home theater, cord cutting, video streaming, a/v tech, and more!

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:06 am

I don't even think Sony makes a 1080p set anymore. I just checked, and all I see are 4k sets. This is a good thing, though.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:06 am

All very helpful...

With most technology, you get what you pay for...I'm not necessarily a tech junkie like ntp66, etc. - I'm just not perceptive enough to the technological details of sound and picture...with that said, what's wrong with something like this, for instance: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-55 ... Id=6194911

The TV in my bedroom is Toshiba and has done me no wrong for at least, hmm, four or five years now I think...but like, why is that one cheaper than the LG...LG is just that superior in terms of parts or...?

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:11 am

All very helpful...

With most technology, you get what you pay for...I'm not necessarily a tech junkie like ntp66, etc. - I'm just not perceptive enough to the technological details of sound and picture...with that said, what's wrong with something like this, for instance: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-55 ... Id=6194911

The TV in my bedroom is Toshiba and has done me no wrong for at least, hmm, four or five years now I think...but like, why is that one cheaper than the LG...LG is just that superior in terms of parts or...?

There are a lot of really bad reviews of that set on Amazon. Enough that I wouldn't consider it at all, even for a kid's playroom. I have a Toshiba in our second bedroom, and it's fine for the average user. With higher quality sets, you're going to get darker blacks, full array backlighting (meaning the entire screen is evenly lit, as opposed to cheaper edge lit screens), etc. It's worth a few extra bucks to get something nicer in this space, especially if this is going to be your main viewing TV.

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:21 am

I'm just not perceptive enough to the technological details of sound and picture...

You may think this is the case, but trust me.... you will see a very marked difference with 4k content.

I've said before, but the improvement in resolution from 1080p to 4k is a bigger jump than DVD to Bluray was. And the neat thing about it is the way our brains process visual information, the greater the resolution the more able we are able to interpolate dimensionality. So as resolution gets higher and higher, the more '3D' the image looks to us. It's way more immersive (imo) than the bogus 3D you get at the movies with the stupid glasses.

Postby **nocera** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:23 am

Just be sure to turn off motion smoothing or whatever it's called now regardless of what set you end up buying.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:26 am

Gotcha, very good, very good...

Looking around, it looks like streaming YouTube TV makes a lot of sense...but I'm going to keep shopping around on that front...I'm a long-time AT&T customer, I wonder if I can parlay that into some DirecTv Now deal...

Postby **nocera** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:27 am

Source of the post I'm a long-time AT&T customer, I wonder if I can parlay that into some DirecTv Now deal...

I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. I'm a long time AT&T and DirecTV customer and the only thing it's gotten me is free HBO.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:31 am

I'm not as invested as I used to be in TV quality, but I have to say, the picture on the TCL Roku 55" I bought for my back deck is shockingly good. I'm sure it doesn't compared to a top of the line OLED TV but at 1/3 the cost, I think it's worth considering.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:33 am

Perhaps...though I'm notoriously good for getting good deals on this kind of thing, to the point that my friends ask me to make deals for them haha

Hell, I once successfully bribed an AT&T employee with a lunch from Five Guys to get me out of jam that would have involved me losing my phone number...I'm confident I can figure something given that I've been a customer for like 16 years...

Postby **nocera** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:38 am

Perhaps...though I'm notoriously good for getting good deals on this kind of thing, to the point that my friends ask me to make deals for them haha

Hell, I once successfully bribed an AT&T employee with a lunch from Five Guys to get me out of jam that would have involved me losing my phone number...I'm confident I can figure something given that I've been a customer for like 16 years...

In that case, see what you can do about lowering my bill while you're at it.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:24 pm

Here to help!

Postby **eddy** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:00 pm

Just be sure to turn off motion smoothing or whatever it's called now regardless of what set you end up buying.

I like to turn mine on for documentary's (planet earth, blue earth, etc )and these youtube HDR eye candy videos. Looks good for stuff that's supposed to look more realistic rather than cinematic.

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:16 pm

Source of the post I'm confident I can figure something given that I've been a customer for like 16 years...

Perhaps offer the salesman some fresh fruit from your fruit purse?

Postby **dodint** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:17 pm

*giggle*

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:18 pm

Just be sure to turn off motion smoothing or whatever it's called now regardless of what set you end up buying.
I like to turn mine on for documentary's (planet earth, blue earth, etc )and these youtube HDR eye candy videos. Looks good for stuff that's supposed to look more realistic rather than cinematic.

The only issue with YouTube is the lack of 5.1 support. It's still in their plans, but it'll be a while yet before it's implemented.

Postby **eddy** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:22 pm

Just be sure to turn off motion smoothing or whatever it's called now regardless of what set you end up buying.
I like to turn mine on for documentary's (planet earth, blue earth, etc )and these youtube HDR eye candy videos. Looks good for stuff that's supposed to look more realistic rather than cinematic.
The only issue with YouTube is the lack of 5.1 support. It's still in their plans, but it'll be a while yet before it's implemented.

yep, dolby surround matrix will do for now

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:55 pm

Source of the post I'm confident I can figure something given that I've been a customer for like 16 years...
Perhaps offer the salesman some fresh fruit from your fruit purse?

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:31 pm

Squeak little dodint scolari

Postby **dodint** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 7:05 pm

This DirecTV/AT&T v. CBS spat is going to get interesting if it spills into when NFL games start being broadcast. Right now all CBS channels on the service just display a static page blaming CBS.

Postby **blackjack68** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:19 pm

This DirecTV/AT&T v. CBS spat is going to get interesting if it spills into when NFL games start being broadcast. Right now all CBS channels on the service just display a static page blaming CBS.

I’m gonna guess it’ll be resolved by then. That’s about DirecTV’s only selling point left.

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:31 am

That issue I was having with the Netflix app on my TV? Turns out it was the receiver all along. I updated the receiver's firmware, and now everything's working as it should. Weird that only Netflix was affected, though.

Postby **nocera** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 9:19 am

This DirecTV/AT&T v. CBS spat is going to get interesting if it spills into when NFL games start being broadcast. Right now all CBS channels on the service just display a static page blaming CBS.
I’m gonna guess it’ll be resolved by then. That’s about DirecTV’s only selling point left.

Yeah. As the exclusive provider of Sunday Ticket, it'd be super weird to not have local CBS channels. Does this dispute effect all regions? I have DirecTV and just realized I don't even know if I have CBS right now. Shows you how much I watch that channel.

Postby **dodint** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 9:37 am

I don't watch CBS often but CBSSN carries a fair bit of mid-tier sports car racing that I watch.

Postby **LITT** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:30 pm

going to save 60 bucks a month switching to fios and upgrading to their gigabit internets

Postby **eddy** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 3:41 pm

anyone use this for 4k?

https://www.amazon.com/Spears-and-Munsi ... Q2KBDKV&m=

I had the bluray version and it was great if it wasn't a little confusing. SOunds like this is pretty in depth which might translate to even more confusing...