# School me on TVs



## quattljl

The 32" LG TV I've had since about 2013 crapped out on me last week (won't turn on/stay on) so I'm thinking I need a new TV now. My main living room TV is a "cheap" 42" LG TV that I bought as a replacement after my nice Panasonic didn't survive a move in 2015.

I'd like to upgrade my living room TV to a 55" and move the 42" to the bedroom. Other than wanting something with 4K and a good picture (which is somewhat subjective), I don't really know what else to look for in a TV nowadays. I'd like something nice as I want this to be the last TV I buy for the next 10+ years, but I don't have $1000+ to drop on a top of the line TV. What are some specs I should be looking for when comparing new TVs and what intangibles do you take into account?


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## Ware

I'm in the market for some new TV's too. *I am by no means a power user*, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I am probably going to buy TCL 6-Series for the family rooms. They seem like a good value - a decent balance between specs and cost. The TCL 5-Series is a slightly more budget friendly QLED option. We'll probably use those or the TCL 4-Series in other locations (bedroom, garage, patio, etc.)

But again, we are just casual TV watchers. I don't think I would be able to fully appreciate spending more for something nicer. We also stream everything on Roku, so having it built into the TCL's is an added bonus.


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## mower_go_meow

Rtings.com can send you down a rabbit hole full of information. I ended up going the TCL 6 series route and couldn't be more satisfied. The color is great, the uniformity is great, the blacks are black. The only issue with these can be quality control. They call it panel roulette. You can get get a great tv or a bad one. That was the risk with getting a $500 55" tv. Enjoy the research but don't get analysis paralysis!


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## Mocajoe

I currently own two TCL Series 4 55 inch TV's. Very satisfied with the picture quality and Roku feature for the price. Switched to TCL after a 55 inch Sony and 55 inch Toshiba both died in less than 5 years, each costing over $1200. Came to the realization that LCD flat screens are throw away electronics and decided to purchase the low priced TCL's at Costco. My first TCL 55 which I paid $269.99 died in 18 months and was out of the one year factory warranty period but still was covered under the 2nd year warranty provided by Costco. Costco replaced the unit with a new in stock store unit. Based on my experience with the low end TCL's I now purchase the 3 year extended warranty from Costco for $34.99 which gives me 5 years of warranty. Interestingly, on my last visit to Costco there were no TCL TV's on display&#129300;


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## quattljl

Ware said:


> I'm in the market for some new TV's too. *I am by no means a power user*, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I am probably going to buy TCL 6-Series for the family rooms. They seem like a good value - a decent balance between specs and cost. The TCL 5-Series is a slightly more budget friendly QLED option. We'll probably use those or the TCL 4-Series in other locations (bedroom, garage, patio, etc.)
> 
> But again, we are just casual TV watchers. I don't think I would be able to fully appreciate spending more for something nicer. We also stream everything on Roku, so having it built into the TCL's is an added bonus.


I'm in a similar situation as you. We are not avid TV watchers nor are we super picky or needy when it comes to features. Just something that has a good picture and will last will satisfy us. We also stream with Roku so that feature on the TCL would be nice.

In my limited research, I've seen TCL come up but I hadn't really heard of them as a top brand for TVs until now. I had always thought they were a lower tier brand. I guess I need to get over that preconceived perception.


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## cavince79

I've got a 75" TCL. The stock audio on it sucks, but that seems to be the case with any tv these days. With a sound bar, it's a solid set up for us.


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## quattljl

Anybody have any experience or comparison between the TCL 6 series and the Hisense H9G? The price on the TCL seems to have really jumped in the last year.


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## daniel3507

I love my Sony 900F. One of the best pictures before you get to the OLED and big bucks. I think when I need to replace other tvs though (bedroom, garage, etc.) I will probably go with a TCL. I agree they seem like a good value. I don't need something super high end in the those areas and they seem to be good bang for the buck. When the living room TV dies in the future though I will be getting another Sony.

A coworker got a Hisense and ended up having to replace it a couple weeks later.


