Does anyone know about televisions?

[grommet]

Hello

I need to get a new television. I have an LCD television. It will not show black, only gray so if I am listening to something while I want to sleep like rain or white noise it still is bright. I need a television that has black. I do not understand about Oled and Qled and the other things. I looked at tv’s on Amazon and people seem to say that Qled has blacks instead of the grey from LCD. If you know about televisions could you please tell me which kind I can get that is also lower cost? I think the picture on my current $400 LCD Amazon television is wonderful, something new with as good a picture but also can make the bright grey go away when the screen is supposed to be black would be what I want. I also need to get a larger one, 65 or 75 inch. If I know what to look for I could do that and then find the price I can afford and get it on Amazon.

I am also finding information about Refresh rate, the newer larger version of my old tv says it is 60hz. What difference does that make and what about dimming zones?

 

[grommet]

You could drape a blackout curtain on it. Just try not to cover speaker slots.

Thank you but that is not an option for me. I will watch tv then when it is time to sleep I will put on white noise or rain. I could not watch, then get up to put on a drape, then go back to bed. That would wake me up instead of helping me to fall asleep.

 

[Judge]

When I want to know something about television technology, I'll look it up relative to only a single source: Digital Trends, presented by their Senior Editor Caleb Denison often on YouTube.

Better still, ask a specific television question through a search engine and add Caleb Denison's name. Just going to the Digital Trends website can answer any number of such questions as well:

Caleb Denison | Senior Editor, Digital Trends

Digital Trends Senior Editor Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched expertise in AV and entertainment technology.

www.digitaltrends.com

One thing for sure, if you are fixated on OLED or QLED televisions, expect to pay much more for rich, accurate blacks. But then with flatscreen tvs I've always thought a good picture has become even more subjective compared to old CRTs.

Lower cost tvs may offer acceptable images, (TCL/Hisense) but may also lack features or have tradeoffs like nominal to poor audio output.

 

[AndyFBlues]

If you go into the menu settings on your current TV, try lowering the brightness some. If that is set too high, black will look gray.

 

[grommet]

When I want to know something about television technology, I'll look it up relative to only a single source: Digital Trends, presented by their Senior Editor Caleb Denison often on YouTube.

Better still, ask a specific television question through a search engine and add Caleb Denison's name. Just going to the Digital Trends website can answer any number of such questions as well:

Caleb Denison | Senior Editor, Digital Trends

Digital Trends Senior Editor Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched expertise in AV and entertainment technology.

www.digitaltrends.com

One thing for sure, if you are fixated on OLED or QLED televisions, expect to pay much more for rich, accurate blacks. But then with flatscreen tvs I've always thought a good picture has become even more subjective compared to old CRTs.

Lower cost tvs may offer acceptable images, (TCL/Hisense) but may also lack features or have tradeoffs like nominal to poor audio output.

Thank you very much. I think this will answer my questions. I will watch the video and use him as a reference.

 

[grommet]

When I want to know something about television technology, I'll look it up relative to only a single source: Digital Trends, presented by their Senior Editor Caleb Denison often on YouTube.

Better still, ask a specific television question through a search engine and add Caleb Denison's name. Just going to the Digital Trends website can answer any number of such questions as well:

Caleb Denison | Senior Editor, Digital Trends

Digital Trends Senior Editor Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched expertise in AV and entertainment technology.

www.digitaltrends.com

One thing for sure, if you are fixated on OLED or QLED televisions, expect to pay much more for rich, accurate blacks. But then with flatscreen tvs I've always thought a good picture has become even more subjective compared to old CRTs.

Lower cost tvs may offer acceptable images, (TCL/Hisense) but may also lack features or have tradeoffs like nominal to poor audio output.

I watched the video and I feel overwhelmed but also I found some information I had not thought about - power consumption. One tv was 300 watts per hour. That would be too expensive. I think I may stay with the tv I have but if I do get another I found an Amazon brand that is about 90 watts per hour and has better blacks.

