4k tv's

tonyb

Who has one and how are you digging it ?

My Kuro has developed the dreaded 8 blinking lights. Which is a code for the mother board and also from what I can gather an 850 buck part alone. Not sinking that kinda money into it with no guarantee it will work either. Like everything, we live in a disposable world today.

Doing my due diligence, it seems Samsung and Sony have the best processors out there, and the best picture. Motion blur is something I can't stand in sports which you still get with a lot of lower cost 4k TV's. Same with off axis viewing, but not a big problem for me as my tv is set up in a corner.

There are so many little things about each set, it can drive you nuts. Don't care about streaming/3d....just want the best pic possible. So far, I like the Sony XBR 850B and the Samsung 8550 or hu900 series. Everyone says don't buy one yet, but looks like I'm thrown into the deep end of the pool unwillingly. Will mostly be watching cable, so the upconversion and quality of that is important, blu-ray too but most do great with that. So who has one and how are you liking it so far ?

tonyb

I know bro....but everyone I talk to says the upconversion....when done right, works great on 1080 cable broadcast. There's actually higher rez in between 1080p and 4k to be had providing the processor is up to it.

So much technology, some works, some doesn't.....but the bottom line is always you get what you pay for.

Sami

Unless you hook a computer to it the PQ gains are fairly minimal. Still(ish) picture looks fantastic but movies will look horrible up-converted as it looks very unnatural. I have 3 4k TV's in the house but I do a lot of computer work on them in addition to watching TV/movies on them.

tonyb

Sami,
How are they on regular broadcast cable TV ? That's really the majority of the viewing done in my house anyway.

steveinaz

I'm still looking for an imperfection in 1080p before I even entertain the thought of 4k. I'm not getting sucked into another "unsupported" format.

btown1985

I have a Kuro 500M and I see them pop up online from time to time. You should consider another one man.

btown1985

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pioneer-PRO-111FD-Kuro-Elite-50-1080p-plasma-TV-/141626195125?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f9943cb5

btown1985

There's your new mother board! Maybe another 4-5 yrs of black level bliss

Emlyn

The XBR 850B is being replaced by the XBR 850C next month at $1200 more than what the 850B model is selling for now. Might get tough to find an 850B since they cut the price down to $2299. I can't tell what the improvement is supposed to be with the newer model. I bought a 65 inch 850B last month and am happy with it. It's in a bright room, and the picture is good at any time of the day regardless of the source. It's not magical though and won't make a 1080p image better than it would be on a 1080p screen. Color rendition is excellent. Black levels are acceptable. Sound quality isn't good, but that's normal with tv sets now.

btown1985

Hey, this isn't what you need by chance is it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PIONEER-Repair-Kit-for-PRO-111FD-PRO-151FD-PDP-5020FD-PDP-6020FD-8-blue-blinks-/131440628003?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9a78d123

polrbehr

Tony, I'm with Steve on this one, I've got a 7.5 yo Sammy LED DLP that does a great job with 1080p, I just don't see any reason to upgrade; and throwing the Oppo 103 into the equation didn't hurt either!
Of course, *knock wood* mine is still working, so I can't say I wouldn't go for 4K if I needed to replace mine.

You don't mention how far away you sit, that info matters (IMO) when considering format and screen size.

tonyb

btown1985 wrote: »

Hey, this isn't what you need by chance is it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PIONEER-Repair-Kit-for-PRO-111FD-PRO-151FD-PDP-5020FD-PDP-6020FD-8-blue-blinks-/131440628003?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9a78d123

That's just part of the overall problem. The 8 blinking lights refers to a couple different things but for the most part from talking to TV tech guys.....it's the main board.

I don't see a point in dropping 800+ on another used Kuro only to have the chance of it being a paper weight again at any time.

Here's my thinking on this.....

I could go with a regular 1080p led, non 4k, for considerably less.....but, that dreaded motion blur unless you kick up the refresh rates which puts a standard 1080p set close to what a 4k set is selling for. Even if I bought a 4k set and never used it for 4k, wouldn't they have better processors in them anyway ?

Not too worried about 4k going the way of the buggy whip as it will still do 1080p just fine. I have yet to see an LED tv, standard 1080p set that would compete with the Kuro....which is why I'm a tad put off of buying a new one. Maybe I'll just try and hunt up a Panny V60 or along those lines.

btown1985

V60 is another great plasma, I'd say 2nd to the Kuro for sure.

btown1985

It's probably half the going rate of the Kuro's too.

grimmace19

I got the sharp 70ud27u back in November. It replaced an older panasonic plasma and I love it.

