OT: Buying a TV. Is 4K worth the money?
I’m buying a 65inch flat screen for football season and having it mounted. Is 4K worth it? I will be getting an LG or Sony because that’s what I’ve had succes with and that’s what I want. Not sure about 4K though. When will sports be broadcast in 4K? 4 years ago I bought a tv and everyone tried to tell me to buy 4K because within a few years that would be the standard. Well here we are and it still seems way away. I’m not really in touch with tv and broadcasting technology. I would appreciate any knowledge and advice from you guys.
4k discs are the new standard replacing blu ray. 4k player will upscale DVDs as well, but there's only so much improvement it can achieve. DVD quality just isn't all that great.
Ok thanks.
You might consider upgrading your audio system first. I work in the AV industry and I can tell you that there's a better entertainment value in a solid audio system, if you don't already have one, over upgrading from HD to 4K.
Invite a couple different AV companies to your home and get some detailed options for your particular situation. Don't feel like they are trying to sell you everything under the sun, they will just be giving you options.
Until ocular 4K implants become a real thing, we can't see in 4K.
4k streaming and even true 4k broadcast is a long way away. I myself am having trouble pulling the trigger. Eventually, they will force our hand but until then?
You can find 4k content through streaming services. I'll be honest, I can't really tell the difference. It isn't like the huge jump when HD started replacing SD.
As for sports, I've only watched one or two things on DirecTV in 4k (Masters and a random MLB game) because there just isn't any content.
However, everyone else notes that 4k is kind of the standard, and it is hard to buy a TV that doesn't have that capability.
What year do you live in?
This is really bad advice. There is a decent amount of 4k content right now, but not much (but some) broadcast. Mostly it's streaming and discs.
If you want to travel back in time 5 years and buy a 65" 1080p go for it.
"I’m buying a 65inch flat screen for football season and having it mounted."
I must confess I never heard of taxidermy being applied to electronics before, but if you put some antlers on top it might look sorta cool.
Is that from your man cave?
A fur-covered screen takes watching porn to a whole new level, 4K or not.
This exchange made me laugh too hard.
Now I'd pay good money for that, even if all I could get was a test pattern.
The answer is that it depends on your marginal utility.
I much prefer real butter. Not only more useful but tastier.
I knew it was over for margarine when someone left a stick of it outside & even the insects wanted nothing to do with it.
I used their site. They reviewed the pq Vizio as closer to last year's 9 series Quantum from Samsung.
This year's new p quantum x is better.
This website is great because it’s gives separate ratings for how TVs perform when displaying sports, video games, tv shows, and movies. It would suck to buy an expensive tv for sports only to find out that your tv is shitty for that
I think you are asking the wrong question. As another commenter wrote, 4K is essentially the defacto standard now. The real question is standard LED versus OLED, with OLED being the high-end, superior technology. At Bestbuy you can get a 65" 4k Samsung for $700, whereas the cheapest OLED TV they have is an LG that run $2,300. Just doing a little strolling past the TVs in the store you can definitely see that OLED TVs deliver a superior picture, but whether or not it is worth the extra money is probably up to each individual.
Is OLED also 4K or are they different?
Virtually any flat screen will be 4k these days. OLED/LED/QLED are the different technologies behind the 4k, with OLED/QLED costing more than LED because they tend to have even better color/contrast. But all support 4k.
Also: Any 4K TV also supports HD. Think of a 4k TV as an HD TV but with the ability to show in even better definition (4k) for compatible programming (channels, 4k blu-ray, etc.).
Also also: To play a 4k blu-ray, you will need a 4k blu-ray player. A 4k blu-ray player will play DVDs, blu-rays, and 4k blu-rays. It will "upscale" the picture of blue-rays and DVDs, but not quite to a 4k standard. A standard blu-ray player will not play a 4k blu-ray.
Good luck!
So technically 4K and OLED (or LED) are two different things. 4K refers to the resolution measured in pixels. 4K TVs screens are 3840 x 2160 pixels, while an "old" HD TV screen is 1920 x 1080 pixels. You may have heard or seen "1080p" being referenced in the past with TVs. OLED is the type of technology used to make the TV screen. If you recall in the past most TVs were either Plasma, LCD, or LED. Eventually LED technologies proved to be superior and nowadays LED is the "standard" HD TV technology while OLED is the fancy new technology. I am 99.9% certain any OLED TV will be 4K, so I think your choices are basically keeping costs under $1,000 for a good quality 4K LED TV, or paying 2.5x more to get an OLED TV. If I had plenty of money I would opt for the OLED, but I don't so when I go looking to replace my TV (around Christmas time) I plan to go with a regular LED 4K TV.
