We will finally buy a TV

[bennetn 293]

Fire TV provides everythign I need.  All the smart and streaming stuff covered, replaces my telly remote and if I really want to I can watch live German TV and it has no problem streaming wirelessly UHD from my NAS.

 

[Krieg 15,103]

About DVDs in HD TVs, yes it is true that they do not look great, but they do not look that bad either.  The problem is people make mistakes that make things worse and sometimes it is really really bad.   The basics:

 

- Connect the DVD player via HDMI and avoid analog connections

- Avoid double upscaling.  i.e. DVD Player upscales to 1080p and TV upscales to 4K.  Let only one device do the upscaling.

- Get a TV or DVD player with decent upscaling algorithms

 

And the complicated one, RIP your DVD into a digital file and check if that makes a difference.  Some TVs have better upscaling algorithms for media files.

 

[dstanners 1,562]

Ok, I should start by admitting, I currently watch TV on a 32" Samsung HD sitting about 3 to 4 meters from the screen. It's about 12 years old and does the job for me, largely because I don't want a big screen dominating the lounge. I do have some large Yamaha speakers which I connect up to the TV if I want to get more of a "cinema" experience (ok, it's all relative). Anyway, the point of the post...I am considering putting a second screen downstairs in an entertainment room, and I had been wondering about a projector rather than a TV (again, so as not to have a large screen dominating a wall), and none of you have mentioned projectors so far. Are they now considered obsolete? The room I am considering can be made dark. I assume projectors come with a few HDMI inputs for TV, DVDs, games consoles?

 

[sluzup 271]

1 hour ago, LeonG said:

 

I haven't had a TV subscription in years.  I have been using zattoo and joyn.  They have some free channels but some are locked unless you subscribe.  They both have free shows available to watch on demand. I don't even have a smart TV, just using chromecast to watch through my phone.

Thanks Leon.  I haven't really used Joyn yet so want to look in more detail. I think with the limited amount of free stuff there and the ARD and ZDF apps, that is more than enough for me.

[Gambatte 980]

OP here.

Been so long without watching a TV, that most of what's posted in this thread is new to me.

 

Say I buy tomorrow a modern smart TV, why would I need a streaming device on top of it, doesn't the TV itself already receive sufficient stuff?

Right now we pay for Amazon Prime, and DAZN. Not in the horizon to buy anything more, tough you never now.

[Krieg 15,103]

43 minutes ago, dstanners said:

Ok, I should start by admitting, I currently watch TV on a 32" Samsung HD sitting about 3 to 4 meters from the screen. It's about 12 years old and does the job for me, largely because I don't want a big screen dominating the lounge. I do have some large Yamaha speakers which I connect up to the TV if I want to get more of a "cinema" experience (ok, it's all relative). Anyway, the point of the post...I am considering putting a second screen downstairs in an entertainment room, and I had been wondering about a projector rather than a TV (again, so as not to have a large screen dominating a wall), and none of you have mentioned projectors so far. Are they now considered obsolete? The room I am considering can be made dark. I assume projectors come with a few HDMI inputs for TV, DVDs, games consoles?

 

 

We have one in our cellar in an entertainment room.   If you can darken the room it is a good option.  Ours is like 10 years old and only 1080p, I've considered to replace it with a 4K one, but they are not cheap.  Considering we use it nowadays only for one or two movies a week I guess it will still last long.  Many years ago the problem with projectors was the lamp use to break fast and they were expensive but that's not the case nowadays, ours is still in the original lamp and in former time we used it a lot.

 

Important is to never buy a cheap no name projector and to check the NATIVE resolution.  The cheap chinese ones are sold as 1080p projectors because they can play 1080p sources but they are only 360p or 480p native.

 

And yes, you can connect any sort sort of device via HDMI.  Some modern ones include their own OS and have apps for Netflix, etc.  We use ours paired to an Amazon Fire TV device.   They are good as well for gaming as long as you are not playing anything competitive because they have some minor lag.

[kaffeemitmilch 1,295]

3 minutes ago, Gambatte said:

OP here.

Been so long without watching a TV, that most of what's posted in this thread is new to me.

 

Say I buy tomorrow a modern smart TV, why would I need a streaming device on top of it, doesn't the TV itself already receive sufficient stuff?

Right now we pay for Amazon Prime, and DAZN. Not in the horizon to buy anything more, tough you never now.

With a brand new TV, you likely need nothing else. I would recommend a soundbar at least, or if you want, tedious surround speakers, because they tend to include terrible speakers in the TV.

[bennetn 293]

1 hour ago, Gambatte said:

OP here.

Been so long without watching a TV, that most of what's posted in this thread is new to me.

 

Say I buy tomorrow a modern smart TV, why would I need a streaming device on top of it, doesn't the TV itself already receive sufficient stuff?

Right now we pay for Amazon Prime, and DAZN. Not in the horizon to buy anything more, tough you never now.

 

You probably don't.  Depends on the manufacturer and what smart system they are using, some are propriatery so you're limited to what applications they make available for your particular TV and others are google play (android) which is less limited but not always the best option for a TV but, generally, they will all run the big apps like Netflix.

