[E92inNC]

Currently Best Buy is having some pretty goods deals on Samsung LED TVs. I've had my Emerson LCD (I know, stone age) since 2007ish just to watch movies on but it's about time to to buy a current TV. Also, the dark spot has gotten progressively darker over the years and it gives off hell heat after an hour or two.

What do you guys use your TV features for? A lot of them come with Smart and/or 3D functions. Do you use Smart for anything other than Netflix cause I'm the type that rents from Redbox a few times a month and have never tried Netflix. For 3D, will I have to spend an extra hundred or two getting some cables or is it just put disc in and it plays 3D?

I'm either looking to get a 40, 42 or a 46 in LED Samsung only, 1080p, 120Hz and currently using the PS3 to watch blu-ray and then will be moving onto PS4 later on. I figure $650 to $800 for the TV plus taxes and extended warranty will put me in the neighborhood of $850-$1000.

TIA

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by sxyblue

What do you guys use your TV features for? A lot of them come with Smart and/or 3D functions. Do you use Smart for anything other than Netflix cause I'm the type that rents from Redbox a few times a month and have never tried Netflix. For 3D, will I have to spend an extra hundred or two getting some cables or is it just put disc in and it plays 3D?

I do a fair amount of YouTube music. Amazon Prime has a pretty good collection of free old TV shows and movies.

The novelty of 3D was cute at first, haven't fired it up for a long time. You need a 3D source, I used 3D cable channels.

[hongsc]

Nah 3D is useless. Go for 4K and marvel at the content that's non-existent. I would go for the bigger screen if you can.

[NormE91]

Agree on the 3D; used it twice the week I got the TV and haven't used it since.

Also, my TV has the smart features but I generally don't use them. I use Netflix on my Tivo box or Apple TV usually, same with YouTube etc.

[Billup]

I just got a 60'' Samsung Smart TV. Don't really know why, I don't have it hooked up to run apps, and I don't think I ever will to be honest. I think with all the extra crap you can get on a TV, most of it is pointless. If I could I would just get a basic LED TV and skip all the BS.

[ddk632]

I use Amazon Prime a lot. But then again, I don't have cable or local TV hooked up. So I only watch stuff either on Blu-Ray / DVD or Amazon Prime.

[KingOfJericho]

Skip the extended warranty and get a larger/better TV.

[P1]

I haven't seen an LED TV that I really like yet. My friends supposedly have nice LED TVs, yet I still think the quality of my Sony XBR LCD is better. In any regard...

I have all the supposed cute little smart features/apps but it's beyond cumbersome to use them. I have an Apple TV, and it has everything I need plus it's easy to use it and stream from any of my other Apple devices. It costs $99. What a bargain.

I'd just focus on size and quality. Pick up a UK magazine that focuses on the subject, such as What Hi-Fi. Their reviews are top notch.

[KingOfJericho]

I still firmly believe that plasma offers the best picture quality, however they are pretty power hungry and get pretty hot as well. I have a Panny GT25 that still looks better than almost any newer LED/LCD I've seen.

[zx10guy]

Unfortunately, the general consumer market has spoken. People want bells and whistles, thin TV thickness with thin bezels, and the novelty of 3D. People in general don't care about quality of the picture. How many people you know have actually gone through the trouble to get their TV calibrated? And I'm not talking about doing an ISF calibration but to even take the time to throw in a calibration DVD/Blu Ray to do a crude adjustment.

It was a sad day for any video enthusiast when Pioneer dropped out of the market.

As far as 4k goes, I saw a Sony 4K demo at a Best Buy/Magnolia. Wasn't impressed enough to say it was a huge jump over my Pioneer 141FD. If anything, I was disappointed to see red push/bleed over in the video clip where there was lots of red objects. For a TV which is supposed to be the latest in picture quality, to have this kind of video artifact is shameful.

OP, with regards to 3D, you should do a demo yourself for quite some time and not a quick few minutes. 3D requires the use of glasses which many people have problems with. Some issues are comfort with having to wear these things for the length of a movie or TV program and visual issues which can cause many people have headaches or vertigo problems. And not all 3D systems are the same. Some use active glasses which require battery power and others use passive glasses.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I still firmly believe that plasma offers the best picture quality, however they are pretty power hungry and get pretty hot as well. I have a Panny GT25 that still looks better than almost any newer LED/LCD I've seen.

I have plasmas as well that I am very happy with, but be careful of ambient light. They have more glare than an LED/LDC so while the picture can be better if there's a lot of ambient light in your viewing room you won't be able to appreciate it.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

I have plasmas as well that I am very happy with, but be careful of ambient light. They have more glare than an LED/LDC so while the picture can be better if there's a lot of ambient light in your viewing room you won't be able to appreciate it.

I very rarely watch TV during daylight hours so it's never been an issue.

[Maestro]

^ have to agree with zx10guy above, most people spend money on a HDTV and never realized they were not watching HD content.

Some manufactures play games with the TV specially when they are shown against other TVs in the same space. Most TV have demo mode which places like Best Buy and other put the TV in and in my Opinion Samsung is the worse of the bunch. Also you will notice may places selling TV use demo videos which mostly consist of movies with lots of movement or non-natural colors like movies with lots of CGI like Avitar. The problem with these movies is it is very hard for your eye to determine if the colors are correct.

