4K Televisions: Are they worth it?

[Kestrel]

Anyone know something about Haier?

A store around my area has a 4k curved 49 inch (IIRC), tv on sale for $399.

If not, any one have any recommendations for a TV that is 50 inches or bigger? My plasma is starting to kick the bucket. The burn in has gotten to be really bad in some areas and the color is fading.

I've got a Haier 65uf2505 and love it... if you do get one though, I'd suggest getting it from a place with a good return policy. It sounds like the newer manufactured ones have less problems, but some people have complained about bad light bleed, or off yellows. It seems to be a TV that really frustrates the people who get a bad one, but the people who get a good one absolutely love it. It's a 65 inch 4K tv - not a smart TV if that matters. The price here is $750 - it should be cheaper in the US. I paid more, but I got a 5 year Costco warranty out of it.

 

[kdb209]

I'm finally looking at replacing my 10+ yo Pioneer plasma tv.

I'm currently looking mostly at the Samsung 49/55KS8000 or 50/55KU6300.

I've given a thought to the Vizio P- and M-Series.

If anyone out there has one, how inconvenient is having to use their Tablet/Smartphone app as the remote control. This has been the biggest complaint I've seen of the TVs - the picture is great, but the VizioCast app sucks.

For those who don't know, Vizio changed their SmartTV platform to be basically installing a ChromeCast and controlling everything from an app. There is a very basic (pwr,source,volume,play/pause) remote control, but any other settings have to be done thru the app and cannot be done on the TV itself. The P- and M-Series come with a generic android tablet and their are Android and IOS apps.

 

[guinness]

I have a Vizio P series (50").

It's built-in Chromecast is no different than the rest, it does support 4k and HDR (at least Dolby Vision from what I've seen), so it could save on getting a Chromecast Ultra, but if you want Amazon content, you have to get a Fire TV or Roku.

In other words, if you've used a Chromecast, just hit the cast icon, and wait for content to load on the screen.

The included tablet is actually pretty nice, 1080p screen, quad-core Snapdragon, etc, and the Vizio Smartcast app allows accessing other functions that the basic remote can't (renaming inputs, adjusting picture, pairing to wifi network).

I do game on it, and haven't had any complaints, but I don't have much HDR content, so I can only speak to a couple movies I watched on Netflix (good picture, but needs better content).

Vudu has HDR content too, as does Amazon. The TV also supports HDR10 with a FW update it got sometime last year.

 

[Yerk Toader]

I'm finally looking at replacing my 10+ yo Pioneer plasma tv.

I'm currently looking mostly at the Samsung 49/55KS8000 or 50/55KU6300.

I've given a thought to the Vizio P- and M-Series.

If anyone out there has one, how inconvenient is having to use their Tablet/Smartphone app as the remote control. This has been the biggest complaint I've seen of the TVs - the picture is great, but the VizioCast app sucks.

For those who don't know, Vizio changed their SmartTV platform to be basically installing a ChromeCast and controlling everything from an app. There is a very basic (pwr,source,volume,play/pause) remote control, but any other settings have to be done thru the app and cannot be done on the TV itself. The P- and M-Series come with a generic android tablet and their are Android and IOS apps.

I just bought the 55" Samsung 8000 series for $1k at bestbuy. I really like their smart hub. I have been watching the grand tour on amazon and the picture is amazing. I use the remote that came with the tv and although i scoffed when i first saw it but, it is actually very intuitive. I currently have it connected to my 5g network wirelessly and it streams like a champ.

 

[Kestrel]

I just bought the 55" Samsung 8000 series for $1k at bestbuy. I really like their smart hub. I have been watching the grand tour on amazon and the picture is amazing. I use the remote that came with the tv and although i scoffed when i first saw it but, it is actually very intuitive. I currently have it connected to my 5g network wirelessly and it streams like a champ.

Completely off topic... but I love the Labyrinth avatar.

