Help me understand TV options...

There is an app called Pluto TV, they have a lot of different channels to watch, all free, just have to deal with commercials. But that is what bathroom breaks are for. Freevee is good too, as well as tubi TV. All you need is a good internet connection.

a reply to: Boadicea

One last post and I will vamoose,

Pay attention to your cabling from your antenna to the TV. Never use 300 Ohm twin lead! I lends itself to too much man made and natural interference. Always use a good quality co-ax cable called RG-6. Its a 75 Ohm impedance shielded cable like what the dish and cable people use. Quad shield is the best.

Another important consideration are the 75 Ohm "F" connectors that terminate the cable and connect to the antenna and TV respectively. I used to use cheap screw on connectors that worked, but until I purchased a co-ax stripper and a compression tool for the Ideal(TM) connectors, I didn't realize how much signal I was losing to interference at the connectors. I buy all my cable and connectors and tools at Lowes or Home Depot.

Again, Hope That Helps!

originally posted by: putnam6
I hook up my PC through the HDMI and you can bounce around from TV service to TV service and probably save a bundle ive used Youtube tv, and Sling tv and both had plenty of options.

Throw in I do have Amazon Prime and Netflix and we rarely watch them.

That's interesting! I never would have thought of that or known it was a thing. But it makes sense so I don't know why I wouldn't/didn't. Except my poor attitude!

But FWIW I'm fine with just HDMI antennae and watching over-the-air stuff as long as the signal is good.

I think we might too. The only extra would be the racing and sports. But if that's the only thing I had to subscribe to (and could find such a subscription), that would be okay.

originally posted by: NightFlight
a reply to: Boadicea

One last post and I will vamoose,

Pay attention to your cabling from you antenna to the TV. Never use 300 Ohm twin lead! I lends itself to too much man made and natural interference. Always use a good quality co-ax cable called RG-6. Its a 75 Ohm impedance shielded cable like what the dish and cable people use. Quad shield is the best.

Another important consideration are the 75 Ohm "F" connectors that terminate the cable and connect to the antenna and TV respectively. I used to use cheap screw on connectors that worked, but until I purchased a co-ax stripper and a compression tool for the Ideal(TM) connectors, I didn't realize how much signal I was losing to interference at the connectors. I buy all my cable and connectors and tools at Lowes or Home Depot.

Again, Hope That Helps!

That sounds very helpful -- thank you again!

I just emailed all this to my husband, who will ultimately purchase all that stuff. And he does like to use best quality materials for his projects. So now he has it for future reference. Thank you!

Smart tv vs digital tv are two very different technologies. All smart tvs have a digital tuner. They stopped production of analog tv before hdmi was a thing. If you have hdmi you have digital.

Anyways just plug in a stick (I vote ruko) and play around with it. It simply makes your 'dumb' tv smart. If you want a new tv get a new tv. But a smart tv will not give you anything you anything stick dosen't. Except a hdmi port without a stick in it.

We switched to smart tv's a few years ago and are happy we did. One is a Samsung that has some good apps loaded straight from the factory. The other is a Visio that had Roku installed from the factory.

I had previously used Firestick but found it very clumsy and hard to keep working. You have to download and run an interface program to get the most out of a Firestick but basically you are using that app to pirate streaming tv. As such it was very undependable.

Most streaming services have several tiers of service, including a free one. Hulu, Sling, Tubi, Freevee, and more offer a free tier. The only problem with the free services is you most likely won't get local stations and there is limited variety. Prime has a decent selection and you can add Paramount, AMC, etc for a pretty reasonable price. Netflix is a good service with lots of original content. YoutubeTV is also pretty good and is what I use for local stations.

We currently have Prime, YoutubeTV, Netflix, Paramount, AMC, and Peacock premium packages along with the free versions of Hulu, Tubi, Roku, and Sling. We are slowly trimming that list down as content starts to lose its charm. We had HBO but it got old fast when GoT ended.

One of the nice things about the newer tv's is you can use your tv as a monitor for your pc. Its better to have a higher resolution tv for that but thats my opinion. Others may disagree. Anything you can get on your pc you can watch on your tv.

@ Boadicea

You've already had some great advice here, but allow me to throw my 2 pence in, if I may.

I have some professional experience on the subject matter, which may lend some credence to my advice - with the caveat that my advice is likely more useful if you are watching TV in the UK.

