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Should I get a 4K TV?

ThisBougieLife

ThisBougieLife

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Original poster
Jan 21, 2016
3,259
10,666
Northern California
I currently have a 1080p Samsung TV in my room that I got a couple years ago. But I'm someone who likes to keep up with the latest tech: I get a new phone or computer every couple of years; I don't like to hang onto anything for very long. A 4K TV is essentially the last bit of modern tech that I have yet to foray into.

On one hand, it doesn't seem practical. I'd say about 95% of the content I watch is not 4K. I own a lot of DVDs and blu-rays and no 4K discs. A DVD looks decent on a 1080p TV, but from my experience, it looks pretty awful on a 4K TV. Blu-rays of course look amazing on a 1080p TV and look okay on a 4K TV, but the fact is, it would be very rare that I'd ever be watching anything at the TV's native resolution. Everything would be upscaled.

Additionally, it seems that you need to spend a lot to get a decent 4K TV. My friend has an LG 4K TV that cost about as much as my Samsung TV did two years ago. And yet its picture quality is far below that of my 1080p TV. The blacks are washed out, the colors are dull. After watching TV on his LG, it's a relief to look at my trusty Samsung. Now those $2000+ OLED 4K TVs are breathtaking (my parents recently bought one for the family room and there is a world of difference between it and any TV I've ever seen), but if I get a 4K TV, I won't be able to afford one like that. Nor do I have room for one that big. TV sizes seem to be getting bigger and bigger and those of us who want one for our bedrooms are seeing fewer good options.

Is it worth it? Those of you who have 4K TVs: Do you watch a lot of 4K content or is most of what you watch upscaled? When you switched from 1080p to 4K, did you think "this is the greatest thing ever" or was it "meh"? Be honest. :)
 
I have a 50" LG UHD TV that I bought a couple of years ago (open box model at Best Buy). It doesn't keep pace with the newer, more expensive 4K TVs but it's a great TV. Content still looks great at 1080p, but when content is available in 4K it is a noticeable difference.

I don't regret getting it at the price point I did. I'll probably keep it for another year or so and then get something that really pops around 65" or so. If you don't hang on to things very long, I don't see anything wrong in getting a "bargain" 4K TV now and then saving for something that might be more of an investment.
 
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Save your money. Not enough content in 4K unless you are into sports and many so called 4K events are just HD bumped up to 4K specs, not native 4K. Get a new TV when you need it because your old one broke or you move and have space for a bigger one. We all threw out our old, bulky tvs once (some were already HD but hey! look how convenient these thin ones are), lets not jump on the bandwagon again for something none of us really need.

IMHO, of course.
 
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If your TV is working fine like @Mac'nCheese said, you can consider going from the Standard picture setting to the Store setting, Vivid setting, etc. to get a brighter picture quality, friends and I have done that for several years with no harm to the TVs.
 
I watch a lot of contents which I think it is worth it. I had a $500 UHD monitor purcahsed 2 years ago which I used for both PC and Apple TV. If you used Netflix, there are more 4K contender, mostly popular series and movies and you can notice the difference. If you check Target, they do have some 4K TV on sale for less than $300. Criteria is to find a 4K 120 MHZ with HDR. Or wait a few more years for more 4K contents and cheaper 4K TV.
 
I recently purchased the 2018 TCL 55" 4k HDR TV, and have been really impressed by it considering the price. My family has been using the built in Roku for most of our streaming versus our ATV4.

It may not be as nice as the $2-3k TVs out there, but I think the TCL was an excellent deal for the price.

But, I would have never purchased it if my 5 year old Samsung Plasma had not broke.
 
I went from a 46” Samsung 1080p to a 55” LG 4K OLED. As you say, the picture is incredible, and the bezels are so slim it’s only an inch wider than my old TV. It was well worth the £1900 I paid (it’s available for £1200 right now). The smartness is actually useful - I haven’t touched my Apple TV since using the THX app to set it up; but I use Netflix, Prime, BBC iPlayer, YouTube almost every day, right on the TV, with one remote.

