watching shows and movies on these new TV

#26
#26
Stoked said:
I'll look into those. I think we sit about 12-15 feet back from where the TV is? All I know is the 50" just isn't quite doing it. lol
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Not sure what your budget is but at 12-15 feet, a 60 - 65" would be a sweet spot. The Sammy 65" 8500 series is just under $2000 and you won't be dissapointed.
 
#27
#27
Coug said:
I found it extraordinarily difficult to adjust the picture for starters. I'd spend a half hour playing with picture settings only to find that when I finally got it adjusted to where it looked great I'd turn the channel to a different network and it looked completely off. The 4k tv's seem to magnify bad quality signals. For instance, if a commercial comes on that was filmed in lower quality or even standard definition it appears far worse than it would on an older LCD/LED tv. On the older tv's there seemed to be a middle ground when it came to the difference between a bright scene and a dark scene in a show or a movie. On these newer tv's the dark scenes are REALLY dark where the bright scenes are very vibrant. That's just a few things I've experienced since switching.
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Sounds to me like you need to do a bit of calibrating. If you don't want to spend the $$ for professional calibration, one can go to
Tweak My TV to get the most accurate calibration settings for my HDTV, only at TweakTV.comÂ*-Â*TweakTV
Basically find your TV and model number and follow the prompts. I've had one tv professionally calibrated, my old plasma, and I have tweaked my new sammy and another plasma from the info on tweak my tv with solid results. Another thing, these tv's let you set your viewing mode to sports, or movies, etc. That's a bad idea IMO. Once you tweak it to the sweet spot, what works best for you and your family's eyes, leave it in the normal mode. You should not have the issues you described.
 
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#28
#28
Just finished installation of a 3D HD Sony projector with 110" acoustically transparent screen. You get much a much brighter and higher contrast picture with the 3D projectors, and I am more than pleased. Bigger isn't always better, but having a movie-screen proportion in your house is much fun for both video and gaming.
 
#29
#29
kiddiedoc said:
Just finished installation of a 3D HD Sony projector with 110" acoustically transparent screen. You get much a much brighter and higher contrast picture with the 3D projectors, and I am more than pleased. Bigger isn't always better, but having a movie-screen proportion in your house is much fun for both video and gaming.
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Sweet set up. What audio system are you complimenting it with?
 
#30
#30
KoachKletus said:
Not sure what your budget is but at 12-15 feet, a 60 - 65" would be a sweet spot. The Sammy 65" 8500 series is just under $2000 and you won't be dissapointed.
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Thanks man I'll take a look. What kind of audio do you have? I don't want anything too big or expensive.
 
#31
#31
Stoked said:
Thanks man I'll take a look. What kind of audio do you have? I don't want anything too big or expensive.
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Onkyo 838 receiver running B&W's all the way around with the exception of some yamaha ceiling speakers. Not sure on the Yamaha's yet but the B&W's are solid. Not sure how much I've invested in the system, probably around 3 grand (had the speakers for a few years) but just picked up the receiver last fall for around $700 bucks.
In the grand scheme of things, I'm a little overboard considering the size of my cave, 14 x 22, and it's just the wife and I, but we do enjoy the sound.
I think a good rule of thumb is to spend as much on your sound system as you do your video. As for soundbars, JMO, waste of money.

A good starter receiver would be Onkyo's 636 Atmos receiver. Speakers are fickle. Prices all over the place. I've been reading a lot of good things about Fluance speakers and the prices are not bad. Others to consider are KEF, Definitive's, Klipsch (good speakers but a bit screechy for me), NHT, just to name a few. I'm not a big fan of bose, all marketing hype in my opinion. Not to mention the fact that when you place a set of bose next to any of the above named speakers, the bose are just flat sounding. Oh, I forgot, probably my favorites speakers are a set of 25 year old JBL bookshelf monitors that I keep in my computer room. Classic sound. Hope I didn't confuse you!:hi:
 
#32
#32
KoachKletus said:
Sounds to me like you need to do a bit of calibrating. If you don't want to spend the $$ for professional calibration, one can go to
Tweak My TV to get the most accurate calibration settings for my HDTV, only at TweakTV.comÂ*-Â*TweakTV
Basically find your TV and model number and follow the prompts. I've had one tv professionally calibrated, my old plasma, and I have tweaked my new sammy and another plasma from the info on tweak my tv with solid results. Another thing, these tv's let you set your viewing mode to sports, or movies, etc. That's a bad idea IMO. Once you tweak it to the sweet spot, what works best for you and your family's eyes, leave it in the normal mode. You should not have the issues you described.
Click to expand...