Thank you for the video, I would not have known about it and I think it taught me what I needed to know.

 

[MNAus]

So basically regular LED TVs work by having a big backlight made of LED light sources which an LCD "screen" filters for certain colours to create a picture. It's not 100% able to filter all light, so the black screen of no content is actually grey. There are versions with more and more smaller back light zones (mini LED), but essentially the point is the same. The TV assumes that any second now lots of crazy interesting stuff will need the light, so the backlight stays on and you get those grey blacks.

OLED has individual pixel lighting, which means if a pixel isn't needed, it's turned off. That means black is no light emitted. It's jet black. Most recent phones have OLED, so you'll recognise that inky blackness.

QLED is back to the old backlight and screen idea, just with a fancy layer in between that provides better colours.

Finally Q-OLED is a mix of the two, which means an OLED with brighter colours, but they are crazy new and expensive.

TO cut a long story short. Regular LED = grey blacks. Mini-LED is better blacks. OLED, black is proper black.

 

[grommet]

So basically regular LED TVs work by having a big backlight made of LED light sources which an LCD "screen" filters for certain colours to create a picture. It's not 100% able to filter all light, so the black screen of no content is actually grey. There are versions with more and more smaller back light zones (mini LED), but essentially the point is the same. The TV assumes that any second now lots of crazy interesting stuff will need the light, so the backlight stays on and you get those grey blacks.

OLED has individual pixel lighting, which means if a pixel isn't needed, it's turned off. That means black is no light emitted. It's jet black. Most recent phones have OLED, so you'll recognise that inky blackness.

QLED is back to the old backlight and screen idea, just with a fancy layer in between that provides better colours.

Finally Q-OLED is a mix of the two, which means an OLED with brighter colours, but they are crazy new and expensive.

TO cut a long story short. Regular LED = grey blacks. Mini-LED is better blacks. OLED, black is proper black.

Thank you, this is what I needed to know. It seems the televisions with actual black are too expensive for me. I may have to wait. I remember how poor the old televisions were and the first time I saw high-definition and it was $8,000. I think my tv is as good as that one and it was less than $400. The detail is amazing and I like the colors. The grey instead of black bothers me but it seems it would cost $2,000 for a television without that problem. That is not reasonable for me.

 

[Judge]

I still have a technological prejudice of OLED technology, based on the potential for screen "burn-in".
Something supposedly remedied with the most recent models...but that's the one thing about widescreen tvs that concerns me the most, apart from the "dirty screen effect". I can't stand any visual "glitches" I see on a widescreen tv produced through wear and tear.

Though in general to achieve the richest blacks means OLED (LG) or QLED (Samsung) technology that comes at a premium price with the top line models they offer for usually in the four-figure $ range.

I continue to be amused by companies like TCL and Hisense which specialize in more affodable models in larger sized screens that seem to put out a pretty good picture. Though audio quality lags a bit with them. Frankly the deep blacks of most Samsung tvs seem acceptable to me personally.

Higher refresh rates +120Hz offer a "clearer" picture with higher frame rates (+30) but it usually translates into the "soap opera effect", depending on manual settings you can choose to use or ignore. A lot of people seem to hate the soap opera effect, though I though it improved the picture for fast-moving sports like football. My last Samsung tv had all those bells and whistles, but when it got "dirty screen effect" I couldn't live with it, and replaced it with a newer, but far less elaborate model. My main concern was finding another tv that still defaulted to FHD (Full High Definition) at 1080p rather than 4K. Only because I have an extensive DVD collection that in general looks poor shown on virtually any 4K television. So I have to be satisfied with FHD that usually can't be found in screen sizes larger than 40 to 43 inches. I'd love to find one much larger, but they no longer make them any larger for FHD.

Sometimes I think manufacturers are playing some kind of "shell game" with consumers, relative to the complexity of their alleged technology and features offered. That it's all designed to get customers to constantly upscale their expectations and demands, just to get people to buy more expensive sets that may not offer a truly "better" picture than one half the price. It's a type of technology that I simply don't enjoy talking about.