There's a drastic difference when watching blu-ray from the old set to the new one.

Motion blur is very hard to pick up, but there is some "ghosting" with the set that can be a bother in very high contrast scenes in movies. The only time it really happens is when theres a face closeup on a very very dark backdrop.

I think it's a fantastic tv for about 2500 especially jumping to the 70".

Joey_V

Interesting thread tony buddy...

In fact I was just looking for a 4k tv. I was looking at the Sony 65" 4k led smart 3dtv vs the samsung 65" 4k led smart curved but non3d tv.

Wife doesn't really like samsung and we already have a sony non4k...

I asked her what to get, she said get the one that won't get outdated any time soon.

So I guess 1080p is out... Could've gotten a 75 or 70 for the same price as the 65" 4k.

tonyb

The curved screen on the Sammy's are supper reflective, probably the number one complaint about them. As far as future proof.....nothing really is anymore and that's done on purpose.

The cheaper 4k sets have plastic screens, which cuts down on glare. The more expensive ones have glass screens which isn't great for glare but is for picture quality. The Triluminous displays on the Sony's are exceptional.

Been reading customer reviews from just about every set known to man. So far, my take is lots of these 4k sets are not future proof, lots of them have quality issues after short periods of time. Best to add the cost of an extended warranty because fixing these things isn't going to be cheap without one. Who wants a 2k throw away set anyway after a few years....not me.

The higher end models from Sammy/Sony seem to be the most satisfying judging by reviews, with the least problems. I guess same could be said for non 4k sets too. LG-Vizio have not caught up yet when it comes to 4k sets.

I'm not completely sold on the whole 4k thing yet, but like I said.....the top non 4k sets are selling for the same prices almost. Was trying to find a Sammy 7150 that's not 4k and good luck on that. Same with Sony's top XBR non 4k.

ZLTFUL

tonyb wrote: »

The higher end models from Sammy/Sony seem to be the most satisfying judging by reviews, with the least problems. I guess same could be said for non 4k sets too. LG-Vizio have not caught up yet when it comes to 4k sets.

Tony, I wouldn't discount Vizio out of hand.
I have owned 4 Samsung sets over the years. Every single one has failed shortly out of warranty. Not the norm, of course, but suspect to me when each set was purchased from completely different vendors.

Vizio on the other hand, I have purchased 6 sets through Costco. Of those 6, only 1 has failed and it was due to a known issue with a software update. The main board was replaced and the TV is living a happy working life at my buddy's house.

My latest is a 70" P Series 4K set.
We compared it side by side with several other 4K sets including the 65" curved Samsung and it looked as good/better than everything we compared it to.
I am jaded on the Sony brand so I didn't give them much more than a cursory consideration.

In the end, I purchased a 4K set that gives me 95% of the performance of the highest dollar comparable sets for a fraction of the cost and that included adding in the 5 year extended warranty.

During the recent Central Iowa Home Theater crawl, several folk commented on the quality of the picture and couldn't believe that I got a 70" 4K set for under $2k with a 5 year warranty (Costco and Vizio had a rebate at the time for $450 off)

tonyb

Yeah, lots of quality issues with the Sammys.....plus you have the screen merry go round with them. Comparing side by side though, the Vizio isn't up to par imho. Now, that can be simply the stores aren't adjusting them correctly too, I dunno, but they have been known to do that to push other brands.

Going over to BestBuy and Costco today to do another look....who knows what I'll end up with. Seems all the brands are having some quality issues starting at 2 years out, some sooner. Just not use to that I guess.

Emlyn

I bought my 850B at Best Buy. One thing you may want to check out is the preset modes. I've found the Cinema setting to be good with just adjustment made to bring the backlight down to a setting of 4 in a bright room. Sony seems to be doing a better job of setting up usable default picture mode settings now compared to a few years ago so there's less need to do a full blown calibration. I compared the 850B to a 1080P set below it and was really impressed with the improvement in clarity and color. By comparison, the other set looked pretty washed out and dull. The 850B is still an LCD TV though and shares the benefits and drawbacks compared to plasma TVs that they all have. Given the recent price cuts on this model I went ahead and got the extended warranty because the Sony XBR warranty is down to one year now.

