Question for TV Experts

[nevets88]

In the market for a 65" tv, not looking for anything fancy, just a good picture and a decent number of ports. Why is this model so cheap? It's only $550 for members. I only looked at it briefly, the display looked decent at the store, the models that were $1,000 more were better but not that much better. Does the backlight or whatever have 1/2 the life of normal one? There has to be something substandard in this model. There's no HDR, no upscaling. No smart features. I'm fine with all that, well, maybe I wish it had upscaling. Does upscaling make a big difference? I'm sure the speakers suck, but that's not a problem, hooking it up to the stereo. that's optical out?

http://www.bjs.com/rca-rtu6549-65-4k-uhd-led-tv.product.3000000000000830590

[iacas]

RCA is just, from what I know, a low-cost maker. Less good parts, less features, less of everything. Including the cost.

Why not look at Wirecutter.com's pick for 65" budget TVs?

Best 4K TV on a budget: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-4k-tv-on-a-budget/

Best TV: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/ (all too pricy I imagine)

[billchao]

It's been a while since I last bought a tv but I remember contrast ratio being pretty important. 8:1 is pretty low iirc.

[shortstop20]

I would suggest looking at some TVs in person and reading reviews. 

TVs do not have the same picture quality just because they're both "4K". 

[nevets88]

Yeah, I need to do so more research. Probably should hold out to get HDR as well. Wait for black Friday sales. I did look at that Wirecutter piece, the Vizio looks pretty good but it doesn't have a tv tuner, something the most basic models have, which is kind of annoying.

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, shortstop20 said:

I would suggest looking at some TVs in person and reading reviews. 

And be careful of what you see on a TV in a showroom. Often they crank certain settings more than what you should or would want to.

[jamo]

I wouldn't buy a 4K TV without HDR. You'd be instantly obsolete. And by the time you have an array of devices that can output 4K, you won't actually be getting the full benefit.

I'd either wait (until the Xbox One X comes out and I can get one I won't have anything that can output 4K anyway) or spend the extra money. 

 

[nevets88]

5 minutes ago, jamo said:

I wouldn't buy a 4K TV without HDR. You'd be instantly obsolete. And by the time you have an array of devices that can output 4K, you won't actually be getting the full benefit.

I'd either wait (until the Xbox One X comes out and I can get one I won't have anything that can output 4K anyway) or spend the extra money. 

 

That makes a lot of sense. I'm not a fan of HDR on photos which put me off it on tv, but the pictures w/HDR on tvs are a lot better I have to admit. So cable providers don't do 4K, and there's no ETA as I understand it. There is some 4K streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime, not sure if you have to pay extra but shouldn't be too much. And there are 4K BR players and a limited selection of discs so far?

[iacas]

43 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

That makes a lot of sense. I'm not a fan of HDR on photos which put me off it on tv, but the pictures w/HDR on tvs are a lot better I have to admit. So cable providers don't do 4K, and there's no ETA as I understand it. There is some 4K streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime, not sure if you have to pay extra but shouldn't be too much. And there are 4K BR players and a limited selection of discs so far?

HDR photos are not the same as HDR on TVs.

The iMac has a wider color range, for example…

[Gator Hazard]

We just got a new entertainment center for living room and it can fit a 65 inch tv. We have a Sony LCD 55 inch we love. But I'd also love it in another room and place a 65 LED in there. 

I am waiting until around November. Used to work for a large electronics middle man and they do a bad box sale every year. Still have friends who can send me list and order for me. Will see if have anything I want. This thread may come in handy!

[jkelley9]

I researched TVs heavily last year. I was like you, just going to find a budget 4k or even a 1080p TV (65-inch also) because I'm not a videophile. I just wanted something bigger than the 46-inch Westinghouse's in our house that had performed fine for 6+ years (and still do). 

The problem was, TVs have gone downhill in terms of quality (imo). My 1080p LED Westinghouses that my wife and I bought on a Black Friday from Target for $300 ea. seemed higher quality than 90% of the models available last year.

We ended up buying the 65UH9500 because we got a good deal on it, but I'm STILL not terribly impressed with it. It has ALL of the good features for TVs these days including 10-bit HDR, 120hz native, local dimming, webos 3, etc. But the things that are terrible nowadays are the black levels and the edge bleed (for edge lit panels, full array panels are probably better). My Westinghouse doesn't do that crap, and it looks pretty awful.

So if we had bought something more "budget" model, it might have been even worse. I don't know.

[Shindig]

Oh man, so much to think about.  And I plan to get at least two new TVs soon too... 

[nevets88]

It's easy to disable the smart functions and wifi on these things, right? To keep from being monitored.

[jkelley9]

4 hours ago, nevets88 said:

It's easy to disable the smart functions and wifi on these things, right? To keep from being monitored.

Yea, just don't connect them. But it would be a shame!

[nevets88]

Samsung, 65 inches, 4K, HDR, $1000, according to reviews, brightness, viewing angles not great, which I can live with.

Is this a good deal?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XGFYT94/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?tag=slicinc-20&ascsubtag=f306e7e2974c11e79dde7eba4bb8dbe80INT&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Best Buy:

[iacas]

4.5 stars seems good. 104 reviews… is an "okay" number.

Sure, get it.

[nevets88]

13 hours ago, iacas said:

4.5 stars seems good. 104 reviews… is an "okay" number.

Sure, get it.

Got busy, these lightning sales, hope it comes up somewhere again.