 

[Yerk Toader]

Completely off topic... but I love the Labyrinth avatar.

Thanks!

 

[Hunter Gathers]

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbrea.../samsung-curved-tv-review-un40k6250af-mistake

This is hilarious. And it also highlights many of the reasons why you shouldn't buy a curved TV.

Best review I've read in a while.

 

[X66]

I was about skeptical at fist, but you do notice a difference, especially with 4k gaming.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Curved is actually quite nice for gaming if there's only one person doing it at a time. In any other scenario you might use a TV for, it tends to become a hindrance.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Curved is actually quite nice for gaming if there's only one person doing it at a time. In any other scenario you might use a TV for, it tends to become a hindrance.

Yeah, it's awesome if you are dead center.

 

[John Price]

Yeah curved TV seem weird. Might get a TV before the big game and curious what's available but I hear all these terms like 4k and udtv and I'm very confused!

 

[Osprey]

Yeah curved TV seem weird. Might get a TV before the big game and curious what's available but I hear all these terms like 4k and udtv and I'm very confused!

4K, UDTV, UHD and Ultra HD are all the same thing at the moment (eventually, 8K displays will also fall under Ultra HD/UHD) and refer to TVs with 3840x2160 resolution (compared to HD at 1920x1080, aka 1080p). "4K" just refers to the fact that 3840 horizontal pixels is almost four thousand (and "8K" will refer to displays that are 7680x4320). TV manufacturers just have their own ways of marketing technology, sometimes out of preference and sometimes out wanting to differentiate themselves from competitors.

 

[TheWestWing]

I got it delivered this afternoon. The picture is WOW ! Unbelieavable. The tech guy really did good by me. The store sold me an extra hdmi cord that he said wasnt needed so Ill take that back and save a few bucks. He did something with the optical cables and hdmi cables I had already. Did some adjustments to my home theater that I never knew I had and man it sounds great. He even knew how to reprogram my Acharter cable box to get a better incoming signal that Acharter should have done. Netflix runnung freaking great.

Only thing I wish I could do is shut off the S-O-N-Y name white light on the base. Its a small distraction.

Otherwise this thing looks like a winner. Cant wait to watch the game tonight

Hehe - seem to have lost you here since that first game....

So, what's your verdict here? My usage is similar to yours minus the Netflix - I just dl movies to a flash drive and watch from that.

I'm in analysis paralysis here. 6 YO LG Plasma developed a green vertical line. Best. TV. Ever. So BB offered to replace it with a Samsung KS8000 but never have been a huge fan of backlighting. Been in the AVS and AV (British counterpart - a ****** of a site!) sites forever it seems. Spent 3 hours a week ago watching the DirecTV feed of the DET-NYR game. Kept going b/t the LG OLED and the Sony LCD. Ended up with the Sony Z9D as it was just brighter.

I get that the picture is dependent upon the quality of the feed and frankly, some of the DTV feeds are better than others. I can say that both SN and TSN just use better HD cameras at the arenas - their pictures are just so much better than most of the FSNs. I really don't have much issue with motion - for the most part I get no judder. My dilemma is artifacts around sticks - just cant seem to get rid of them. I've called NASA for assistance with all of the Gamma, Dabba Do settings and all. I know its subjective but my eyes are my eyes.

So how is your picture? Can you get it to where you want it? I'm going back to the store tomorrow (much to their chagrin) to watch the LA-WAS game while concentrating on the LG OLED E6. Wish me luck.

 

[FLYLine27*]

I have a 4K tv but nothing is really in 4K yet so it's pretty moot.

Directv wants me to pay for a $300 4K receiver and then a few extras bucks a month to get their 3 channels of 4K...like wtf?

Netflix and Amazon i believe are in 4K though for me which is nice.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I have a 4K tv but nothing is really in 4K yet so it's pretty moot.

Directv wants me to pay for a $300 4K receiver and then a few extras bucks a month to get their 3 channels of 4K...like wtf?

