A question for 4K TV owners

[sktrus]

Here's my set up: Hopper 3, and 3 wired Joeys. One of the Joeys is connected to a 70 inch Vizio that is 7 yrs old. It needs to be replaced since it is having some display issues. (Few white spots, a dark spot at the bottom, the size of my fist which periodically comes and goes). I called Vizio few yrs back, and they told me it is a defective part issue. After the warranty period ends, they won't do anything other than 200-300 dollar voucher toward new Vizio tv.
Anyway, I am looking at 65-70 inch 4k tvs. Hoping the wifey will approve!! Also, hoping that dark spot will get much bigger to convince her!! So, I have no intention to replace that particular Joey with 4K Joey. I don't stream from Netflix, no desire to buy 4k bluray player and discs. My question is this:
Does a 4K TV (getting signals from wired Joey) make a difference? Better, worse or the same? I remember reading at Dish Forums that some Samsung 4K buyers were getting disappointed wit the picture quality.
Any suggestion and recommendation will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

 

[olds403]

Here's my set up: Hopper 3, and 3 wired Joeys. One of the Joeys is connected to a 70 inch Vizio that is 7 yrs old. It needs to be replaced since it is having some display issues. (Few white spots, a dark spot at the bottom, the size of my fist which periodically comes and goes). I called Vizio few yrs back, and they told me it is a defective part issue. After the warranty period ends, they won't do anything other than 200-300 dollar voucher toward new Vizio tv.
Anyway, I am looking at 65-70 inch 4k tvs. Hoping the wifey will approve!! Also, hoping that dark spot will get much bigger to convince her!! So, I have no intention to replace that particular Joey with 4K Joey. I don't stream from Netflix, no desire to buy 4k bluray player and discs. My question is this:
Does a 4K TV (getting signals from wired Joey) make a difference? Better, worse or the same? I remember reading at Dish Forums that some Samsung 4K buyers were getting disappointed wit the picture quality.
Any suggestion and recommendation will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

What kind of picture quality and how much are you willing to spend. We have a cheaper Samsung 4K tv in the bedroom connected to a Joey3. I think the picture is as good as the older samsung 2K tv it replaced. My only complaint is the black level on the TV is not great. The picture is equally sharp to the old TV and in casual viewing looks very good. I am very much a picture quality snob, black level and contrast are the king as far as I am concerned. I have recommended my dad buy an OLED due to the outstanding blacks. His old Panasonic plasma that just died had a beautiful picture so I recommended OLED, as it is my belief that contrast is everything in a TV picture. If I could have found a 43" OLED TV for the bedroom I would have bought that, but due to space limitations can't go any bigger in the bedroom.

 

[navychop]

For a GOOD TV, I can’t help but recommend what I bought in 2018: Sony XBR-65X900F.

It, and the follow up 950 series, are available on Amazon for less than $1,000 (certified) to around $1,500. Or $1,700 for latest brand new.

Excellent picture. Speedy YT and other apps. So good, it’s all I use for watching YT. WAY faster than my Hopper HWSes.

 

[eddie willers]

Here's my set up: Hopper 3, and 3 wired Joeys. One of the Joeys is connected to a 70 inch Vizio that is 7 yrs old. It needs to be replaced since it is having some display issues. (Few white spots, a dark spot at the bottom, the size of my fist which periodically comes and goes). I called Vizio few yrs back, and they told me it is a defective part issue. After the warranty period ends, they won't do anything other than 200-300 dollar voucher toward new Vizio tv.
Anyway, I am looking at 65-70 inch 4k tvs. Hoping the wifey will approve!! Also, hoping that dark spot will get much bigger to convince her!! So, I have no intention to replace that particular Joey with 4K Joey. I don't stream from Netflix, no desire to buy 4k bluray player and discs. My question is this:
Does a 4K TV (getting signals from wired Joey) make a difference? Better, worse or the same? I remember reading at Dish Forums that some Samsung 4K buyers were getting disappointed wit the picture quality.
Any suggestion and recommendation will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

I doubt if there is a halfway decent TV above 50" that is NOT 4K. That's just the state of the industry these days.

Vizio still gets many votes for "Best TV for the money", but I have to echo olds403 about OLED. It simply can't be beat.... but gets at least a thousand dollar premium at any given screen size. But they have come down some since I bought my 55" for $3000. The current 65" model comes in at $2500.

