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NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:33 pm

My Harmony battery started dying as I was syncing it today, so I open the hatch to find a battery that's bloated as hell. Time to order a new one and hope that I can get the old one out without it exploding.

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Postby shmenguin » Sat Jul 13, 2019 5:28 pm

Ok nerds, the top top top 85 inch TVs out there. I’ve been out of the game, I have no clue.

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Postby NTP66 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:18 pm

Ok nerds, the top top top 85 inch TVs out there. I’ve been out of the game, I have no clue.
Depends on your content and environment. Dark room and movies, probably one of the Vizio OLEDs. Average to bright room, or viewing a lot of network tv with logos in the corner, Sony’s X900F is one of the top performers. I just went through this myself, and have an XBR75X900F in front of me.

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Postby NTP66 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:21 pm

General question for those of you using HDMI ARC - especially @eddysnake and @Willie Kool.

Have you ever had an issue with the Android apps (Netflix or Amazon Prime) not playing audio via your receiver, with the receiver displaying “Decoder OFF”? I’m going through that now. If I switch inputs on the receiver to any other input, and then switch it back, the decoder picks it up and I’m okay - until I pause the content, then I have to repeat those steps.

At this point, after much troubleshooting and googling, I’m starting to think that this is just a major downside of ARC. I want to make this work because I lose DD+ support if I resort to a digital optical cable.

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Postby eddy » Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:27 am

General question for those of you using HDMI ARC - especially @eddysnake and @Willie Kool.

Have you ever had an issue with the Android apps (Netflix or Amazon Prime) not playing audio via your receiver, with the receiver displaying “Decoder OFF”? I’m going through that now. If I switch inputs on the receiver to any other input, and then switch it back, the decoder picks it up and I’m okay - until I pause the content, then I have to repeat those steps.

At this point, after much troubleshooting and googling, I’m starting to think that this is just a major downside of ARC. I want to make this work because I lose DD+ support if I resort to a digital optical cable.
Sorry, I've read some horror stories about ARC, but I've never had one issue. First thing I did when I got my new tv was replace all my HDMI cables. I went with these for everything. Not sure if that could be a potential problem?

Monoprice Certified Premium HDMI Cable - 6 Feet - Black, 4K@60Hz, HDR, 18Gbps, 28AWG, YUV 4:4:4, Dual Video Stream https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GCGKI3O/re ... kDb3Y4JS9F

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:33 am

All of my cables are brand new; it's definitely not that. I've come to find through much searching that issues with ARC are common with Sony. It's not a huge deal to have to switch inputs back and forth real quick to get DD+ working, so I may just roll with it given how little we actually watch Netflix. Hopefully a firmware update resolves this in the future.

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:23 am

This one issue has actually forced me to start using my Harmony One's Activities. I've always controlled devices individually because of how much I customize things, but the big benefit with Activities is being able to program sequences into a single button. So that audio fix is now a single click, and I think I can actually program that to run when I initially start the activity.

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Postby shmenguin » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:02 am

Ok nerds, the top top top 85 inch TVs out there. I’ve been out of the game, I have no clue.
Depends on your content and environment. Dark room and movies, probably one of the Vizio OLEDs. Average to bright room, or viewing a lot of network tv with logos in the corner, Sony’s X900F is one of the top performers. I just went through this myself, and have an XBR75X900F in front of me.
Have a feeling “top top top” does not equal “Visio”.

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Postby eddy » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:17 am

Ok nerds, the top top top 85 inch TVs out there. I’ve been out of the game, I have no clue.
Depends on your content and environment. Dark room and movies, probably one of the Vizio OLEDs. Average to bright room, or viewing a lot of network tv with logos in the corner, Sony’s X900F is one of the top performers. I just went through this myself, and have an XBR75X900F in front of me.
Have a feeling “top top top” does not equal “Visio”.
I bet there quantum x gives top top top a run for their money. Unfortunately it stops at 75

https://www.vizio.com/tvs/pseriesquantumx.html

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Postby skullman80 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:52 am

Ok nerds, the top top top 85 inch TVs out there. I’ve been out of the game, I have no clue.
Depends on your content and environment. Dark room and movies, probably one of the Vizio OLEDs. Average to bright room, or viewing a lot of network tv with logos in the corner, Sony’s X900F is one of the top performers. I just went through this myself, and have an XBR75X900F in front of me.
Have a feeling “top top top” does not equal “Visio”.
I bet there quantum x gives top top top a run for their money. Unfortunately it stops at 75

https://www.vizio.com/tvs/pseriesquantumx.html
Vizio is definitely in the discussion with the top tv brands and overall TV's no doubt.

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Postby tifosi77 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 12:16 pm

We've had a Vizio for like 7-8 years and love it, will probably replace it with another Viz. Huge value for $ imo.

