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Official Black Friday TVs (HD & 4K) Discussion Thread

Brad

By Brad
in 2017

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wittenlover

wittenlover

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The Kohl's ad is out, and there is a Samsung 55" for $499. From all appearances, the UN55KU6290 is a 4K Smart 2016 model, has 120 motion rate, and HDR with local dimming. There are competing models out there that are cheaper right now, like the TCL brand with HDR for $450. Keep in mind that TCL sells a Dolbyvision model as well, and this is not it! For the uninformed if you hear HDR, it generally means the open-source HDR10 standard. This is not a bad thing at all because most of the HDR content is from HDR10. The Xbox One will only pass HDR10, so do not buy one thinking you can watch Dolbyvision 4K movies as it will display them in HDR10 only. This is still a great thing! I own both formats, so feel free to ask me if you need help.

 

While I am not crazy happy on the price of the Samsung, you are getting a brand name, HDR and $150 Kohl's cash back. I would buy a 4K player like the one pictured since it should bring affordability into the living room this year and $30 back to boot. 

 

Yeah the Kohl's cash (if you shop at Kohl's enough) makes that Samsung deal a decent one. Otherwise, it's just OK, compared with what else is out there. Nice start to the big ads, though. 

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jaymacfla

jaymacfla

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Yeah the Kohl's cash (if you shop at Kohl's enough) makes that Samsung deal a decent one. Otherwise, it's just OK, compared with what else is out there. Nice start to the big ads, though. 

That was also my sentiment. We see in store cash as a way to leverage your buying power. Those shoppers on the outside of the deal see this as a marketing ploy and are already panning it on other sites.

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flyjar

flyjar

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I want to get a nice 42-55" TV for the bedroom ($500+), then I need the sound bar ($200+), then I need replace the furniture ($500+)because the armoire that was holding the TV won't hold the new one.  It's a vicious cycle and unfortunately one that must be done.

 

Pnambic - I love that chart I show my friends that all the time when they want to throw their money away on a super high end TV and they sit miles away from the TV to see any of the benefits.

 

4K

I generally link to this chart every year, but it's one of the best tools I've found to determine what the best size and resolution TV is for a particular room.

 

But basically, you need to be sitting no further than 5 - 6 ft from a 55inch screen in order for the human eye (assuming 20/20 vision) can even begin discerning the difference between 4K and 1080P.

 

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wittenlover

wittenlover

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There exist steel legs that mount to the VESA mounting holes on the back of the TV that could fix the "my current TV table/stand/etc won't hold the new one" problem. The legs run on average about $20, from what I've found. Just a thought. (I'll likely be getting a set myself soon, as my current TV stand has the weight capability but not the width to hold most of the 50-55" TVs, since their legs are often out near the edges of the TV.)

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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The Kohl's ad is out, and there is a Samsung 55" for $499. From all appearances, the UN55KU6290 is a 4K Smart 2016 model, has 120 motion rate, and HDR with local dimming. There are competing models out there that are cheaper right now, like the TCL brand with HDR for $450. Keep in mind that TCL sells a Dolbyvision model as well, and this is not it! For the uninformed if you hear HDR, it generally means the open-source HDR10 standard. This is not a bad thing at all because most of the HDR content is from HDR10. The Xbox One will only pass HDR10, so do not buy one thinking you can watch Dolbyvision 4K movies as it will display them in HDR10 only. This is still a great thing! I own both formats, so feel free to ask me if you need help.

 

While I am not crazy happy on the price of the Samsung, you are getting a brand name, HDR and $150 Kohl's cash back. I would buy a 4K player like the one pictured since it should bring affordability into the living room this year and $30 back to boot. 

 

 

Quick reminder of the quasi-marketing-speak these manufacturer's use. 

The box says 120 motion rate.  But the TV is actually almost certainly a 60 Hz unit. 

http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/fake-refresh-rates-samsung-clear-motion-rate-vs-sony-motionflow-vs-lg-trumotion

 

 

RTings tested a model that appears to be the next step up from this one here.  Their results indicate conclusively that the unit is 60 Hz.  So if you already have a legitimate 120 Hz 1080P TV, this might actually be a step down in performance for the vast majority of your media.  RTings gave it a solid score for gaming due to pretty low lag times, but just a so-so rating for regular mixed viewing.

