Knowledge on Current TV’s

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hi all,

I’m about to buy a new TV as ours has died.
The more reviews of the current crop that I read, the more my head spins.

We can go up to 65” and budget of $1500, so elongates all the actual good ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations and advice on with the budget friendly Samsung, TCL, Hisense models etc?

Ideally I’d like buttons for direct access to YouTube, Netflix at a minimum, Stan or Disney would be a bonus.
Not really keen on buying a soundbar as well, but if it means a better picture, I guess I can cop it.

Currently on a 5 year old TCL 42” job, so anything is a step up.

Cheers
 

shiny

Go-go-gadget-wrist-thingy
I am no TV expert but The Good Guys have a sale on TVs currently and this Sony looks to be a great deal:


If you can check it out in store but does have a bezel around the screen the next model is over your budget but has voice control and built in Chromecast, not sure how they function with the TVs processing power so might worth playing with in store:


Also worth checking out Samsung in that price bracket as well.
 

Freediver

I can go full Karen
I had an LG which is a company I never want to deal with again. They replaced it under warranty but actually lied to me about what they replaced it with. They told me it was capable of a few features the old one didn't have and that it would lok a bit different with a chrome trim. The thing arrive and the extra features they told me about where only available with an aftermarket remote and the chrome trim turned out to be grey plastic. The new one they sent lasted only slightly longer.
I've got a Samsung now that's lasted a couple of years and has good features and a good picture but the software can be a bit buggy.
 

K.C.

Likes Dirt
i think most brands has product refresh around this time of year, maybe grab a runout 2020/2019.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
If picture quality is paramount, I say look at a second hand late model plasma from panasonic or Samsung and add a roku set top box for all your streaming needs and a sound bar. Yes energy consumption is higher, but nothing crazy compared to older gen plasma.

You’ll be well inside budget. There is SFA 4k content, and anything less then an OLED looks ordinary compared to late gen plasma.

If you’re looking at new, LG (lucky goldstar, wonder why they rebranded huh?) make a significant portion of the panels for almost everyone in almost every market segment outside oled. Anyway, if you see two tv’s and the images looks so similar (after fucking about with settings) it’s because they probably are.
 
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beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
If they still offer them, consider non 4K options as well. For normal TV viewing distances, the difference in resolution between 1080 and 4K is almost imperceptible to the human eye. And of course there's bugger all true 4K content available. 4K Blurays movies are impressively detailed, but you can only pick the details on scenes with a lot of fine detail (like when there's close-ups of peoples faces or clothing), and because the colour grading seems to be more focused on OLED panels, the inages on a normal backlit panel often look a bit washed out/grey. I haven't actually tried it myself, but I can't imagine streamed 4K would be worth the effort either. If the bitrate was good enough to do the resolution justice, it's unlikely any Australian internet connection would actually be able to handle the amount of data!

4K is really only useful if you connect a laptop or PC to the telly via HDMI, or somewhat beneficial if you/your kids are avid gamers and want best possible resolution for that since all the consoles and games are generally 4K now...

(Basing this off...) I have a normal backlit Panasonic 4K 55" telly. Had no issues at all with it, other than wishing the OLED models had been more affordable when I bought mine. People (non-tech focused nerds) often remark that the images on it look good compared to what they're used to, I think it's probably because the colours are a lot more natural than the hyper-satured colour grading on a lot of other tellys (especially Samsungs).

Just my 2c.
 

Kerplunk

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Poor old Plasma is another one of those technologies that get replaced with an inferior one..
I recently bought a Sony Bravia 4k UHD


Software on it is brillant and the picture quality excellent especially the viewing angle when not sitting dead centre.. Works well in our bright living room as well..
Need a soundbar though, speakers are rubbish..
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Awesome, thanks guys.