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 12:28 pm

Ok nerds, the top top top 85 inch TVs out there. I’ve been out of the game, I have no clue.
Depends on your content and environment. Dark room and movies, probably one of the Vizio OLEDs. Average to bright room, or viewing a lot of network tv with logos in the corner, Sony’s X900F is one of the top performers. I just went through this myself, and have an XBR75X900F in front of me.
Have a feeling “top top top” does not equal “Visio”.
What the others have already said. Vizio has done an amazing job of developing their panels, whereas Samsung has rested on their laurels and have been passed over. I've been a hard core Samsung guy for a very long time now, and this was my first non-Samsung in over a decade. Check out rtings.com. They're widely accepted as a great source on testing and reviews, even with avsforum. Samsung's top of the line panel is an 82" QLED, but it's crazy expensive, so I guess it depends on how much you're willing to spend, and whether or not the difference in cost is actually worth it to you.

To get you started: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/ ... 82-85-inch

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:49 pm

So after deciding to use my receiver for all audio, I ran my receiver’s auto-configuration program that uses a mic to set everything up. The difference in quality after this one process was amazing, and I can’t believe I never did it before. I may actually have to dial down the bass a little, because I had no idea that my front speakers could thump as much as they do.

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Postby eddy » Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:56 pm

:thumb:

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:02 pm

I never realized how bad YouTube’s audio was until I used it on a home theater with surround sound. Most of YT’s content is encoded in 2-channel stereo, even today. **** that noise.

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:06 pm

$79 factory-refurbished Fire HD 10 32GB? Don't mind if I do, Amazon. I've got an 8.9 HDX that still works fine, but has a smaller screen and virtually no storage space, so all movies I copy to it are lower quality. I'm going to place these two side by side to see how the video playback looks since I can't really find any comparison videos.

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Postby dodint » Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:28 pm

I am hoping for a useful Prime Day for a change. Specifically a good deal on a Fire TV Recast.

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:08 am

I am hoping for a useful Prime Day for a change. Specifically a good deal on a Fire TV Recast.
They went up early last night, both models being $100 off (best price they've ever been at according to my Keepa price tracking graph): https://www.amazon.com/Fire-TV-Recast-o ... B074J1GPB8

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:26 am

Anyone here run an Atmos system? I probably won't upgrade today, but I'm wondering if it'll even be worth it later this year. As far as I know, there are very few titles on Netflix that even run Atmos (Altered Carbon being the only non-movie that I know of). I thought about upgrading my master bedroom Samsung LED, but think I need to wait a bit to not drive my wife crazy.

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Postby eddy » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:22 am

Anyone here run an Atmos system? I probably won't upgrade today, but I'm wondering if it'll even be worth it later this year. As far as I know, there are very few titles on Netflix that even run Atmos (Altered Carbon being the only non-movie that I know of). I thought about upgrading my master bedroom Samsung LED, but think I need to wait a bit to not drive my wife crazy.
my receiver limited the option to 5.1.2 atmos or 7.1 surround and I went the 7.1. I'd like to move to atmos, but if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right and get a receiver that could do 5.1.4 at the very least (7.1.4 preferably)

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:26 am

The more I think about it, the less I'm inclined to make the move - especially since my receiver isn't that old.

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Postby dodint » Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:42 am

I am hoping for a useful Prime Day for a change. Specifically a good deal on a Fire TV Recast.
They went up early last night, both models being $100 off (best price they've ever been at according to my Keepa price tracking graph): https://www.amazon.com/Fire-TV-Recast-o ... B074J1GPB8
The 2-tuner model was $129 when I made that post last night, so from my perspective it's not discounted at all. ;)

Recast is just an OTA DVR, of which I already have a non-Amazon version. I'm going to need that price point to come in sub-$50 to pull the trigger I think.

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:52 am

I am hoping for a useful Prime Day for a change. Specifically a good deal on a Fire TV Recast.
They went up early last night, both models being $100 off (best price they've ever been at according to my Keepa price tracking graph): https://www.amazon.com/Fire-TV-Recast-o ... B074J1GPB8
The 2-tuner model was $129 when I made that post last night, so from my perspective it's not discounted at all. ;)

Recast is just an OTA DVR, of which I already have a non-Amazon version. I'm going to need that price point to come in sub-$50 to pull the trigger I think.
Sub-$50? That might never happen.

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Postby dodint » Mon Jul 15, 2019 10:02 am

And I can live without it.

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Postby shmenguin » Mon Jul 15, 2019 10:22 am

Vizio is definitely in the discussion with the top tv brands and overall TV's no doubt.
so here's the deal. i want to spend a stupid amount of money on a high end panel. this is going to be my 10-15 year TV. Vizio, as far as i can tell, is still a bit of a discount brand. it gives you 2nd tier quality at 3rd tier prices. but my goal here isn't value. i want to explore literally the best units, and then keep dipping in quality until i find the price to be in my range. sony/lg/samsung seem to be the top brands in this regard.

i'm sort of at a tricky decision point. my basement can support a 77-85 inch panel, but we are still 3-4 years away from finishing it to be a truer home theater. so...do i stick with my crappy 50 inch Vizio from 2008 until that happens, or do I go big and make that a main TV area in the house, even though the basement overall is still kind of sub optimal?

i'm thinking it probably makes more sense to hold out until the high end 8k panels are more affordable. i know 8k is non-existent, but i hear the upscaling in the sony models, for instance, is pretty fierce.

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