First off, there is no shame in being from a generation that keeps items in service if they still work - good for you. May I say, if you have a tendancy to buy quality items, be prepared to end up with a house load of old gear! :p

In 2023, if you pay for subscription satellite TV - unless you are an avid sports watcher, you will almost certainly end up paying much more than you really need to - principally because you can watch all the major channels for free in the UK, provided you are a TV licence holder.

If you have a satellite dish with your current subscription satellite service, all you really need to do is end the subscription and get a Freesat box - ideally a 4K Recordable TV Box. It will do everything a Sky box can, with all the added advantages of being subscription free. You will still be able to play, pause, record, skip back and use a function called Freesat 'Play' on applicable programs.

Personally, if I was getting a £200 box to replace a £480 per year subscription, I see this as a major win. So get the highest performance freesat box you can - it should work just fine using the 2 coaxial satellite cables your existing satellite box uses.

As was stated in an earlier post - get your broadband sorted out. It's important not to be digitally excluded. Having a reliable, fibre to the property or similar landline service and a decent WiFi router that allows your whole house load of devices to connect to the Internet - with proper coverage throughout the home - without the nonsense of tethering to phones etc.

Next - 100% get a new 4K UHD HDR TV. Cancelling the satellite subscription will pay for your new TV and freesat box within the first 2 or 3 years. So go on - spoil yourself.

Your new TV will be 'Smart' - but all that really means is that it connects to the 'internet'. Make a note - smart TV's are not all equal - far from it. The important thing is that whilst a UHD HDR TV will have a much higher potential to deliver you a good picture - how good that is depends entirely on what you choose to put into it - the 'source'.

So, assuming you got decent WiFi, a freesat satellite 4K TV Recordable Box - you're pretty much good to go. Your old faithful TV needn't be binned off - hook it up in another room with a DVD player or something, along with your Roku/Firestick - - stick it in a bedroom or your kitchen.

So - TV's. If you don't want to have to get a doctorate in TV operation - my humble advice is to get an LG TV. The operating system is extremely intuitive to use and may actually encourage the technophobes in your family to explore the 'Smart' features of the TV. Not only that, the panels and picture quality are top notch. LG actually produce the screens for Sony and pretty much every other manufacturer that uses OLED screens. Their image processors are on point too -, since Sony shared information with them in exchange for decent rates on OLED panels.

Get the best one you can afford. I absolutely love LG OLED TV's, but they are comparitively expensive and should not be used where images will be paused OR if you tend to watch stuff with icons constantly on the screen. They definitely should not be left unattended with kids playing Nintendo etc - unless you like Super Mario permanently etched into your new screen.

Whichever LG you get, make sure it's 4K, UHD HDR and that it has a 'Magic Remote'. You can thank me in about a years time when you own more than one of them because you love them!

Once you have WiFi, Satellite TV, a 4K TV - what you need to consider are which 'sources' to subscribe to. Netflix would be an obvious first choice for about £10 per month. That will give you a library of 4k HDR films to watch, documentaries, box sets, music, stand up comedies. Prime Video is another similar option - starting from about £5 per month. Or consider both perhaps.

Hell - even YouTube is a source of some fab 4K content and music. I enjoy watching that ad free since I got premium bundled with my last phone deal. Like music? Get Spotify on your TV. Add a tasty sound system to your TV.

Your LG smart TV won't need the Roku or Amazon Firestick plugged into it - you can save those for your old Panasonic in the other room. But once you've signed up to Netflix/Prime/Youtube/Spotify etc - you'll be able to access the content from any smart TV or your Roku/Firestick.

Making sense so far?

The rest is up to you. With WiFi, freesat box, a decent 4K TV with a proper operating system that isn't total rubbish (be warned - a lot of them are exactly that) - the amount of content available to you will exceed what you could ever get around to watching in 3 lifetimes - let alone 1. Interestingly, I often browse ATS on my 55" LG SM9010. It's totally viable to use a good TV like a giant tablet/pc. You don't need to type - you just speak into your magic remote and it just works. Honestly!

Sick of no operating manuals? Just ask for help and a magic penguin appears on screen to help you. Honestly! No, I haven't been on mushrooms.

My wife - who used to be a total clutz when it came to anything technical - literally whizzes around the all our TV's. So we have 3 other 4K UHD HDR TV's in the home now, all of which get plenty of use in the evening and over the winter especially.