I watch a mix of SD, HD, and 4K, and PS4 gaming, and it all looks better - but I think that’s down to the OLED, or perhaps the HDR, rather than the resolution.

When 4K was new, I looked, but resisted. I had no 4K sources, so the premium wasn’t worth it. I bought a 1080p TV instead, because it was cheap and excellent - a mid range TV as good as the previous year’s high end - that Samsung was £649, the same spec the year before would have been more than double. With no real innovation, there was no value in expensive TVs. 3D? Curved screens? It felt like gimmicks designed purely to allow higher prices, but on the flip side, ordinary TVs were great value. When HDR and OLED came along, it was a step change like going from 480p to 1080p, or 4:3 to 16:9, or CRT to flatscreen. Finally worth upgrading - so TVs were expensive again. I set myself a limit; and I resisted for two years until the price dropped below £2,000, and I got part-fibre broadband with speeds high enough for 4K streaming.

If you don’t have 4K content, there’s no point spending more. As I understand it, usage limits in the US make 4K streaming a problem - I used 640gb in the last month! More than half of that was 4K from Amazon Prime and Netflix.
 
ThisBougieLife said:
On one hand, it doesn't seem practical. I'd say about 95% of the content I watch is not 4K. I own a lot of DVDs and blu-rays and no 4K discs. A DVD looks decent on a 1080p TV, but from my experience, it looks pretty awful on a 4K TV. Blu-rays of course look amazing on a 1080p TV and look okay on a 4K TV, but the fact is, it would be very rare that I'd ever be watching anything at the TV's native resolution. Everything would be upscaled.
Click to expand...

A lot of youtube is 4k-- apple does a good job of hiding that fact, but it's there if you use chrome. Amazon and Netflix and a bunch of other services support 4k content-- if you have the right boxes.
4k Bluray is readily available in stores-- depending on the tolerance of your wallet. And if you have a powerful enough video card or XBone or PS4 pro, you can game in 4k.

Most stores use weird settings to demo their tvs, though.

The OLED TVs might make your existing material look even better than before. There are plenty of scenes in movies that feature characters sitting around a campfire at night. If, on your tv, or on any marginal 4k screen, the star filled sky is even the least bit grey, something's wrong.
 
no because
1. you think DVDs are decent on a 1080p TV
2. not much 4k content

i would buy plasmas again if they are in store.
 
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daimos said:
no because
1. you think DVDs are decent on a 1080p TV
2. not much 4k content

i would buy plasmas again if they are in store.
Click to expand...

By decent I mean “not beyond horrible” :)

And I’m not saying that if I get a 4K TV, I’ll get rid of it in two years. That was just to illustrate the fact that I’m usually quick to adopt new tech (except in this one area).
 
ThisBougieLife said:
I currently have a 1080p Samsung TV in my room that I got a couple years ago. But I'm someone who likes to keep up with the latest tech: I get a new phone or computer every couple of years; I don't like to hang onto anything for very long. A 4K TV is essentially the last bit of modern tech that I have yet to foray into.

On one hand, it doesn't seem practical. I'd say about 95% of the content I watch is not 4K. I own a lot of DVDs and blu-rays and no 4K discs. A DVD looks decent on a 1080p TV, but from my experience, it looks pretty awful on a 4K TV. Blu-rays of course look amazing on a 1080p TV and look okay on a 4K TV, but the fact is, it would be very rare that I'd ever be watching anything at the TV's native resolution. Everything would be upscaled.

Additionally, it seems that you need to spend a lot to get a decent 4K TV. My friend has an LG 4K TV that cost about as much as my Samsung TV did two years ago. And yet its picture quality is far below that of my 1080p TV. The blacks are washed out, the colors are dull. After watching TV on his LG, it's a relief to look at my trusty Samsung. Now those $2000+ OLED 4K TVs are breathtaking (my parents recently bought one for the family room and there is a world of difference between it and any TV I've ever seen), but if I get a 4K TV, I won't be able to afford one like that. Nor do I have room for one that big. TV sizes seem to be getting bigger and bigger and those of us who want one for our bedrooms are seeing fewer good options.

