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The TV Thread: More for Less

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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    God yeah, the new UI for both LG and Samsung in the most recent models is fucking terrible. Like, near unusable for a lot of people. Both of them had decent-to-great interfaces already but they had to go fuck them up with full screen confusion.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    CormacCormac Registered User regular
    The only time I have ever dealt with the UI on my C1 was when I was setting everything up and last week when it wanted to update. It truly is awful and the remote wand thing is equally as bad. Otherwise I watch everything with an Apple TV 4K.

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    Whelp. I've quite had it with my TCL 6 series CONSTANTLY crashing when connected as a PC monitor and switching resolution or turning on HDR, so I just shotgun purchased an LG C2 after going into BestBuy. Apperantly it is a decent TV with different tech that honestly went all over my head when the (very helpful) young man in BB was helping me. Hopefully this addresses the issues I'm having (the crashing with the 6800XT was the last straw and I'm assuming its just a general compat issue).

    . . .however, I originally went in to figure out how to get my BEATS headphones working through the PC (connecting through the bluetooth that I guess is on the mobo, gives absolutely garbage sound even when right next to the PC); I was shown what looked like a "soundbar" but for headphone connections, but not really looking to spend 400 bucks for the whole thing. Anyone know if the sound through the TV itself (LG C2) is good? Dunno what terms to Google to narrow down the answer/info I am looking for.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    CormacCormac Registered User regular
    I occasionally use the built in speakers in my C1 and they're fine for the rare occasions I'm not using my headphones with a DAC/Amp. The C2 does have Bluetooth so you should be able to connects you Beats to them instead of your PC. You could also see if a cheap Bluetooth dongle for your computer could give you better sound quality, but I'd also check the PC's Bluetooth audio settings to see if somehow the bitrate or audio format is wrong.

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    Cormac wrote: »
    I occasionally use the built in speakers in my C1 and they're fine for the rare occasions I'm not using my headphones with a DAC/Amp. The C2 does have Bluetooth so you should be able to connects you Beats to them instead of your PC. You could also see if a cheap Bluetooth dongle for your computer could give you better sound quality, but I'd also check the PC's Bluetooth audio settings to see if somehow the bitrate or audio format is wrong.

    I got the TV set up with the Beats and. . .not bad? Certainly much better than going through the PC though and about the same (I think) when listening through my phone.

    . . .as for the TV itself. . .holy shit. Like, without ANY fiddling with the picture settings, out of the box this is on a whole nother level than the TCL 6 Series which I was told was "all I really needed for a living room PC gaming setup." It is absolutely night and day. I'm tempted to drag the TCL downstairs to do a side by side comparison to make sure it's not some placebo affect, but no way is it; going into HWL everything just looks better and sharper. Even swapping back and forth between the game and the desktop is MUCH faster without the TV losing signal for half a second. Booted up HFW and boy I can't wait to go back to that at some point as the game looks exactly as I thought it would look (in terms of image quality). I definitely need to do more tweaking. . .like any tweaking; only thing I did was change the refreshing rate to 60FPS - thought the TV was busted for half a second.

    The only negative: holy christ does this "Wiimote" remote suck. Surprising positive: the speakers on this are - in some situations - WAY better than the soundbar I've got (though the soundbar wasn't that great to begin with) and leagues better than that ol' hunk of junk TCL (seriously if there were a river nearby I'd drown it in that).

    Anywho, I don't really know the difference between what I had and what I bought but it must be something and I'm pretty happy right now.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    I recall Windows having a pretty shit Bluetooth stack. Usually computers work better with dedicated headphones.

    The Bluetooth headphones should work with the TV though. I don't love them, but they work fine. If you ever want to get a real set of TV headphones though, the Sennheiser ones are great. They connect via optical to the base, then RF to the headphones. Pretty great.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    CormacCormac Registered User regular
    ED! wrote: »
    Cormac wrote: »
    I occasionally use the built in speakers in my C1 and they're fine for the rare occasions I'm not using my headphones with a DAC/Amp. The C2 does have Bluetooth so you should be able to connects you Beats to them instead of your PC. You could also see if a cheap Bluetooth dongle for your computer could give you better sound quality, but I'd also check the PC's Bluetooth audio settings to see if somehow the bitrate or audio format is wrong.

    I got the TV set up with the Beats and. . .not bad? Certainly much better than going through the PC though and about the same (I think) when listening through my phone.

