Hello everyone who has gone tv shopping recently...could use opinions. We are buying a new tv for our basement. Debating getting the cheapest 4K I can versus a higher end tv. All streaming...no Blu-ray. Roku/apple tv. Worth spending money on a higher-end tv nowadays?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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TV Purchase - Worth spending more money nowadays?
- Thread starter bag99001
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I saw a friend's 75" OLED TV last week and it was impressive. If I needed a new one, I would go for a midrange tier OLED this time around. Another friend got a Sony OLED which uses the actual screen as a speaker and they love the sound from it.
There are some excellent mid-range options, and some very cost effective brands that easily complete with sets that are much more expensive. I've noticed some major brands fall off in image related quality and features pretty quickly with their mid-range products - check out TCL (Series 6) and Vizio (Model M).
Making sure the TV has HDR is way more useful than 4k (usually it comes together, but the HDR makes more of a difference
Unless you are going to be spending most of your time downstairs watching the t.v., stay with the very affordable model. Get the nice t.v. for the living room and bedroom.
No. Don't put a TV on your bedroom. The bedroom is for sleeping and having sex, and that's it.
Anything else you should be doing somewhere else, including TV watching.
LOL! Tell that to my wife!
With two kids and me, she does not have any place of her own during the day. As both she and I grew up with the bedroom being our own space, a place to retreat to from family chaos, having a TV in there is essential.
We're both loners, but I have a small part of the front room and a garage to retreat to. All she has is the bedroom and only that until I come to bed at night.
I mean, technically you could also read a book...
you could also be recording a video... 🐷😁
Eating crackers is an option for the good looking people.😚😚
As for TV's, I get a basic 1080p which is good enough for Blu-Ray movies and OTA content. I'm not snobby/rich enough to require 4K or 8K TV and content.
If it’s all streaming then you may save money by getting a good set without a tuner in it. I have done that and it was considerably cheaper.
For my money, a good image on a 1080p is better than a cheap 4K especially if it’s upscaling and making a mess of it. You may not see much if any difference anyway depending on how big you want it. A really good 1080p on a TV that's the right size for the room is going to be well good enough.
You should also pay attention to the remote control. Don’t think it isn’t important, some of them are slow or twitchy and terrible and you use them the whole time. You will also regret it if you're the only one who knows how to use it.
You can really regret buying a TV if the remote control is bad and especially if it’s linked to laggy and difficult to navigate menus.
Same with sound. Sound on most TVs is pretty bad but it can be really bad on some. I would take notice of the reviews
Otherwise, the Samsung and LG TVs generally give an excellent picture at a reasonable price and you’ll be happy with either.
I don’t know what your budget is but I’ll bet you can get an excellent and large 1080 TV from either for around $650 that you’ll be really happy with.
Sony, Panasonic and Philips are also excellent, Philips originally behind the screen technology and in partnership with LG in the manufacture of course, and Samsung made the screens for Sony last time I looked.
One last thing. If you play games at all then don’t forget to check the response time as it’ll be useless if there’s lag.
A good HDTV with excellent response time will make you much happier than a laggy 4K TV at the same price that’s trying to tick all the boxes but is weak in every department.
For my money, a good image on a 1080p is better than a cheap 4K especially if it’s upscaling and making a mess of it. You may not see much if any difference anyway depending on how big you want it. A really good 1080p on a TV that's the right size for the room is going to be well good enough.
You should also pay attention to the remote control. Don’t think it isn’t important, some of them are slow or twitchy and terrible and you use them the whole time. You will also regret it if you're the only one who knows how to use it.
You can really regret buying a TV if the remote control is bad and especially if it’s linked to laggy and difficult to navigate menus.
Same with sound. Sound on most TVs is pretty bad but it can be really bad on some. I would take notice of the reviews
Otherwise, the Samsung and LG TVs generally give an excellent picture at a reasonable price and you’ll be happy with either.
I don’t know what your budget is but I’ll bet you can get an excellent and large 1080 TV from either for around $650 that you’ll be really happy with.
Sony, Panasonic and Philips are also excellent, Philips originally behind the screen technology and in partnership with LG in the manufacture of course, and Samsung made the screens for Sony last time I looked.
One last thing. If you play games at all then don’t forget to check the response time as it’ll be useless if there’s lag.
A good HDTV with excellent response time will make you much happier than a laggy 4K TV at the same price that’s trying to tick all the boxes but is weak in every department.
The most notable benefit of a higher-end television right now is adaptive sync, often referred to by tradenames such as AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync.
These television sets like similar computer monitors can adjust to the variable output of a computer or videogame console's graphics output to prevent tearing.
Examples of tearing can be seen here:
and here:
www.pcworld.com
If you plan to game on the television set with one of the newly released consoles (Xbox or PS5) or with a Windows gaming PC in the near future, it would be wise to consider a television set with adaptive sync like the LG CX series (which starts around $1300 for the smallest 48" model). On TV sets, sometimes adaptive sync is listed as VRR (Variable Rate Refresh) in the list of features.
Other benefits of higher-end TVs might also include OLED panels (deeper blacks), HDR10 and support for modern standards like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
One thing that doesn't typically show up in a spec sheet are viewing angles. Inexpensive television sets have narrow viewing angles; better quality sets have wider viewing angles so more people can enjoy the high quality imagery.
At least in the pre-COVID days, if you had a viewing party (e.g., sporting event) with a large number of guests (like 10-12), having a screen with a wide viewing angle would be very important.
Today, if you're social distancing at home with a couple of family members at most, maybe the viewing angle feature is less important.
These television sets like similar computer monitors can adjust to the variable output of a computer or videogame console's graphics output to prevent tearing.
Examples of tearing can be seen here:
and here:
G-Sync vs. FreeSync: Adaptive sync gaming monitors, explained
How AMD's FreeSync and Nvidia's G-Sync adaptive sync (aka variable refresh rate) monitors improve PC gaming by eliminating stuttering, tearing, and ghosting.
www.pcworld.com
If you plan to game on the television set with one of the newly released consoles (Xbox or PS5) or with a Windows gaming PC in the near future, it would be wise to consider a television set with adaptive sync like the LG CX series (which starts around $1300 for the smallest 48" model). On TV sets, sometimes adaptive sync is listed as VRR (Variable Rate Refresh) in the list of features.
Other benefits of higher-end TVs might also include OLED panels (deeper blacks), HDR10 and support for modern standards like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
One thing that doesn't typically show up in a spec sheet are viewing angles. Inexpensive television sets have narrow viewing angles; better quality sets have wider viewing angles so more people can enjoy the high quality imagery.
At least in the pre-COVID days, if you had a viewing party (e.g., sporting event) with a large number of guests (like 10-12), having a screen with a wide viewing angle would be very important.
Today, if you're social distancing at home with a couple of family members at most, maybe the viewing angle feature is less important.
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