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mac_h8r1
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:44 am

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
ludi wrote:
mac_h8r1 wrote:
Are you forced to connect any TV to WiFi? If you never join it to the network, there's no datapath.

In a setting where family or roommates roam freely, the only guarantee is to have the function absent or permanently disabled.

Faraday cage? :lol:

Or MAC filter on your wireless network. If you wanna get real fancy and have the equipment/know-how, let it connect but give it a bad gateway or local honeypot/non-fowarding DNS to capture traffic and identify what it's trying to reach out on the net. Then block those services or dump DNS. Totally depends how far you're willing to go.
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SecretSquirrel
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:17 am

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
You’ll need WiFi I’d you want to use your phone as a controller. I assume most don’t have BT?


Which I have no plan to do. I suppose I could see using an old phone as a dedicated platform for controlling things but, in general, this idea of "every device must have an app" doesn't resonate with me. I don't have a phone welded to my hand, and I am quite happy with the clearly labeled physical buttons on the remote sitting on the coffee table. Plus, in my scenario, the only button I probably ever need is the power button. I don't know when the last time I did anything other the power on/off on our current TV -- probably when I was mucking around in the service menus when I replaced the DLP chip in it.

I'm not so worried about the TV "spying on me" as much as I don't like knowing how it is spying on me. With the majority of my TV viewing being from streaming services, someone else already knows pretty much everything I watch. I know what is going on there. Likewise with the Echo Dot -- though it is up in the theater, so there isn't much for it to snoop on most of the time. These are scenarios where the snooping is understood and integral to the basic functioning of the product. A TV? Not so much. Sure, if I'm using a streaming app on the TV, then I would expect it to be talking to the streaming provider. That's fundamental to its function. I don't expect it to be reporting back every time I change the channel on the OTA tuner, or mute or change the volume.

I certainly have no plans to leave the TV connected to the network either physically, or via wifi. I'll block the MAC addresses at the firewall. Will I go so far as to remove the wifi antenna? Not sure on that one, yet.

--SS
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Wed Nov 28, 2018 9:16 am

If you don't care about viewing angle and sound quality, the TCL 6 series is hard to beat on picture quality for the price.
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Wed Nov 28, 2018 5:48 pm

cjcerny wrote:
If you don't care about viewing angle and sound quality, the TCL 6 series is hard to beat on picture quality for the price.


Sound quality -- don't care.
Viewing angle -- not huge, but looking at the TCL 6 review, its bad enough that I'd notice it in my living room as the drop at 30 degrees was pretty severe.

--SS
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Thu Nov 29, 2018 11:58 am

SecretSquirrel wrote:
cjcerny wrote:
If you don't care about viewing angle and sound quality, the TCL 6 series is hard to beat on picture quality for the price.


Sound quality -- don't care.
Viewing angle -- not huge, but looking at the TCL 6 review, its bad enough that I'd notice it in my living room as the drop at 30 degrees was pretty severe.

--SS

Also agree on sound. My sound comes from my Denon receiver, not from the TV.

But viewing angle is one of the (many) things I love about my OLED TV. There really isn't a drop-off from any reasonable angle at all.
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Sun Dec 02, 2018 3:42 pm

Well, things hit a snag, of sorts. I happened to go upstairs an measure the nook in which the upstairs TV will sit. The 67" DLP I have downstairs won't fit in the nook. Its about 3 inches too wide. The way the TV is made, the screen would sit out about two inches in front of the the walls, but the back of the TV would be flush with the wall. However, the wife nixed that. Soooo, the downstairs TV will stay downstairs until such time as it gets replaced.

Its a lot harder to justify a $2500 OLED for upstairs, which is the secondary watching location and will not get nearly as much use as downstairs. When we were at Costco this weekend, I took the opportunity to look at the various LCD TVs, paying attention to off angle viewing. It's one of the few things I would trust to be a real representation of performance in the over-saturated, surface of the sun bright settings of a TV on display at Costco. I looked very carefully at the 65" Samsung that I started this thread with. While there is a drop in brightness, it is not nearly as bad as reviews might suggest. It didn't seem any worse than my current DLP. Nor was the color shift really noticeable. What's more, since this will be upstairs, the normal watching positions are much more likely to be at low angles.

I'm probably going to have until after Christmas to decide as I won't really have time before then anyway. For tax reasons, I pulled forward a sizeable amount of next year's income into 2018, so I get to start on the upstairs view area a bit sooner than I was expecting. Ordered a pair of Fluance XL7F speakers and a Marantz NR1508 receiver yesterday. The speakers will go upstairs. Not sure where the receiver will go. We may play musical chairs with the receivers.