Netflix and Amazon i believe are in 4K though for me which is nice.

Um the Direct TV channel that's 24/7 K looks amazing when there is actually something on it, every time I check it there is not. Their pay per view in 4k is overpriced. I'm not sure about 3 channels they are referring to cause I only think I have one but there is a ton of On Demand stuff.

I didn't have to pay any extra for the receiver so maybe you can negotiate something. You guys have to to remember your T.V. should be upscaling stuff to 4K but it's all about the content. Specifically to Direct TV, some of their 1080i and 720P channels differ vastly in quality. Youtube, Amazon and Netflix are the best for 4K right now.

 

[Gee Wally]

Hehe - seem to have lost you here since that first game....

So, what's your verdict here? My usage is similar to yours minus the Netflix - I just dl movies to a flash drive and watch from that.

I'm in analysis paralysis here. 6 YO LG Plasma developed a green vertical line. Best. TV. Ever. So BB offered to replace it with a Samsung KS8000 but never have been a huge fan of backlighting. Been in the AVS and AV (British counterpart - a ****** of a site!) sites forever it seems. Spent 3 hours a week ago watching the DirecTV feed of the DET-NYR game. Kept going b/t the LG OLED and the Sony LCD. Ended up with the Sony Z9D as it was just brighter.

I get that the picture is dependent upon the quality of the feed and frankly, some of the DTV feeds are better than others. I can say that both SN and TSN just use better HD cameras at the arenas - their pictures are just so much better than most of the FSNs. I really don't have much issue with motion - for the most part I get no judder. My dilemma is artifacts around sticks - just cant seem to get rid of them. I've called NASA for assistance with all of the Gamma, Dabba Do settings and all. I know its subjective but my eyes are my eyes.

So how is your picture? Can you get it to where you want it? I'm going back to the store tomorrow (much to their chagrin) to watch the LA-WAS game while concentrating on the LG OLED E6. Wish me luck.

I responded to your pm.

I freakin LOVE this tv so far. Hockey feels like Im sitting right in the high roller seats. I use a Sony surround sound system too. Football is also incredible. My son loves having his Playstayion on it. When Im not around.
The OLED is an incredible picture. But with 3 kids in college it didnt fit my budget.

The out of the box settings seem great for my room.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[FLYLine27*]

Um the Direct TV channel that's 24/7 K looks amazing when there is actually something on it, every time I check it there is not. Their pay per view in 4k is overpriced. I'm not sure about 3 channels they are referring to cause I only think I have one but there is a ton of On Demand stuff.

I didn't have to pay any extra for the receiver so maybe you can negotiate something. You guys have to to remember your T.V. should be upscaling stuff to 4K but it's all about the content. Specifically to Direct TV, some of their 1080i and 720P channels differ vastly in quality. Youtube, Amazon and Netflix are the best for 4K right now.

How did you manage to negotiate it for free? That's quite the accomplishment for a $300 box


I thought I read it was 3 channels, but you might be right. Still 1 channel doesn't justify that type of price for the box and extra $10 a month or whatever it was.

 

[chicagoskycam]

How did you manage to negotiate it for free? That's quite the accomplishment for a $300 box


I thought I read it was 3 channels, but you might be right. Still 1 channel doesn't justify that type of price for the box and extra $10 a month or whatever it was.

I dunno when I switched from uverse to Direct TV last year they just gave it to me. Then they tried to charge for 4k channels and I *****ed so they included them for a year and I watched that channel once. lol. They did have some college football on there and it was really good quality.

I feel like they're very inclined since ATT bought them to keep as many subscribers as possible and tend to cave in. Either way it doesn't justify you paying more but I might call them and be like look, I'm thinking about cancelling because I want to use my 4K t.v. and you guys want to charge me so much up front. It's worth a try.

They do have a bit of 4K on demand in terms of free programming.