 

[olds403]

I doubt if there is a halfway decent TV above 50" that is NOT 4K. That's just the state of the industry these days.

Vizio still gets many votes for "Best TV for the money", but I have to echo olds403 about OLED. It simply can't be beat.... but gets at least a thousand dollar premium at any given screen size. But they have come down some since I bought my 55" for $3000. The current 65" model comes in at $2500.

My dad is purchasing the latest generation LG OLED at 55" for $1400, 65 is about $1000 more, 77" is $2000 more than that.

 

[navychop]

I used to be an OLED “BELIEVER.”

Read everything I could find. LG’s OLED system, basically, once the kool-aid wears off, is a kludge. Samsung has the “purer” approach. Too bad they can’t really get it working.

Other technologies have marched on. OLED is better for visual quality, WHEN NEW. It still has something of an aging problem. YES, it does. That great, expensive TV simply won’t keep looking great. 5-10 years down the road, will you be as happy with it as the day you bought it?

I have a 16 year old JVC RPTV that I am still happy with. Granted, it is little used today. But I also have flat HDTVs well over 10 years old that I am still quite happy with. No picture deterioration.

When I bought my last TV, I had to hold myself in check. Great looking OLED sets were available. REALLY wanted that. But the cost was WAY more. Sorry, I don’t remember how much. OLED contrast was soooo good! Blacks were soooo black! Colors POPPED (mostly due to deep blacks, IMHO, but there is a better color gamut with OLED). But from my reading, I KNEW the “blues ( bit of a story how they make blue )” would start to go. And the built in automatic color adjustments for that had limited effect, and would have other adverse effects (possible brightness reduction, etc). And the OLED sets quite frankly aren’t meant for sunny rooms. My intended location will have some sun, and further darkening it just wasn’t practical. I just couldn’t justify the extra money for a set I knew I would not be happy with years down the road. And maybe not today, in a sunny room

Sure, OLED is great. If you can spare the money, and don’t mind replacing it in five or so years, by all means go for it. But go with open eyes.

If I had to do it over, I’d buy the Sony again, although maybe in the 75” size.

Maybe OLET will enter the market. Theoretically cheaper to manufacture.

 

[olds403]

I used to be an OLED “BELIEVER.”

Read everything I could find. LG’s OLED system, basically, once the kool-aid wears off, is a kludge. Samsung has the “purer” approach. Too bad they can’t really get it working.

Other technologies have marched on. OLED is better for visual quality, WHEN NEW. It still has something of an aging problem. YES, it does. That great, expensive TV simply won’t keep looking great. 5-10 years down the road, will you be as happy with it as the day you bought it?

I have a 16 year old JVC RPTV that I am still happy with. Granted, it is little used today. But I also have flat HDTVs well over 10 years old that I am still quite happy with. No picture deterioration.

When I bought my last TV, I had to hold myself in check. Great looking OLED sets were available. REALLY wanted that. But the cost was WAY more. Sorry, I don’t remember how much. OLED contrast was soooo good! Blacks were soooo black! Colors POPPED (mostly due to deep blacks, IMHO, but there is a better color gamut with OLED). But from my reading, I KNEW the “blues ( bit of a story how they make blue )” would start to go. And the built in automatic color adjustments for that had limited effect, and would have other adverse effects (possible brightness reduction, etc). And the OLED sets quite frankly aren’t meant for sunny rooms. My intended location will have some sun, and further darkening it just wasn’t practical. I just couldn’t justify the extra money for a set I knew I would not be happy with years down the road. And maybe not today, in a sunny room

Sure, OLED is great. If you can spare the money, and don’t mind replacing it in five or so years, by all means go for it. But go with open eyes.

If I had to do it over, I’d buy the Sony again, although maybe in the 75” size.

Maybe OLET will enter the market. Theoretically cheaper to manufacture.

LED is better for sunny rooms, but I don't watch TV in sunny rooms. I try to control the light with blinds/shades to avoid reflections. My wife and I disagree on this as she wants shades open and sunshine in the house. I have no desire for sunshine in the house or open shades. I close them all when watching my 2013 last gen Panasonic plasma, still going strong. When it fails it will be replaced with OLED.

