The big "How do I choose an HDTV?" thread.

The backlight on my cheap TCL TV is starting to fail - top of the screen is obviously dimmed compared to the rest.

Pretty disappointing for a TV that's not very old. I have a couple old Vizio LCDs from the late '00s that have no sign of backlight failure.

I may be re-evaluating my recommendation of TCLs for cheap secondary TVs. It was good up until this point, but I will be looking elsewhere next time.

Which model is it, Legion?

TCL S425 49". The 2019 Series 4 line.

My 2017 R605 is doing fine.

Yeah my 2018 seems good. The Roku software gets worse with updates usually but the TV still looks great.

Watching 4K Blu-rays or playing PS5 in 4K is enjoyable, but I find myself having to do way more toggling things off/on or unplugging/plugging things to try and get the picture and sound working (or in sync) when switching between apps or devices.

Like some apps or devices seem to lose audio if I try to pause or fast forward. Others don't seem to care. If for some reason my soundbar doesn't wake up before I start playing an episode in apps like Netflix or AppleTV+, when it finally comes on, that causes the episode to stop playing as it tries to start the surround sound audio. I'm not sure why it wouldn't just switch to the soundbar from the TV speakers without stopping everything. Maybe it's weird HDMI 2.0/2.1/content protection shenanigans?

So juggling video modes, 60hz, 120hz, surround sound modes (or passthrough) feels like way more of a pain than when I just had a simple 1080p and optical audio soundbar setup. I find myself having to turn everything off, then turn it back on one-by-one more often than I'd like just to start a game or watch a movie.

I have a 50" Hisense U7G and Samsung Q700A soundbar. When everything is working as expected, it's great. But... I guess for me, the improvements in picture quality and sound are coming at a cost of being really finicky. Any chance this is the type of thing that eventually gets smoothed out with firmware patches? Does this happen to anyone else?

The lazy part of me has pondered going back to a less advanced setup because the ease of use might trump the improvement in picture/audio, since in a lot cases I can't even tell unless I'm paying really close attention.

The thing I like least about soundbars is that they dump them out onto market at such a steady pace and move on to the new thing so quickly that sometimes bugs just don't ever get fixed.

I only have one soundbar, a Vizio for a bedroom TV that was recommended as best bang for the buck, and while it can sound pretty ok, especially for how little money I paid for it, it will just stop functioning after it's been powered on for a few days and require being unplugged and plugged back in to start working again. Googling leads to piles of people reporting the exact same behavior with that model.

There are no firmware updates available for it. It's just semi-broken forever.

Also it's handling of input switching was always trash, much like you're describing with your Samsung. Sometimes you turn things on, and it does come on like it's supposed to, but then just refuses to play sound.

I regret not just spending an extra $100 and getting speakers that fit the space and using my first 4k compatible receiver I still have instead.

My Vizio soundbar does power off sometimes. Not every day, but maybe once or twice a week. And I have to just walk up and hit the volume up button. So it's like it goes to sleep, not fully off. But the remote won't wake it up.

Otherwise it's great. Don't have any weird input issues or whatever. Surround is what they call wireless, it plugs into the subwoofer at the back of the room, but at least not wires running all around. So my wife liked that. Probably keeping it until it dies.

Thin_J wrote:

Also it's handling of input switching was always trash, much like you're describing with your Samsung. Sometimes you turn things on, and it does come on like it's supposed to, but then just refuses to play sound.

I regret not just spending an extra $100 and getting speakers that fit the space and using my first 4k compatible receiver I still have instead.

Yeah, it can be really inconsistent.

The thing is, in my case I don't think I can just blame the soundbar, or just blame the TV. It's a collection of... everything? TV, soundbar, along with XSX and PS5 specific issues (like Xbox's dashboard changes that removed the ability to choose bitstream).

For example, if I don't use eARC, I have fewer problems. But giving up and not using eARC or the Enhanced HDMI mode also means you can't take advantage of newer audio formats or 120hz modes in games.

Which is disappointing, but I do find myself considering just plugging in an optical cable and disabling advanced HDMI features for simplicity's sake. Especially with TV or movies where I can't observe drastic differences in picture or audio quality.

Edit: I gave up on eARC and went with optical audio.

I wouldn't say I'm an audiophile, so I can't break down the technicalities, but it does feel like a downgrade depending on what I'm watching. Not everything had an Atmos or DTS:X mix, but even just watching a show like Severance the audio doesn't sound as clear or, I dunno, "expansive"?

I'll probably just get used to it eventually, or maybe I'll try again later in six months and hope firmware patches have smoothed things out a bit. And so far that seems to have eliminated the audio switching/input switching/passthrough headaches I've been having.