 

[mouser]

The superbowl sales this year didn't seem all that special. Costco dropped some of the Samsungs a couple hundred, and Bestbuy had some models at a similar price drop.

Have my eyes on a Sony 65" X930D. Thinking of waiting till March when the 2017 models start arriving to see if I can score a good deal on a 2016 closeout.

 

[Osprey]

It struck me last night that our Android-powered smart TV takes longer to boot up than my Windows 10 computer with outdated hardware. Remember when our computers took 2-3 minutes to boot up and our TVs 2-3 seconds? What a time to be alive.

 

[Wild11MN]

Has anyone experienced a pretty bad lip-sync effect, where the sound is off from the picture? I bought the Samsung KS8000 in November, and primarily use it for sports and gaming, so I didn't really notice it for quite a while. The sound is actually behind the picture, which almost seems like it would normally be opposite. At times it's very noticeable; other times it's just enough to bother you too much.

I tried Hulu through it and it seemed right on. Youtube seems close, but not quite. The biggest offender is cable right now. I hardly watch any movies thankfully, or I'm sure it would be driving me crazy.

Googling for it has been difficult, and there are definitely people out there with issues, but few answers posted. Now that I'm out of my return window, I still have the manufacturer warranty of course, but I don't know how much of a hassle that is. Has anyone experienced this problem before with newer TVs? I'm guessing it's not a 4k issue specifically, but figured I would ask here anyway. Not what I was hoping for when dropping so much on a TV.

 

[Individual 1]

Has anyone experienced a pretty bad lip-sync effect, where the sound is off from the picture? I bought the Samsung KS8000 in November, and primarily use it for sports and gaming, so I didn't really notice it for quite a while. The sound is actually behind the picture, which almost seems like it would normally be opposite. At times it's very noticeable; other times it's just enough to bother you too much.

Quickly googled this, check audio settings for an adjustable audio delay, try different modes(people say game mode has a 100ms delay), try using DTS instead of Dolby Didgital, try a factory reset, and try with updated firmware,

 

[Wild11MN]

Quickly googled this, check audio settings for an adjustable audio delay, try different modes(people say game mode has a 100ms delay), try using DTS instead of Dolby Didgital, try a factory reset, and try with updated firmware,

Thanks, I did see most of these suggestions from my searching. There is an audio lag setting, but I've never gotten it to look good at all by adjusting that, and I would actually need a "negative" delay since the sound is behind. I'm definitely not in game mode for watching cable, and I'm actually using PCM, since I'm just using either the TV speakers or a soundbar via optical cable. I have automatic updates on, so I have the newest firmware. That just leaves a factory reset, but I have my doubts that would work.

 

[Osprey]

Thanks, I did see most of these suggestions from my searching. There is an audio lag setting, but I've never gotten it to look good at all by adjusting that, and I would actually need a "negative" delay since the sound is behind. I'm definitely not in game mode for watching cable, and I'm actually using PCM, since I'm just using either the TV speakers or a soundbar via optical cable. I have automatic updates on, so I have the newest firmware. That just leaves a factory reset, but I have my doubts that would work.

How are you connecting your cable to the TV? Do you have a receiver/DVR and are you using HDMI? If not, try switching to HDMI. If you have a really old HDMI cable, buy a new one, HDMI 2.0 preferably. Also, try changing from PCM to Dolby Digital.

 

[Wild11MN]

How are you connecting your cable to the TV? Do you have a receiver/DVR and are you using HDMI? If not, try switching to HDMI. If you have a really old HDMI cable, buy a new one, HDMI 2.0 preferably. Also, try changing from PCM to Dolby Digital.

The HDMI cable isn't too old, but I suppose I could try another one. I believe I've had the same issue running through the Xbox, though it's been a while so I would have to confirm that again.

The soundbar is just optical audio, and Dolby Digital is greyed out as an option. The only other option is DTS Neo 2:5, which I know nothing about. However, I know the problem isn't the soundbar, since the TV speakers have the same issue.