    . . .as for the TV itself. . .holy shit. Like, without ANY fiddling with the picture settings, out of the box this is on a whole nother level than the TCL 6 Series which I was told was "all I really needed for a living room PC gaming setup." It is absolutely night and day. I'm tempted to drag the TCL downstairs to do a side by side comparison to make sure it's not some placebo affect, but no way is it; going into HWL everything just looks better and sharper. Even swapping back and forth between the game and the desktop is MUCH faster without the TV losing signal for half a second. Booted up HFW and boy I can't wait to go back to that at some point as the game looks exactly as I thought it would look (in terms of image quality). I definitely need to do more tweaking. . .like any tweaking; only thing I did was change the refreshing rate to 60FPS - thought the TV was busted for half a second.

    The only negative: holy christ does this "Wiimote" remote suck. Surprising positive: the speakers on this are - in some situations - WAY better than the soundbar I've got (though the soundbar wasn't that great to begin with) and leagues better than that ol' hunk of junk TCL (seriously if there were a river nearby I'd drown it in that).

    Anywho, I don't really know the difference between what I had and what I bought but it must be something and I'm pretty happy right now.

    I highly recommend taking the 20-30 minute (or less) it'll take to apply Rting's calibrations settings to your C2. If you think it looks good now wait until it has the proper settings applied

    https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c2-oled/settings

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
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    DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    OLED is the light

    But yeah BT is always hit-or-miss for audio.

    The bigger issue I find for gaming is the delay with BT.

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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    We watched those in-store demos last night and I can now confidently say I now "get it." This HDR showcase in particularly finally got me to see what exactly "HDR" was supposed to look like and it lines up exactly as I had always expected it to coming from a photography background; the first shots of the young lady where she is perfectly lit, but the background stays appropriately black (versus just slightly overexposed in the non-HDR feed) are striking and about as clear in difference as the first time I saw 30 and 60FPS side by side (I admit I got suckered by that "Human eye. . ." malarkey from IGN way back when).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvJofD0QjSo

    One thing I've noticed so far with this TV. . .none of the pitch black videos I've seen have that weird "banding" affect where it looks like someone threw a stone in the middle of a pitch black lake and you can see the ripples. Black is just black on this (at least at night, we didn't really watch during the day).
    Dixon wrote: »
    OLED is the light

    But yeah BT is always hit-or-miss for audio.

    The bigger issue I find for gaming is the delay with BT.

    Certainly wish I knew the difference a lot sooner. I probably blushed at the price as a non-starter, but a friend recently reminded that I am not as poor as I once was; though the 2K+ of those SONY panels I absolutely scoffed at (fella in BB said it was because everyone gets their panels from LG which I really couldn't understand - especially from SONY who knows how to come up with their own shit when they're sick of paying Elvis taxes for other folks shit).

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    iguanacusiguanacus Desert PlanetRegistered User regular
    You made sure to rename the input to PC and do whatever the AMD apps version of setting the proper color depth, right? You want 10bit and full dynamic range enabled.

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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    I recall Windows having a pretty shit Bluetooth stack. Usually computers work better with dedicated headphones.

    The Bluetooth headphones should work with the TV though. I don't love them, but they work fine. If you ever want to get a real set of TV headphones though, the Sennheiser ones are great. They connect via optical to the base, then RF to the headphones. Pretty great.

    Yeah I've tried numerous times and I've never had good luck with bluetooth and windows. Even with a BT dongle on the front of the PC. I'd say the best bet for PC wireless would be an RF model where it has it's own basestation. Which is a shame since more and more really nice bluetooth headsets are coming out.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    iguanacus wrote: »
    You made sure to rename the input to PC and do whatever the AMD apps version of setting the proper color depth, right? You want 10bit and full dynamic range enabled.

    I did the "icon" change thing for PC (it was reading as a PS5 for some dumb reason) and for the console as well - I have no idea why but it was one of the first things I saw online. Not sure about the color depth. . .there is an option I think in Clarity for this, but it is per input and not for the entire system. I left it alone at 50. Not sure where I would check the 10bit thing; I was using the RT guide, but I'm the kind of tech person that needs like step by step menu by menu instructions and these only seem like an overview with a few pictures of the end setting.