If next year turns out particularly well, I might sell the downstairs DLP and put an OLED in there. Standing in front of the 65" LG display model in Costco was certainly impressive. the black levels -- oh my.

--SS
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Mon Dec 03, 2018 10:30 am

SecretSquirrel wrote:
If next year turns out particularly well, I might sell the downstairs DLP and put an OLED in there. Standing in front of the 65" LG display model in Costco was certainly impressive. the black levels -- oh my.

--SS

Now try that in a darkened room. It's downright fantastic. No soft gray backgrounds to be seen.
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Sat Jan 05, 2019 11:25 pm

Just to circle back with an update....

I ended up getting an 65" LG C8 OLED. Picked up one from Craigslist. Spent an extra $200 to get the C8 over the C7.

I actually wish they have made the screen just a bit thicker so there's not so much flex in the panel. :o

Picture looks great though I'm coming from a DLP, which has really good black levels compared to a LCD, so the difference isn't quite as stark. I haven't really had time to play with the various display settings as I got it this afternoon and have been busy with other stuff around the house.

I haven't connected it to my network and may not. Since I can't get Kodi as an app on it, I still need a separate player for any of the media on the network. If I'm going to have a separate player, I'll just use it for everything. So it's entirely possible the TV will just stay permanently on HMDI1

One other comment. For the first time in a long time, something just works. Without doing anything at all, the LG magic remote seems to control my Amazon Fire TV. At least the play/pause buttons work. I haven't tried the d-pad yet, as I've been watching the Cowboys/Seahawks game.

--SS
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:55 am

Congratulations!

For reference, if I remember correctly, you have to enable HDR per video source as it's off by default (for maximum compatibility). So if you have an HDR-compatible source, you'll want to go look for that.
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:54 pm

Buub wrote:
Congratulations!

For reference, if I remember correctly, you have to enable HDR per video source as it's off by default (for maximum compatibility). So if you have an HDR-compatible source, you'll want to go look for that.


You are correct. There is also an "apply to all inputs" tick box when you make a settings change. Not sure what it does or doesn't do. Since I have exactly one input I'm using, it doesn't really matter much.

Moved the "behemoth" DLP upstairs and I'm already thinking I need to start planning to get another LG. Not because of the picture though. While it's certainly better, it's not "blow your socks off" better than my DLP is -- for 1080p, SDR content -- which is what gets watched 99.9% of the time. But boy is the thing thin. It is actually very disconcerting to look at the LG from the side, much less try and get it out of the box, or something like that. :D

--SS
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:59 pm

SecretSquirrel wrote:
Moved the "behemoth" DLP upstairs and I'm already thinking I need to start planning to get another LG. Not because of the picture though. While it's certainly better, it's not "blow your socks off" better than my DLP is -- for 1080p, SDR content -- which is what gets watched 99.9% of the time.

Wait until you get some 4K HDR content on there with some nice color depth!

SecretSquirrel wrote:
But boy is the thing thin. It is actually very disconcerting to look at the LG from the side, much less try and get it out of the box, or something like that. :D

--SS

No doubt! It's unnaturally thin. Pretty startling the first time you see it.

For what it's worth, I don't think a non-OLED display is going to be that thin, because you need to put the backlights behind the LCD. The OLED pannel lights itself, so there is nothing behind it.
 
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Tue Jan 22, 2019 8:08 am

I finally finished getting the new TV all set up downstairs.

Image

The TV is on a wall mount, with a max 21" extension. It has a slight downward angle to keep the sunlight from the window above it from causing problem. The cabling is in an in-wall conduit for a very clean install. We actually bought the TV stand prior to getting the new TV. The speakers just fit between the stand and the wall. I had to screw 3/4" "feet" into the mounts on the bottom of the speakers so they would clean the molding, otherwise they would rub on both the molding and the edge of the TV stand.

The new Marantz receiver just fits on the shelf. Height-wise, it's fine. It's the depth that is almost an issue. The power cord and speaker cables bump into the back of the cabinet, but it fits. After running room correction, things sound pretty good. The bass may be a bit strong, but it's still tight and not at all boomy. I was worried that the nook, in which they now sit, work cause weird resonances. There are definitely some strong nulls in the room, but they have always been there, and the room correction does a great job of making sure they aren't anywhere in the normal viewing positions.

All in all, I'm happy and the wife is happy, so all is good.
 
Usacomp2k3
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Re: Recommend a 65" TV -- the less SMART the better

Tue Jan 22, 2019 10:35 am

Nice clean install.

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