Not sure if I tried that one specifically but I tried a couple online calibration sites, none of which seemed to help in the end.
 
#33
#33
Coug said:
Not sure if I tried that one specifically but I tried a couple online calibration sites, none of which seemed to help in the end.
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Give it a try. A few tweaks and you might be astounded at what you are seeing. Most, if not all tv's come from the factory set at the generic settings, basically set to blaze your eyes out. For blacker blacks, whiter whites, and truer colors, IMO, it is absolutely necessary to tweak the picture to not only get the best out of your tv, but also get a truer representation of what the producers and editors were trying to achieve when making a movie.
For the record, I am certainly no professional at this. Just an amateur electronic junkie. And I hate mp3.
 
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#35
#35
Its like every new visual technology. DVD looked weird to me. Blu-ray looked weird. HD refresh rates of 120hz and above looked weird. Eventually you get used to it. I can't even watch a DVD nowadays. Looks terrible.
 
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#36
#36
KoachKletus said:
Give it a try. A few tweaks and you might be astounded at what you are seeing. Most, if not all tv's come from the factory set at the generic settings, basically set to blaze your eyes out. For blacker blacks, whiter whites, and truer colors, IMO, it is absolutely necessary to tweak the picture to not only get the best out of your tv, but also get a truer representation of what the producers and editors were trying to achieve when making a movie.
For the record, I am certainly no professional at this. Just an amateur electronic junkie. And I hate mp3.
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I do this with all my new TV's. It helps tremendously.
 
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#38
#38
I bought a flying car last month.... really hope it flies one of these days!
 
#39
#39
Got burnt with 3D; I'll upgrade if/when UHD gets fully adopted.
 
#40
#40
SWIL said:
Got burnt with 3D; I'll upgrade if/when UHD gets fully adopted.
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haha 3D. One thing I never let into my vid/audio system. That and anything apple related. But as far as UHD, I can fully understand people waiting for the dust to settle. Hell, a lot of people are just catching on to HD. That explains why the studios still insist on packing a regular DVD with most BD's sold.

As far as UHD goes, and anything for that matter, it's up to the consumer to decide. From my experience, UHD and SUHD will ultimately replace HD tv's. The biggest hurdle is content and the delivery. For home movie buffs, the content, although limited is here. It's the live stuff (broadcast) that will take some time.
 
#41
#41
KoachKletus said:
haha 3D. One thing I never let into my vid/audio system. That and anything apple related. But as far as UHD, I can fully understand people waiting for the dust to settle. Hell, a lot of people are just catching on to HD. That explains why the studios still insist on packing a regular DVD with most BD's sold.

As far as UHD goes, and anything for that matter, it's up to the consumer to decide. From my experience, UHD and SUHD will ultimately replace HD tv's. The biggest hurdle is content and the delivery. For home movie buffs, the content, although limited is here. It's the live stuff (broadcast) that will take some time.
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I have a 3-D Vizio 55" LED. I didn't buy it for the 3-D, but it was a demo unit so I got it "new" out the door for $400. I went ahead and got a 3-D bluray player since I already had a couple of movies that included the 3-D disc so it's a neat feature and comparable to the theater format.

As far as UHD, I've noticed that Vudu is already offering UHD streaming on certain titles.
 
#42
#42
KoachKletus said:
Give it a try. A few tweaks and you might be astounded at what you are seeing. Most, if not all tv's come from the factory set at the generic settings, basically set to blaze your eyes out. For blacker blacks, whiter whites, and truer colors, IMO, it is absolutely necessary to tweak the picture to not only get the best out of your tv, but also get a truer representation of what the producers and editors were trying to achieve when making a movie.
For the record, I am certainly no professional at this. Just an amateur electronic junkie. And I hate mp3.
Click to expand...

Trust me when I say it's far easier adjusting the older tv's simply because there aren't multiple pages of adjustments for you to work with. With these UHD tv's you're literally bombarded with pages of settings from every direction. I'd very much love to agree with you and actually be very happy about the purchase sadly I can't say that is the case. On top of this a good portion of networks still broadcast in 720p(Fox, ABC, FX, ESPN et al for example), while the others are just 1080i.