 

[arlo]

Sir. Funnel it all down to what your budget can afford. Just choose Sony.
4K is the defacto standard these days and it would be a shame to not have it.
How about sound? What good is a great picture if the sound is mediocre at best? A soundbar or at least a good audio system is wise.
You may decide to get a Fire Stick and such in the future. Maybe upgrade your dish. 4K pictures are sweet. If you got it and don't use it (oh, you will). You know.
OLED scared me a few years ago. Youtube cured me of that. But my Sony XBR930E is a few years old, good old LED technology. Works flawlessly.
Sony because of all of the TV's that were an option I really like the menu's. Very refined and tweakable. I have 3 Sony's and a Samsung here at home. 2, 7, 8, and 9 years of age appx. All working nicely. Good luck on your venture.

 

[navychop]

Ah,, the late model Panny Plasmas! Early ones not so good, but near the end, so long as you had a dim room.....

I was not interested in TV AQ, since I have a HT. But the Sony is so good for YT, I never ran the cable to the AVR.

 

[CyberSpock]

Last week I got the Samsung Q80T 75 inch QLED from Costco. This is after researching the HDR wars. I looked at examples comparing HDR10, HDR10+, and DolbyVision. I was the happiest with plain HDR10 so this didn't come into play. Playing a HDR10 material from YouTube looks beautiful. This room has no exposed windows and dimmed lights. There might be brighter screens but at times I'm ready to dim this one.

I don't run automatic dimming but everything else is on automatic. The down side is the builtin apps bloatware and how they took away the trick to delete them. And now they won't move in the list. I use the Roku for most apps anyway.

Its the first TV I've purchased in 13 years.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

 

[olds403]

Ah,, the late model Panny Plasmas! Early ones not so good, but near the end, so long as you had a dim room.....

I was not interested in TV AQ, since I have a HT. But the Sony is so good for YT, I never ran the cable to the AVR.

Yes, i have the 65VT60, one step down from their Kuro killer ZT model. I have no issues in a semi-bright room other than reflections on the screen.

I also have no use for the audio portion of the television as it is installed with and AVR and surround sound system, so that is never a factor, only picture quality. I still believe that black level and contrast are king. I have not been convinced that local dimming is the answer on LED black level.

 

[bookworm370]

I have the Sony XBR--77A9G. Don't even bother asking how much it cost!

On a real 4K signal (Dish or my Blu-Ray player) you can reach out and touch the people! But the Sony has internal 4K upscaling. So even if the signal is 1080p, it will upscale it to 4K. Not as perfect as a real 4K signal but pretty darn close! No motions lag, no artifacts, football games are crystal clear and smooth all the way.

Be prepared to swap out all of your HDMI cables to 3.1 spec'ed cables. 4K is picky, and if you use eARC for return path audio, it won't even play some content as the older cables won't support it.

LG and Sony are the only true oLED TV's and the only manufacturer of the panels is LG. Sony sources them from LG. Samsung's QLED, is not oLED but smaller matrix'ed LED backlite displays to get a better contrast level. But if you put them side to side, the black levels are no where near the real oLED's. But, IMHO, if you don't have them side to side, the Samsung's would look pretty good as well.

 

[HobbyTalk]

Just to note. All 4K TVs upscale lower resolution signals to 4K. Some just do it better then others. If it didn't upscale the lower rez signal would take up just a fraction of the screen. That is nothing new, even HD TVs with 1080 displays would upscale 720 signals.

 

[CyberSpock]

Just to note. All 4K TVs upscale lower resolution signals to 4K. Some just do it better then others. If it didn't upscale the lower rez signal would take up just a fraction of the screen. That is nothing new, even HD TVs with 1080 displays would upscale 720 signals.

Good Morning America is on right now on ABC. This turned out to be a good comparison, and more to the point of the subject. How does the upscale quality compare between the Joey and other sources on a 4k set?

They display a circle at the bottom right that alternates between the ABC logo and GMA logo.