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## Thejarrod

as far as features, the two that i'm focused on are 1) input for the over-the-air antenna we have mounted to the roof. 2) Roku platform.

we watch mostly cartoons and those horribly annoying youtube channels for kids. I'll probably get one of the TCL models. I'm thinking series 5 for our family room... If i'm being frugal i should choose series 4. but a bourbon fueled late night amazon purchase of series 6 isnt out of the question.


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## Ware

Thejarrod said:


> ...I'm thinking series 5 for our family room... If i'm being frugal i should choose series 4. but a bourbon fueled late night amazon purchase of series 6 isnt out of the question.


 :beer:


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## quattljl

Thejarrod said:


> we watch mostly cartoons and those horribly annoying youtube channels for kids. I'll probably get one of the TCL models. I'm thinking series 5 for our family room... If i'm being frugal i should choose series 4. but a bourbon fueled late night amazon purchase of series 6 isnt out of the question.


Yes, that is what's on our TV 9 times out of 10, so you can see why a top of the line model isn't necessary here :lol:

I decided to switch up my plan. I bought a TCL series 4 in the 43" size to upgrade the bedroom TV. Going from 32" to 43" and 1080 to 4K will feel like a huge upgrade and to be able to do it for less than $300 is a no brainer. I think the one in the living room will be the next to kick the bucket so I'll replace it when that happens. I've already had to take it apart to re-glue the LED covers and two still aren't aligned 100% correct so I still have spots on the screen. Right now I feel like I'm sort of stuck in the middle of getting a TV that checks some of the boxes, but not all, and not being able to afford (or justify the price) of a TV that checks them all. Maybe in a couple years the technology will be there for QLED to fix the shortcomings or maybe by then the prices will have come down on OLED.


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## MasterMech

Just adding my $0.02 - LG TV's (and others) support HomeKit natively. I know there's plenty of Google Home and Alexa models out there too. Being able to kill the TV with just a "Hey Siri..." lets the kiddos know I (or their mother) mean business. :thumbsup:

There's also this whole home automation thing where you can tie lighting scenes and even the doggie door to the status of the TV. ie: Turn the family room lights to 20% if the TV is on after sunset, etc. For now, I'm happy with the aforementioned power trip. :lol:


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## FATC1TY

My LG OLED is probably one of the best TVs I've owned. I love their remotes and interfaces, snd the picture once calibrated is great.

We have LG TVs of the similar model around the house and outside that aren't OLED but look pretty good and work similar.

Zero complaints from an LG, the only thing that's maybe a negative is the OLED TVs are so thin it's quite the pucker moment hanging them.


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## SodFace

I am looking at those fancy Samsung The Frame TVs now. They pretend to be art when "off" which is pretty cool. Thinking of putting it in my living room where I'd like the TV to disappear and look more like decor.

https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/the-frame/highlights/

Sits flat on the wall...nice...


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## Ware

SodFace said:


> I am looking at those fancy Samsung The Frame TVs now. They pretend to be art when "off" which is pretty cool. Thinking of putting it in my living room where I'd like the TV to disappear and look more like decor.
> 
> https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/the-frame/highlights/
> 
> Sits flat on the wall...nice...


Those are neat. A little pricey, but neat. We considered one for our new living room, but our TV will be mounted above the mantle like the one pictured above. I know mounting a TV high is frowned upon by some, but it is what it is. Anyway, I think it would look great in art mode flat on the wall, but when watching TV I think an angled mount would be preferable - to help correct the viewing angle with it mounted high like that.


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## ksturfguy

SodFace said:


> I am looking at those fancy Samsung The Frame TVs now. They pretend to be art when "off" which is pretty cool. Thinking of putting it in my living room where I'd like the TV to disappear and look more like decor.
> 
> https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/the-frame/highlights/
> 
> Sits flat on the wall...nice...


One of my friends has one of those. I legit asked if it was art or a TV lol.


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## ILoveGrits

Ware said:


> Those are neat. A little pricey, but neat. We considered one for our new living room, but our TV will be mounted above the mantle like the one pictured above. I know mounting a TV high is frowned upon by some, but it is what it is. Anyway, I think it would look great in art mode flat on the wall, but when watching TV I think an angled mount would be preferable - to help correct the viewing angle with it mounted high like that.