    Also changed the PC to 120HZ (it settled on sub-30 for some reason and I thought my mouse signals were all messed up); swapping to 120 and its crazy smooth. . .distractingly so. I probably won't be able to get to really setting the thing up until this weekend (its still in "Dumb" mode which I like as I'm not a fan of TV's constantly advertising to me), but out of the box with a few obvious changes is pretty sweet.

    One thing I am going to have to invest in is a sound system as the speakers on the TV reminded me of how fantastic a sound system with good surround can sound (I had an old system with sub-woofer that was stupid loud, loved it; Googling it looks like I have an Insignia 2.0, which apparently is about as entry-level budget as you can get).

    ED! on
    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Unless you want to do a bunch of wiring, a good soundbar will work wonders. It's all just a matter of your budget.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    iguanacusiguanacus Desert PlanetRegistered User regular
    edited February 2023
    ED! wrote: »
    iguanacus wrote: »
    You made sure to rename the input to PC and do whatever the AMD apps version of setting the proper color depth, right? You want 10bit and full dynamic range enabled.

    I did the "icon" change thing for PC (it was reading as a PS5 for some dumb reason) and for the console as well - I have no idea why but it was one of the first things I saw online. Not sure about the color depth. . .there is an option I think in Clarity for this, but it is per input and not for the entire system. I left it alone at 50. Not sure where I would check the 10bit thing; I was using the RT guide, but I'm the kind of tech person that needs like step by step menu by menu instructions and these only seem like an overview with a few pictures of the end setting.

    Also changed the PC to 120HZ (it settled on sub-30 for some reason and I thought my mouse signals were all messed up); swapping to 120 and its crazy smooth. . .distractingly so. I probably won't be able to get to really setting the thing up until this weekend (its still in "Dumb" mode which I like as I'm not a fan of TV's constantly advertising to me), but out of the box with a few obvious changes is pretty sweet.

    One thing I am going to have to invest in is a sound system as the speakers on the TV reminded me of how fantastic a sound system with good surround can sound (I had an old system with sub-woofer that was stupid loud, loved it; Googling it looks like I have an Insignia 2.0, which apparently is about as entry-level budget as you can get).

    No, I mean the color depth in windows. Nvidia does it through the Nvidia Control Panel

    spoiler cause big
    ncwrirt99ole.png

    and also turn on freesync wherever that is as well.

    iguanacus on
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Unless you want to do a bunch of wiring, a good soundbar will work wonders. It's all just a matter of your budget.

    I just went at lunch and got an LG Meridian; RTings says it was pretty good. Apparently I missed out on a deal on this soundbar the guy who previously helped me showed me and I was blown away, but it was 700 (even after the discount) and my ears aren't that uppity. Setting it up I have no idea what I did (like the subwoofer doesn't connect in anyway to the soundbar) but the sound difference is darn sure clear. I only actually went to the shopping center to pick up a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories and randomly walked into BB and whelp. . .here we are. Figured it was due as I had already updated my PC and now the actual sound and image quality match the power underneath.

    . . .I THINK that's it; only thing I can imagine looking at is some "rear speakers" but everything else feels well sorted Home Theater wise.
    iguanacus wrote: »
    No, I mean the color depth in windows. Nvidia does it through the Nvidia Control Panel

    I gotcha. Yeah, that sounds like I need AMD Adrenaline and. . .ugh. Maybe there's a way to make those changes (if not just through Windows settings) without that bloatware (only thing I hate about using AMD. . .well that and not getting DLSS).

    ED! on
    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2023
    Finally got the 77" C2.

    It's way bigger than I expected, in comparison to my 65" C8.

    I'm now mentally trying to hold off upgrading my 3080Ti to a 4090...I feel like it would be smart to wait for the eventual 5000 series.

    To be fair none of these purchases are smart.

    Dixon on
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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    We just got our new couch, which is just a bit further away, now I'm chomping at upgrading to a 77". Sadly the G3 and S95c may be out of my price range this year. Also I'm nervous about the G3 due to my wife just leaving the TV on all the time and so far Samsung hasn't garnered a whole lot of support due to production issues and crappy interface.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Reviews of the C3 are coming out. Sounds like it's basically the C2 panel with extra 2.1 HDMI ports and some new settings to make thing easier. Might be worth just grabbing the C2 on discount if you don't need all the ports.

