Recommendations for a smart tv?

dromunds
dromunds Posts: 10,022
edited October 2012 in Music & Movies
Looking for thoughts on smart t.v. (Or is that an oxymoron?) Don't care about 3-D. Not larger than 46 inch. Is LCD the way to go these days? What about manufacturers? Thanks much.
Post edited by dromunds on
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  • kidglove13
    kidglove13 Posts: 207
    edited October 2012
    Samsung LCD Panasonic Plasma
    Those are the tops for both IMHO
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,178
    edited October 2012
    Hello, dromunds. The wife and I have had no issues and a great picture from our Samsung UN46D6050. The picture took a bit of tweaking to get rid of some issues but now that it's all set up, it looks great. I'd swear the TV is smarter than I am. One thing I noticed right off the bat was that when streaming things very rarely does it ever buffer anymore, that used to be a daily/hourly thing regardless of what streaming device was used. I believe the one we have is an LCD and it is not a 3DTV. Decent off axis viewing [I never notice that I'm off axis but a pro reviewer might], back lit remote and it is user friendly. Plenty of hookup options. Good luck finding a TV to fit your needs. This was actually our 3rd TV we purchased in a month's time. We returned the other two for unacceptable HD picture playback and unfriendly user interface.

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,596
    edited October 2012
    kidglove13 wrote: »
    Samsung LCD Panasonic Plasma
    Those are the tops for both IMHO

    ^This

    LCD works better in a bright room but dont have blacks as dark as Plasma's so you give up some contrast in things like shadow's ect. I have also found they have issues with pixelation and hate the higher refresh rates as they tend to make things too smooth IMHO.

    Plasma's work great in most rooms without a ton of direct light when your watching it. It has darker blacks and handles motion better and has a better off axis than LCD (not by much but its there).

    Check out my System Showcase for a picture of how my Panasoic Plasma is setup. I have a big picture window on the left side wall not to far from it and still dont have too much of an issue if the blinds are not drawn with viewing it.

    I actually get the worst glare from the patio door behind the couch.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,178
    edited October 2012
    Even with the LCD TV, glare can become an issue. With Plasma it gets worse but I don't think glare should be a major concern unless you have many things that can and will reflect off of the screen. If that is the case, just address the issue as both will produce glare and reflections. Of course these are just my observations and again, I'm not a professional reviewer. Many folks do prefer plasma. Seeing as how usually my room is bright...

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,178
    edited October 2012
    Oh, just to clarify, my Samsung aforementioned is an LED TV and not an LCD. My bad.

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,596
    edited October 2012
    Agreed Tom

    Glare is an issue on either however most will say that Plasma's have a bit more than their LCD counterparts.

    Personally since its not super bright in my room and I work during the day and dont really watch "real TV" till its dark anyway its no biggie.

    For Movies or when I really want it to look Awesome, I close the blinds anyway.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 10,022
    edited October 2012
    Thanks guys. Treitz3, I coincidentally spoke to a neighbor last night who just purchased a Samsung LCD and he mentioned also that the thing he noticed right away was there was no buffering anymore.
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  • Esterlly
    Esterlly Posts: 6
    edited October 2012
    In my view the best in the business are Sony so i think you should consider buying Bravia.
    click this over here now
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  • tophatjohnny
    tophatjohnny Posts: 4,182
    edited October 2012
    Had the Sony and it took a dump on me. We now have the LG55 smart 3D and it's a much nicer picture. To us anyway!! Looks great too!!
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
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  • Denzel
    Denzel Posts: 78
    edited October 2012
    I had been looking for 6 months at different LCD, Plasma and LEDs. I finally decided on the LG LM7600 series 55" LED (they make a 47" as well) It has the 240Hz refresh rate, the blacks and contrast are excellent for the price and feature set. The remote leaves somthing to be desired, but since I use a URC remote it is irrelevant. It has a low-profile bezel which is not distracting to the viewer. The 8600 and 9600 series are also nice, but they really only seem to improve on the 3D performance, which is a non-issue for me. Picture quality with movies is my main focus.
    SDA SRS 3.1TL, Adcom GFP710 (preamp), GFA5400 amplifier, Pro-Ject TT
    SDA SRS (circa 1988), Integra DHC 60.3 (HT preamp) Adcom GFA555 II, CS400i (center), Monitor 4.6 II (rears) Adcom GFA2535 & Oppo BDP-103, TCL 55R617 55" 4K Display, RTA 15TL (crossovers by VR3), Adcom GFP710 pre & GFA545 II amplifier, NAD C545BEE. AppleTV 4K
    Other Polks not in service currently; SDA2a, SDA CRS+, SDA SRS 2.3, Monitor 4.6 II, Monitor 5jr+
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  • tophatjohnny
    tophatjohnny Posts: 4,182
    edited October 2012
    Denzel wrote: »
    I had been looking for 6 months at different LCD, Plasma and LEDs. I finally decided on the LG LM7600 series 55" LED (they make a 47" as well) It has the 240Hz refresh rate, the blacks and contrast are excellent for the price and feature set. The remote leaves somthing to be desired, but since I use a URC remote it is irrelevant. It has a low-profile bezel which is not distracting to the viewer. The 8600 and 9600 series are also nice, but they really only seem to improve on the 3D performance, which is a non-issue for me. Picture quality with movies is my main focus.