Gonna wait and stick with the "Enhanced HDMI" mode for my consoles so I can get 120hz for games that support it, but if that stays a bit flaky I'll just disable those modes and go back to my old 60hz life.

After 11-ish years of loyal service, our Philips 42PFL6008K went bust. According to doctor Google, the led pattern indicates a dead motherboard. Luckily, I've been preparing for this moment for years!

For some reason, my mental threshold for TV budget is about 1000EUR, so I got the 2021 model LG C1 OLED 48" for 950EUR. It got good reviews on Rtings, might not be the best TV out there, but will be a huge improvement in quality over our previous set.

I also feel bad about throwing the old TV out because of a mobo issue. If anyone has suggestions on where I might look for replacement motherboards? Might be a fun project, with low risks as it's already broken.

As of now, I tried searching on ebay and alibaba. I only found an out of stock on ebay, previously listed for 319GBP. That would be... too much.

TV’s are very poor repair candidates. Occasionally you get lucky and it’s a semi or totally generic part that can be easily fixed but if it’s something specific to the model like the motherboard if it’s an old TV it’s never worth it.

That's... Wasteful. I'm bringing it to the recycling park than.

Well it seems the backlight on our old 48" Vizo has gone out, such a lovely Mother's Day present.

Got the Frame TV (2022 version) installed. Not the best TV out there because its not OLED but really looks great above the mantle. Wife is happy enough that I can get a LG C2 OLED for another room.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/WDfFc3J.jpg)

dejanzie wrote:

I also feel bad about throwing the old TV out because of a mobo issue. If anyone has suggestions on where I might look for replacement motherboards? Might be a fun project, with low risks as it's already broken.

Just the usual candidate of checking eBay for [TV model] + mobo/motherboard might return something, especially if its a more popular model. But unfortunately broken TVs are largely another victim of e-waste.

T-Prime wrote:
dejanzie wrote:

I also feel bad about throwing the old TV out because of a mobo issue. If anyone has suggestions on where I might look for replacement motherboards? Might be a fun project, with low risks as it's already broken.

Just the usual candidate of checking eBay for [TV model] + mobo/motherboard might return something, especially if its a more popular model. But unfortunately broken TVs are largely another victim of e-waste.

I did, one result showed up - out of stock and it would have cost 320GBP. Apparently Philips used LG motherboards back then. But the model itself has been end of life for 3 to 5 years of course.

My Vizio 2017 P65-C1 just turned half fuzzy. I turned it off and now it won't turn on anymore. I'm going to leave it unplugged for the night but I'm guessing something is shot. Maybe I've been lucky but that is the fastest I've had a TV kick the bucket with medium use.

What is the go-to low latency TV to get these days? 65-75 inch.

Just me, but Vizio TVs crap the fan a lot? My parents TV did and so did my brother in laws. Wizkid and Evildead now have broken ones.

Never owned one myself, but staying away for sure.

EvilDead wrote:

My Vizio 2017 P65-C1 just turned half fuzzy. I turned it off and now it won't turn on anymore. I'm going to leave it unplugged for the night but I'm guessing something is shot. Maybe I've been lucky but that is the fastest I've had a TV kick the bucket with medium use.

What is the go-to low latency TV to get these days? 65-75 inch.

I use rtings.com, as do many. On their recommendation I got an LG C1 or whatever series it was last year. Pairs beautifully with an Xbox Series X.

Has anyone else observed the phenomenon that graphics on TV look better if you're not the one playing? I've noticed this many times. I guess it has something to do with where your focus is.

The LG C1 TV was delivered yesterday. I entered the wifi password, but declined the T&C's as we use our Chromecast to stream and are not inclined to share our data for the privilege of using LG's WebOS.

Would I be right in assuming the TV's firmware will be updated still? Or does that also require acceptance of their T&C's?

Any thoughts on QD-OLED from Samsung? I want to replace the TV in the master bedroom. It is a bright room, so worried about OLED too dim. But no 77inch yet and probably a lot more expensive.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

My Vizio 2017 P65-C1 just turned half fuzzy. I turned it off and now it won't turn on anymore. I'm going to leave it unplugged for the night but I'm guessing something is shot. Maybe I've been lucky but that is the fastest I've had a TV kick the bucket with medium use.

What is the go-to low latency TV to get these days? 65-75 inch.

I use rtings.com, as do many. On their recommendation I got an LG C1 or whatever series it was last year. Pairs beautifully with an Xbox Series X.

Has anyone else observed the phenomenon that graphics on TV look better if you're not the one playing? I've noticed this many times. I guess it has something to do with where your focus is.

Thanks. I love R-tings but just wanted a nudge in the right direction on where to start looking. I forgot to test my TV this morning.

