50" Budget TV recommendation needed. $400 ?

Discussion in 'Geek Cave: Computers, Tablets, HT, Phones, Games' started by bixby, May 31, 2022.

  1. bixby

    bixby Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,988
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Colorado
    I watch OTA live TV & Plex via a Roku box on my 720p Samsung 43" Plasma which is getting a bit dim. I know an LED is not going to be as sweet as the Plasmas I have owned, but I need more brightness than my 10 yr old can deliver.

    Rtings says get the Hisense U6G, one youtuber says Samsung is grossly overpriced, for anything but a flagship. CR well aside from some car reliability data has always been effed up.

    I would like to plug my PC in to view JRiver, but do no gaming, and mainly watch live OTA TV & the occasional football game (70%), some streamed content from Plex via Roku, and the occasional Blu Ray. I am not certain I would even use whatever smart content interface is used. I want reliable and decent picture quality. Multichannel audio, dolby atmos, etc will not be used. Simple stereo setup via an optical out is all I need for audio.

    My thought is get another Samsung. They seem reliable from what I can gather. And I suppose who I buy from might be important for the first 14-30 days. My gut tells me do not buy into the youtube hype on Hisense or TCL and go with Samsung like the TU7000 series @ $350 fro the 50 inch.

    Any thoughts or recs?
     
  2. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,474
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Hisense is a good brand. THough, honestly, I believe you should save the little extra and spring for the U8G. You get the good HDR, Freesync, 120hz, and other goodies for...$600. So $200 more.
     
  3. bixby

    bixby Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,988
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Colorado
    thanks for the vote on the hisense. I am a bit confused, what will HDR do for OTA live tv content which is 70% of viewing?

    WTH is freesync for, games?, as stated, I do not play games. 120hz ? again is this for games? o_O

    Still trying to learn what all this tech is for, since I have not been tv shopping in 10 years.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2022
  4. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2,463
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NW Pennsylvania
    I put a smaller TCL in my shop last year and am extremely happy with it - I purchased the google version of the tv and use its built-in plex app and ditched the roku (it also has built-in chromecast, which I haven't used). The only thing this TV does is OTA (sports and local news) and plex... it does exactly what I need it to do.

    That said, I'm not critically watching TV in the shop like I do in the house... so I can't really speak to black levels, absolute picture quality, etc. In the house I have a couple samsung LED's. When they die I plan to replace them with LG/Sony OLED's.
     
  5. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    10,961
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    If 55in is acceptable, I can vouch for the LG 55UP75. MSRP is higher than USD400, but it's an older unit that's frequently on sale from what I can see.

    Some numbbutt cracked the screen on our Samsung VA TV and family meant to get something cheap as a temporary solution while Samsung was sourcing the correct replacement part. They ended up going a wee bit more expensive than I expected, but I honestly don't miss the Samsung much.

    Yep, Samsung charges a premium for their name lately it seems.

    The LG TV is capped at 60Hz and has mediocre contrast ratio that's typical of more affordable IPS panels (and this is an IPS by the by), but the UX is really simple and is snappy enough not to warrant bother. If not gaming competitively, should be fine. Pixel response time is the main issue I have with this display though; UFO test is smeared and unintelligible, but it's not that much worse than the Samsung VA despite being half the refresh rate, and it feels more fluid besides.

    Maximum brightness is going to be a disappointment if you're viewing in a well-lit room, but honestly it works well enough around twilight hours or evening. The Cinema picture mode is pleasantly warm for late night viewing while managing not to make objects on-screen look unnatural. The speakers are on the bad end of harsh, but I'm sure that can be worked around for most here, haha.

    Build quality is where they saved pennies; if you're not going to be VESA mounting this, be sure to take care not to bump into the thing because the stock feet are flimsier than paper mache it feels like.
     
  6. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,474
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Don't worry about freesync, that is for gaming. 120hz helps with motion clarity on TV. Hdr is also good for movies and TV, and helps with normal non-hdr viewing basically, the difference between brights and blacks get a lot more apparent and life-like with hdr and the technology they use for that enhances standard TV viewing as well.
     
  7. OldDude04

    OldDude04 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    May 17, 2018
    Likes Received:
    1,452
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    United States

    Agreed, I have the 55" U8G and it is surprisingly good for a budget television. And at $600 I think it's a steal.
     
  8. bixby

    bixby Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,988
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Colorado
    Well, it seems I have to wait a bit. ATSC 3.0 is on one station here in Denver and the majors should hopefully be
    broadcasting by fall.

    It appears the U7 series from Hisense will have an ATSC 3.0 tuner, but a whopping $800 starting point.. Seems like OTA watchers get the shaft on the new U6H @ $580. It is odd that manufacturers are keeping ATSC away from their entry level tiers, seeing how 80% of the US will have ATSC 3.0 by beginning of 2023.

    More time to save up for what will undoubtedly be double my current budget.

    EDIT: Can I assume these tvs with optical audio out can support simple 2 channel stereo pcm as well as whatever multi-channel and dolby stuff they may support?
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2022
  9. RestoredSparda

    RestoredSparda Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2021
    Likes Received:
    3,638
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    WI
    Yes, even my incredibly cheap Vizio supports stereo pcm. However, tvs vary wildly on what multichannel audio they support over optical. Newer tvs support lossless multichannel, but only over HDMI.
     

Share This Page