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biosci

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 16, 2010
750
36
Chicagoland, IL
Anyone have any good opinions on their sets? Especially on the following:

Would they connect to wifi N 5ghz network?

If I connect an Appletv to it via hdmi, could I pass through an audio signal to my speakers/receiver when the set is off? Connection would be appletv to Samsung tv via hdmi, then Samsung tv to receiver via hdmi or optical. Basically, I want to send airplay audio to the speakers but maybe not have to turn on the television if not needed.

Thanks for helping if you do have a similar setup!

Mike
 

jwm2

macrumors regular
Jan 5, 2012
231
0
I like Samsung but find them to be overpriced these days. I just had to get rid of a HDTV I bought in 2008 due to it being unrepairable. I have replaced it with a toshiba and couldn't be happier. I am partial to Samsung, lg and toshiba. IMO those are top tier brands that deliver. Just find a good deal. Right now you can buy a toshiba led 1080p 39" set from best buy for $379. IMO that's a fantastic deal for a small living room.

As far as your audio question you will need to wire it differently. You will need to have the av receiver connected to the TV via hdmi and optical (if you plan on outputting audio from the TV to the av receiver for ota channels) and then plug the Apple TV into the av receiver. That way you can listen to the Apple TV without having the TV on. Otherwise if you plug the atv into the TV and then out to the receiver the TV will have to be on in order for it to transfer audio through your av receiver.
 

biosci

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 16, 2010
750
36
Chicagoland, IL
I see thank you for your reply... I just wasn't sure if it had a type of pass through or something...

The 'receiver' is actually a home theatre sound bar so I'll just have to use one with multiple HDMI inputs...

Do you or anyone know anything about 5ghz wireless?
 

garybUK

Guest
Jun 3, 2002
1,466
3
Not sure about the 5ghz, but I do know that on my 2011 LED (which is broke due to well known capacitor issues that destroy the T-CON Board + Panel).... the audio pass through was 2 channel only, and not 5.1 (if that matters to you). I don't believe it passed through whilst off either.

Like jwm2 said a lot of the other brands like Panasonic / Sharp / Sony are surpassing samsung these days.... although the models from Sammy with the ultrathin bezel look verrry nice!
 

SonomaFlyer

macrumors newbie
May 8, 2010
28
4
I have everything routed to my receiver then a single HDMI from my receiver to the TV (Toshiba 2008 flavor).

So FROM DirecTV, PS3 and ATV3 TO my Yamaha RX-V667 receiver and then via HDMI up to my TV

All modern receivers have HDMI which supports all of the audio decoding and most also have 3D pass thru if that is of interest.
 

biosci

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 16, 2010
750
36
Chicagoland, IL
I think I'm going to look to at the other brands. I saw a really nice sharp one I believe at CostCo that had an amazing picture and was at black friday prices!

Now quick question, what do you guys think of 3D?? Is it still worth it to get and spend the extra few hundred? We don't have kids (I only say that bc I felt most of the 3D content was animated blurays). But I didn't know if you could 'decode' a 3D bluray using handbrake and stream it to the TV to show 3D content since we don't like having tons of disks in the rooms anyway. Anyway, what's everyones take on 3D in the home for now?

Mike
 

Pyromonkey83

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2009
325
0
I personally bought a 2011 Samsung (55" D7000) and love it, but I bought it right after CES when the 2012 sets were announced. Therefore, I got it for a super outrageously cheap price (I think I paid just over $1000 for a $2500 TV). In response to a couple fo your questions, yes the Samsung TV connects to 5Ghz networks, but make sure your router is close by and not blocked by more than 1 wall or your network speed will suffer rather horribly.

For 3D, I have it and can say I have used it maybe twice for movies. It is neat but not particularly useful. The nice thing is that the processor required for 3D makes everything else for your TV better though. As an example, imagine if you have a choice of two computers. One is made for internet usage, the other is made for extreme gaming. Obviously, the extreme gaming PC doesn't ONLY do gaming well, it is exceptionally fast and does everything far better than the internet PC will. Also, If you have a PS3 then the 3D gaming ability of the PS3 is awesome, and I use it all the time. =D

If you find a good price for a Samsung TV, you will certainly not be disappointed. With that said, I'm sure you would be just as happy if you bought an LG, Sharp, or Sony as well. When I worked for an electronics retailer it was the rule of the 3 S's: Sharp, Samsung, Sony. LG has certainly made its case in recent years however and are starting to make great quality panels.

The only downside (in my opinion) to LG is that their 3D technology is subpar. They use passive glasses which normally would be fine, but any time you watch 3D content your resolution will be downscaled to 720p. The benefit is lack of "flickering" from the shutter glasses, but with new TVs that run at 240hz the flickering happens 120 times per second per eye, which is way beyond anything your brain can perceive. If, however, you decide to buy a 120hz 3DTV you may notice a slight flickering from the glasses as it will reduce the shutter speeds to 60 times per second per eye.

Also, you can indeed rip a 3D blu ray and play it over your network, there are many guides online for you to follow to help you out with that. There are also many things in 3D now, not just animated movies. The Avengers and Avatar are just a couple examples, but there are now tons of 3D movies being released to help push Blu Ray sales and drive sales overall. It is still a rather gimmicky feature though overall (in my opinion).

Good luck with your purchase!
 

Avatar74

macrumors 68000
Feb 5, 2007
1,608
401
Anyone have any good opinions on their sets? Especially on the following:

Would they connect to wifi N 5ghz network?

If I connect an Appletv to it via hdmi, could I pass through an audio signal to my speakers/receiver when the set is off? Connection would be appletv to Samsung tv via hdmi, then Samsung tv to receiver via hdmi or optical. Basically, I want to send airplay audio to the speakers but maybe not have to turn on the television if not needed.

