TV recommendations

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Michael Kellough

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Searching for a new 55” screen, preferably OLED for the wide viewing angle feature. The reason I need help is because I want to avoid being captive to a proprietary “smart tv” interface. I don’t want the tv manufacturer tracking me or have to deal with a half baked interface. I will bring my Roku and Apple TV boxes, less worried about them tracking me and I’m familiar with them.
 
I've been happy with Samsung. I agree that I don't want the TV manufacturer tracking and advertising based on what I watch. With Walmart now owning Visio, I'd steer clear of them. I watch only with Apple TV personally.
 
I iemagine that every tv set has a way of tracking your viewing to at least some degree. I have Sony's but never use the "Smart" aspects and manufacturer operating system unless absolutely required.
 
Tracking is the least of my problems and TBH I couldn't care less about it. We are a Sony household with 5 of them only because Sony uses the Android OS and all our TV's work the same way so know one and know them all.
 
In modern times, with modern tvs, I don't know if there's a way around that. They say that the reason tvs are "so cheap" is because they offset that cost with our data.

Maybe the way around it is to buy whichever tv, hook your computer to it and watch that way?
 
We bought an Android TV for the lounge and apart from the annoying fact it wakes itself up at odd times to check firmware but doesn't turn itself off, I must admit it's a super pain to do anything in the menu, it wants you to do all the management as a logged in user for the "full experience".

Our Sony's which we've always been extremely happy with don't have that problem, and just work. I did get a rooted Roku for multimedia playback which completes it nicely.
 
One way to buy a TV without any "smart" features is to buy a commercial unit (think airport displays).

Other than that, if you don't want tracking, don't connect it to the internet and use something else (like luvmytoolz's Roku) for streaming.
 
I had the same motive for replacing a 58“ Panasonic with a Yamaha soundbar and no need whatsoever for a smart tv OS just Apple TV.

I’ve reviewed countless tests and videos on the usual suspects and settled for LG’s OLED 64“ B4 line. It’s the entry level OLED line, but I really couldn’t justify the price increase for the C and D line IRL comparison. Viewing angle is amazing and even during daytime the quality is perfect. We never thought quality could improve that much, watching old shows and movies again was mind blowing as is playing Xbox. I bought it from LG with a free cheap LG soundbar with tiny subwoofer and immediately replaced the old Yamaha with it because sound quality improved tremendously. I assume you can find similar good TVs from Samsung and others, but as far as I know most of them use LG panels anyway. Once setup you’ll simply use the Apple TV remote, except for external HDs. You can use ethernet to setup and update the TV, so there’s no need for WIFI, therefore less tracking concerns.
 
I bought an LG OLED 55” C5 from Costco.

Found a VESA swing arm mount on Amazon with a 27” extension so the 48” wide screen can literally swing 180+ degrees at the end of the arm without touching the wall, which eliminates the need for OLED but I wanted the display tech anyway.

Going through the frustrating LG menus (with the ridiculous “Magic Remote” that lacks a mute button🤬) I started to regret that I hadn’t bought Sony instead. I connected the Amazon Prime Fire stick and Roku and when switching to the Prime feed I was blinded by the white subtitles and couldn’t find a way to fix it.

I had bought an Apple TV box early summer but never used it. Read that I could download Apps for the streamers I wanted and just use the Apple hardware for everything so I removed the other stuff and started to setup the Apple TV. That too was very frustrating at first because I had neglected to re-charge the remote. Once that was sufficiently energized the process was went smoothly thanks to the care Apple takes with both hardware and software. To my great relief I discovered that the same Amazon content that was horrible before was perfectly fine when processed through the Apple TV box. LG OLED + Apple TV = good.

So now I’m the happy camper. And my wife who returned from out of town 4 hours ago still hasn’t noticed that the tv is now 50% larger than it was when she left. Pretty sure she’ll notice once it’s turned on. 😏
 
I made a small donation to PBS (Public Broadcasting Station) which operates (?funds?) hundreds of small, local stations. I donated $10.00 per month when I heard that the President was going to cut off all their federal funding.

As a thank you for my on-going donation, I was gifted the PBS streaming service. They stream dozens of shows that you can’t find elsewhere, mainly British, Australian, New Zealand shows plus French, German, Italian and other shows with subtitles. Several police procedurals, plus some documentaries. All well-produced, but you have to be comfortable with subtitles (I’m hearing impaired and I use subtitles all the time).

They will not sell you the streaming service; they will only gift it to you for a donation. The donations used to be tax deductible; no telling what status change the President has made for them—so may or may not be deductible.

In any case, I recommend it. It feels good, and I stream it at home or on my tablet when I am out drinking coffee.
 
Michael Kellough said:
I bought an LG OLED 55” C5 from Costco.

