In Market for Smart TV ~ $2000-$3000

furyou on 17/05/2021 - 11:21
Last edited 17/05/2021 - 23:33

Old main TV died, it was a Samsung 55" QLED. I'm after a new one, with a credit of $1999 from the old one and maybe top up a little. We mount it on the wall, have no ext speakers or any home theatre stuff.

What I liked about the old one was the rich blacks. What I didn't like was the smart OS that's locked down, and inability to play many formats from our NAS that a 10yrr old tv box could.

Can you recommend a new tv, size 65"+ that has a few of these features:
* good colors, so I can actually see what's happening in a movie
* picture in picture or viewing 2 channels/inputs at the same time
* some sort of integration with google home (could just be turn on/off)
* thin for wall mount
* some way to play vid from our NAS and supporting all the common 264/265 etc even at "high" bitrates over 2000
* kodi would be nice

I assume installing apps means the actual processing power of the TV comes into play. How do I know what's powerful and what's weak and stupid?

I see that full array led dimming is good. But nobody knows how many zones each model has. I certainly can't afford OLED, so I guess what combo of full array led and other techs do I want?

Also, tell me why you need 200hz tv when content is coming at 25hz?

Electrical & Electronics TV UHD TV

Comments

  • trankillity on 17/05/2021 - 11:45
    +1

    Quick tips:

    • Ignore smart features altogether and get an nVidia Shield TV. Easily the best way to play titles via Plex/NAS and then you never have to struggle with sluggish performance of the TV.
    • LG CX OLED if your TV is in a REALLY dark room, or Sony X90J/X90H if in a normal lounge room.
    • A lot of content is NOT at 25fps anymore, especially if you're gonna hook a games console up to it.
    • furyou on 17/05/2021 - 15:52

      I see. Even then we're talking games 60fps or so right? not over 100. Well I won't have any of that stuff. I'm just really keen on not having a 2nd box where I need to turn on/off etc.

    • furyou on 17/05/2021 - 23:19

      Looked at nVidia Shield a lot, but $400 is a bit much. My old tv boxes were $80 at most but couldn't play 10bit. But having another box/remote is annoytig.

      • trankillity on 18/05/2021 - 10:14

        You really only need the $229 stick version, not the $400 version. And it's worth it if you have a large variety of media files to play. AFAIK it's the ONLY streaming box that can do direct stream (no transcoding) of stuff like 10 bit 4k x265 files. Consider it as a cost associated with the purchase of the TV, because the TV OSes are so crap.

        The other option is Chromecast with Google TV, however it's MUCH less powerful and you will likely regret it if you have a large variety of files to stream.

        And yes, most games will be between 30 and 60fps. Next gen consoles can support up to 120fps, but this is just for the insanely competitive players.

        • furyou on 18/05/2021 - 12:05

          Thanks. What's the diff in Sony's X90J & X90H series? I can't tell the specs
          We're hanging on wall so the feet won't matter.

          Seems like for the same price we can get the newest x95h at 65", or last gen at 75"

          • trankillity on 18/05/2021 - 14:31

            @furyou: The J is the 2021 model, the H is the 2020 model. The H is actually better than the J in a lot of ways that are very technical (why I still recommended it).

            The X95 is a better TV in every way EXCEPT for future proofing. The X90 includes a HDMI 2.1 port, while the X95 does not include one at all.

            I would recommend checking out RTings to get a great idea on your options.

            • furyou on 18/05/2021 - 17:27

              @trankillity: I'm getting the 900h,it's a great deal and I don't need the latest and greatest.

              • trankillity on 19/05/2021 - 08:38

                @furyou: You won't be disappointed. I almost bought the same TV recently after a fault scare with my old Samsung KS9000. Thankfully it recovered, but a bit bummed that I didn't get a shiny new TV :P

  • Drakesy on 17/05/2021 - 11:55
    +2

    Surely Samsung QLED's would still be covered under warranty?
    They're not that old.

    *Edit: Wait neverminded just realised you received a credit. My bad.

    I'm an LG CX/C9/C1 whatever it's called nowadays convert. Incredible colours, although this year's models received a significant haircut to their price.

    • furyou on 17/05/2021 - 15:55

      Yeh they said I'll get cred, so pretty good.
      Keen to buy sth else that has easy warranty if it dies again too.

      Does LG do google play? Or else what apps do they have for NAS playback?
      I've liked LG goods, cheaper than Samsung and good qual.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 17/05/2021 - 13:01
    +1

    I got a Samsung Q80 75'' i got it for $2888 during black friday and it has been fantastic!

    I've heard great things about the Sony X90 but i can only comment on what i got and i recommend the Samsung highly

  • tuesdayweekday on 17/05/2021 - 14:22

    get the tv

  • askme69 on 17/05/2021 - 15:01
    +2

    I have a Sony running Android. It does Kodi from My NAS no worries a couple thousand movies and hundreds of shows, all good.

    Have all the streaming apps and youtube.

    • furyou on 17/05/2021 - 18:23

      Do u know about the Sony range? Are Full Array LED any good, or are OLED the ones to go for? So many buzzwords.

  • furyou on 17/05/2021 - 20:13

    I have another question. I have a Sony BR player that has a 5 ch surround sound speakers. I have it plugged into my computer because I don't have speakers.

    Can I plug this into a TV and output sound from whatever the TV is watching to the speakers? But also switch to built in speakers when I can't be bothered turning on the BR and waiting 30s to warm up.

    I thought rather than buy a soundbar for the TV, I can buy speakers for my PC and use this.

    • Hybroid on 17/05/2021 - 20:14

      100% yes on a Sony. Just press settings button on remote and change speakers setting. I'm sure others are similar.

      • furyou on 17/05/2021 - 20:20

        I'm wondering if my TV has other inputs HDMI 1,2,3, then do these 3 devices need to connect to the BR player/ soundbar, or can the TV deal with forwarding whatever audio it's playing to the speaker?

        • Hybroid on 17/05/2021 - 21:24

          In theory just connect speakers directly to TV. Whatever the TV plays (PS5, media streaming box, whatever) is routed through TV and out of speakers.

          But now you've mentioned that, not sure if this works for a BR player setup too. Should do but cannot confirm. Give it a try.

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