We record some regular stuff on TV, but since owning these awesome 4k TV's, we watch a lot more 'box sets' (series). Currently working our way through Vikings Valhalla in 4K UHD Dolby Vision HDR.

I hope this helps. Let us know what you end up doing.

Cut the cable! I will chance it and say “cut the satellite” too!

A “smart TV” at less than 32 inches is 30 bucks more and all you need is an Internet connection (and an email address… your phone works too).

Most smart TVs already have the apps installed and you will only have to install the channels you want. So, say AppleTV will have the app but you will have to pay for the subscription to the service.

So get one, or two. And you can find almost everything on YouTube TV. Me and my friend watched the World Cup on there. You will need Amazon if you are a SNF fan, ESPN for F1, and you can always buy a package for a season of your favorite sports ball!

But news, local and cable (and now, streaming versions of the MSM), the basic broadcast networks, and even Spanish programming are available on smartTV.

Spend another 20 and get a digital antenna for even more choices (no DVR capabilities, bad weather can interrupt the signal but besides the cost of the antenna you can always have channels available to watch!

Unless you are in a cushy job with money to spend, that monthly bill can easily be replaced!

a reply to: horatio321

You're from Britain, eh? Before I read and respond to your response, I hope you don't mind if I ask you about another matter I was just now pondering...

I want to try clotted cream and maybe marmite, and I've actually found a local place I can purchase both. Apparently clotted cream is like nothing I would be familiar with, but I love butter and heavy cream and whipped cream, and I'm thinking I'll like clotted cream too. But about that marmite... from what I've read it's a salty savory sauce? Kind of the opposite of sweet savory Worcestershire sauce? Have I got that right? Is it a sauce? Or more like dip? I've read it's wonderful on potatoes and veggies and meats and in casserole. It all has me quite intrigued! Do you like it? Is it worth trying?

Thank you for (hopefully!) humoring me and my questions

a reply to: Boadicea

Hi, I think you'll find all of the above delicious - just not all at the same time!

Clotted cream is really nice with scones and strawberry jam. Clotted cream is basically fresh, thick cream - not whipped or soured.

Marmite is a yeast extract spread - not a sauce - and is really nice on hot, buttered toast. It's also good to add in with things like soup, or roasted potato.

Worcestershire sauce is a combo of tangy, savoury mixed with anchovies and is a liquid sauce - used in chilli, cheese on toast, gravy, 1000's of different things. Yum!

Let us know how you get on! 🤣

a reply to: Chuckles55

I'm glad I decided to check the page for any comments I missed... I didn't get notified of your reply. Hrmph!

I'll check out Pluto TV too, along with the other free services -- thank you! I'm wondering if all the free services will have different lineups, or basically the same lineups. My husband's kind of leaning toward Samsung TV, because that's what our son has at his place.

I think we're going to have two TV setups after this. Our old Panasonic will be moved into my office for my husband to play his video games, and we'll probably use the Roku stick for that... Then we'll get a new smart TV for the living room, and I don't know what we'll do with that yet...

originally posted by: Jason79
Smart tv vs digital tv are two very different technologies. All smart tvs have a digital tuner. They stopped production of analog tv before hdmi was a thing. If you have hdmi you have digital.

Thank you! Apparently we do have an HDMI now, not analog, but not Smart either. There is a place for the Roku stick so we'll get that figured out. But now my husband is excited about having one TV for his games, and another (bigger) TV for watching, so looks like we're getting a new Smart TV.

I'm learning so much here! Thank you!!!

originally posted by: Vroomfondel
We switched to smart tv's a few years ago and are happy we did. One is a Samsung that has some good apps loaded straight from the factory. The other is a Visio that had Roku installed from the factory.

It never occurred to me that apps could be/would be pre-loaded. I think I like the sound of that. We had a Vizio before the Panasonic. It was a good TV while it lasted -- several years!

I had previously used Firestick but found it very clumsy and hard to keep working. You have to download and run an interface program to get the most out of a Firestick but basically you are using that app to pirate streaming tv. As such it was very undependable.

Thank you -- this is very good to know! This is exactly the crap I don't want to deal with. Besides being free (or at least cheap!), I want easy peasy.

