which brand of tv

What with the relatively recent thread on smart TV's and as my wife and I are in the market to replace one of ours, what brand do you all suggest and why? I'm looking for a mid-range ($800 or less) 55 to 65 inch. Please tell the pros and cons as you see them.

Jack

 

I am partial to Samsung. High quality panels, and proven long term reliability. Admittedly, none of my TVs are "smart". The desktop computers they are connected to are. If you have other equipment which can do the same job, the extra cost of a smart TV is not totally warranted.

As far as 4K vs. 1080p:

http://www.rtings.com/info/4k-ultra-hd-uhd-vs-1080p-full-hd-tvs


I have always owned a plasma, and loved all three. The motion and colors were way better than an LCD or LED. A big reason I went plasma is I don't like the "soap opera" effect with newer LEDs. It just seems artificially too fast.

 

I have a 65" Hi Sense HD LED and a 55" Panasonic HD plasma and a 40" Sharp Aquos Pro LED HD which is my computer monitor. My mum has a 60" Sharp Aquos and my sister has a 55" Samsung LED HD and my brother has a Sony Bravia 55" HD plasma and out of all these the Sharp has the best picture by a mile. If you believe the hype it is because they have Quatron Technology which is one extra coloured pixel. The usual setup is three colour pixels and not four. Watch this on the You Tubes as it makes the point in a simple and effective manner and the difference is towards the end of the video if you are impatient :cool



I bought the Hi Sense purely based on seems OK for the cheap price and if I had my time again I would buy the 70" Sharp Aquos but they never seem to be on special like the Hi Sense was......hmmmm

 

I bought a 45" Vizio Smart TV about 4 years ago . . . it's been a trouble free device thus far. My kids have had one for much longer and it's working just fine. I too am partial, though, to Samsung TV's.

Yeah . . . I've avoided LED TV's for that same reason. Just looks . . . different. Reminds me a bit of the few old Twilight Zone episodes that were recorded on video tape (just like soap opera's are, I guess, when I think about it lol. Hence the "soap opera effect").

 

Well, I never watched any soap operas, so I can't judge.

What is the 'Soap Opera Effect'?

Disable Motion Smoothing to Get Rid of "Soap Opera Effect" on New TVs

 

I have a 55" 1080P Samsung, but it is 60 Hz. Son has a 120Hz, same size.
I suggest you take time to look at what is best to your eyes.
Our room is 18 ft long and the TV is on the wall. From the furthest wall I cannot tell 1080P from 720P, on the couch at 10 ft which is where we usually sit the difference is noticeable and 4K looks even better. The posted chart is a good guide.
My son at 10 ft does not care for the 4K (60 in) as much as the 1080P at 120Hz (55in).
Be sure to look at compatibility, Sony is infamous for its DRM.

 

I have Samsung 120Hz and while it looks nice, their build quality is about as crappy as their galaxy phones.

 

We first bought a 55" Samsung Smart TV two years ago and it lasted less than 30 days and then bit the dust. Just went black and would not come on again. So we returned it and got a 46" LG HD that is not a Smart TV. It has a great picture. I don't miss the Smart TV part. I have hooked it to my laptop with HDMI to stream ballgames we could not see on satellite and got a good picture. I don't watch much TV myself but the family seems to think the picture is very good.

 

Still have my 50' LG plasma. at the time with 3 year extended warranty it cost 2k.

that was 8 to 10 years ago.

Still looks fantastic.

 

I prefer projectors. With the newest LED technology you don't have to worry about ever having to replace a bulb, and they are getting smaller and more affordable all the time! The reason I recommend them is because I move a lot and moving a two pound projector is multitudes easier than moving a 50' television. Plus, an $800 projector can create a 100' screen while an $800 television will be 50'-65' at most. They also use less power per screen inch. The one disadvantage is they are usually not "smart" and they usually don't have built in "tuners", so you have to have a separate cable/satellite box.