OT: I need guidance from the HDTV pros

[Dawgology]

Alright,

I'm upgrading my television. I just kind of grabbed a tv on the shelf at walmart when i bought my current one. This time I want to buy one with making the most of HD in mind. I stream netflix, hulu, and amazon a lot but I mainly do that through my PS4 so I'm not overly concerned with a tv that has that stuff (though I'm not against it). I want something with above average to great picture quality, contrast, and clarity to make the most of HD and Blu-ray. I'm looking for something in the 55" size as that would fit the space I have perfectly. Obviously, it needs to be 1080p.

Any recommendations or warnings?

[99jc]

Sharp Aquos 240 refresh rate is a winner!

[Barking 13]

check out Samsung and Panasonic... a google or looking at CNET will be very helpful but may boggle your mind... another suggestion is to just go down to best buy or store like that and take a look... I'm a big plasma fan but the LED models are great. I like viewing in dark rooms, so the plasmas are my choice, but I think they are phasing them out and replacing with the new ultras

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372085,00.asp

http://www.cnet.com/topics/tvs/best-tvs/picture-quality/

[civildawg]

Samsung LED 240Hz refresh rate for whatever size you get. I would get the smart tv just in case your PS4 craps out or you move it to another room.

[Political Hack]

Plasmas are a dying technology IMO. I'd go with LED first and foremost. As long as the refresh rate is really high you shouldn't have pixalation problems. Other than that, just look at the TV coloring and "extra features" and choose what you want.

I've got a 65" Vizio LED and love it.

[RougeDawg]

Samsung LED 240Hz refresh rate for whatever size you get. I would get the smart tv just in case your PS4 craps out or you move it to another room.

This^^^. Pay a little more for the faster refresh. Smaller tvs are not as noticeable but the larger ones you can really tell. I have a 55" Samsung 1st generation LED and people who visit always talk about The picture. As a side note Visio is making some high quality TVs these days. They have some top end LED models that are almost the same as Samsung at a much lower cost. Plus Visio is American made. At least they were originally, haven't checked to see if they've recently outsourced.

[SheltonChoked]

Check our thewirecutter.com for their TV reviews.

Think about getting a 4k TV. If you have the budget, they are dropping in price fast and you'll keep a 55" for a long time.

Dont pay for the smart tv. The exterior boxes are faster and more replaceable and cheaper

[Bullsy]

Samsung. Samsung. Samsung.

Apple TV rocks too. I think they are $69 now (down from $99).

[Bullsy]

The jump from 60hz to 120 Hz was HUGE. However, the jump from 120Hz to 240 is not as big a jump. The human eye cannot even recognize 240Hz. Having said that, most new tv's have 240 nonetheless.

http://www.techhive.com/article/184820/hdtv_hertz_refresh_rate.html

[TUSK]

I'll 2nd the Samsung recommendations, as well... mine kicks ass...

RE: refresher rate, higher is better... I was fortunate enough to get a 50" prototype model with a 960hz rate, but it still didn't allow me keep up with Zeke Elliot running for touchdowns...



oh... *

[gravedigger]

Vizio M class 240 refresh smart tv rivals samsung same style. Although you cannot go wrong with samsung.

[BoomBoom]

Plasmas are a dying technology IMO. I'd go with LED first and foremost. As long as the refresh rate is really high you shouldn't have pixalation problems. Other than that, just look at the TV coloring and "extra features" and choose what you want.

I've got a 65" Vizio LED and love it.

yeah, if it breaks you might not be able to find someone to repair it.**

plasma is dying because people wouldn't buy them, even though they are better. get one while you still can.

LED, anything 120 Hz or over, 1080p. anything more is just there to sucker fools out of more money.

[Bass Chaser]

yeah, if it breaks you might not be able to find someone to repair it.**

plasma is dying because people wouldn't buy them, even though they are better. get one while you still can.

LED, anything 120 Hz or over, 1080p. anything more is just there to sucker fools out of more money.

My preference is plasma. I have a Samsung 50" plasma. The refresh rate on plasma is 600hz, but you only notice the difference when watching sports or action movies.

[Coach007]

First, it doesn't matter if you buy a 240... If the movie, tv show etc is filmed, and it is, in 60hz... You are not getting that up to 240 mo matter what anybody says. It's simply not there. Blu Ray is not 240... It's 60hz.

If you happen to purchase one and it looks like it's fake, it's due to how they are trying to make a 60 faster. It duplicates the surrounding frames and slightly alters them to make new ones. Look up "soap opera" effect.

I would pay closer attention to contrast....

[Coach007]

Lol... For the sake of the plasma vs led and refresh rates. A plasma refreshes at a rate of 600....