If someone asked my opinion on upgrading to a 4K UHD tv right now I would say this... If you are content with the size and picture quality you are getting from your current tv and you're used to that, then I would stick with it for now. If your old tv is going out or you just have money to spend and want the newest tech then consider a 4K UHD TV with caution because there is a chance you might not be completely happy with it.
 
#43
#43
Coug said:
Trust me when I say it's far easier adjusting the older tv's simply because there aren't multiple pages of adjustments for you to work with. With these UHD tv's you're literally bombarded with pages of settings from every direction. I'd very much love to agree with you and actually be very happy about the purchase sadly I can't say that is the case. On top of this a good portion of networks still broadcast in 720p(Fox, ABC, FX, ESPN et al for example), while the others are just 1080i.

If someone asked my opinion on upgrading to a 4K UHD tv right now I would say this... If you are content with the size and picture quality you are getting from your current tv and you're used to that, then I would stick with it for now. If your old tv is going out or you just have money to spend and want the newest tech then consider a 4K UHD TV with caution because there is a chance you might not be completely happy with it.
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Trust me, I've calibrated mine using Rtings setting and it took me all of 10 minutes. With any newer technology one can expect a learning curve but IMO, it is getting easier. Took me longer to set up my old plasma, then decided to have it professionally calibrated when all was said and done.

As for my new tv, as stated, I just used published settings and am very impressed.

I understand that 4k broadcast is still in the future but firmly believe that in 2 years time, you will see it. But for today and watching OTA or cable, these tv's do an extraordinary job with the wider color gamut which alone is worth it.

I agree with you and have previously stated that if you are not in the market for a tv, don't go buy one just because. But, if you are in the market, I highly, highly suggest going the UHD route.
 
#44
#44
CagleMtnVol said:
What did you pay may I ask?

I'm going to wait till Black Friday/Christmas sales and see what deals can be found and actually may end up waiting a couple of years for prices to come down.
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Scored! Got my 8500 yesterday. Setup was a breeze. Watched Martian (regular bd) last night and I am impressed at the upscaling. Loading was super fast. Machine is very responsive. Will watch Exodus (UHD BD) tonight to get a real grasp of what UHD is all about. So far, I am impressed.
 
#46
#46
CagleMtnVol said:
Those with the new UHD setup might find this article helpful!


Blu-ray.com: 4K Blu-ray Reviewed: Ultra HD Equipment Selection, Setup, and Initial Thoughts
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After reading - and using my own setup - I have to agree on a couple of things. Exodus is dark. No getting around that. On the other hand, the Kingsman was absolute stellar.

As for handshake issues, none that I can report. However, I did opt to run one HDMI from the 8500 to my tv and one HDMI from the 8500 to my receiver. This allows my tv to do all of the video processing and my receiver to do the audio.

As noted in my previous post I used the Rtings settings for my tv as a quasi-calibration point and am very happy with the picture.

The price point for the BD 8500 is still to high. Suckers such as myself that were able to find one have been reporting everything about the player as wonderful to meh. I'm in the middle simply because of the price. As for a player and for UHD BD, I'm all in.
 
#47
#47
Life of Pi. Wow. I know I'm in the minority of the minorites being the owner of a UHD bd player but I am simply astounded at the ultra hi def version of Life of Pi.

We watched Pi when it first came out on blue ray, nothing remarkable at the time. But, the ultra hi def version has left both the wife and I in awe.

Anybody else on VolNation have the Samsung 8500? If so, I would be curious if you are getting the same stellar PQ that we are getting.
 
#48
#48
KoachKletus said:
Life of Pi. Wow. I know I'm in the minority of the minorites being the owner of a UHD bd player but I am simply astounded at the ultra hi def version of Life of Pi.

We watched Pi when it first came out on blue ray, nothing remarkable at the time. But, the ultra hi def version has left both the wife and I in awe.

Anybody else on VolNation have the Samsung 8500? If so, I would be curious if you are getting the same stellar PQ that we are getting.
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No I'm waiting for the price to go down before I get one, but that has me really interested!
 
#49
#49
Stoked said:
No I'm waiting for the price to go down before I get one, but that has me really interested!
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Not a bad idea to wait until the platform is a bit more stabilized. I haven't had any issues but some folks have reported HDMI conflicts. Mostly due to HDMI cables. The player itself was a breeze to set up. The price point needs to hit at $200 bucks and I don't think Samsung would be able to keep up with production, at least until other manufactures jump in. Panasonic and a couple others are set to release this summer or fall. Sony is waiting and my guess is that the PS will get revamped, again, to include the UHD player.
 
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