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Can anyone recommend a good affordable 4K hdr tv?
- Thread starter Ghost31
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I purchased Samsung's 4K/HDR Quantum Dot top of the line TV last year, and been really happy with it.
But here's what I can share with you regarding what I have heard about Vizio. When I actually looked at Vizio initially, I thought the price point was fairly decent for what you could receive in return. And I saw a 4K TV mounted on the wall at Best Buy, the store representative came up to me and started shaking his head. And he said that was the third TV that was going out on them in under a month with Vizio (The Dislay was fading black) . The Best Buy representative, who I thought was fairly knowledgeable, stated that Vizio used to be one of the top-of-the-line manufactures about 3 to 4 years ago, and then he stated that Vizio changed chip set manufactures in their displays, which also produced cheap quality results afrecting the longevity of their TV's.
Whatever TV you decide, just make sure you read reviews of what others are saying. And if you purchase from Best Buy, they are really strict with their 14 day return policy when it comes to TVs.
It depends how much you want to spend.
I think mine was a great deal, but it might be above what you are trying to spend.
I spend 4 weeks researching and then looking for the best price.
To this day, the tv i chose, still about $500 more than what I paid almost 1 year ago.
The un65ks8000 was top rated for non oled 4k hdr content at the time, very good on cable, excellent on video games and very good on sports.
It was the best "led" tv at the time. OLED had the three top spots, this one was number 4 (65" only) on a list of about 30 tvs.
I paid $1199 when they were selling for $2499 (about $3k when they came out)
I also have a Vizio which I paid $599 for, it doesn't even come close to the Samsung, but they are in two different brackets.
Vizio has many series, I have the M series, which is one above the cheapest model.
Vizio also has the P series, which is one below their top model but is highly rated (not for cable content)
Lg is a lot of money but their oled look the best.
I will tell you this, when I bought the Vizio M 55 4K, I was very happy with it, specially the price-image quality ratio.
The Samsung is better, but also 3x the price.
Check "slickdeals (dot) com"
Also, black Friday is coming, and deals last all weeks so you don't have to go that day.
Remember B.B. employees do have incentivized sales, meaning they could possibly be pressured to sell you TVs other than Vizio.
I like TheWireCutter’s TV buying guides, personally.
http://thewirecutter.com/leaderboard/tvs/
I also like https://lcdtvbuyingguide.com/
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I've had two vizio TV's now, with my latest being a 2016 P-Series, which supports Dolby Vision and has a fantastic picture. Have to say it works great with my 4K Apple TV, no issues. http://www.rtings.com is another good site for TV reviews.
I recommend Samsung or LG 4K TV's. I got mine last year for $500. Obviously if you have the money, go for OLED, but they are too much right now.
I've got one of these connected to an ATV4K at my computer desk:
http://www.provantage.com/philips-50pfl6902-f7~7PHC91EF.htm
http://www.provantage.com/philips-50pfl6902-f7~7PHC91EF.htm
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Consumer Reports is your (objective) friend on any such questions.
Yes, I know that CR is "completely wrong" and "biased" and "engaged in payola" when they come out with anything that ranks anything from Apple less than #1 around here...
...but nevertheless, I find them to be an excellent starting point for a question like this one. My suggestion is to let them point you to a top 5-7 sets at your target size and with your target features, then do more searches for (hopefully objective) reviews of those specific sets to narrow it down to only a few... or even 1 specific set.
And note: brand name almost doesn't mean anything. For example, no one brand name makes only the best anything. Some specific Vizio set may be highly ranked while others are ranked terribly. If you are looking to make a great purchase, you want to get much more specific than the badge attached to the front. This is not like buying an iDevice that you'll likely use for only a year or two and then replace. This is something you might keep for 7-12 years. I suggest putting in commensurate effort to find the right one.
Yes, I know that CR is "completely wrong" and "biased" and "engaged in payola" when they come out with anything that ranks anything from Apple less than #1 around here...
...but nevertheless, I find them to be an excellent starting point for a question like this one. My suggestion is to let them point you to a top 5-7 sets at your target size and with your target features, then do more searches for (hopefully objective) reviews of those specific sets to narrow it down to only a few... or even 1 specific set.
And note: brand name almost doesn't mean anything. For example, no one brand name makes only the best anything. Some specific Vizio set may be highly ranked while others are ranked terribly. If you are looking to make a great purchase, you want to get much more specific than the badge attached to the front. This is not like buying an iDevice that you'll likely use for only a year or two and then replace. This is something you might keep for 7-12 years. I suggest putting in commensurate effort to find the right one.
The best way to get a cheap TV is buying a 40 inch one. TV's get disproportionally expensive as you buy larger sizes.
I would recommend this TV: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FWIEO2E?tag=rtings-tv-bs10b-20&ie=UTF8
Here's a review of it:http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/sony/x800d
Do not "upgrade" to HDR just for the spec of having HDR.