 

The good:

 - nice design / small bezels

 - picture quality isn't great, but its good

 - contrast is good

 - brightness is good

 - black uniformity and color gradient are both good

 - color accuracy is really quite good out of the box and calibrates great if you make the effort

 - it scaled 480p, 720p, 1080p and 4k really well

 - no image retention

 - handled blur well

 - good on input lag

 - fully supports both 1080p AND 4k up to 60 Hz with full 4:4:4 Chroma subsampling (mainly helpful if using as a monitor)

 - good smart features

 

 

The bad:

 - no local dimming ability

 - poor gray uniformity

 - really poor viewing from an angle

 - poor color gamut (which is a huge reason for going to 4K w/ HDR in the first place)

 - very poor color volume

 - very poor image flicker (some people are more susceptible to this than others)

 - very poor motion interpolation

 - poor sound (but really, I've never been impressed with the sound quality from any flat screen TV ever)

 

 

Comparing the 6290 and the 6300 on Samsung's own website, they appear pretty much the same with the following highlights:

http://www.samsung.com/us/compare/#category/N0002201/products/UN55MU6290FXZA,UN55MU6300FXZA

 - they have the same inputs (3 HDMI, 1 Component, 1 Composite-sorta, 2 USB)

 - they have the same dimensions (except for possibly different stands)

 - they have the same power consumption

 - they have the same sound

 - they both stream

 - 6290 doesn't have the "ultra clear panel" that reportedly brightens colors, enhances contrast and reduces reflection while the 6300 does.

 - 6290 doesn't have voice recognition in the remote while the 6300 does (GARY...BUSEY!!!)

 

Point being the RTings review on the 6300 is probably a reliable look on the 6290 as well.

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jaymacfla

jaymacfla

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Quick reminder of the quasi-marketing-speak these manufacturer's use. 

The box says 120 motion rate.  But the TV is actually almost certainly a 60 Hz unit. 

This is edited with the ladies in mind. After this statement, all they hear is ,blah, blah, blah. I constantly have to remind myself that I am talking from the moon to my wife and she has an antiquated earpiece that she conveniently turns down on me. My wife doesn't care about the same exciting things that you and I pour over. She wants to know that in my opinion is it a good deal and is it better than the one we now have. I constantly tell her that she can watch a show in HD, but she only knows the channel lineup in SD which does not scale perfectly on Comcast, even though it clearly says you can click a yellow block to watch in HD.

 

In other words, ladies seem to want a TV that works and has lifetime, hallmark and a remote that is easy to use without getting closed captioning showing up if you hit the wrong button.

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wittenlover

wittenlover

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This is edited with the ladies in mind. After this statement, all they hear is ,blah, blah, blah. I constantly have to remind myself that I am talking from the moon to my wife and she has an antiquated earpiece that she conveniently turns down on me. My wife doesn't care about the same exciting things that you and I pour over. She wants to know that in my opinion is it a good deal and is it better than the one we now have. I constantly tell her that she can watch a show in HD, but she only knows the channel lineup in SD which does not scale perfectly on Comcast, even though it clearly says you can click a yellow block to watch in HD.

 

In other words, ladies seem to want a TV that works and has lifetime, hallmark and a remote that is easy to use without getting closed captioning showing up if you hit the wrong button.

 

Tread carefully my friend... :fryingpan This engineer lady is completely into the tech speak and definitely appreciates the details you guys lay out. And, for the vast majority of the time, the only way you find my TV tuned to either Lifetime or Hallmark is if my cats stepped on the remote. LOL More often than not, you'll find it on How It's Made, American Pickers, Mecum/Barrett-Jackson auto auctions, or sports of some ilk or another. (Yeah, I know... I'm a rare breed. Ha.) 

 

Admittedly, though, I find that most of the women I come in contact with are more like what you describe. (Funnily enough, though, you actually described my Dad to a "T" on the tech side, minus the Lifetime/Hallmark part. He's a channel surfer of the highest order - gives me whiplash!)

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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Tread carefully my friend... :fryingpan This engineer lady is completely into the tech speak and definitely appreciates the details you guys lay out. And, for the vast majority of the time, the only way you find my TV tuned to either Lifetime or Hallmark is if my cats stepped on the remote. LOL More often than not, you'll find it on How It's Made, American Pickers, Mecum/Barrett-Jackson auto auctions, or sports of some ilk or another. (Yeah, I know... I'm a rare breed. Ha.) 