 

[grommet]

I still have a technological prejudice of OLED technology, based on the potential for screen "burn-in".
Something supposedly remedied with the most recent models...but that's the one thing about widescreen tvs that concerns me the most, apart from the "dirty screen effect". I can't stand any visual "glitches" I see on a widescreen tv produced through wear and tear.

Though in general to achieve the richest blacks means OLED (LG) or QLED (Samsung) technology that comes at a premium price with the top line models they offer for usually in the four-figure $ range.

I continue to be amused by companies like TCL and Hisense which specialize in more affodable models in larger sized screens that seem to put out a pretty good picture. Though audio quality lags a bit with them. Frankly the deep blacks of most Samsung tvs seem acceptable to me personally.

Higher refresh rates +120Hz offer a "clearer" picture with higher frame rates (+30) but it usually translates into the "soap opera effect", depending on manual settings you can choose to use or ignore. A lot of people seem to hate the soap opera effect, though I though it improved the picture for fast-moving sports like football. My last Samsung tv had all those bells and whistles, but when it got "dirty screen effect" I couldn't live with it, and replaced it with a newer, but far less elaborate model. My main concern was finding another tv that still defaulted to FHD (Full High Definition) at 1080p rather than 4K. Only because I have an extensive DVD collection that in general looks poor shown on virtually any 4K television. So I have to be satisfied with FHD that usually can't be found in screen sizes larger than 40 to 43 inches. I'd love to find one much larger, but they no longer make them any larger for FHD.

Sometimes I think manufacturers are playing some kind of "shell game" with consumers, relative to the complexity of their alleged technology and features offered. That it's all designed to get customers to constantly upscale their expectations and demands, just to get people to buy more expensive sets that may not offer a truly "better" picture than one half the price. It's a type of technology that I simply don't enjoy talking about.

That was hard for me to follow. I used ChatGPT and it explained “ soap opera effect”. I have that on my current tv and for some things I think it is wonderful. It would take me out of a movie but for some other things I like how it looks and it is a setting I can change. The upscaling on older movies or historic documentary footage can make it seem live. Watching “Dirty Harry” I saw the reflection of the white picket fence on the polished shoe tops of Andy Robinson’s character. Remarkable.

I think I understand what you mean about a “shell game” because I think the picture on my television is amazing, stunning. It cost about $400 with shipping. I just need less grey and black instead. The newer version of my Amazon Fire tv (a feature I never use at all) .. the reviewers are saying it has much better black. It is QLED, I think. I think when I get a new tv I should get that one and it will be good though I found some others that might be good too but I have made big mistake on things before and lost money. I want something that has lots of good reviews.

 

[Judge]

That was hard for me to follow. I used ChatGPT and it explained “ soap opera effect”. I have that on my current tv and for some things I think it is wonderful. It would take me out of a movie but for some other things I like how it looks and it is a setting I can change. The upscaling on older movies or historic documentary footage can make it seem live. Watching “Dirty Harry” I saw the reflection of the white picket fence on the polished shoe tops of Andy Robinson’s character. Remarkable.

I think I understand what you mean about a “shell game” because I think the picture on my television is amazing, stunning. It cost about $400 with shipping. I just need less grey and black instead. The newer version of my Amazon Fire tv (a feature I never use at all) .. the reviewers are saying it has much better black. It is QLED, I think. I think when I get a new tv I should get that one and it will be good though I found some others that might be good too but I have made big mistake on things before and lost money. I want something that has lots of good reviews.

Interesting to read about the positive reviews of your Amazon tv set.(I'm still wondering who actually manufactures it.) Tech radar is a decent source as a rule....interesting reading. Nice to see a 4k set at that price range though.

Although it sounds like the real deep blacks you want are the kind normally found in the four-figure range of sets like LG, Samsung and Sony.

Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED review: one of the best-featured cheap 4K TVs you can buy

A budget TV that doesn't fail to surprise

www.techradar.com

 

[grommet]

Interesting to read about the positive reviews of your Amazon tv set.(I'm still wondering who actually manufactures it.) Tech radar is a decent source as a rule....interesting reading. Nice to see a 4k set at that price range though.