Emlyn

DSkip wrote: »

That's sad that a $3k TV has a one year warranty.

Yes, even their 85 inch $24,999 X950B has a one year warranty. I figure they'll go to a 90 day warranty before too long!

Joey_V

My Sonys have lasted a while, samsung I've had an issue with.

polkfarmboy

I was at Walmart and noticed a 60 inch tv for $599, it was 1080 but still? I would not bother with 4k just to upscale the odd movie and your not into high end pc gaming so why burn the cash Tony?

ken brydson

DSkip wrote: »

That's sad that a $3k TV has a one year warranty.

If you find something you like at Costco they double the warranty.

polrbehr

Joey_V wrote: »

My Sonys have lasted a while, samsung I've had an issue with.

I've had the exact opposite experiences, go figure.

Polkie2009

polrbehr wrote: »

Joey_V wrote: »

My Sonys have lasted a while, samsung I've had an issue with.

I've had the exact opposite experiences, go figure.

You are a lucky man polrbehr. It's pretty well agreed that Samsung has had many issues the past 5 or so years with various tv models and many customers were left out in the cold being told by Samsung CS, so sorry, won't fix it under warranty. It's really unfortunate because Samsung has some beautiful looking tv sets. As nice as the 4K tv sets look now, I'm going to wait it out another 2 or 3 years and see if the manufacturers can work the bugs out and more 4K material is available . Hopefully the prices will come down also on them. In the meantime 1080P still looks pretty good.

steveinaz

When my 60" Panny plasma dies, I think I'm gonna take the projector plunge.

Emlyn

I haven't bought a new TV for the last seven years because my 52 inch Samsung 1080P LED TV kept on going without any problems. I was kind of hoping it would die the last couple years so I could more easily justify getting a larger screen to better suit a larger room size. Eventually I ended up giving it to a friend who is very happy with it. I would have bought another 1080P set, but what I saw was a significant improvement in both clarity, color, and brightness with the 4K set alongside slightly less expensive 1080P sets. The last Sony TV I bought around seven years ago had a bad manufacturing defect, and that turned me off Sony TVs for a while, which is how I ended up with my first Samsung. I also looked at Samsung 4K sets when I bought the Sony 850B but was more impressed with Sony this time around. I've heard complaints from friends about all of the big screen TV manufacturers the last few years, so I didn't make a purchasing decision on perceived reliability. I did get an extended warranty as I always do on a big screen though.

I had been looking forward just a little to trying out the 3D performance of the new TV. Got through half a movie, got annoyed with the effect, and switched back to the 2D version! I didn't buy the TV for 3D though. What a distracting gimmick.

Nightfall

Vizio was the most problem free TV I ever had. I decided to try something else this time (Philips) and regret it. My next TV will be Vizio.

ZLTFUL

tonyb wrote: »

Yeah, lots of quality issues with the Sammys.....plus you have the screen merry go round with them. Comparing side by side though, the Vizio isn't up to par imho. Now, that can be simply the stores aren't adjusting them correctly too, I dunno, but they have been known to do that to push other brands.

Going over to BestBuy and Costco today to do another look....who knows what I'll end up with. Seems all the brands are having some quality issues starting at 2 years out, some sooner. Just not use to that I guess.

It didn't look great sitting in the Costco. But after a quick and dirty calibration with the AVS calibration disc and about 15 minutes of my time, it looks 1000% better (exaggeration but still improved greatly).

Most TVs are set to "store" mode for demo purposes and look way worse than even a quick calibration will. If you can get your hands on the remote or on the left side controls, switch it to "Standard" as they typically default to some ludicrous over-saturated settings to compensate for the nasty commercial lighting in store.

I know you're 4-5 hours away but you are welcome to come check out my set calibrated.

tonyb

Spent the better part of the day at stores today.....not too happy at all the choices out there. Costco.....nothing looked good, plus they only carried the lower lines of Samsungs and wanted a good price. Disappointing really because I'm aware of their doubling the warranty and their 3 year extended warranty is only 90 bucks.

BestBuy....the Sony's simply kicked butt on PQ hands down. More plasma like than any other brand....in both 4k and non 4k form. To buy a 2-3g tv at BestBuy, they want 500-700 bucks for a 5 year extended warranty.....blow me.

Waiting for a dude on craigslist to call me back, has a Sammy 4k 8550 for 1500.