Suggestions for smart tv 23 December 2022 at 8:19PM edited 23 December 2022 at 9:15PM in Techie Stuff 20 replies 709 views

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With the "sales" coming up, and I'm getting fed up with the advancing dementia  of my Samsung TV, my thoughts turn towards acquiring a new one.

Now my needs are simple (to me)

1) must have a centre pedestal not props at the ends (or it will fall off my stand)

2) screen 60-65"

3) must have satellite tuner and terrestrial tuner

4) Android so I can run VLC & MPV players- I must have (aye ess ess) subtitles playing properly, and the ability to play DTS/FLAC H265 HEVC etc. (Yes I can simply use the pc, but that rather defeats the point of shelling out for a smart TV, I could get a monitor instead)

Any suggestions?

Obviously Samsung & LG are out of the equation, you can sideload android apps onto an LG, but no-one seems to have MPV running on one.

EDIT: Budget? Hoping for £1000 ish in "the sales", could stretch to £1500 if it is really brilliant and has a 5+ year guarantee.

tonygold

Avoid the like of Currys. Go speak and view TV's with the people that know what they are talking about. I use Richer Sounds because their knowledge and customer service is excellent. You also get a 6 year warranty in with the price (parts and labour).

Alternatively, John Lewis have a 5 year warranty in with the price but their sales staff (in my opinion) are not as well versed as the Richer Sounds ones, but they do have a good selection on display.

ballyblack

1) must have a centre pedestal not props at the ends (or it will fall off my stand)

Most have props at end......buy a pedestal stand


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YDLBP6D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Chickereeeee

ballyblack said:

1) must have a centre pedestal not props at the ends (or it will fall off my stand)

Most have props at end......buy a pedestal stand


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YDLBP6D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

That's what I did. Otherwise it restricts your choice too much.

MilesT6060842

Have you considered keeping the current TV, but connecting an Android based streaming media player instead, may be more likely to hit all your requirements and will be very much cheaper?  And/or Chromecast, Firestick, or Roku, or a "media PC" (wireless remote/keyboard(?

This area keeps evolving so quickly at the moment that waiting for a better TV may be better.  That said although UK doesn't have to comply, EU regulations on power consumption for TVs is restricting availability of larger high end models--some bigger 4k models available globally don't comply, and apparently none of the emerging 8k models comply.  (EU needs a bit of a rethink on this, as physics is likely to mean that it will be practically impossible to make a large 8k screen that complies).

(Roku is not android and made to a price, no "parental" controls but does cover all the streaming services and a lot more.  Personally I refreshed an old TV with theirtop of the range Streambar which is a combined soundbar and streaming device).

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MilesT6060842 said:

Have you considered keeping the current TV, but connecting an Android based streaming media player instead, may be more likely to hit all your requirements and will be very much cheaper?  And/or Chromecast, Firestick, or Roku, or a "media PC" (wireless remote/keyboard(?

This area keeps evolving so quickly at the moment that waiting for a better TV may be better.  That said although UK doesn't have to comply, EU regulations on power consumption for TVs is restricting availability of larger high end models--some bigger 4k models available globally don't comply, and apparently none of the emerging 8k models comply.  (EU needs a bit of a rethink on this, as physics is likely to mean that it will be practically impossible to make a large 8k screen that complies).

(Roku is not android and made to a price, no "parental" controls but does cover all the streaming services and a lot more.  Personally I refreshed an old TV with theirtop of the range Streambar which is a combined soundbar and streaming device).

My ##@# Samsung has several intermittent faults

When I connect through the HDMIs, occasionally the sound drops out for an annoying fraction of a second, maybe once every hour. Winding back it plays fine.

Sometimes picture & sound drop out and flash back on every couple of minutes. It might go weeks without doing it, but when this happens I have to switch the TV off at the mains to fix it.

The ARC stopped working a while ago too.

I tried HDMI 2.1 certified cables, even though I peg everything to 1080p and it still does it. It may have a bit of guarantee left, if it stayed broken I could report it....

I wanted android as I can install VLC & MVP then play media off the NAS & main PC with external subtitles.

So I need a new TV really...

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ballyblack said:

1) must have a centre pedestal not props at the ends (or it will fall off my stand)

Most have props at end......buy a pedestal stand


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YDLBP6D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I didn't know about these, so obvious to just have a pedestal with a VESA mount now you've shown me

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I had a look at Richer Sounds, wanting a satellite tuner seems to be the big problem.

They have the LG OLEDs, a bit expensive in 65" but the 55" is affordable (I wanted bigger than current so I feel I have upgraded ) I could live with 55" I suppose (the 65 is £500 more)

I'm a bit worried by OLED, apparently leaving it on the same channel for hours a day as background is not considered normal and will end up burning the logo into the screen by wearing out the OLEDs in a short time (well I consider 6 months a very short time )

I'm experimenting with PLEX as a media server at the moment, LG support PLEX.

TELLIT01

ballyblack said:

1) must have a centre pedestal not props at the ends (or it will fall off my stand)

Most have props at end......buy a pedestal stand


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YDLBP6D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I didn't know such things existed, and did end up buying a TV I didn't really want as it was one of the few with a pedestal stand.  I'll know better next time the TV dies.

Neil49

Chickereeeee said:

ballyblack said:

1) must have a centre pedestal not props at the ends (or it will fall off my stand)

Most have props at end......buy a pedestal stand


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YDLBP6D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

That's what I did. Otherwise it restricts your choice too much.

I did the same and the swivel feature on mine is really useful. It also means that I can use it on any future TV that I buy. 

getmore4less

I went with a floor stand as it gives more options with cabinets and speaker/soundbar placement without a wall mount.

I got this one with the 2 extra shelves but they are clamp so can be removed no holes.
The base slides under existing cabinet

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087F3F6JX


Our Panasonic OLED has significant image retention on the red
BBC news is worst and YouTube has not done it any good(OH uses pause a lot).