When I bought my new LED TV and I will not say which one, I narrow it down to 4 and Samsung as one of them. I has the place (HH -Greg) turn off all the other TV's and ask them to play a video with natural color like an outdoor scene. They actually had a show which was the California coast so I knew what the ocean colors and sky and background should look like.

Two of the TV's had what I call was almost perfect colors, the ocean was blue green and the sky was blue grey since it was over cast and the green were muted as you would expect form trees and such. The Samsung was extremely bright and over saturated, the ocean was just kind of grey and the sky was too blue and the greens were too vivid. Grant it when you walked in to the place the Samsung jumps off the wall at you, you can not miss them from the bunch TV on the wall. I got the sale guy to turn off the Samsung Demo mode, and it got better but the other two TV were still much better in color. One of the TVs is very well known for high quality and very good color accuracy, but for the same size TV it was $400 to $500 more. Its user interface suck as well. The one TV which had some of the worse color quality had the best UI, and tons of feature and lowest cost.

Do not buy a TV buy selecting the one which appears to look the best in the crowed. Samsung and other are playing this game, they know people's eyes are naturally drawn to things like this picture did, your eye is drawn to the bird, with non-natural colors. Because you are drawn to the picture you think it is better.



Something to keep in mind the Japanese company tend to run their reds hotter than most, not sure why the Japanese like skin tones more red, human skin tones tend to be more olive in color than red. I work for a company which we use to buy lots of Sony Monitors and we use to have to recal them before we shipped them out to customers as part of our systems since it make people look too red.

[Litos]

I got a 75" Samsung LED Smart TV.

big, bright, beautiful......doesn't lag when I'm playing PS4 either.....

BluRays make me want to get my wife pregnant......

even for a 75", it has better picture quality as my older Samsung 52" TOC.....

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I very rarely watch TV during daylight hours so it's never been an issue.

Me too, just wanted to point it out in case OP may have the issue.

One other thing to keep in mind, actually go to the store and check them out in person. Do you wear glasses when you watch at home? If not don't wear your glasses to the store. You may very well not have any noticeable difference between HD, super HD, crazy expensive ultra HD, whatever they are calling stuff these days. Also for the screen size you are talking the human eye, even a perfect human eye, can only process so much data. Once you get bigger the differences are magnified, but at your size even 720 is about all your eye can realistically handle.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Me too, just wanted to point it out in case OP may have the issue.

One other thing to keep in mind, actually go to the store and check them out in person. Do you wear glasses when you watch at home? If not don't wear your glasses to the store. You may very well not have any noticeable difference between HD, super HD, crazy expensive ultra HD, whatever they are calling stuff these days. Also for the screen size you are talking the human eye, even a perfect human eye, can only process so much data. Once you get bigger the differences are magnified, but at your size even 720 is about all your eye can realistically handle.

Here's a guide on what minimum resolution you would need based on screen size and viewing distance:

[BEM-S4]

Yep that's exactly the kind of chart I was referencing. In OP's case for the screen size he's talking, 780 would be totally fine unless sitting super close.

[Litos]

IIRC, my 75" is 12 or 13 feet from my couch.....

[davis449]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I still firmly believe that plasma offers the best picture quality, however they are pretty power hungry and get pretty hot as well. I have a Panny GT25 that still looks better than almost any newer LED/LCD I've seen.

I second this. The biggest shock (a pro for plasma) was seeing a Samsung 1080P plasma next to a Sony 4K in a Magnolia and realizing that, (for non 4K content obviously), the only improvement it offered from the surrounding top-shelf LED LCD's was black levels that actually matched the Plasma.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by davis449

I second this. The biggest shock (a pro for plasma) was seeing a Samsung 1080P plasma next to a Sony 4K in a Magnolia and realizing that, for non 4K content obviously), the only improvement it offered from the surrounding top-shelf LED LCD's was black levels that actually matched the Plasma.

I've got a Pioneer Elite Plasma, amazing television. If you can find one at Magnolia or anyplace else I would highly recommend picking it up.

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I still firmly believe that plasma offers the best picture quality, however they are pretty power hungry and get pretty hot as well. I have a Panny GT25 that still looks better than almost any newer LED/LCD I've seen.

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

I've got a Pioneer Elite Plasma, amazing television. If you can find one at Magnolia or anyplace else I would highly recommend picking it up.

Totally agree, but...

Neither Pioneer nor Panasonic make plasmas any more. On a wall of TVs in a bright store they look inferior to LCDs. Not flashy enough. The fact that in a decently dark room in your home they blow LCDs (even LEDs) away, is not enough for commercial success.

I'm hoping my beloved Panasonic (which cost all of $900 for a 50 inch) lasts long enough that OLEDs become affordable. There are some Panasonics still available, but they're generally not cheap. People want more than the new price for a used one.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by 128Convertibleguy

Totally agree, but...

Neither Pioneer nor Panasonic make plasmas any more. On a wall of TVs in a bright store they look inferior to LCDs. Not flashy enough. The fact that in a decently dark room in your home they blow LCDs (even LEDs) away, is not enough for commercial success.

I'm hoping my beloved Panasonic (which cost all of $900 for a 50 inch) lasts long enough that OLEDs become affordable. There are some Panasonics still available, but they're generally not cheap. People want more than the new price for a used one.

Does Panasonic still make any of the more commercial monitors anymore? No bells and whistles but remember last time I looked they were the best bang for the buck plasma-wise.