Basically looking for a large TV with good picture quality and at a decent price. I've been looking at Sony KDL75850C but reviews said it has trouble with motion. UN75H7150 last years model and the price went up recently. Vizio 80", the smaller sized screens have gotten good reviews, I can't find any on the 80". Also starting to look into some Sharp sets but don't know anything about Sharp TVs. All of my current sets are Samsung Plasmas, living room is PN64D8000.
Main uses for the TV:
*NCAA/NFL
*Blu-Ray
*Vudu
Don't care for:
*3D
*Smart Features
*Video games
*Upscaling
*4K (Not against it, but don't need it)
*Netflix/Hulu or any other streaming that has lower PQ
Plasma sets are too small for our living room (20'x18') and OLED is too expensive right now. Wanting to buy in the next month or two. The TV has to be wall mounted.
Seating distance: 10-13'
Lighting: Controlled
Windows: Large windows, 2 big skylights, sliding glass door. (black out curtains on all)
Other components: Denon 3313ci, DirecTV, Oppo 103D (on order),
Audio: NHT Speakers (2) Classic Fours, (1)ThreeC (4) Classic Threes, Reaction Audio Echo 18
Budget: Wife wanted to stay around $2,000. Nothing in that price range was close to the PQ we are use to. Not wanting to go over 5,000, wife doesn't want to go that high but I figure we'll use it for at least the next 5 years. Obviously, cheaper is better.
Thanks for any help and advice. This will be my first LED TV.
If you are a Costco member, they have the 80" Vizio for under $4K. They offer a 90 day refund so you can check it out. I recently bough a 70" Vizio and could not be happier. I view at 12-13 feet and it is big enough. If you can get by a little smaller, you can cut your price way down by going with a 70" set. Heck, you could buy two of them.
Controlled lighting, 10-13' distance, no burning desire for 4k, sports and 24p sources, wall mounted, offboard streaming, spoiled by plasma?
You need to slide over to the Digital Projectors Under $3000 forum.
I never thought I'd have a projector outside a dedicated theater, but the inherent motion rendition of LCD/LED was a deal killer at any price. I'll troll Craigslist for a CRT and sit closer before that day comes. For less than $1200, I now have a Benq 1075 DLP and a 120" Silver Ticket screen at 12 feet. Is it equal to the plasma now in the bedroom? No, but its sins are sins of omission, smoothed over by 120".
I agree that plasma is hard to beat. I have a 50" Panasonic plasma in my TV room. I had a 6-7 year old 47" LCD downstairs and replaced it with the 70" mainly because of size. The black levels are dramatically improved in the newer set and approaches but does not equal the plasma. Motion blur has not been a problem for me on either TV. I am not a gamer. Properly adjusted, an LCD can look a lot like a plasma providing you do not overdo the contrast and brightness to make them look cartoonish. Sure, I would take plasma over LCD but that is no longer an option. Do to lighting problems and aesthetics, projection is not an option for most people.
So you don't get a juttery picture with sports? My in-laws have a (Sony) LCD TV and Football looks awful on it. My old roommate has a (Samsung) 55" LCD and the same thing, it actually hurt my eyes and head watching it. He had a Super Bowl party and it was torture, even bothered my wifes eyes.
No more suggestions? Wife shot down the projector idea. Still looking for something that hides the screen in the wall, like a built in trim piece with a roll up screen behind it....
Google "Samsung UN75HU8550 sale", being among last year's top of the line and good reviews, it is now showing up under $3k, one place has it for $2600 with no tax and free shipping. Seems like a better deal than the lower end 2015 Samsung 75 imo.
What do you guys think of this model and it being sold under $3k? I am thinking of upgrading and wanted to stay under $3k.
Are any of these on line places selling them as grey market with no US warranty or are you safe buying any place in US with a credit card? These prices seem pretty low as Samsung still has this model on their site for about double the price.
ps...I had a projector in my last house in the family room and ran the HD cable under the baseboards and fished it up the wall, I had a trim carpenter use crown molding around the screen and painted it blended into the room well when screen was up. The PJ was shelf mounted high on the back wall. My wife is picky and it had to pass the look good test . My current house has a theater room with a 75 inch TV and a 120 inch screen that drops down in front of the TV when watching sports, you cannot beat a PJ for sports. I have an Epson 5030UBe which is wireless and the picture is fantastic for sports. It was an early model and I had some connection issues but Epson replaced the setup and the new one is working well but you have to sync the sound with the pic with your receiver. The new wireless models probably have the bugs worked out.
I'd say you just get your wife to pick the set since based on what you have typed, she seems to be the decision maker for this. I'm not trying to sound mean but it seems every single thing has to pass this "wife test" for you so why not just let her do the research and find something? At best you can then be the one who signs off on it being OK and at worst you just go with what your wife says.
Regarding a projector setup, they can easily look nice if you get a retractable screen and you can easily hide the cords in the ceiling. Given your situation though I'd say to just stick with the TV. First, I'm going to guess your living room is light coloured which isn't good for projectors. Second, if your wife is as picky as it seems based on what you have said, getting the pj setup to look nice would probably end up costing more than you'd pay for the TV. If you did go that route then I'd say you keep the current plasma and just use the projector for certain things.
I am a big projector fan and nothing beats a projector for movie watching. Watching sports on the big screen is nice except for the fact they are usually heavily compressed which can look junky and for me at east it isn't worth the bulb life.
One thing to keep in mind is the bigger the screen the more likely the worse the uniformity will be so you will probably have more obvious clouding and other issues when the screen is black/dark. For this reason I would definitely go check out the new Vizio 75" and 80" M series sets since they are fald from what I gather. Plus, they should have a black level closer to what you're used to.
Hopefully you will find something for your wife to approve of.
Bought the 2014 UN75HU8550 and added the new SEK-3500 OCB for a total of $4200 and the 2015 OCB really made a huge difference saving about $5K over what it was last year and the 78JS9500.
The OCB created a PQ depth especially in dark scenes that were not there before it's implementation on it, or my 65F8000, 60D8000. With movies the impact is close to 3D without glasses and 4K is amazing. I had buyer's remorse as the PQ was very little difference from my 2 yr old F8000 until I added the OCB and WoW what a difference! Colors are also richer/deeper, especially reds which I always felt Samsung lacked compared to my Sony XBR's of the past but no longer, Samsung finally got the colors right.
If your not going to add the Sek-3500 OCB don't buy the UN75HU8550 but with it the difference is dramatic, especially with film's become new. Viewed Star Trek Into the Dark and Underworld, When the Earth Stood Still and it was 3D like and times as if you could reach into the scenes and when the Ship crashes into the city in Star Trek it was so damn realistic as to be amazing and I'd seen this movie several times previously with no such impact.
Bang for Buck depends greatly on how many bucks one has to budget but going from wanting a 78JS9500 at $10K to a 75HU8550 with OCB and UHD Video Pack for under $4300 total is a winner for me. Vizio is not a panel I aim for at any size until the infinite release of an R series but then 65" aint gonna cut it.
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