable maybe never seeing the true potential of their tv viewing.

I have a lot more faith in 4K than any of the other recent gimmicks. I completely agree with you about cable companies, but I think more and more households are moving to internet streaming technology. And while the US monopolies are choking out infrastructure progress, this isnt exactly true for many other countries. The US is a big slice of the consumer pie, but it's not everything. Hell, I am sitting here in the middle east of all places typing this out on my 100MB fiber connection.

Bottom line is, 4K has real promise and should be the way forward over the next few years. The US's poor internet infrastructure / monopolies shouldn't be the thing to stop that.

What are some of the best 1080p tvs that are not 4k coming our this year. I'm in the market for a 55" and a 65-70 inch. I've just been waiting for the newer ones to start dropping.

I bought this 55" LED 2 months ago, and I couldn't be happier.http://www.costco.com/LG-55%22-Class...100107653.htmlIt looks phenomenal after I calibrated it(based on avforums.com), damn near as good as my LG Plasma.

The only difference between the 2014 Costco model and the 2014 retail model(at Best Buy, Amazon, etc) is that the more expensive retail models use a Web-OS system for the smart apps, whereas the Costco one doesn't, I guess it's their older smart app OS. I don't really care about smart apps so I happily saved the $300+ over the normal retail models.

Is there such thing as a 'last season' TV equivalency, where I could pick up a decent 50"+ flat screen for a couple hundred bucks?

Theres sales all the time, just wait for one after a holiday, or get an open box.

Buying a TV any other time then Christmas is a bad idea. Summer is the worst time to buy a TV sales wise.

Volto!_sl said:

Is there such thing as a 'last season' TV equivalency, where I could pick up a decent 50"+ flat screen for a couple hundred bucks?

Click to expand...

It seems like a lot of major brands bring out their new lines for the year in the Spring, that's one of the best times to look for sales/clearance on last years models. March through May or so.

you can score all kinds of deals via mistakes on how rebates/coupons/discounts stack, but the window is usually extremely small, like hours. Set up a few alert filters on slickdeals.net like LED LCD mistake or something like that, will have to tweak it since the wrong keywords can spam you like crazy probably. Maybe have a browser tab always open to the slickdeals hot deals forum and refresh every now and then.

I've seen 60" LGs available at walmart and target for $300 but again the window is extremely short and easy to miss. This weekend the cartwheel app at Target is giving 15% off anything in electronics dept (including consoles), if you can find some stuff that stacks with it could lead to a good deal.

but honestly you can score a really good deal at costco pretty much anytime, $799 or so for a 55-65" lg, vizio, or samsung that will be great for a few years at least, and requires no extra work.

spronk_sl said:

you can score all kinds of deals via mistakes on how rebates/coupons/discounts stack, but the window is usually extremely small, like hours. Set up a few alert filters on slickdeals.net like LED LCD mistake or something like that, will have to tweak it since the wrong keywords can spam you like crazy probably. Maybe have a browser tab always open to the slickdeals hot deals forum and refresh every now and then.

I've seen 60" LGs available at walmart and target for $300 but again the window is extremely short and easy to miss. This weekend the cartwheel app at Target is giving 15% off anything in electronics dept (including consoles), if you can find some stuff that stacks with it could lead to a good deal.

but honestly you can score a really good deal at costco pretty much anytime, $799 or so for a 55-65" lg, vizio, or samsung that will be great for a few years at least, and requires no extra work.

Click to expand...

Costco is great option just for the return policy. However you're going to have to pay tax at any of the big box stores. So some of those deals aren't that good when you compare them to tax free online dealers.