+ @SodFace

We've got one above the mantle just like in the posted photo. When we watch TV as a family, we'll go pile into the master bed (kids are 9 & 7) or onto the sectional in a play room upstairs. The frame is the only TV we have downstairs (that's not in the master bedroom) and so any guests we have over will be watching a game/sporting event on it. I had the same concerns about viewing angle but to be honest have not found it to be an issue. Granted that's dependent upon how far back your seating is from the TV, but no one has ever complained.

I'm not a TV enthusiast by any means but I like equipment with good ratings. For reference, we have a 75" Vizio in the bedroom and a 65" OLED upstairs. The Frame looks great to me despite the less than ideal viewing angle. Its obviously not OLED picture quality, but it certainly holds its own.

Guests honestly do think it is a piece of art. You can change the picture as much as you like to help keep things "fresh" with home décor if you're into that sort of thing. I was reluctant to get one due to the premium over a comparable 65" TV. My wife pushed me over the edge and I'm glad she did. Probably one of the top purchases we've made since moving in 2 years ago.

Edit: If you're not looking at Costco carried TVs for the warranty mentioned in previous posts, I've bought all of my recent ones through https://www.greentoe.com/ and have had significant savings compared to what you can get elsewhere.


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## SodFace

Interesting points. I see the 2019 version can be tilted somewhat. It might defeat a bit of the point of it blending in, though. The 2021 doesn't but I'd go all in and keep it flush.

I want it more and more each day. Basement is almost finished so we'll need a tv for there so thinking about moving our existing TV down there and upgrading to the frame one


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## Ware

SodFace said:


> Interesting points. I see the 2019 version can be tilted somewhat. It might defeat a bit of the point of it blending in, though. The 2021 doesn't but I'd go all in and keep it flush.
> 
> I want it more and more each day. Basement is almost finished so we'll need a tv for there so thinking about moving our existing TV down there and upgrading to the frame one


Post some pics if you pull the trigger!


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## dicko1

Are you watching TV via OTA antenna? Just be aware that in the next few years there's going to be a change over to ATSC3 digital TV. It'll be like the first conversion to digital TV, throw out the old set and buy a new one. Already some metro areas are broadcasting ATSC3 on certain test stations.

So if you are OTA, I'm not sure I'd be looking at an expensive tv just now if its going to be obsoleted in a few years.

This article is from last year.
https://www.techhive.com/article/3514508/atsc-3-0-how-cord-cutters-should-plan-for-antenna-tv-upgrade.html


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## pennstater2005

****o1 said:


> Are you watching TV via OTA antenna? Just be aware that in the next few years there's going to be a change over to ATSC3 digital TV. It'll be like the first conversion to digital TV, throw out the old set and buy a new one. Already some metro areas are broadcasting ATSC3 on certain test stations.
> 
> So if you are OTA, I'm not sure I'd be looking at an expensive tv just now if its going to be obsoleted in a few years.
> 
> This article is from last year.
> https://www.techhive.com/article/3514508/atsc-3-0-how-cord-cutters-should-plan-for-antenna-tv-upgrade.html


I'm waiting for this to be available on a wider basis. Only a handful of TV's have this tuner built in. ZapperBox is a unit you can purchase. However, I cancelled my pre order as they kept pushing back the date to ship.


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## tjcarpenter1

Ware said:


> SodFace said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am looking at those fancy Samsung The Frame TVs now. They pretend to be art when "off" which is pretty cool. Thinking of putting it in my living room where I'd like the TV to disappear and look more like decor.
> 
> https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/the-frame/highlights/
> 
> Sits flat on the wall...nice...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are neat. A little pricey, but neat. We considered one for our new living room, but our TV will be mounted above the mantle like the one pictured above. I know mounting a TV high is frowned upon by some, but it is what it is. Anyway, I think it would look great in art mode flat on the wall, but when watching TV I think an angled mount would be preferable - to help correct the viewing angle with it mounted high like that.
Click to expand...

