A friend is looking for one and I don’t know what to recommend.

Assuming that the goal is to never connect it to the internet and plug in another device with HDMI.

  • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.world
    0·
    24 hours ago

    I spent months on Rtings looking up ratings, pricing, checking out tv sub’s and i came to the conclusion that you have 2 options.

    1. spend $1500+ and get a Sony TV, the model doesn’t really matter as they are all better than their counterparts. I wanted MiniLED- but they were about $2,000.

    2. Go the budget route and get a Hisense/TCL TV for $600-800 and use the other $1000 you saved for a home theatre system/ 4k player, etc.

    LG makes great OLED’s, but you do need to be aware of burn in if you watch lots of news channels. Also the pricing is much higher and the technology for Mini LED’s is getting much better every year.

    Avoid ALL Samsung TV’s as they are poorly made and will break quickly like all other samsung products.

    I have a TCL 6 series Mini LED and love it. It has Dolby Vision, little glare, and it’s bright AF (not sure of the NIT rating). I also have a hisense U75 series mini LED and the picture quality is fantastic. The OS is buggy and it freezes, crashes every month or so. But both my TCL and Hisense have buggy OS’s and freeze randomly, just the cost of a cheaper TV.

    I didn’t have my TCL hooked up to the internet for a couple years and used my computer for everything. Then i realized my computer cannot process 4k with HDR, so i connected them to the internet and set up Plex and they both look fantastic with 4k HDR, HDR10, or Dolby Vision.

    Their build in speakers are the worst i have ever heard, even the Hisense with it’s supposed 2.1 speaker setup, they both sound horrible and you WILL need a good AV home theatre setup, or at the very least, a good quality soundbar.

  • Nikls94@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 day ago

    I was kind of expecting the comments to be the way they are, which is nice.

    Preferably a TV with no smart features.

    Or just take the cheapest option and never connect it to the internet.

  • BurgerBaron@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    Since I use a PC with a TV and ignore the “smart” infestures entirely and never connect to the internet unless I become aware of a bug fix that concerns the displayed picture, it doesn’t matter much to me. I just compare panel quality on the fly with my phone while out buying one and check for any deal breakers like a high failure rate or something. I’d look for microLED /w an adequate amount of dimming zones, HDR1000, VRR Freesync, and 120hz. The last two times I went during winter holidays and bought heavily discounted clearance last year’s models 75" panels. Won’t again until it breaks. Edit: LG currently but I have no brand loyalty.

  • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io
    0·
    2 days ago

    It would also need speakers (I recommend plug in kind) but I really like my Epson 3200 projector: Bright enough to use in the day, my screen is 120", and there’s no “smart” garbage.

    If you want an actual TV, look at commercial displays instead of stuff from big box stores: They will be more expensive, but won’t have any of the junky ad ridden stuff.

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 days ago

    I wouldn’t get a television. I would get a monitor. No UI. No smart features. Just a black square that had HDMI inputs.

    If you really want to watch OTA TV, you can buy box tuners that connect to the HDMI. Usually with DVR capability.

    It will cost more. Like…a LOT more. But thats just what regular TVs used to cost back in the 90s. You wanted a bigscreen tv? $800 then, which would be like $2,000 now. And “big screen” was like 55 inch. Though it was a 4:3 ratio. So 55 inch then wold be more like 70 inch now in a 16:9 ratio.

    • Mugita Sokio@discuss.onlineEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      Honestly, same with me. I’d go for a CRT TV, though, and play old video games through that (or just connect a PC to a smaller monitor that’s manageable).

  • palordrolap@fedia.io
    0·
    2 days ago

    There’s at least one supplier here in the UK that still sells free-to-air-only dumb TVs. Digital of course, because we turned off analogue TV signals years ago, but no smarter than that. Definitely no Internet connectivity.

    If I decided I was going to become a regular TV watcher again, I’d probably get one of those.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    IDK, but whatever it will be won’t have smart features and also will have all the input ports. I’d spend a little bit more for a classic display that just works as a display and has no network connectivity on its own.

  • codenamekino@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 days ago

    I dont see it mentioned here, but I went with a 75" Spectre earlier this year. I had a 40" Spectre that was given to me third- hand, and I only replaced it because it was too small for the new place I moved into. Spectre doesn’t seem to even offer smart TV, and I wanted to support that decision. The only potential downside that you may see is the lack of a 4k offering, but that wasn’t something I care about.