Balthezor wrote:

Just me, but Vizio TVs crap the fan a lot? My parents TV did and so did my brother in laws. Wizkid and Evildead now have broken ones.

Never owned one myself, but staying away for sure.

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get another one, even for a cheap TV. They also pushed a new firmware months ago that started force booting into their app echo system automatically when it used to just do what my Harmony hub told it to. So not only would it go to their crappy interface it messed up all my remote programming.

Yeah my TCL TV is great. But the Roku software and really screw things up sometimes.

One update they changed the program guide to suddenly include all the hundreds of free Roku channels mixed in with my 30ish OTA channels. Rolled that back pretty quick

Then late last year they updated a bunch of stuff with hide/show channels, which was nice. But they broke the antenna strength display. No matter what your real signal was it was always showing 1 bar of 5. So impossible to move your antenna around or know if it is really your signal if you have any picture/sound issues.

Months of posts on the Roku forums about looking into it with no fix. You could go into the hidden menus and see the strength signal was actually there, but just not displayed correctly on standard view. So annoying.

Anyway sounds like a lot of TVs have software issues. Maybe I should just use my fire stick all the time instead of only on trips.

Stele wrote:

Anyway sounds like a lot of TVs have software issues. Maybe I should just use my fire stick all the time instead of only on trips.

I have a 4k stick that just stays plugged into my TV and the older 1080p is my trip stick.

I'm looking at that LG 65 C1. It looks like the box will just fit into my SUV but the VESA mounting location (bottom) might cause issues when I'm putting it on my wall. I'm going to have to do some measurements tonight. On the back of the Vizio it is in the middle (or very close to it).

Balthezor wrote:

Just me, but Vizio TVs crap the fan a lot? My parents TV did and so did my brother in laws. Wizkid and Evildead now have broken ones.

Never owned one myself, but staying away for sure.

To be fair, for the price point of most Vizio's, getting ~5 years out of the set isn't bad.

I got about 6 years out of my Vizio E50-C1 before the panel started flickering. Not bad for $450 in 2015.

Stele wrote:

Anyway sounds like a lot of TVs have software issues. Maybe I should just use my fire stick all the time instead of only on trips.

That can also include firmware, though (so using a Fire Stick or in my case a Shield TV won't help that much). I got a Hisense U7G 50" last year, and it hasn't been without issues/hiccups. Mostly to do with eARC and HDMI 2.1 stuff.

For the price, I'd say I'm medium satisfied six months later. But their support isn't very good for anything beyond a straight replacement within your warranty period.

The last firmware update did seem to fix a few things, but eARC audio formats were still frustrating to deal with and I finally just went with optical audio instead.

I do wonder if an LG C1 would've given me less trouble, or if part of the problem is the jankiness of HDMI 2.1 and/or eARC in general.

The only problem I've had with my LG C1 is that the stand raises it so little that putting my sound bar in front of it blocks the IR sensor and part of the screen. I have addressed this by just putting the bar on the floor. I should get some kind of little platform to raise the TV an extra inch or two off the TV stand, but, well, I haven't done so.

Balthezor wrote:

Any thoughts on QD-OLED from Samsung? I want to replace the TV in the master bedroom. It is a bright room, so worried about OLED too dim. But no 77inch yet and probably a lot more expensive.

Samsung's done some benchmarking shenanigans hiding that their picture is secretly more vivid than it should be, but it looks to be a good TV.

Will be interesting to see what Sony does with the panel.

Roke wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

Any thoughts on QD-OLED from Samsung? I want to replace the TV in the master bedroom. It is a bright room, so worried about OLED too dim. But no 77inch yet and probably a lot more expensive.

Samsung's done some benchmarking shenanigans hiding that their picture is secretly more vivid than it should be, but it looks to be a good TV.

Will be interesting to see what Sony does with the panel.

That's a great video and channel. I'm always suspicious of claims about achieving new levels of brightness or contrast ratios. Companies have shown in the past that they're willing to use brightness and loudness to create the perception of a "better" picture or sound. I put "better" in quotes, because what's better for one viewing situation may not be for others. There's nothing wrong with wanting a less-accurate but brighter TV for a particular environment. Personally, I'm not the rabid home-theater nut I once was, but I still prefer accuracy.

I don't get the chase for brightness. Are you setting up your TV outside or something? I wish more reviews mentioned how DIM the TV can get. Lots of times at night with the lights off, I wish my TV in the living room or bedroom could be even dimmer than the minimum brightness. I don't think I have ever turned brightness up past 60% on any of my TVs, and that is in the middle of the afternoon with sun shining through windows on either side. A very bright TV is a downside to me, not a positive.