    That's the one!! Great choice!!
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
    edited October 2012
    The new Sony hx85 series are very nice TVs, the best Sony has put out in a long time. That's my opinion and the opinion of every review that I've seen online.

    I would recommend you check those out.
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  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 10,022
    edited October 2012
    Lots of good information. Thanks mucho.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited October 2012
    I'm not sure if I can recommend Samsung. I have a 58" plasma, 8000 series i believe, from a couple years ago. 14 months after buying it, the outputs go out on it. This was one of their premier TV's at the time of purchase.

    It was 1.5 months out of warranty and they didn't want to do anything for me. I had to complain and complain and complain before they FINALLY got it fixed under warranty.

    So it left me with a somewhat good / somewhat bad taste in my mouth. On one hand, my $2000 TV last 13.5 months before breaking and had hell with their customer service to replace the bad part...on the other hand, they did EVENTUALLY replace the bad part.

    That was until i heard a few stories of people that had some issues with their panasonic tv after the warranty expired...sometimes over a year after the warranty and panasonic always helped them....sometimes to the tune of a new tv a year after the warranty went out...and it was the new version of their 2 year old tv.

    If/when I buy another big tv, it'll be panasonic.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 10,022
    edited October 2012
    I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. Customer service can go a long, long way in customer loyalty ....
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  • badchad
    badchad Posts: 348
    edited October 2012
    I've found that shopping for a TV is damn near impossible. Even the "specialty" stores have them in torch mode and under relatively bright lights. It makes viewing the differences difficult.

    As far as "smart" options are concerned, almost everything is "smart" nowadays, my receiver, blu-ray, and (future) TV all have "smart" options.
    Polk Fronts: RTi A7's
    Polk Center: CSi A6
    Polk Surrounds: FXi A6's
    Polk Rear Surround: RTi4
    Sub: HSU VTF-3 (MK1)
    AVR: Yamaha RX-A2010
    B&K Reference 200.7
    TV: Sharp LC-70LE847U
    Oppo BDP-103
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  • ViperZ
    ViperZ Posts: 2,046
    edited October 2012
    Panasonic plasma for me (Samsung close 2nd). For LCD, I'd put Sony as number one, then Samsung.
    Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector for movies
    Carada 106" Precision Series (Classic Cinema White)
    Denon AVR-X3600H pre/pro
    Outlaw 770 7-channel amplifier
    B&W CDM1-SE fronts
    B&W CDM-CNT center
    B&W CDM1 rears on MoPADs
    JBL SP8CII in-ceiling height speakers
    Samsung DTB-H260F OTA HDTV tuner
    DUAL NHT SubTwo subwoofers
    Oppo BDP-93 Blu-Ray player
    Belkin PF60 Power Center
    Harmony 1100 RF remote with RF extender
    Sony XBR-X950G 55" 4K HDR Smart TV + PS3 in the living room
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  • gigbyt
    gigbyt Posts: 145
    edited October 2012
    im holding out for a panny plasma myself.
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  • gigbyt
    gigbyt Posts: 145
    edited October 2012
    Those sony's look nice too though.
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