Most streaming services have several tiers of service, including a free one. Hulu, Sling, Tubi, Freevee, and more offer a free tier. The only problem with the free services is you most likely won't get local stations and there is limited variety. Prime has a decent selection and you can add Paramount, AMC, etc for a pretty reasonable price. Netflix is a good service with lots of original content. YoutubeTV is also pretty good and is what I use for local stations.

This is also good to know. I already had that impression, at least with the Samsung TV, but knowing this helps figure out our best options. I'm pretty sure I'll have to subscribe to something to get my husband's racing and sports channels, so I'm thinking we're be looking at some kind of combination of free and subscription.

I just want it as easy as possible.

One of the nice things about the newer tv's is you can use your tv as a monitor for your pc. Its better to have a higher resolution tv for that but thats my opinion. Others may disagree. Anything you can get on your pc you can watch on your tv.

I really like the sound of this!

I've used the Nvidia Shield before. Loved it.

Recently upgraded my TV and no need for the shield.

There are lots of free tv / movie options.

Pluto TV - lots and lots of content. Sports / Movies / Retro TV shows / completely free.

Tubi - 100's if not 1000's of free movies.

originally posted by: horatio321
@ Boadicea

You've already had some great advice here, but allow me to throw my 2 pence in, if I may.

Of course! I even welcome repeat information, because it just helps me get it all clear in my head.

First off, there is no shame in being from a generation that keeps items in service if they still work - good for you. May I say, if you have a tendancy to buy quality items, be prepared to end up with a house load of old gear! :p

Guilty as charged! Especially with electronics and any big ticket purchase, I try to get the best quality and value for my money, including longevity. I do my research and shop around, so I know when I find a good value for a good price and then I buy. Buying cheap is just too darn expensive! But I don't want to overspend just to get all the latest bells and whistles either.

If you have a satellite dish with your current subscription satellite service, all you really need to do is end the subscription and get a Freesat box - ideally a 4K Recordable TV Box.... Personally, if I was getting a £200 box to replace a £480 per year subscription, I see this as a major win. So get the highest performance freesat box you can - it should work just fine using the 2 coaxial satellite cables your existing satellite box uses.

That's something we're considering. We're good with making a one-time purchase to cut a monthly expense is a pretty good investment in the long-run.

As was stated in an earlier post - get your broadband sorted out. It's important not to be digitally excluded.

Definitely -- that much has been made clear to me with this thread (Thank you everyone!) so that's my first priority. I'll call the provider tomorrow and see what we can figure out.)

Next - 100% get a new 4K UHD HDR TV. Cancelling the satellite subscription will pay for your new TV and freesat box within the first 2 or 3 years. So go on - spoil yourself.

This is very good to know! My husband looked at some TVs yesterday afternoon, and found a 50" Samsung 4k "Crystal" HUD LED that's put a twinkle in his eye... I told him he couldn't get one bigger than our current entertainment unit, and he found one with 2" to spare LOL! But it sounds like this one fits the bill.

Your old faithful TV needn't be binned off - hook it up in another room with a DVD player or something, along with your Roku/Firestick - - stick it in a bedroom or your kitchen.

LOL! Already planning to put it in my office for my husband's video games. Waste not want not!

Whichever LG you get, make sure it's 4K, UHD HDR and that it has a 'Magic Remote'. You can thank me in about a years time when you own more than one of them because you love them!

Hmmmm... the one he's looking at has a "OneRemote" but not a magic remote...

Once you have WiFi, Satellite TV, a 4K TV - what you need to consider are which 'sources' to subscribe to....

Not looking forward to this part. I have a feeling we'll at least start with Samsung free TV, get the feel for that, while checking out others, then go from there. The F1 season just ended not long ago, so we have some time to get that worked out. In the meantime, he can go over to our son's place to watch his team sports. We're very lucky that our son lives just a couple miles up the road from us.

Your LG smart TV won't need the Roku or Amazon Firestick plugged into it - you can save those for your old Panasonic in the other room. But once you've signed up to Netflix/Prime/Youtube/Spotify etc - you'll be able to access the content from any smart TV or your Roku/Firestick.

Very good to know!

I hope this helps. Let us know what you end up doing.

This is all very helpful -- thank you! I'm so glad I decided to post this. I'm being skooled and I love it!!!

Making sense so far?