I have read that lots of people buy the 4K options and are disappointed in the display resolution.
We do stream Netflix, Disney, Stan through a Telstra TV box, but as mentioned there is no way our internet would handle proper 4K streams
 

hifiandmtb

Sphincter beanie
If picture quality is paramount, I say look at a second hand late model plasma from panasonic or Samsung and add a roku set top box for all your streaming needs and a sound bar. Yes energy consumption is higher, but nothing crazy compared to older gen plasma.
Ha! We are still rocking one of these, it's been properly calibrated & is astonishingly lovely:


Not the sort of TV you use a lot though - it's a bloody radiator!
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Fuck i I wish I’d bought two of the last Panasonic plasmas when I bought my current one and put one in storage. I dread the day it eventually dies :(
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Awesome, thanks guys.

I have read that lots of people buy the 4K options and are disappointed in the display resolution.
We do stream Netflix, Disney, Stan through a Telstra TV box, but as mentioned there is no way our internet would handle proper 4K streams
We have a Samsung and has been working fine for some time now.

The SmartTV stuff embedded in the TV wasn't anything ever to write home about. Fair enough that it would be underpowered by today's standards but they eventually dump it and doesn't get updated much.

What I'm getting to and you look to have done it already. Spend your money on a good quality screen and use an external box for your streaming and just about anything else if you go the Samsung route.

Don't get excited by inbuilt features that could add expense since they will abandon them once the next shiny new comes out.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
We have a Samsung and has been working fine for some time now.

The SmartTV stuff embedded in the TV wasn't anything ever to write home about. Fair enough that it would be underpowered by today's standards but they eventually dump it and doesn't get updated much.

What I'm getting to and you look to have done it already. Spend your money on a good quality screen and use an external box for your streaming and just about anything else if you go the Samsung route.

Don't get excited by inbuilt features that could add expense since they will abandon them once the next shiny new comes out.
Oh yeah. There are whole generations of Samsung tv’s that can no longer connect to YouTube from 2012 and older. It’s inevitable, zero interest in support and product development for product considered legacy.
 

droenn

Fat Man's XC President
I got it down to 2 or 3 models and then just checked ozbargain and the black friday sales and ended up with a Sony. Think Samsung was other brand.

Check out rtings.com once you find a few models that youre interested in to make sure it will be good for your setting.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Ha! We are still rocking one of these, it's been properly calibrated & is astonishingly lovely:


Not the sort of TV you use a lot though - it's a bloody radiator!
When Pioneer quit the plasma game late 2009, they started buying panels from Matsushita (panasonic) and soon after the critical mass of pioneer engineers migrated to Matsushita, the next generation of Panasonic got VERY good. Till then, Pioneers product dominated.

Panasonic got power consumption drastically down by the last series, I seem to recall 180 watts for a 55” panel.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Chromecast is a great addition and just works - so useful.
Google, please take my Cat Video watching statistics for your analytics and do as you please.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Head around the shops and have a look. (if Covid restrictions allow)

You can read and listen to to everything about HDR, refresh rate, mhz, U-LED, O-LED ect... It means nothing until you see the picture quality.

JB's, Good Guys and Harvey Norman all have great displays of TV's going with 4K demos looping.

Even if you go elsewhere to buy afterwards, at least you will have the model number.

My last 3 TV's have been LG and the last 2 have been 4K. The first only lasted 10 months as #1 son cracked it clean down the middle with a soccer ball... thats the downside of owning a 7mm thick television.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Head around the shops and have a look. (if Covid restrictions allow)

You can read and listen to to everything about HDR, refresh rate, mhz, U-LED, O-LED ect... It means nothing until you see the picture quality.

JB's, Good Guys and Harvey Norman all have great displays of TV's going with 4K demos looping.

Even if you go elsewhere to buy afterwards, at least you will have the model number.

My last 3 TV's have been LG and the last 2 have been 4K. The first only lasted 10 months as #1 son cracked it clean down the middle with a soccer ball... thats the downside of owning a 7mm thick television.
Hopefully after tomorrow, we may be able to do that (in vic)
 
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