HDR is a nice feature in a high end TV but is basically just the enhancement of SDR. And like I'm sure you know a high end SDR looks much better than a low end SDR TV. The exact same applies to HDR. A high end HDR looks better than a low end HDR TV.
HDR will only be a better picture compared to that manufacturers SDR TV's. Currently you can find cheap HDR TV's that don't present as nice of an image as high end SDR TV's.
Because of that I feel low end HDR TV's are kind of pointless. Selling you a spec but not delivering what you really want, an amazing image.
HDR is a nice feature in a high end TV but is basically just the enhancement of SDR. And like I'm sure you know a high end SDR looks much better than a low end SDR TV. The exact same applies to HDR. A high end HDR looks better than a low end HDR TV.
HDR will only be a better picture compared to that manufacturers SDR TV's. Currently you can find cheap HDR TV's that don't present as nice of an image as high end SDR TV's.
Because of that I feel low end HDR TV's are kind of pointless. Selling you a spec but not delivering what you really want, an amazing image.
I went through this earlier this year - been a plasma owner since CRT died...I thought in 2017 surely you can buy a good one cheaper...
The problem is that a cheap good 4K doesn't exist. To me they are ok, but even my wife agreed to double our budget of £1000 very quickly when seeing them next to each other.
I mean LCD is ok I guess when you view it mainly in brightly lit rooms, it definitely has some advantages. But in a more cosy setting with the room dimly lit, perhaps some Philips hue ambient lighting the grey image and backlight bleed severely annoy more.
Even the more expensive LCD tv's with marketing terms to make them like OLED like QLEd, LED, FALD, Quantum Dot let's face it they are still all LCD tv's with just slightly different methods of backlighting. The top end ones are much much better I give you that, but often even more expensive than an OLED so to me unless in a very brightly lit room to watch it, it is pointless again.
Unless you need to buy something right now, I would save up a little if the OLED models are currently out of reach and get a great TV instead....
The problem is that a cheap good 4K doesn't exist. To me they are ok, but even my wife agreed to double our budget of £1000 very quickly when seeing them next to each other.
I mean LCD is ok I guess when you view it mainly in brightly lit rooms, it definitely has some advantages. But in a more cosy setting with the room dimly lit, perhaps some Philips hue ambient lighting the grey image and backlight bleed severely annoy more.
Even the more expensive LCD tv's with marketing terms to make them like OLED like QLEd, LED, FALD, Quantum Dot let's face it they are still all LCD tv's with just slightly different methods of backlighting. The top end ones are much much better I give you that, but often even more expensive than an OLED so to me unless in a very brightly lit room to watch it, it is pointless again.
Unless you need to buy something right now, I would save up a little if the OLED models are currently out of reach and get a great TV instead....
That's my plan too. Wait another year if I can and hope OLED prices go down. I've been spoiled with only owning plasmas.
I'm looking at the Sony 900 series... but it doesn't support dolby vision. the 930's and 940's do but they are quite a bit more expensive. Is it really worth the jump up? I'd like to find something on sale for under 1k. Debating buying now, or waiting til dolby vision is more standard... in other words will I regret not having dolby vision 5 years down the road?
I love http://www.rtings.com, I actually spent a couple of hours on that site the other day because my Sony 55" 4K tv isn't HDR compatible (it's a 2015 model) and I was looking for the best HDR tv. There may be other sites out there, but I love the breakdown of features and tests they put the sets through.
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But then you'll be tempted to get a QLED tv, LOL: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun.../pcmcat1488560230817.c?id=pcmcat1488560230817
There were a bunch of 55B6P and 55C6P OLED deals recently on last year’s LG’s. I bought an amazing 55 inch C6P for under a grand. It is outstanding.
problem with oled is image retention , if you're going to game and/or use your tv as a monitor stick with lcd - for now anyway
sony have some nice tvs , the 900e is exc vfm
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i'm in the same boat
the 900e is an amazing tv but no dv support... oh darn
the problem i found is 930e has backlight issues with black bar movies - it has edge ;lighting , the 940 with fald has much better backlight but is 75 inches at the smallest..
i'm waiting to see if there's a 55 940 by xmas or might just get a zd9 , oled has put me off for what i use it for sadly
sony have some nice tvs , the 900e is exc vfm
[doublepost=1506578272][/doublepost]
i'm in the same boat
the 900e is an amazing tv but no dv support... oh darn
the problem i found is 930e has backlight issues with black bar movies - it has edge ;lighting , the 940 with fald has much better backlight but is 75 inches at the smallest..
i'm waiting to see if there's a 55 940 by xmas or might just get a zd9 , oled has put me off for what i use it for sadly
I've been pretty happy with my TCL 55" 4K non-HDR TV that I bought at Walmart for ~$400 last year, so an HDR version will likely be a very good bang for the buck.