Is it worth it? Those of you who have 4K TVs: Do you watch a lot of 4K content or is most of what you watch upscaled? When you switched from 1080p to 4K, did you think "this is the greatest thing ever" or was it "meh"? Be honest. :)
Click to expand...
You can get a 55" 4K TV from Walmart for about $300 if you're willing to go with a non-name brand. We got one and the manufacturer, Sceptre, makes a good TV.

For about $100 more you can get a 60". My only suggestion is to spring for their soundbar and the speaker suck. They include a coupon for it in the box which brings the price down to about $50.
 
There's also the issue of viewing distance. Unlike with a PC monitor, where viewing distances are measured in inches, a TV tends to be several yards away from the viewer (apologies if you don't live in the US or checks notes, Liberia or Burma).

That means that a 4k tv needs to be rather large for the resolution to have the desired effect. Think upwards of 70 inches.Or you could huddle up next to the screen. The more noticeable effect is HDR/Dolby Vision, which only comes into play if your TV can display pure blacks (OLED, for instance)
 
ThisBougieLife said:
And I’m not saying that if I get a 4K TV, I’ll get rid of it in two years. That was just to illustrate the fact that I’m usually quick to adopt new tech (except in this one area).
Click to expand...

I should not stop an early adopter from buying. They drive the economy. Buy away.
 
I'm in the exactly same situation as the OP. I have a functioning 42" 1080p TV (that I, on the other hand plan on eventually giving away anyway), and have for some time lusted after a 55" OLED. The prices have come down nicely, so getting one is definitely within the realm of possibility, but on the other hand it took me so very long to even start buying regular BD's, so I shudder to think how long it will take me to switch to UHD 4K discs. Then again, I have warmed up to streaming, which a couple of years ago I wouldn't have believed would ever happen, so there's that.

It's a good thing I still have a couple of months before any decision making, so I can obsess about all of this in peace.
 
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My TV just bit the dust on me last night. A 47" Philips LCD that I've had for almost 10 years ( if it would have made it to late October, it would have been exactly 10 years ). The kicker is, I've been limping along for about 3 years with this TV, trying to extent its like. A few years ago, the darn thing would not turn on when the room was under 80 degrees. I have been placing a space heater behind the TV to help warm it up so it would click "ON" with the remote. I have been having to go thru this routine every October thru May for the last 3 years, until temperatures warmed up for summertime.

Unfortunately, last night, after I had heated it up with my trusty space heater, I heard a loud "thump", and "BOOM!" The screen shut down. And now there isn't even a "click" sound when I hit the "ON" button. It had flickered its last image.

So now, I will be looking into buying perhaps a 4K 55" Smart TV. Models I am looking at:

TCL 55" Class 5-Series 4K HDR Roku Smart TV



LG 55" Class UK6300 4K HDR Smart LED UHD TV with AI ThinQ




Hisense 55" Class H6 Series 4K UHD HDR SMART TV



If you have any knowledge of these TV's, or other 55" smart TV's under $500, please let me know.
 
Last edited:
TrentS said:
My TV just bit the dust on me last night. A 47" Philips LCD that I've had for almost 10 years ( if it would have made it to late October, it would have been exactly 10 years ). The kicker is, I've been limping along for about 3 years with this TV, trying to extent its like. A few years ago, the darn thing would not turn on when the room was under 80 degrees. I have been placing a space heater behind the TV to help warm it up so it would click "ON" with the remote. I have been having to go thru this routine every October thru May for the last 3 years, until temperatures warmed up for summertime.

