UHD, SUHD, Flat, Curved? What's best?

[Gofirstclass]

We're looking getting a new TV for ourselves for a Christmas present. I started shopping online at Costco and was blown away by all the new specs and acronyms and the models available.

We're probably looking at a 50" to 59" size to replace the one we now have which is only a few years old but will be relegated to outdoor use by the pool.

So, you TV and electronics experts, here's 'the questions I pose to you: if you were going to buy a new TV would you buy a flat or curved TV, UHD or SUHD, how many HDMI connections, what brands do you favor, etc?

Fire away because my knowledge of what is new in the TV market is just about zip.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Creekwood]

If you get curved make sure you get a few sets of these:
[video]https://youtu.be/CY5ix0JxYEk[/video]

 

[LTD.330]

Hopefully Creekwood answered your question on curved vs flat. Curved is a gimmick to sell TVs.

As far as HDMI inputs go, how many devices do you think you will be connecting to your TV? I would look for a TV that has that number + 1 for the minimum amount of inputs.

UHD vs SUHD. I believe SUHD is a Samsung only technology and it's pretty awesome.

 

[Tonka Boater]

TV's are a commodity these days and things like curved, smart tv's, etc. are just gimmicks and any TV you by today will be better than the one you currently have.

Unless you are an diehard videophile, look for a Black Friday deal and pay as little as possible for an UHD or SUHD and get an many ports as you can. You may not need the ports today but you might need them tomorrow. Just get a name brand and you will be fine.

We bought a 55" 4K TV last year on Black Friday for under $300 and it's way better than the top of the line 46" LCD we purchased 3 years earlier. We paid way too much for the LCD thinking more money meant better quality.

 

[BurgundyS24]

Basically any UHD TV will be good. What you want to look for is 120hz refresh rate not 60. There isn't an over abundance of 4K or UHD content but it is coming along. I haven't been swayed to pay the extra for 4K Netflix yet but I have a VIZIO UHD that's only 2 months old. I paid a little under 600 at target (found an ad and they price matched). The biggest thing is that most if not all cable companies don't even broadcast in 1080p. It's 720p. If you have Apple TV supposedly they're going to upgrade and start doing UHD. Here's a couple of local ads. Hisense is a cheap and cheaply made tv. Vizio is my personal favorite. Stay away from LG they're over priced for what you get. Vizio uses LG screens anyways. No sharp either. I have a 70" outside in the patio and it's been a POS since it was delivered (was a replacement for previous POS sharp I had outside).

Again I'm biased towards vizio. But I read a lot about other brands too.

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/55-inch/best

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[BurgundyS24]

Ps. I've picked up a few tvs for friends/ family at Costco. Go in and ask them to see floor model/ open items. Always discounted pretty good and still has warranty. I also always buy extended warranty as well.


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[Creekwood]

IMO all of the new LED the have a bluish tone to the picture that I don't like. Even with calibration it's still there. I am keeping my Pioneer plasma for now as my main tv. It's just a nicer picture in terms of colour tone. I think the refresh is better for watching fast sports like hockey too. Maybe less important for baseball and football though.

 

[CJ Martin]

Look at the LG OLED TV's. They are amazing and somewhat future proof. Go see them in person. Fantastic viewing angles and true blacks.

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[ttmott]

I like the Samsung products and the features they provide for the cost. I have a 65 inch flat UHD (6500 series) and it's spectacular. A lot of what goes into the selection is the room and how close seating is; we sit about 12 feet from the screen and it's very good from a rendering and resolution aspect. The really good thing about the Samsung screens is the visibility from a skewed position which was one of my needs due to the room geometry and size. Another thing is almost all the upper shelf TV's have dismal audio as it is expected the TV will be accompanied by an AV system; consequently there are not a lot of HDMI inputs in the backs of these televisions. No doubt if you are going to step to UHD you would want the surround sound system to add to the experience. Most good AV systems will switch all of your video inputs and sync the audio correctly to the surround speakers.
Tom

 

[Gofirstclass]

Sorry about not getting back to this thread earlier. Too much stuff going on right now.

I decided on a flat, UHD or SUHD display. The SUHD is Samsung's way of trying to make you think you're getting something special above and beyond UHD but it's the same thing.

I caught part of the Kim Komando show on the radio yesterday morning. She had a segment about buying a new TV and the timing. She said the sets on sale through Black Friday will likely be the lower end sets and lack some features most people want. If looking for a high end TV she suggested waiting until January because that's when the Consumer Electronics Show happens and companies announce their "latest and greatest" features so they're likely to want to clear out the current year's sets. Also, she said prices typically go down before Super Bowl.

Works for me, thanks Kim.

 

[Steve195]

Looks like you already made your purchase, but I'll chime in anyway for the benefit of others.

My background: I've been in the audio/video integration business for over 15 years. The first nine in the residential world, the last 6 in the commercial world.

Making your choice based on what you see side by side in any store is worthless. The picture shown in the stores can vary widely based on how they came from the manufacturer, or the quality of the source signal, or the lighting, or the adjustments that may have been made in store.

As someone else said, they really are a commodity. Many are made in the same factory, or share common components regardless of brand name. For example, many of the Sony's have Samsung "glass" (the screen).