Wireless support may not be inbuilt and may required a dongle of some sort especially if you want to run a 5gz connection.

[kiplette 8,802]

2 hours ago, dstanners said:

I am considering putting a second screen downstairs in an entertainment room, and I had been wondering about a projector rather than a TV

 

Brilliant plan. We have friends with that set up and it's excellent fun.

[Gambatte 980]

I just did the cardboard test with my 12yr old daughter.

We both concluded anything bigger than 50" would be too big.

[kiplette 8,802]

Wow. No TV to a 50". That would be a big change. Maybe try the other way and see what looks too small, then you'll have a range. All this stuff about viewing distance and pixels is all very well, but if you are not used to such a thing, you might want to be like me and Panda and start small!

[theGman 3,520]

On 10/01/2022, 11:32:39, MikeMelga said:

Forget furniture, the future is a TV wall. Every house will have a big wall reserved for the TV. Mine is hanging on the wall.

TVs will keep growing in size. Right now 55-65" is standard, but 80-100" will be standard in 5-7 years. No furniture for that, you will need to hang it on the wall.

 

On 10/01/2022, 16:19:01, MikeMelga said:

It will become unavoidable as TVs grow. I bet architects will start designing living rooms around "the TV wall".

 

Of course this all matters if you love movies or live sports. It's a completely different immersion from 55" to >65".

 

I'll take that bet. But although that may happen in some of the richer american suburbs and the like, I don't think that's the way things are going for the rest of the world. People are watching TV on their phones, tablets, laptops & computers. People will of course still be watching on big TV's, but they will continue to be items purchased and then placed wherever. We have foldable screens now already anyhow.

Also, space is at a premium. Housing aint cheap.

[fraufruit 42,670]

21 minutes ago, theGman said:

But although that may happen in some of the richer american suburbs

 

Not the richest. Most new builds. TV's simply go on the wall now. It's only a matter of wiring and making a double wall where the cables are hidden. No big cost. 

[Gambatte 980]

We've been watching DAZN on the laptop.

 

If I buy a TV tomorrow, can I be sure I can watch DAZN straight on it, without having to connect anything else? Or does it have the DAZN app installed?

If the DAZN app is not preinstalled, can i just install it myself same as one would do on any smartphone?

Or do all smart TV now have a browser and one can watch anything from it? 

[El Jeffo 42,135]

I can't vouch for other smart TVs, but the 55" Samsung I bought for Christmas 2019 is regularly updated with the latest apps OTA. I could buy a Sky ticket or DAZN pass for any show I wanted to watch. Likewise Disney+, which was only launched last year.

 

I'm not sure if it has a web browser, because I'm old enough to remember the WebTV debacle and never want to go there.

[theGman 3,520]

1 hour ago, fraufruit said:

 

Not the richest. Most new builds. TV's simply go on the wall now. It's only a matter of wiring and making a double wall where the cables are hidden. No big cost. 

 

Hmm, maybe my misunderstanding Mike. That's kind of my point. TV's are already super thin. You just hang them on a wall, wherever you want. Foldable TV's could even come out of a soundbar, tv cabinet, wall or ceiling. I thought that Mike was talking about having one wall in each apartment/house which was dedicated to one huge fixed tv installation or something.

[fraufruit 42,670]

Nope. It's all about hiding the cables from where I sit. Of course, if an electric outlet is all that is needed, it can be mounted on the wall behind the TV. But people connect extra speakers and all sorts to their tv's these days.

[theGman 3,520]

I have only one cable. The power cable. Everything else is wireless/bluetooth, speakers included.

[Gambatte 980]

OK we finally bough one, last night, online, at 350€ probably the least expensive 50", HomeX UA50FT5505 Fire TV from 2021.

After the cardboard test, where we all 3 voted for the same size, didn't even bother to visit a real store.

 

I look forward to receive it, set it up, and watch sport (winter Olympics soon, Serie A (guess which country I'm from), Champions League, Marathons, Cycling, Skiing, pity no Sumo (guess where I lived before)) or films (actually I don't even like films, but that's just me, still ok if it's family time) or docus (Nature, politics, history, tech and science, can't stand art) with the family.

 

[kaffeemitmilch 1,295]

40 minutes ago, Gambatte said:

OK we finally bough one, last night, online, at 350€ probably the least expensive 50", HomeX UA50FT5505 Fire TV from 2021.

After the cardboard test, where we all 3 voted for the same size, didn't even bother to visit a real store.

 

I look forward to receive it, set it up, and watch sport (winter Olympics soon, Serie A (guess which country I'm from), Champions League, Marathons, Cycling, Skiing, pity no Sumo (guess where I lived before)) or films (actually I don't even like films, but that's just me, still ok if it's family time) or docus (Nature, politics, history, tech and science, can't stand art) with the family.

 

Let us know how it is. I suspect, especially at that price, you will want external speakers (at least a soundbar). The plastic case will likely vibrate. This was the case with our 350 euro Samsung. The soundbar was about 160 and did the job nicely.