Need TV Buying Advice

I finally purchased a 40" Samsung from Sam's Club for $297.00 about 10 days ago. Right now, it's sitting kinda high compared to where the old set was, but it is not a strain on the neck to view it. I really need a new entertainment center, but that will have to wait.

I have used basic TWC (Time Warner Cable) for a few years now, but I plan to change-over to an external (or attic-mounted) antenna soon. Cable companies have to compress their HD signals, and it loses something in the process. I confirmed this by comparing TWC to some OTA (over-the-air) signals with rabbit ears, and there was a difference, although, I am having trouble getting used to seeing 480 content on the 1080p screen no matter what the signal source. For what it's worth, the TV manual instructs users to *not* watch programs in the 4:3 format for very long...

Do not watch your TV in the 4:3 format for a long time. Traces of borders displayed on the left, right and center of the screen may cause image retention (screen burn) which is not covered by the warranty.
​

The TV remote allows you to blow the screen up as needed, but even when viewing programs broadcast in the native 16:9 format, there are commercials & parts of newscasts that deviate from said format. Has anyone ever had an LCD / LED flat-screen that suffered from image retention? I prefer watching a 4:3 program in its native format due to my dislike of anamorphic (stretched) images.

 

I had my LED/LCD a few years and never had a problem with image retention. Some of the channels we mainly watch have the borders.

 

Most of the time it is the format that the movie/show/commercial was shot in is why the pic is smaller. Got to live with it if you want to watch it.

 

I'm not too worried about image retention, now, seeing how commercial-time is broadcast in many different formats.

DVDs might present a problem if black bars are present for hours at a time.

Overall, I'm happy with my new flat screen TV, but I probably should have went with a 120Hz refresh rate instead of 60Hz. Would that make a visible difference while watching old shows broadcast in 480 content?

I may ditch cable after I install an outside antenna and stream pay-per-view content via a smart Blu-ray player instead. Right now, I am using rabbit ears and cable together. I accomplished this task with an A/B switch. I had no idea that a TV could handle and save channel lineups from two different sources. Neat.

 

DVD's come in different formats. Got to read what they are before buying them. Renting you don't have much choice.

 

I find that I have more black bars with a 16:9 TV than I did with a 4:3 model.

I can stretch (or zoom) the picture to fit the screen, but that can present other viewing problems such as fuzziness.

I'm sure Blu-ray discs would look sharper, or maybe up-converting a standard DVD.

 

Does anyone here use a home theater PC for advanced de-interlacing?

I've heard that such a device can make 1080i look like Blu-ray 1080p.

 

Most modern day DVD players will upscale, AV Receivers almost all do if less than say 8 years old.

 

Is upscaling the same thing as de-interlacing?

 

Found this and much more with our friend Google.
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/hdtv/how-it-works-the-complete-guide-to-hd-923662/2

 

There is also a discussion here, de-interlacing and upscaling:

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/275304-HD-Upscaling-DVD-player-is-it-worth-it

 

USB port not working.

Nothing that Samsung suggested worked, so a repair man will be here soon.

I've never had an issue like this with a PC (that I can remember) unless it was something related to reformatting a flash drive or a maybe reinstalling a driver.

A mouse & keyboard is useless on a TV.

Wonder if the service menu would be of any help.

 

Repairman installed a new main board, but the TV still would not recognize a USB flash drive.

Confused, he called Samsung tech support, and they told him to select a certain option inside the service menu, but that option did not exist. As a last gasp, the repairman selected factory reset (inside the service menu), and the USB problem fixed itself. Looks as if this was a software instead of a hardware issue.

Unfortunately, the TV has lost much of its Hi-Def luster. 1080i & 720p programs look so-so compared to before, and motion-blur is worse too. Guess I'll be returning this set.

 

Sam's Club has a 240Hz Vizio model for $378.00. It's also a Smart TV too. That's a heap of features for the money, but Sam's tends to be a little cheaper than many places.

My only concern is the brand itself. A friend of ours installed two of them three years ago (1080 & 720), and both of them developed trouble. The first set went black, and the second set would turn itself on & off all by itself. They eventually settled on a cheap Magnavox, and it has held up well so far.

 

I have 3 Vizio's and love all of them. One from Sam's club when I bought it came with a 1 year warranty, another free year because you bought it from Sam's club and because I was a Gold member, I got an additional 3 more years free.

Brother has 2, and son has 2 and I know several other people that have them and love them. Not a minutes problem with any of them.

 

That 1080 Vizio I saw three years ago looked rather impressive. I may opt for one soon.

 

Sam's just received a small shipment of 40" Samsung TVs, so I did an identical replacement. The picture looks sharper than the old refurbished unit did.

Most Visios are sold out. I visited a local Walmart and they told me that they haven't seen a new TV since mid-January. I assume this is due to the ongoing longshoreman's strike in California?

 

Don't know if it has changed, but when you check a TV at Sams then compare it to one at Wally World, be careful. My Vizio's came from Sams. The ones at Wally World were the same number but didn't have a letter behind the number. Upon comparing the 2 on the Vizio site, the Sam's was a better TV for just about the same price. Was only 2 or 3 dollars more for a lot more.

 

I like Sam's 90 day return policy over Walmart's 30 day anyway - including lower prices too.

Sam's (and other retailers) seem to be short on new TVs of late. I assume the strike in California isn't helping any.

 

Not always lower prices. We use to shop there more than we do now when we had a business. One time they had a 6 pack of Libby's peas for $6.00. That makes them a dollar a can. Walmart had the same can for 97 cents and the 2 local grocery stores had them for 89 cents. Got to watch them. They like to bundle package stuff and make you think that because you are buying a 4 pack or 6 pack that it is a good deal.