If you are mounting about a mantel, I would consider one of these mounts. I absolutely love ours. The ability to pull it down to lower level when needed is awesome!
https://www.mantelmount.com/


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## ADanto6840

This site (no affiliation) has purely objective TV reviews based on data/measurements -- https://www.rtings.com/tv

Basically they take a pretty "pure" science-based / data-driven approach to rating TVs based on wholly objective & quantifiable metrics/data measurements. I highly recommend the site, and I've perused it often (they semi-recently started reviewing few other things objectively, too).

I last used it heavily to purchase my most recent "main" TV, which was a 75" Sony -- that was a few years ago now, so unfortunately was before 75"+ OLEDs were affordable. These days though, OLED is almost surely the way to go (right now that means either LG or Sony), the only real exception being if you have a super bright room with no shades/no way to control ambient light levels or similar room-related constraints.

Anyways, I highly recommend their reviews -- and again, no association or anything, just a happy user of their site & reviews.


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## SCGrassMan

OLED or nothing.


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## Midsoutherner

I went down the rabbit hole on Rtings and also on Reddit, and ended up getting a Hisense H9G. One of most feature packed tvs out at the time at the price too. Based on Rtings current recommendations the H9G is better than the TCL 6 series but doesnt have Roku built in, and I can say that Roku on TCL (had a 4 series for a while) is much better than the built in Chrome cast in the Hisense. Good HDR, and good local dimming for the backlight will make a massive difference over other tvs that are lower in those two areas.

Keep in mind that the quality of your video source has a HUGE effect on picture quality. All the 4k tvs will upscale (some better than others), and do a very good job with upscaling 1080p to 4k but with 720p or lower you will be able to clearly see artifacts or smears on the screen.

I REALLY wanted a Sony X950H (Pretty sure this has been replaced now) but with my kids track record of tv damage we ended up spending a little less while they are younger and my wife promised we could upgrade to a killer tv in the future.

@Ware If you are considering a Samsung Frame, its comes with the wall mount you need for it to sit flat on the wall. We have a 50 inch 2020 model that my wife won, and its nice but if I had been buying it I would have gotten the 55 inch or larger. First, the Frame specs are in between a Q70T and a Q80T for picture quality. Second the 50 inch and smaller screens are only 60hz, while the larger screens are 120hz which makes a big difference when watching fast moving content. The 2021 models looks like it added a few extra features but is largely the same at the 2020 model. There are also other companies that sell better looking frame bezels to make it look more like a real picture frame when not in use. Third thing is the one connect box. Its what allows the tv to be so flat against the wall. I don't know why but the cable to connect the tv to the box is NOT wall rated for some reason, and to get the wall rated version is another $300 on top of a very expensive tv to begin with.

Oh and one last thing about the Frame TV. They want you to sign up for their art work subscription but you can download your own art or photos and add them to the tv for free.


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## pennstater2005

Bought a Sony X85J. Got it home set it up. Nice picture unless you sit anywhere but directly in front. Viewing angle are horrendous. Should've listened to rtings.com

Packed it up the next day and exchanged it for the one I originally wanted but tried to be cheap. The LG CX OLED 48". Good lord the difference in picture quality is astounding.

I thought nothing could beat my plasma (just started getting a line down the middle 13 years later) but I might be wrong. It's definitely brighter.


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## SCGrassMan

OLED is the only thing to consider. Any smaller than 65 is too small.


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## SCGrassMan

pennstater2005 said:


> Bought a Sony X85J. Got it home set it up. Nice picture unless you sit anywhere but directly in front. Viewing angle are horrendous. Should've listened to rtings.com
> 
> Packed it up the next day and exchanged it for the one I originally wanted but tried to be cheap. The LG CX OLED 48". Good lord the difference in picture quality is astounding.
> 
> I thought nothing could beat my plasma (just started getting a line down the middle 13 years later) but I might be wrong. It's definitely brighter.


OLED has the brightness and colors of LED, but the ability to turn off individual pixels like Plasma.


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## Gfrsh325

I went with the Hisense U8G in 55". I wanted the 65" but there were none is stock ANYWHERE. Unbelievable picture especially for the money. Android TV is snappy. Sound from the TV is far better than I was expecting. Paid $899 at Best Buy. Highly recommend it.


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