[MabenMaroon]

I am in 20 to 30 homes a week with the tv's on and in my opinion the Sharp Aquos series are hard to beat. Samsung is more prevalent but a lot of that could be due to the marketing and advantageous financing they provide the distributors/dealers. I am also impressed with Panasonic, Vizio, and Sony.
4K is a very impressive technology but very little is broadcast in 4K at this point in time and most of that is delivered via the internet, most of it is pay-per-view movies and is somewhat dependent upon the quality of your internet provider, satellite providers are delving into 4K delivery via satellite but that is probably 18 to 24 months out before there is significant programming available.
For myself, I am holding off on 4K until I am convinced that the technology is here to stay and doesn't go the way of 3D tv's and programming. Also,there is a lot of work and research being done with the 'crystal' technologies which are far less expensive and tend to be more reliable and may be entering the market place soon.
FWIW, in my daily travels, I see a few OLED's in the larger sizes setting to the side in people's homes that are waiting to be repaired or taken back to the dealer, considering the small sample size I encounter, that in its self is alarming to me and I personally would stay away from OLED's. For right now, if I needed a new tv, I would go with one of the brands mentioned above in LED with a 120 or 240 refresh rate, smart tv's are cool but I don't have access to good enough quality internet that would allow me to do any streaming.

[Dawgface]

The jump from 60hz to 120 Hz was HUGE. However, the jump from 120Hz to 240 is not as big a jump. The human eye cannot even recognize 240Hz. Having said that, most new tv's have 240 nonetheless.

http://www.techhive.com/article/184820/hdtv_hertz_refresh_rate.html

The last tv I bought was a 120 Hz. I couldn't tell much difference from my older 60 Hz. But my eyeballs are old. I'm guessing 120 is the minimum now days anyway.

As far as smart tv's are concerned, I can't see paying a lot for that. My $40 Roku box allows me to stream Netflix, Sling TV and anything else I want to watch with great quality. Of course your internet source and speed is the key there.

[Bullmutt]

Highly recommend samsung LED. The visual properties are hard to beat, but buy it with it in mind that samsung sound quality is not great. Plan to use a home theatre setup or a sound bar if audio is an important consideration.

[Political Hack]

Lol... For the sake of the plasma vs led and refresh rates. A plasma refreshes at a rate of 600....

the market has chosen and plasma lost. rightly or wrongly, that's the way it's going. S&D is going towards LED.

Plasma has become a better technology, but the burn in remnants that the original plasmas left of TVs (ESPN/CNN bottom line burned into the screen even when you change the channel) ruined the technology. After that, it was a run away.

[Hypnodawg]

I'm a big plasma fan. I really don't care for LED. If you are going with LED, get a 4k. Plasma has better contrast, but cost more per inch and uses a lot more power.

At Christmas I looked around at TVs. The 4k TVs were OK. They are really sharp but still had trouble with black compared to plasma. I eventually settled on an LG OLED curved and have been very pleased. It can handle black as well if not better than plasma and the image is as sharp as a 4k. I do seem to have more glare issues with the OLED curved (as opposed to the plasma I was using in the same location), so I have to strategically locate room lighting.

[sleepy dawg]

I have the Samsung 1080p 240 refresh rate LED LCD. I highly recommend it. You really can't go wrong with it.

Sony is pretty hard to beat too. Sony has unbelievable customer service if it is ever needed. They once replaced my Playstation 2 for free because I bought a used one off ebay from some guy and it was broken. I told them what happened, and they just sent me a new one for free. That's not the kind of service you get from outsourced customer service.

If you're looking for value, go with a Vizio. I have one of these too, and for the money they are great.

4k and 240 refresh rates are gimmicky at best. Don't spend the extra money unless you are a gimmicky type person. Most people can't see the difference when compared side by side, and most services don't offer/support them anyway.

[Barking 13]

Highly recommend samsung LED. The visual properties are hard to beat, but buy it with it in mind that samsung sound quality is not great. Plan to use a home theatre setup or a sound bar if audio is an important consideration.

Good point.. I've got soundbars on both Samsung Plasma and LED

[Dawgology]

Thanks for all of the input guys! I'm looking pretty hard at this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sharp-aquos-q-series-60-class-60-3-32-diag--led-1080p-smart-hdtv-black/3345084.p?id=1219090884304&skuId=3345084

Plus, I will be able to actually go see how it looks in person at Besy Buy this weekend...which is important to me. I'm not totally sold on 4k yet and I have terrible internet service in my area and I don't think 4k streaming would work on a "3 mb" connection through AT&T. - 3 mb in quotes because that's the highest plan I can purchase in my area but I'm sure that I'm barely getting dial up speed.

Anyways, any thoughts on the TV above?

[Barking 13]

Thanks for all of the input guys! I'm looking pretty hard at this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sharp-aquos-q-series-60-class-60-3-32-diag--led-1080p-smart-hdtv-black/3345084.p?id=1219090884304&skuId=3345084

Plus, I will be able to actually go see how it looks in person at Besy Buy this weekend...which is important to me. I'm not totally sold on 4k yet and I have terrible internet service in my area and I don't think 4k streaming would work on a "3 mb" connection through AT&T. - 3 mb in quotes because that's the highest plan I can purchase in my area but I'm sure that I'm barely getting dial up speed.

Anyways, any thoughts on the TV above?

HaHa!!! I get 1.5 mb/s on a good day.... my smart TV's won't even connect at that slow speed, so streaming is a fantasy. I used to have 50 mb/s at my old house and spent a lot of time on Netflix, etc. My sister has an aquos and likes it...