Found a VESA swing arm mount on Amazon with a 27” extension so the 48” wide screen can literally swing 180+ degrees at the end of the arm without touching the wall, which eliminates the need for OLED but I wanted the display tech anyway.

Going through the frustrating LG menus (with the ridiculous “Magic Remote” that lacks a mute button🤬) I started to regret that I hadn’t bought Sony instead. I connected the Amazon Prime Fire stick and Roku and when switching to the Prime feed I was blinded by the white subtitles and couldn’t find a way to fix it.

I had bought an Apple TV box early summer but never used it. Read that I could download Apps for the streamers I wanted and just use the Apple hardware for everything so I removed the other stuff and started to setup the Apple TV. That too was very frustrating at first because I had neglected to re-charge the remote. Once that was sufficiently energized the process was went smoothly thanks to the care Apple takes with both hardware and software. To my great relief I discovered that the same Amazon content that was horrible before was perfectly fine when processed through the Apple TV box. LG OLED + Apple TV = good.

So now I’m the happy camper. And my wife who returned from out of town 4 hours ago still hasn’t noticed that the tv is now 50% larger than it was when she left. Pretty sure she’ll notice once it’s turned on. 😏
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OMG, the LG UI completely ruined the TV experience for us. Setting it up was enough for me. I was over it. The wife toughed it out for a week before moving BritBox to her Macbook and she hasn't watched TV since a week after we got it. We've already resolved to giving it away and getting another Samsung or Sony.
 
I've always been a Sony Bravia fan...from the first 32" (circa 2000) to the latest 55" mini-LED (circa 2025). They always provide clean distortion free pictures, great color rendering and as a life time photographer, that is my number 1 criterion. As far as easy programming goes...not so much. :cry: Spend the extra $200 that Best Buy charges for set-up to prevent a divorce.
 
Last edited:
Cheese said:
I've always been a Sony Bravia fan...from the first 32" (circa 2000) to the latest 55" mini-LED (circa 2025). They always provide clean distortion free pictures, great color rendering and as a life time photographer, that is my number 1 criterion. As far as easy programming goes...not so much. :cry: Spend the extra $200 that Best Buy charges for set-up to prevent a divorce.
Click to expand...
+1 for the Sony's!

Our first good quality TV was a Sony 68cm CRT and it was awesome, never had a days trouble. When the gov stopped analog broadcast we got a 40" Sony LCD, after some 20 odd years it now resides in the shed having been replaced by another Sony Bravia, with the magnetic fluid speaker system built in. We absolutely love this latest one, and plan to replace the crappy lounge Android one with a Sony or possibly Samsung depending what's on offer when we're ready.

I spent ages going through all the offerings and reviews, and fully checking them out before buying the latest Bravia, but we found none quite matched the Sony for sound and colour render. And the sound, theatre quality, just sensational.

Warranty wise we've also never had a fault either with any of the models over the years. Not as cheap as some screens but I couldn't be happier with the quality and value.

And when I did scrap the CRT, the amount of copper I recovered from the yoke and parts was unbelievable.
 
Yes the LG interface sucks but simply adding the Apple TV box is utterly transformative. The Apple UI is pleasant and comprehensive. The other hardware, Roku and Fire Stick are banished to a drawer.

As long as I never have to see the LG UI again I’ll say the screen is great. The Apple TV has a set of “aerial” screensavers. One is flying over an area of snow covered wilderness. It takes great advantage of the display’s OLED HDR. The detail discernible in the range of snowy whites and shadowy areas simultaneously visible is really impressive. Never possible with any film emulsion. Not even with naked eyes.
 
Michael Kellough said:
I’m not much of a sports fan but this year’s World Series was great and I was tempted to temporarily sign up for Fox Sports just to see the last game. Is there going to be some way stream games now that is in the history book?
Click to expand...
Along these lines...the World Series was absolutely stunning last night, the Jays looked like they had it in the bag several times. Every one of the games provided for a truly Great World Series. :love:
 
I always buy Sony's. I have never been disappointed. I usually buy one of the higher end models. Not the top, which are always too expensive. One or two down. I have a A80CJ OLED. It has a great picture.
We really like the audio from the TV itself. No need for a sound bar with the TV screen doubling at the speakers. It replaced a Sony OLED that our dog attacked. She really hates dogs that appear on screen. The new TV has been dog proofed.
 
“No need for a sound bar with the TV screen doubling at the speakers”

I’ve never had soundbars and thought maybe the new screen would need one since it’s so flat. So I mounted it 3-1/2” inches above the bookcase it hovers over just in case it would need a soundbar. I’m not super into tv sound but the tv sounds good enough to me so took it back down and lowered the mount almost 3”.
 
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