Thanks for helping if you do have a similar setup!

Mike

I have a Samsung UN55EH6000... I run HDMI from AppleTV to the TV for video. But I run TOSLINK fiber from the AppleTV to my receiver for audio.

Fewer cables, less mess.... no need to turn on my TV for music. I don't have any web TV features as I instead use video mirroring on my MacBook.... the interfaces for web TV and BluRay web stuff are atrocious compared to using video mirroring over AppleTV.
 

wknapp0924

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2012
410
15
Honolulu, HI
I just picked up the Samsung 55inch 3D Smart TV and I was planning on streaming a ripped blu-ray 3D to the set and it stuttered alot because of the HUGE file size. I picked up a 32gb usb thumb drive and put the movie on that and plugged it in and it was perfect quality.

I can turn the TV off and stream music to receiver, but when I turn tv off it automatically turns off the receiver because of the ARC connection, just need to turn the receiver back on and it works fine. Great tv.
 

Pyromonkey83

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2009
325
0
I can turn the TV off and stream music to receiver, but when I turn tv off it automatically turns off the receiver because of the ARC connection, just need to turn the receiver back on and it works fine. Great tv.

FYI you can turn off the auto-turn off in the TV settings. I dont recall which menu it is under but you can stop it from turning off other devices through both HDMI and TOSLINK.
 

Michael CM1

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2008
5,681
276
I think I'm going to look to at the other brands. I saw a really nice sharp one I believe at CostCo that had an amazing picture and was at black friday prices!

Now quick question, what do you guys think of 3D?? Is it still worth it to get and spend the extra few hundred? We don't have kids (I only say that bc I felt most of the 3D content was animated blurays). But I didn't know if you could 'decode' a 3D bluray using handbrake and stream it to the TV to show 3D content since we don't like having tons of disks in the rooms anyway. Anyway, what's everyones take on 3D in the home for now?

Mike

A few days ago I would've said no way. After seeing "The Hobbit," I'm not sure. You're still talking about a couple hundred bucks extra on the TV, probably $30 or so on the BD player and $5 or $10 more per movie. Then you need expensive glasses if everybody wants to watch.

I would still probably recommend against paying extra for it. I wouldn't be surprised for 4K TVs to eventually be able to do it in a way that doesn't need glasses that expensive since it would be able to use those extra pixels for more things.
 

Pyromonkey83

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2009
325
0
A few days ago I would've said no way. After seeing "The Hobbit," I'm not sure. You're still talking about a couple hundred bucks extra on the TV, probably $30 or so on the BD player and $5 or $10 more per movie. Then you need expensive glasses if everybody wants to watch.

I would still probably recommend against paying extra for it. I wouldn't be surprised for 4K TVs to eventually be able to do it in a way that doesn't need glasses that expensive since it would be able to use those extra pixels for more things.

The only thing the 4K TVs will be able to do differently is make it prettier than current 3D. Movie theaters use polarization for movies which requires either an exceptionally expensive projector, or a coating on the top of the TV (like what Vizio uses). The problem with the tv coating is that it makes 2D images look a little funny sometimes.

The other option is to use vertical/horizontal polarization like LG. This does not affect 2D images because it requires no coating. The downside to this is that if you turn your head sideways more than 10-15 degrees everything gets screwy. Also, since it requires software manipulation of the images, it has to downscale the content to 720p because the processor in the TV cant handle the large amount of pixels involved in 1080p content.

When 4K TVs come out they will still use the expensive shutter glasses because they are the best option currently available for home 3D use. Eventually TV processors will get fast enough to work with LG's 3D but it still wont solve the turned head issue and 4K resolution will just become even more taxing on the TV's processor.

Overall 3D is about as good as it will get until they come up with a radically new solution.
 

Michael CM1

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2008
5,681
276
I thought I read in some CNet (maybe it was Skynet) article that creating 3D meant you were using twice the amount of pixels, which would mean you could use 4K to get those back. I honestly have done very little reading on either topic because most the video I watch -- from satellite -- isn't even in 1080p.

After seeing "The Hobbit," I'm convinced 3D can be done well. But I don't foresee forking over hundreds of extra dollars to do it at home. Hell, I regret getting a TV model with apps on it. It's mostly a bunch of crap, and what isn't crap you will find on decent BD players, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Roku, etc. Stuff like the AP and ESPN apps have potential, especially if networks like ESPN would get rid of the score tickers built in to the programming. Then you could use the apps to put up whatever you want.

However, right now it's a gimmick that will probably only help people who just own a TV and none of those other devices. My hope for Apple getting into the biz would be opening up access to developers who know what they're doing.
 

Pyromonkey83

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2009
325
0
I thought I read in some CNet (maybe it was Skynet) article that creating 3D meant you were using twice the amount of pixels, which would mean you could use 4K to get those back.

The first part of this is correct. With 3D you require 2 images to create the 3D effect, one of the left eye and one for the right eye. This means that instead of having a 1920x1080 picture, you instead have a 3840x1080 picture for SBS (Side By Side, standard for blu ray) or 1920x2160 (TTB, Top to Bottom, sometimes used but rarely). This however is not fully displayed at all times by your TV. The TV instead decodes the signal and outputs it as 2 different images.

For most TVs this is done using a shutter process. A 3DTV with shutter glasses will decode the signal and alternate each frame for your left and right eye. First, the Left side of the image will be displayed, and the shutter will react accordingly to block out your right eye so only your left eye can see the image. Then the frame will change to the right image, and the shutter will switch to block your left eye. This alternates either 60 times per second (120hz TV) or 120 times per second (240hz TV) to give you a fluid motion of left eye/right eye images. This is what gives you the 3D effect. Adding extra pixels to the TV will not help anything as you only need to display a 1920x1080 picture at any given time.
 
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