What TV Brand to Buy?

Interesting.  My mom as two Samsungs and both have pretty annoying startup banners/sequences.  I replaced the "smarts" in both with Rokus because they are awful and unsupported.  I figured there was a way to turn it all off.

i recently got a TCL that supports 120/144hz.  It has a "game mode" which turns all processing off, and is effectively just a screen at that point.  It has built in smarts but I know it's only a matter of 12ish months before I replace that with a Roku or similar.

Finally playing couch games at 120hz is very refreshing. 

I'm waiting for Black Friday sales to snag my Theater-sized TV for the family room... 

Duke said:

[edit] Actually, on-board streaming won't really work, I guess, since I'm peeling off the audio before it gets to the TV.

 

You should be able to change the way its set up - use your TV for all the HDMI switching and run the audio return channel to your receiver.  

The Sony TVs used to be pretty nice since they used basically box-stock android so you could sideload whatever you want on them and basically turn them into a Roku box but better, compared to the LG OS where that stuff is a pain since its not Android.  Not sure the newest sets use the same OS, so YMMV and all that.  

Rtings.com

all you need is there. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I guess I wasn't clear.  Yes, the Vizios are great for casting, the Samsung on the other hand is a pain.  Worst part about the Samsung is the lack of RCA jacks for audio output, using HDMI to the Sony receiver confuses the TV as it senses the receiver as an input instead of an output though it sends audio to it.

For all that recommended rtings.com: Thank you for the extremely helpful suggestion, and curse you for showing me the rabbit hole.

I see this is a spam bump, but there are only two companies that make the actual panels. The difference is in the software/apps.

We use an Amazon Fire Cube, so those don't even matter. For All intents and purposes our TV is a dumb display.

Acknowledging the canoe bump.  I've had good luck with the Vizio brand for a low-end solution. 

A little over a year in on our new Sony OLED, and I have nothing but good things to say about it.  The picture gets lots of praise.  Not cheap, though.

Yeah, maybe it was a spam bump, but TVs change and hey, why not update it with a little modern info?

I had a 4K Samsung Smart TV that we bought in, I suppose, 2021? Maybe around there? It was slow to respond, but I liked it overall. All we used it for was streaming since we don't have cable TV, and hey, Samsung just.... gives you cable TV somehow, but seemingly with fewer commercials, if you want it. James Bond 24 hour marathon anybody?

Well, somebody in my household accidentally killed that TV with a solid object (not me). Time for a new one.

No way was I buying another Samsung. I wanted OLED, and it was going to be LG-all the way baby! LG's OS is more responsive, has a better reputation, and is the other panel-manufacturer, so it'll be a good unit. Plus, all I could seem to find from Samsung was QLED (which is not OLED). It's like they don't make OLEDs, except on their phones. My coworkers were raving about their LGs as well. Yup. No way am I getting a Samsung. My mind is made up. LG FTW.

So, I bought a Samsung OLED.  It's freaking awesome. The OS is completely different than the one we had from 2020. It's snappier, the controller (which is solar charged and very simple) works really well, and it was significantly cheaper than the comparable LG the day I bought it. OLED is the way of the future for now. 

We have an older (7-ish years old) Samsung and a newer one (last year). The banner is optional and can be turned off for both through a menu. If that's your major gripe, it is fixable. 

I'm pissed at my 55" Vizio dumb TV.

A couple years ago they re-wrote and force updated the OS for OTA television and berkeleyed it up pretty bad. So bad that I no longer allow it to connect to the internet so it will have to revert to "dumbest" mode- just so it'll display the OTA channel number.

Trouble is, it periodically falls on its face (about once a month) requiring me to cycle the (house) circuit breaker so the display will start again. About a five on the annoying meter but it otherwise works fine with a Roku stick and Vizio sound bar.

ETA: https://www.reddit.com/r/VIZIO_Official/s/xlT88bo49p