The rest is up to you. With WiFi, freesat box, a decent 4K TV with a proper operating system that isn't total rubbish (be warned - a lot of them are exactly that) - the amount of content available to you will exceed what you could ever get around to watching in 3 lifetimes - let alone 1. Interestingly, I often browse ATS on my 55" LG SM9010. It's totally viable to use a good TV like a giant tablet/pc. You don't need to type - you just speak into your magic remote and it just works. Honestly!

Sick of no operating manuals? Just ask for help and a magic penguin appears on screen to help you. Honestly! No, I haven't been on mushrooms.

My wife - who used to be a total clutz when it came to anything technical - literally whizzes around the all our TV's. So we have 3 other 4K UHD HDR TV's in the home now, all of which get plenty of use in the evening and over the winter especially.

We record some regular stuff on TV, but since owning these awesome 4k TV's, we watch a lot more 'box sets' (series). Currently working our way through Vikings Valhalla in 4K UHD Dolby Vision HDR.

I hope this helps. Let us know what you end up doing.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Cut the cable! I will chance it and say “cut the satellite” too!

Loving the sound of this!

A “smart TV” at less than 32 inches is 30 bucks more and all you need is an Internet connection (and an email address… your phone works too).

I've been surprised at how low TV prices are. It's definitely been a pleasant surprise.

Most smart TVs already have the apps installed and you will only have to install the channels you want....
But news, local and cable (and now, streaming versions of the MSM), the basic broadcast networks, and even Spanish programming are available on smartTV.

This is also a pleasant surprise! I do want easy, and it seems they're making it so. I very much appreciate that.

Unless you are in a cushy job with money to spend, that monthly bill can easily be replaced!

Exactly!!!

@ Boadicea

Glad you're getting a plan together - but seriously encourage you to re-think the Samsung TV, which in my professional opinion are grossly overrated and far more likely to develop a fault.

At a local venue, they have 11 4K UHD TV's. All new, within the last year. Of those LED TV's, 4 of them have already have significant screen burn/permanent image retention.

That aside - try the operating system in the shop before you commit to buying one and please compare the 'one remote' with an LG Magic Remote. No contest - try them and you'll immediately see what I mean. 👍

originally posted by: horatio321
@ Boadicea

Glad you're getting a plan together - but seriously encourage you to re-think the Samsung TV, which in my professional opinion are grossly overrated and far more likely to develop a fault.

Interesting... and good to know. I'll bring this up with my husband, and probably check out some customer satisfaction reviews as well. I know we can get the same size Phillips for about half the price (but I have no idea how good Phillips is either). I'll look at reviews for the size and features we want, and see what I find before I talk to my husband. I think he's leaning Samsung because our son is very happy with his Samsung (although our son's is wall-size, which might be the greater attraction for my husband, and that just ain't gonna happen here!).

That aside - try the operating system in the shop before you commit to buying one and please compare the 'one remote' with an LG Magic Remote. No contest - try them and you'll immediately see what I mean. 👍

That's an excellent idea, and one I would not have thought of -- thank you!

a reply to: horatio321

My previous was a Samsung, 5 years no issues, but I've heard stories.

My current is the Sony Bravia X90J ( I think ) Love, love love it !!! Expensive, but caught it on sale at a comparable price to the Samsung and the LG.

I agree, go play around with the operating systems / interface and see what you like best

a reply to: elevatedone

My first flat screen was a 40" Samsung in the 00's and it failed within 3 years due to faulty capacitors on the power supply board. A common issue on numerous brands at that time.

The Sony X90 TV's are excellent and have a much, much better colour accuracy and contrast ratio over any offering from Samsung. The Android operating system of the Sony is great for advanced users, too - it opens up a lot of options.

2 common reasons why Samsungs get 'raved' about by consumers are their maximum brightness ratings and screen response rates by gamers. If you live in a conservatory with no curtains, playing FPS games and never using the TV's browser (like literally - never) then it might be an adequate TV.

The reality for the vast majority of us, is that both of these are terrible metrics to use when determining the picture quality of a TV.

Once TV's are setup and pictures properly calibrated - no getting away from the fact that OLEDs are the most pleasing to look at - and by a significant margin. I'd be happy with any Sony or LG offering over any other brand, but still prefer Web OS for every day use over Android.

With all that said - the market is flooded with JVC's, Toshiba, HiSense etc that are cheaper than anything the 'big 4' produce. This is because they all seem to use the same OS and produce under licence.

@Boadicea

TV Operating Systems