Sorry if that is too much info and best of luck!
Southpaw and 4 roses thanks a lot. That helps a ton. I’m thinking I will get an oled.
At the time, LED was cheaper and lighter than plasma. Plasma was regarded as having superior color contrast but they were heavier and used more energy compared to LED. For that reason, all companies stopped making plasma TVs.
4Roses is 100% correct. That being said, some of the conventional sets (Non-OLED) are very good too, but don't quite approach OLED for depth and blackness.
Look at the following:
1. Smart TV features - basically, none of the are as good as a Roku or AppleTV. Samsung is probably the best, but is still buggy. All of them will send your viewing information back to the vendor to sell you more stuff and generally violate your privacy. Also check if they will work with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
2. Computer/phone compatibility - if needed, see if the TV supports Chromecast , Apple Mirroring, or the Samsung equivalent, depending on your need. Many times you will want to watch some Michigan sport (e.g. softball, baseball, lacrosse) that only streams on phones to the TV. You can also add an external device from Google or Apple but that will take up an HDMI port.
3. #of HDMI ports - What do you have? Xbox, PS4, AppleTV, Blu-ray player, gaming computer? Some TV's have a HDMI extender box, really handy if you mount the TV on the wall and don't want a lot of cables. Not an issue if you use an AV receiver.
4. Digital output- a real plus if you use a soundbar and the TV remove for volume control
5. Nothing lasts 15 years because of technological obsolescence. If it breaks, toss it out. If you buy from Costco with a Costco Visa you get 4 years of warranty included, about as good as you will get.
We are already seeing 5K and 8K TV's, 8K will likely be the next standard.
Bought a 65” LG OLED late 2017. More expensive than most, even other 4K TVs, but easily the best TV I’ve ever owned. The picture quality on 4K content like Planet Earth II and similar is jaw-dropping. Have had no issues with the set and highly recommend.
More and more 4K content available every day, and almost everything recently created. Netflix, Amazon, YouTube are great sources I use. And IIRC even FIOS has some 4K titles On Demand now.
the real question is how much actual 4K programing is out there and how much you plan to watch. And I don't mean that upscaled crap.
https://www.howtogeek.com/428193/are-you-watching-4k-content-heres-how-to-tell/
It makes a B1G difference if whatever you're watching was shot in 4K. Otherwise the TV is upscaling from 1080P (or whatever resolution it was shot in) to 4K and the quality depends on how good of a processor chip it has. I bought a Sony X900F last year. With their X1 processor chip, the picture quality is honestly just shy of OLED and it was a third of the price!
To me, no. You could invest that money in the stock market with no additions and it's likely to earn you 10% interest be worth $30k in 20 years.
That...is valid. Do you even own anything (or do) then or is it all tied up in financially responsible stocks?!
Went with the 55" LG OLED a couple of years ago. I'm not certain it's great for sports, but having had Charter cable at the time, that could well have been the issue (lagging was a problem). I'll know more once we're in football season and I'm watching TV again.
It certainly looks great. How much of that is because my expectations are higher because of the reviews, I don't know. OLED allows you to see the screen well from a wider angle.
The 4K argument is based on the future, not today. Most people seem fairly certain that 4K is going to be the standard at some point. Enough feel that way that you probably can't find a new higher-end television that doesn't support it.
Then again, a few years ago, 3D and those funny glasses were everywhere. So you never know what the standard will become.
There's never an ideal time to jump in, but you are only four months from the Thanksgiving sales, and for TVs (and many other expensive purchases), the bargains you get then can be astounding (in my case, about $800 off on that then-new OLED).
LG b8 oleds have been going on sale the last few weeks for $950-1000 at various retailers. I'm still waiting to catch a deal on Sony a8f or a1e. Better speaker and better processor for upscaling.
Just grabbed a LG E8 55" for $1049 from Rakuten. Too good of a deal to pass up. Same panel and processor as the C8, but better sound. Would have preffered a Sony, but not at a $400-$500 premium.
A 65", LG, UHD 4K tv was $600 in Target yesterday. Just buy the damn thing! It's well worth it...
You'll also need a wall mount for it - $40-$50. If you want a good sound bar, then plan for an additional $200-300. But you can get away with tv sound if you're not discerning about the quality.