When asked for advice by friends, my thoughts are simple.
1) I've heard many people say they wish they would have bought bigger, but almost none who think they bought too big.
2) Pick a major brand (Sony, Samsung, LG, etc)
3) Generally speaking, one brands $1000 TV will be almost identical to another brand at the same price point. The market is that competitive.
4) If you are a general TV watcher, and don't consider yourself an videophile, pick a TV in the middle of the price range for that size. You don't need all the whistles and bells of the high end systems, but you probably want more than the lowest price TV in any brand.
5) Trying to compare between stores can be difficult because the big box stores often have model numbers that are only sold in their stores, even though they may be identical to a different model # at a different store.
6) No matter what you buy, the picture will look much better if you're replacing a TV that's more than 3-4 years old. The technology just keeps advancing.
7) Spend as little as you can. Save your money for boat related stuff!!!!!!

 

[Gofirstclass]

Steve, I haven't bought a set yet and probably won't until after Jan 1st due to what I heard on Kim Komando's radio program. (See my post above). The way she was talking it sounded like you can get a high end set in January for about the same money that you can buy a low to medium set now.

I appreciate your advice and all the advice given above. That's one of the great things about CSR--everyone's advice based on their experience.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[Tonka Boater]

Steve, I haven't bought a set yet and probably won't until after Jan 1st due to what I heard on Kim Komando's radio program. (See my post above). The way she was talking it sounded like you can get a high end set in January for about the same money that you can buy a low to medium set now.

I appreciate your advice and all the advice given above. That's one of the great things about CSR--everyone's advice based on their experience.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

You would do yourself a favor to shop Black Friday deals too. There are always some amazing door busters every season. Check out Best Buy's Black Friday -- some pretty great deals.

http://blackfriday.bestbuy.com/?category=doorbusters

 

[JVM225]

I got myself an 80: Vizio 4K Ultra HD late last winter and couldn't be happier with the brand. It's flat. urved was never a consideration for me because it would't have worked well in the way I have the room set up.

 

[Steve195]

Steve, I haven't bought a set yet and probably won't until after Jan 1st due to what I heard on Kim Komando's radio program. (See my post above). The way she was talking it sounded like you can get a high end set in January for about the same money that you can buy a low to medium set now.

I appreciate your advice and all the advice given above. That's one of the great things about CSR--everyone's advice based on their experience.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kim's advice is generally correct. The weekend before the Super Bowl generally brings some great deals, especially on the larger sets because you don't want to have all your friends over to watch the game unless you have a bigger set than you had last year! LOL

In the 50-60" range, I don't think the Super Bowl deals are likely to be much better than a good Black Friday/Christmas deal sale.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I thought I'd add a follow up to this thread.

I happened to catch a radio program called Kim Komando about TV purchases. She's an electronics guru who really knows her stuff and is carried on Saturday mornings on one of our local talk radio stations.

She said that there really is no difference between UHD and SUHD, that the "S" is Samsung's way of making buyers think they're getting something extra. Marketing geniuses at Samsung doing what they are paid to do.

She also said that most of the Black Friday TV deals are offers on TV's that lack the features that more expensive TV's have. With that I decided to forego the BF deals and concentrated on TV's offered by Best Buy and Costco.

Costco won out so we bought an LG 55" TV that had all the bells and whistles. I normally don't buy the third party extended warranties but did on this because of the cost. With the $50 for the warranty the whole package came to about $850. Costco didn't have it in stock but offered it online with free shipping. I ordered one and it arrived in 4 days. That was sooner than the 5-7 business days they advertised.

We put the stand on it and set it all up, watched it or awhile and were very pleased. It was a smart TV that is capable of getting Netflix and all the other specialty channels.

Well at 6:00 the next morning the plastic part that attaches the base to the back of the TV broke and the set fell face first off the stand it was on and sounded like someone had driven a car through the front of the house.

We took it back to Costco and they refunded the purchase price with no question. I then went online and bought a Samsung that had all the same bells and whistles plus a couple of upgraded features. The Samsung has a better base with four "feet" that extend out to the front and real of the set so it should be much more stable and sturdy. Total cost with the same warranty was not just over a boat buck. We don't have it yet but expect is in the next few days.

 

[Bob & Sue]

Be glad the LG broke as soon as it did my son had one from Fry's that lasted 13 months google lg hdtv problems thye're famous for not lasting, they seem to have a main board that goes out around 2 yrs at a cost of $250 just for the part.

My son also bought the Samsung SUHD 4K a couple months ago great picture using Blue Ray DVD's.

Ours is also a smart tv search around there's a lot of neat apps you can download.

 

[dpmulvey]

Went through just this discussion with my SIL over Thanksgiving Weekend. His advice was to buy a reputible (LG, Samsung, etc....) name size of your choice, 1080P flat screen and get on with life.

His reasoning? It's going to be years before anyone has the ability to broadcast in constant UHD. Considering the rate of technolocical advances, my UHD TV will be out of date before the transition happens.

His creds? Computer scientist with over 15 years hands on experiennce in A/V. Aside from the saved money on a not ready for prime time TV, he pointed me to a couple of user programmable RFRemotes for a couple of hundred that saved me over a grand quoted as necessary to gey my whole house system "fixed".