4K TV Primer and best for low in viewing needs in 55" range

nosuchreality

Well-known member
So thinking of upgrading our TV.  Our needs our super simple.  We watch the occasional kitschy Big Bang Theory sitcom, Disney Channel, young family movies. 

Very little if any sports any more, and occasional grown up movie.

Looking for a 55 inch range 4K TV.  Haven't gone through the research yet and don't feel like parsing the Visio (have several that we love) 'effective' 120 refresh and all the other jargon popping up.

Anybody care to create a bullet point Primer?
 
TCL is good?

I see a bunch of these but my wife doesn?t trust it.

Most likely TCL makes all the displays for the known brand names.
 
The best overall TV to get is the LG OLED 55, the C8 or B8 (2017 model). The best budget TV is the TCL 6 series, at <$600 over the past few days for the 55, not sure what deals are currently running.

My brother and I got our dad the B8 and he's had no problems, no complaints. I have an older TCL in one of the less used rooms in the house and it works fine. Based on what the op posted for limited use, just save your money and get the TCL, BUT if you watch a lot of TV in bright conditions go for the OLED.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
TCL is good?

I see a bunch of these but my wife doesn?t trust it.

Most likely TCL makes all the displays for the known brand names.
TCL is the biggest manufacturer in the world.  They build panels for Samsung and share plants with Samsung.  RTings.com has them pretty highly rated.  Generally speaking, they are the best sub $1000 option.  Roku is the preferred built in Smart TV interface.

That said, I went to see them in the store and there's one thing that bothers me.  It's a feature that gives better brights and darks by using an array of lights in the back.  Unfortunately, it has a vignette effect causing the 4 corners to be slightly dimmer than the rest of the screen.  This is because the corners have the least amount of backlight.

Go to the store, if the corners don't bother you, the get it.  Target has 20% off today, I believe.
If the corners don't bother you.
 
I've been reading RTings.com and they do recommend TCL as a good value buy. I like the Roku platform because it supports many of the streaming apps which not all Smart TVs do and you don't have to buy a separate device.

That was on of the reasons I was looking at Vizio because Chromecast is built in.

Maybe I need to buy a Samsung sticker and put it over the TCL badge so my wife won't notice. :)
 
spootieho said:
irvinehomeowner said:
TCL is good?

I see a bunch of these but my wife doesn?t trust it.

Most likely TCL makes all the displays for the known brand names.
TCL is the biggest manufacturer in the world.  They build panels for Samsung and share plants with Samsung.  RTings.com has them pretty highly rated.  Generally speaking, they are the best sub $1000 option.  Roku is the preferred built in Smart TV interface.

That said, I went to see them in the store and there's one thing that bothers me.  It's a feature that gives better brights and darks by using an array of lights in the back.  Unfortunately, it has a vignette effect causing the 4 corners to be slightly dimmer than the rest of the screen.  This is because the corners have the least amount of backlight.

Go to the store, if the corners don't bother you, the get it.  Target has 20% off today, I believe.
If the corners don't bother you.

Most technologies (phone, TVs, etc.)  are made in the same factories...the differences are 1) QC and 2) follow-up/warranty.  OEM makers like Vizio and TCL are usually less strict about QC while Sony/Samsungs have higher standards.    Warranty and repairs are also a thing.
https://www.consumerreports.org/lcd-led-oled-tvs/why-it-doesnt-always-pay-to-buy-a-cheap-tv/

FYI...you should buy with a CC.  Most CCs add an extra year to the warranty.  We had a TV that went bad like 18 months after we bought it....beyond manufacturer warranty but within CC warranty.  Got a check to buy another TV after they figured out they couldn't repair it.
 
The Target deal worked out if you got the 20% coupon from BF and bought 10% off Target GCs.  Best deal to be had if someone wanted one of the better budget TVs.

@IHO my wife uses the chromecast on the Vizio, works great.
 
Irvinecommuter said:
spootieho said:
irvinehomeowner said:
TCL is good?

I see a bunch of these but my wife doesn?t trust it.

Most likely TCL makes all the displays for the known brand names.
TCL is the biggest manufacturer in the world.  They build panels for Samsung and share plants with Samsung.  RTings.com has them pretty highly rated.  Generally speaking, they are the best sub $1000 option.  Roku is the preferred built in Smart TV interface.

That said, I went to see them in the store and there's one thing that bothers me.  It's a feature that gives better brights and darks by using an array of lights in the back.  Unfortunately, it has a vignette effect causing the 4 corners to be slightly dimmer than the rest of the screen.  This is because the corners have the least amount of backlight.

Go to the store, if the corners don't bother you, the get it.  Target has 20% off today, I believe.
If the corners don't bother you.

Most technologies (phone, TVs, etc.)  are made in the same factories...the differences are 1) QC and 2) follow-up/warranty.  OEM makers like Vizio and TCL are usually less strict about QC while Sony/Samsungs have higher standards.    Warranty and repairs are also a thing.
https://www.consumerreports.org/lcd-led-oled-tvs/why-it-doesnt-always-pay-to-buy-a-cheap-tv/

FYI...you should buy with a CC.  Most CCs add an extra year to the warranty.  We had a TV that went bad like 18 months after we bought it....beyond manufacturer warranty but within CC warranty.  Got a check to buy another TV after they figured out they couldn't repair it.

Based in what I hear and experienced, you will more likely have a problem with something going wrong with the Samsung over the TCL.  (Boards that go out, input boxes going out...)

With TCL, I hear that you just dont want banding issues when you first set it up.
 
I've seen comments on other forums that TCL replaced or fixed their TVs quickly, I'm sure there are others who say they were horrible, but its strange to see people post something that went well, most comments are usually things that go wrong, so TCL is doing something right. 

I think most users who buy TCLs won't look for banding, and if a buyer starts looking for issues, well, I don't think any TV out there will be 100% perfect. 
 
I don't own TCL TV's but have installed a couple at friend's house (wall mount).  They have yet to break and the user interface is really nice and simple to use.

Personally I'm more interested in TV's with better up-scaling capabilities, since most of the content that I watch sourced from SK is still 720P (~1.4 GB per episode) or 1080P (2-3 GB per episode).
 
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