Although it sounds like the real deep blacks you want are the kind normally found in the four-figure range of sets like LG, Samsung and Sony.

Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED review: one of the best-featured cheap 4K TVs you can buy

A budget TV that doesn't fail to surprise

www.techradar.com

I think you are right and the OLED give the blacks that would be nice but I cannot pay for that. People are saying the Amazon QLED has very good blacks and much better than it had before. I am overwhelmed reading so many details today and watching videos. I am going to take a break.

 

[Judge]

I am overwhelmed reading so many details today and watching videos. I am going to take a break.

In the final analysis, IMO most of it comes down to simply whether or not you like the overall picture, and perhaps if it has the features you are looking for.

Features that matter the most to me:

* 1080p resolution, so I can still watch my dvd's upconverted to 720 to 1080p.
* To have an ethernet port on the back of the set.
* Good quality audio and stereo separation with graphic equalizer settings
* No less than 3 HDMI ports
(My existing tv has only two, causing me to use composite video for my DVD player.)

 

[grommet]

I always have my tv on, watching different things. I just want the picture to look good and for it to be watchable at night. The grey instead of black comes out at night and is the problem. I will keep thinking about it but I think the newer version of the Amazon Fire TV I have is the one I should get. I notice the problem with the grey every night and it bothers me so I wonder if I should get a new tv.

I wish I could afford the OLED televisions, they sound wonderful. Oh that made me think of sound. I always use wireless earbuds so I do not bother my neighbors so the speaker on a television .. I do not use them.

 

[Judge]

I always have my tv on, watching different things. I just want the picture to look good and for it to be watchable at night. The grey instead of black comes out at night and is the problem. I will keep thinking about it but I think the newer version of the Amazon Fire TV I have is the one I should get. I notice the problem with the grey every night and it bothers me so I wonder if I should get a new tv.

I wish I could afford the OLED televisions, they sound wonderful. Oh that made me think of sound. I always use wireless earbuds so I do not bother my neighbors so the speaker on a television .. I do not use them.

I'm not familiar with that particular tv, but I'm guessing it probably has some rather sophisticated controls relative to contrast, brightness, color and other things. Have you really tried to change the present settings? I'm just wondering that there may be some settings that might counter that grey effect.

With my system I have all the image settings corresponding to cable, DVD and Roku slightly different from one another. It took a while to get things to where I wanted them. Got smart and actually wrote all three settings down on paper in case I lose the settings for some reason.

 

[Gerontius]

Rather than replace the television, could you turn the set off at night & use a whitenoise machine?

 

[grommet]

I'm not familiar with that particular tv, but I'm guessing it probably has some rather sophisticated controls relative to contrast, brightness, color and other things. Have you really tried to change the present settings? I'm just wondering that there may be some settings that might counter that grey effect.

With my system I have all the image settings corresponding to cable, DVD and Roku slightly different from one another. It took a while to get things to where I wanted them. Got smart and actually wrote all three settings down on paper in case I lose the settings for some reason.

I have tried all the settings. I turn the backlight, brightness and contrast to zero. This helps but the backlight still lights the room.

 

[grommet]

Rather than replace the television, could you turn the set off at night & use a whitenoise machine?

No. That is something different. I also watch programs in bed I can fall asleep to.

 

[Judge]

I have tried all the settings. I turn the backlight, brightness and contrast to zero. This helps but the backlight still lights the room.

Too bad.

I just recall on my last Samsung having an insane number of ways to play around with the picture. Far less with my latest model, but also less fancy features in general. But at 1080p I can still watch my DVDs.

I often wonder how many consumers actually mess around with all those complex things to alter with menus inside of menus. I bet few actually bother. Most people want simplicity and something set up nicely at default. With my tastes I found turning any widescreen tv on for the first time meant a lot of time to change it. But eventually there's only so much you can do.