Unfortunately, last night, after I had heated it up with my trusty space heater, I heard a loud "thump", and "BOOM!" The screen shut down. And now there isn't even a "click" sound when I hit the "ON" button. It had flickered its last image.

So now, I will be looking into buying perhaps a 4K 55" Smart TV. Models I am looking at:

TCL 55" Class 5-Series 4K HDR Roku Smart TV



LG 55" Class UK6300 4K HDR Smart LED UHD TV with AI ThinQ




Hisense 55" Class H6 Series 4K UHD HDR SMART TV



If you have any knowledge of these TV's, or other 55" smart TV's under $500, please let me know.
Click to expand...

TCL has been getting great reviews, I'll add another brand for your consideration via a post I made a week or so ago:

D.T. said:
FWIW, current gen LCD based TVs are _light_.

Check out the mid-range options from Vizio and TCL - just insane bang-for-the-buck, image quality as good (and in some models, exceeding) any of the other major brands (Sony, Samsung) in the same product range.

Look at the Vizio E-series, https://www.vizio.com/tvs/eseries.html , note the 55"/50"/43" are $479/$439/$349 respectively, that's a deal for a 4K, active 10 zone dimming, Dolby Vision, and even includes built-in WiFi and Chromecast (even if the smart features aren't important)
Click to expand...
 
ThisBougieLife said:
Is it worth it? Those of you who have 4K TVs: Do you watch a lot of 4K content or is most of what you watch upscaled? When you switched from 1080p to 4K, did you think "this is the greatest thing ever" or was it "meh"? Be honest. :)
Click to expand...

In a way, you are thinking about this all wrong. As you've noticed with your own eyeballs, 4K TVs can look like garbage or look stunning. 4K is just one single feature of a TV (resolution) and frankly resolution is not the most important metric for picture quality (PQ), especially past a certain point like 1080p. Typically the important metrics for PQ are contrast, good blacks, color accuracy, and motion handling.

I would much rather have a very good 1080P TV than a garbage 4K TV.

As you've noticed yourself, 4K OLED has stunning picture quality, but it's not the resolution that's doing it. Even 1080P content will look great on that screen. Heck, even 720P content will look great, albeit a little bit fuzzy. That's because the PQ is off-the-charts awesome.

And conversely a cheap crappy 4K TV will make Ultra High Definition 4K content look like garbage because, again, resolution isn't the most important thing.

So IMHO, if you want a worthwhile upgrade from the point of view of PQ, you need to get quality 4K TV with solid HDR support. OLEDs are at the top of the pile. There are LCDs that can compete too, but for similar PQ to OLED they are going to be very expensive as well.

There are additional considerations. If your viewing area is a bright room with lots of sun exposure, then brightness is also important because you need to overcome the sun. This is not so important in a man cave, basement, dedicated theater room, or any other light-controlled room, or even if you are simply more of a night owl with your viewing habits. If you are a gamer, then latency is important. Also for gamers, OLED might be bad for you because the static elements of a GUI can burn into the screen, although this can be avoided with some care.

IMHO the very best TVs for a PQ upgrade are these:
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1531741051
The MSRP is horrendous and outside of your stated butdget, but buying "last year's model" can save you several hundred dollars. For example I bought a 2016 LG OLED in early 2017 for $2000 less than MSRP.

If that is just too far of a stretch for your budget even with some careful buying strategies, then there are several mid range choices that will probably be a PQ upgrade (unless your 1080P TV is exceptionally good, like a late model Pioneer, Panasonic, or Samsung plasma).
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/
 
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Hey Friend, my personal opinion is that you don't need any 4K TV, it is completely a wastage of money. You already have good option 1080p Samsung TV, I think it completely satisfies your requirements.
 
In the same boat with a few year old LG HDTV. Decided to test the waters and get a 4k HDR TV for the bedroom. It's 1/2 the price of what we paid for the HD TV a couple years ago, but the picture is definitely poorer.

I do not like OLED technology yet due to potential for burn in.
 
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