01-15-2025, 10:47 AM
(01-15-2025, 10:17 AM)Replying to JC-DAWG83(01-15-2025, 09:36 AM)Replying to viper2369(01-14-2025, 10:13 AM)Replying to JC-DAWG83(01-14-2025, 09:55 AM)Replying to dncdawg(01-14-2025, 09:43 AM)Replying to JC-DAWG83 Question for all knowing HOTD. What is the difference in a "good" tv and a cheap Walmart tv? The cheap ones seem to have all the same specs as the more expensive tvs. What makes the more expensive tvs worth the extra money.
Walmart has a 55" tv for something like $240. It is a smart tv with Roku and other things already installed. I don't know the brand but it isn't one I've ever heard of. I know price differences aren't generally 100% ripoff so there has to be some difference in the tvs.
Just the quality of the display, really. The walmart tv is probably a UHD LED, and the pixels are effectively always on, even when they are black, which gives them a backlit effect, leaving light shadows on blacks and dark colors and colors aren't as deep and defined. The OLED displays actually shut off black pixels and have deeper, more defined colors. If you're not a hardcore tv watcher and have great eyesite, then a the cheaper models are fine, but if you want a cinematic effect with and maybe watch movies, many of which have ridiculously dark scenes these days, the newer OLED technology is the way to go. They also have smoother frame rates and are less likely to pixelate images when watching older shows or movies.
All this sounds like a bunch of technical bullshit until you actually look at the two tvs next to each other displaying the same thing.
Thanks, that actually makes sense. There is an actual technology difference. I have noticed the expensive tvs in Costco have stupid clear pictures. I know some of that is due to the images on them being very pure digital streams that are used for display purposes and the pictures when the tvs get hooked to actual broadcast or streaming won't be as good.
That said, I am amazed at how cheap you can buy a tv now. Walmart has a 43" HD tv for $148 and a 32" tv for $88. At those prices, if the tvs last 5 years they are a pretty good value. I have a friend who is an early adapter type when it comes to entertainment. He bought one of the first plasma HD tvs about 20 or more years ago. I think it was 40 or 48 inches, we thought it was humongous. I remember the picture was really clear but that thing would heat the room with the heat coming off of the screen. I think he paid something like $5000 for that tv and it lasted about 5 or 6 years before the screen burned out. He didn't like it when I told him he had spent $1000 a year or about $90 a month on that tv.
Electronics are probably the thing that has become more affordable over time than anything else we buy.
As DNC said, more about technology. Think of it like PCs back in the late 90s and early 2000s. You could get one with an Intel processor or a Celeron processor. Both worked just fine for most, but the Celeron was much cheaper. It was all about processing power, how much they can process at once, same with TVs.
That said, there's so much that goes into image quality that most users aren't going to get the full effect of the higher end TVs. For example, most stream content these days. The compression used to format the data is going to effect the image quality. I think most are familiar with HD for years on TV broadcasts was 720P, and then things like Blu-ray discs were 1080P. There was a noticeable difference. And now with 4K, it's not really 4K. The data file size for 4K is so much bigger than standard HD that streaming services will compress and remove a lot of the raw data to be able to transfer it, thus effecting the quality.
So getting something like 4K images still is only truly achieved with a 4K disc, player, and quality cables that are local. That or you setup a media server to stream from at your home. A 4K movie is generally more than twice the data size as Blue-Ray.
I think the super high quality pictures you see in Costco are a result of Costco putting a local product on the screens. You never see them have a game or tv show on the tvs in the store. It is always some beautiful nature scene or drone footage of dramatic landscapes.
I'm OK with "good enough" when it comes to picture quality. As long as I can see the ball and read the numbers in a football game I'm fine with the picture. With movies and shows, as long as I can recognize the actors and the scenery looks right, I'm fine with that.
They definitely do. And I'm the same when it comes to sports. Though I had to watch a game in standard definition a few years ago and I was down right mad about it, lol. We done got spoiled.
That said, as a tech nerd/geek, I still like to have some quality stuff. I've never gotten to the high end side of a setup, but I do appreciate a quality experience when watching TV. I still buy a few discs a year to have a hard copy. For example, I have streamed Top Gun: Maverick and also watched the 4K disc in my Xbox, there's a noticeable difference in the viewing quality.
I ever hit that big jackpot (that I never buy a ticket for), I'll spring for something like a Kaleidoscope 4K home theater setup.