 

Admittedly, though, I find that most of the women I come in contact with are more like what you describe. (Funnily enough, though, you actually described my Dad to a "T" on the tech side, minus the Lifetime/Hallmark part. He's a channel surfer of the highest order - gives me whiplash!)

 

:D 

 

Hey, Jay, I think this requires flowers.  hehehe

 

My current boss is 10 years younger than me, 3 times smarter, and has never owned anything other than Mustang GTs.  Not sure what she watched on TV though...

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Steph5309

Steph5309

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I fall under the Hallmark/Lifetime watching category :giggle: so I'm looking for some advice. My husband and sons have been researching TV's for the past couple months and have me talked into a new one. They are getting the new Xbox One X and feel that since it is 4K capable, they also need a 4K TV. After reading several articles and reviews on the 4K TV's, I'm wondering if they need one or if an Ultra HD would work just as well?

 

My husband prefers the Vizio brand (we've have 3 and have never had any issues with them) and the boys want a 65"-70". I saw Sam's Club has a 70" Vizio XLED E-series on their November 11th sale but I can't quite tell if that is a good model or not. One review said it was not good for gaming, but then another one said it worked great. I looked online and can't quite tell the difference between the P, M and E-series (other than price). Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated!

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wittenlover

wittenlover

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I fall under the Hallmark/Lifetime watching category :giggle: so I'm looking for some advice. My husband and sons have been researching TV's for the past couple months and have me talked into a new one. They are getting the new Xbox One X and feel that since it is 4K capable, they also need a 4K TV. After reading several articles and reviews on the 4K TV's, I'm wondering if they need one or if an Ultra HD would work just as well?

 

My husband prefers the Vizio brand (we've have 3 and have never had any issues with them) and the boys want a 65"-70". I saw Sam's Club has a 70" Vizio XLED E-series on their November 11th sale but I can't quite tell if that is a good model or not. One review said it was not good for gaming, but then another one said it worked great. I looked online and can't quite tell the difference between the P, M and E-series (other than price). Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated!

 

It's all good. Nothing wrong with falling in that category - as you can see from our profiles, jaymacfla and I have been around this place a while. I just wanted to give him some grief. :) 

 

Vizio: Difference between E/M/P - think Economy/Mid-range/Premium (roughly) and that will explain the price differential. The P-series is Vizio's top of the line stuff, while the E series is their "budget" end, leaving the M series roughly in the middle. The E series is still pretty decent for most things. If your hubby and kids are gamers, our trusted sources over at rtings.com give the E-series set an 8/10 for gaming. 

 

Here's what they say in their conclusions with regard to gaming: 

Overall video gaming

"The Vizio E series 2017 does great as a gaming TV. There's very little trail behind moving objects, and input lag is low enough for casual gamers."

 

HDR Gaming:

"The Vizio E does well with HDR games. The performance doesn't suffer while displaying HDR which is good. Unfortunately, though, the actual HDR capabilities are quite limited."

 

If your guys want to dig into the nitty gritty details (and they haven't already discovered the Rtings site), you can send them here: 

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/vizio/e-series-2017

 

Happy shopping!

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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Thanks wittenlover! I discovered the rtings site after reading through this thread and it appears it would be a quality purchase for what they want. I'll be showing the guys tonight. Thanks again!

 

Blow their minds with your new-found HDTV expertise!  :)

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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Looking for some reviews from our experts on the Samsung 65" (model 65MU6290) that is in the Target Ad just posted. I'm shopping for a nice 65", and prefer a Samsung. Thoughts?

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using GottaDEAL mobile app

 

 

See my comment above for the 55 inch version in the Kohl's ad as the comments remain mostly the same.  The MU is this years version of last year's KU.  And the 6290 basically appears to lack the "ultra clear panel" and the voice responsive remote of the 6300 model.

Boiled down, it looks like an OK TV, but it doesn't have a wide color gamut, so while it can display all the 4K pixels, it's not going to be able to show them in the better color that HDR is designed for and its a 60 Hz TV.  I'm not excited about it for $850 though.  We'll see what the other ads bring.

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chpr10j

chpr10j

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See my comment above for the 55 inch version in the Kohl's ad as the comments remain mostly the same. The MU is this years version of last year's KU. And the 6290 basically appears to lack the "ultra clear panel" and the voice responsive remote of the 6300 model.

Boiled down, it looks like an OK TV, but it doesn't have a wide color gamut, so while it can display all the 4K pixels, it's not going to be able to show them in the better color that HDR is designed for and its a 60 Hz TV. I'm not excited about it for $850 though. We'll see what the other ads bring.