Recommendation: BUY
I would say a 4k TV is worth it, if only because it'll be hard to find a 65" model that isn't 4k.
That said when I personally bought a new TV this year I didn't spring for OLED or anything. The OLED TVs look great (at least in the right space). Then again, the low end TVs mostly look pretty great too. I mostly watch sports, not 4k movies, so a lower end model (Vizio V series) works just fine.
RIP Panasonic plasmas. I can only imagine how great a further developed plasma would be for watching sports.
FWIW, Netflix has shows that are FILMED in 4K, which I believe is the differentiator between upscaled to 4K from HD and truly native 4K. Not sure about live sports, but I think it depends on the camera used. Native 4K > Upscaled to 4K.
I bought a 75" Sony 4K HDR TV two Black Friday's ago (think its a 900series off the top of my head) and couldn't be happier with my purchase. Much like you, I prefer Sony for TVs because I like their picture display and want the TV to last many years. Samsung (no real knock against them) oversaturates their colors which imo leads to the picture looking "fake".
Just my .02
EDIT: You'll also want to look at the Hz and refresh rates, pixels, etc - do some research before making the purchase.
You are correct. For content to be 4K, it needs to have been filmed with a 4K (or better) camera. Upscaling is a fancy word for "guessing."
There really isn't a ton of content available in 4K at the moment unless you are a gamer. No telling when it will come.
Highly recommend this site for research. https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/tvs-on-the-market
We like ours, but we could live without it. Considering pretty much none of the main cable providers offer 4K services now anyway, you have technology that you are severely hamstrung in using, save for some of the online streamers like Netflix. And even Netflix only offers certain programming in 4K.
You can get some good ones for relatively cheap now, so I'd say that if you find a good sale they're worth getting. Eventually the cable providers will catch up with the technology. But the $3000-$4000 ones that greet you right as you come in the front door of CostCo are not worth it. At least not worth it to me, anyway. I'm sure they're great products in and of themselves, and I know if you're a hardcore gamer then 4k can be worth it if you are using something like the PS4 Pro. But I wouldn't go balls to the wall and get the more expensive ones out there.
Yes, when you get a sporting event or movie in 4K it is definitely a step up in viewing pleasure.
can't say enough positives about my Costco TCL 55' 4k. Got it for $329. This one is similarly cheap. It has Roku TV built in which works very well, and the picture is perfect. I have watched OLED screens and don't feel they are worth the step up in cost based on the very minute difference between them and a regular LED screen. Won't be disappointed with it.
https://www.costco.com/TCL-65%22-Class-(64.5%22-Diag)-4K-UHD-LED-LCD-TV.product.100430849.html
HDR compatibility is another thing to worry about, to piggyback on the main thing that OLED vs other lesser technologies is what's more important than 4k (the main standard in 2019).
You cannot get a TV that is not 4k.
The key feature is HDR, which is something done properly only on higher-end tvs. CNET and rtings.com both do tv reviews and are good places to start.
If you're looking for value, the TCL 6 series 65" tv is the best value out there for the size--legit HDR picture, good features, great price. I have a Vizio P Series and I absolutely love it.
Do some research into how to calibrate your picture. They come out of the box in a very bright, colorful, but chromatically disastrous "vibrant" mode that looks amazing for a while until you realize that none of the colors are right. Proper color calibration appears to take the brightness out of the screen and oomph out of the color but when you spend a little while getting used to it you realize that it's far superior to what you were watching before.
I actually calibrated my tv in part by recording a Michigan basketball game (when they wore maize) and checked against what the real-life colors of the unis and Crisler would look like.
4k HDR content is growing. It's not everywhere--some movies offer it on streaming, others don't, for example--but it's awesome.
The bigger deal to me is HDR, I notice that when my tv switches to it than anything in 4k.
Why do people still say “flat screen?”
You can’t buy a TV that isn’t a flat screen. For like the past 15 years.
CRT's are out, but curved LED screens are available just about everywhere.
Do you plan to watch via your cable provider or via your ISP (understanding they can be the same entity, but with different methods of transmission)? Cable providers aren’t excited to offer up 4K in the near future, but many ISPs are designing their networks as if 4K will be the baseline video traffic in 2021. If you’re a cord-cutter with a good ISP, go 4K. If you’ve got traditional cable, I’d try to get a rain check on the permission you have to purchase a new TV and wait for there to be 4K through that transmission.