Joey 2: The lines around the circle blurry
OTA (through the Hopper): less but still blurry
Roku ABC live feed: Circle is sharp

I cannot currently compare antenna OTA feed

Edit: TV is Samsung D80T 75" (2020)

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[sktrus]

Thanks to all who took their time to share their opinions. I will probably compare tvs at Costco ( they give u extra protection if u use their Visa card, and that is unbeatable). although I am not on super tight budget, I can’t justify spending several thousand dollars for a tv.( pls don’t get me wrong. This is not a criticism at all to big spenders.) So, the big kahuna tv will be in my finished basement with plenty windows, and some afternoon sunlight. I am already using Vizio brand sound bar with 2 Bluetooth rear speakers. obviously tv speakers will be muted. I hardly stream from Amazon since my Internet is provided from a cell phone tower. ( Living in sticks, no problem streaming, but I have a data cap, 250 GB from AT&T. ) I know that 4K programming from Dish is currently
very limited. I will keep checking Costco’s web site and choose a model among LG, Samsung and Sony.

 

[CyberSpock]

Thanks to all who took their time to share their opinions. I will probably compare tvs at Costco ( they give u extra protection if u use their Visa card, and that is unbeatable). although I am not on super tight budget, I can’t justify spending several thousand dollars for a tv.( pls don’t get me wrong. This is not a criticism at all to big spenders.) So, the big kahuna tv will be in my finished basement with plenty windows, and some afternoon sunlight. I am already using Vizio brand sound bar with 2 Bluetooth rear speakers. obviously tv speakers will be muted. I hardly stream from Amazon since my Internet is provided from a cell phone tower. ( Living in sticks, no problem streaming, but I have a data cap, 250 GB from AT&T. ) I know that 4K programming from Dish is currently
very limited. I will keep checking Costco’s web site and choose a model among LG, Samsung and Sony.

Check today. Costco just emailed a sale on the TVs and the one I already bought is such. Oh well. If you use Costco's Visa you get 7 years total warranty but I used my own Visa so I only get 5 years. In the case of Samsung (I'm not pushing it) the model is the in store Q8DT as opposed to Q80T. I'm told the D means there are possible enhancements. I think this is the same for the other brands but it is not clear what those enhancements are. One is I got a card in the box offering 6 months Showtime directly from Showtime.

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[eddie willers]

I hardly stream from Amazon since my Internet is provided from a cell phone tower. ( Living in sticks, no problem streaming, but I have a data cap, 250 GB from AT&T. ) I know that 4K programming from Dish is currently
very limited. I will keep checking Costco’s web site and choose a model among LG, Samsung and Sony.

I was coming back here to mention that if you want much 4K content, that you will have to stream it. And most suggest at least 25 mbps down.

Maybe Elon (or even Charlie) will bring you the bandwidth you need next year or two.

As for brands, when I started in the TV biz (early 80s) NOBODY touched a Sony. But that was then. I do remember when Samsung and Goldstar (now called LG..ie..Lucky Goldstar) came in with the first cheap Hifi VCRs of decent quality. Before then, Korean brands were like the early "Made in Japan" products: cheap and not very good. So, long story short, brand name products are usually a safe bet, but anything can change (especially today with brands being bought and sold all the time) so, yes, it's good to do research. Your old "best in class" may have lost it's crown.

 

[TheKrell]

Costco just emailed a sale on the TVs and the one I already bought is such. Oh well.

For what it's worth, many years ago I bought an HP scanner from Costco for $400. Imagine my surprise when, after a week or thereabouts, I got a mailer stating that it was on sale for $60 less. I was able to take my receipt to customer service and they agreed to take it back (virtually) and then sell it to me again at the lower price. Worth a shot!

 

[CyberSpock]

For what it's worth, many years ago I bought an HP scanner from Costco for $400. Imagine my surprise when, after a week or thereabouts, I got a mailer stating that it was on sale for $60 less. I was able to take my receipt to customer service and they agreed to take it back (virtually) and then sell it to me again at the lower price. Worth a shot!

Interesting... In my case its a 100 dollars

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[bookworm370]

You are correct on the model numbers, to hit a reasonable margin and 'lower' the sale price TV maufacturers make specialized bulk TV and AV sets for them. They look almost identical but when you check the specs you might find the refresh rate may not be as fast. Or the core CPU they used is a slower chip, or skimped on speakers quality. The most I've noticed is in the input catagory.

One time I had 2 sets that looked exactly the same, one from Best Buy Magnolia and one from Costco. When I looked, the one at Costco had one less HDMI input and did not have fiber audio output on the user facing side. I gave up on looking deeper into the specs. And all that was different from what looked to be the same TV on the front display card, was the reordering of the last 4 characters.