Thank you! I'm also hoping for more options.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using GottaDEAL mobile app

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wittenlover

wittenlover

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See my comment above for the 55 inch version in the Kohl's ad as the comments remain mostly the same.  The MU is this years version of last year's KU.  And the 6290 basically appears to lack the "ultra clear panel" and the voice responsive remote of the 6300 model.

Boiled down, it looks like an OK TV, but it doesn't have a wide color gamut, so while it can display all the 4K pixels, it's not going to be able to show them in the better color that HDR is designed for and its a 60 Hz TV.  I'm not excited about it for $850 though.  We'll see what the other ads bring.

 

Yeah that price for that model doesn't do much for me, either. Still waiting to see what other options will show up in other ads. 

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6000

6000

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Microcenter has a 65" LG 4K Smart LED for $699.  Don't know much about the set, but it's available now for that price.  You have to live near a store as this is in-store only and limit of 1/customer.

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jaymacfla

jaymacfla

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I want the 4K HDR... Why does it not want to come out to play...

That is a premium feature. I like the TCLP605/7 (I merged two models, 605 is Best Buy) 55" with both Dolby vision and HDR10. Sadly, I have not seen it featured but then again it could be a lightning deal or Newegg sale item. I just need to dive deeper into this. $600 is the lowest so far according to Camel Camel Camel. The 55S405 has HDR10 only and is not as feature packed, but is commonly sold for $400. Another TV to look out for is a 55" VIZIO that has XLED plus. M series only, as the E series is a serious downgrade in quality that is immediately apparent when doing side by side comparisons.

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cjdav

cjdav

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I'm looking for a 50 - 55" for my son.  My top issues are that I must be able to purchase online, and, then, price ($350 max - ok if after kohls cash if i go that route).   He works and goes to school (and has a small apartment), so, I'm not necessarily concerned with 4k or gaming capabilities.  I'll check the products chart and review the ads, but, I would also very much appreciate any input, suggestions, etc. from all of you. Thank you!

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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I want the 4K HDR... Why does it not want to come out to play...

 

Because Sony and Toshiba and LG and Samsung (and everyone else) refuse to play nicely and agree on a single standard.

 

It was VHS/Beta in the '80's and BluRay/HDDVD in the '00's.

Now it's HDR10/Dolby Vision/HLG/Advanced HDR/whatever else comes up in the late 2010's...

 

I guessed right with VHS.  Guessed wrong with HDDVD.  Done guessing - I'll let them waste their millions/billions fighting it out before I spend an extra dime on it this time.

 

To really get something that will blow your socks off like HD first did in comparison to the old SD sets, you need to have media that's in the cool new formats and you need to have hardware that supports displaying that new media in all its amazing glory.  That means 4K media in HDR and WCG (and some other cool new things) and a TV that supports the proper HDR format and also not only supports WCG but does a good job of it and all those other things like color depth and viewing angles and uniformity and brightness and, and and...  It sure seems like there are a LOT of TVs out there right now with 4K plastered all over the boxes, but they don't support WCG (Wide Color Gamut).  What a waste that would be to buy a 4K TV that only allows you to get a sliver of the benefit of the (already somewhat limited) 4K experience.  The 4K pixels only count if you're close enough to discern them, which most people are not - the Wide Color Gamut would potentially be awe-inspiring from all viewing distances.  There are so many other things that make a great TV besides "4K" that people are just not really aware of.  RTings.com does a fine job of educating.

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Bopeep

Bopeep

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Not really a TV question, but I didn't want to start a new thread and figured this was as good a place as any...

 

What do you know about projectors?  My son wants one to set up outdoor movies for his kids.  I don't want to spend a lot of money, because I know my son and he will never do it. LOL.   There are a few in the ads, but when I try to find them online to research them, I'm coming up empty.  In your opinions, are they worth it at all?  What should I be looking for?

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jesusluvu

jesusluvu

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Not really a TV question, but I didn't want to start a new thread and figured this was as good a place as any...

 

What do you know about projectors?  My son wants one to set up outdoor movies for his kids.  I don't want to spend a lot of money, because I know my son and he will never do it. LOL.   There are a few in the ads, but when I try to find them online to research them, I'm coming up empty.  In your opinions, are they worth it at all?  What should I be looking for?

Not much I wanted one for my man cave, but since the kids turned it into the playroom/hang out I have not taken the time to research

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