    Same the G3 isn't going to be in smaller sizes. I really want to downsize to 48" but would like MLA and a heatsink. Maybe we'll see ASUS or other PC makers take a stab.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    Well my two year old Sony 75" 850G has no power. I've got someone coming out for an estimate on Saturday, but if it's more than a few hundred I'll probably be replacing it instead of repairing. I can snag a 75" FALD from hisense for around $1000 that reviews pretty well, but I'm also a little tempted to go down to 65" to get an OLED instead.

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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Seems my C6 is probably getting towards the end of it's life. There is starting to be burn in (though it just looks like dirt, nothing static). Bad timing though since my options don't really hit what I'd be looking for.

    LG C2 - the pro's for the C2 is that it comes in 48". I have a 55" C6 but that was due to it being the smallest size at the time. I think 48" would fit my office better. The other advantage is that it's heavily discounted right now. Getting it for under $1,000 is really good value.

    LG G3 - the main pro here is that it's brighter due to MLA, and it has LG's color accuracy (which according to half a dozen reviews, it better than Samsungs still). The downsides are that it's 55" again, it's $1500+ more than the C2, and in game mode for some reason peak brightness is locked to pretty close to the C2/C3.

    Samsung S95c - pro's here are best in class brightness, game mode that works, and 144hz. The cons are color accuracy is still off, and brightness can be overwhelming and drown out details according to some reviews. You are also stuck with Samsung quality, which seems to be less that LG's. It's also only in 55" and costs the same as the G3.

    I'm really thinking of grabbing the C2 for now. See how I like 48" again, save the money, then in a year or 2, re-evaluate. I really wish my local Magnolia had a S95c or G3 to see in person. Some of the videos with games that have lots of contract, the extra brightness really pops. But for games like AC Origins, where it's overall bright, the differences seemed a lot less.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    I've also read the burn-in is worse according to the RTings research for samsung. I'd do C2.

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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Dixon wrote: »
    I've also read the burn-in is worse according to the RTings research for samsung. I'd do C2.

    Yeah one of the videos I watched, mentioned with HDR testing and the Xbox, image retention was rather easy to get.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    Trajan45 wrote: »
    I'm really thinking of grabbing the C2 for now. See how I like 48" again, save the money, then in a year or 2, re-evaluate. I really wish my local Magnolia had a S95c or G3 to see in person. Some of the videos with games that have lots of contract, the extra brightness really pops. But for games like AC Origins, where it's overall bright, the differences seemed a lot less.

    Before I got the LG C2, the AMD 6800XT/5600X combo I got in the fall was the "best" gaming/media purchase I made. Then I got the LG C2. Don't want to fetishize the thing but every time I use it I'm blown away.

    . . .if you aren't a luddite like myself and who was okay with "just okay" (like all of my electronics purchases were in the "does it at least turn on and give a signal" price range) maybe the value isn't as extreme, but everything I see online has people who are tech and media junkies with the same impression and experience that I've had. Just a darn fine unit and everything just looks good on it. Also performs WAY better than any TV I've ever had (in terms of like turning on, refreshing the image if it jumps from one image source to another, etc.) and the only time I'm screaming at the TV is when it gets confused when communicating with the LG soundbar (I'm sure its the way I've got it set up).

    The "Magic Remote" is fantastically garbage though (at least the pointer is) and I wish I could just have a normal remote.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    You can buy a cheap LG remote and get access to all the functions of your TV. I see them for $8 on eBay. The shortcuts to the specific apps may or may not work, but everything else will (home, inputs, all that jazz).

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Right now I'm just waiting for them to dip in price again. It's hard to beat the price while I wait to see how the G3 and s95c shake out. Hell, in another 3-4 years when looking at a replacement, Micro-LED might actually be out.

    My C6 did a great job and I'll be sad to lose the 3D (though I rarely use it, but Tron 3D is amazing).

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Got the 48" C2 in yesterday. I think I did most of the easy stuff, setting the HDMI to PC, using game optimizer setting, and updated Nvidia to PC 120hz vs TV. Might try poking around online for additional configuration changes, but so far it's not bad.

    Main thing is that I need to raise my shelf or get a taller one as my center of view is lower moving from 55" to 48". Since this was only $800, I'll give it a shot for a couple years and then re-evaluate if I miss the 55" and see how MLA tech improves.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Holy smokes, the 120hz and brightness are pretty nice. Jumped in a couple games and had to turn down the brightness some as it was too bright haha. The one thing that is maybe a downside, the anti-glare doesn't seem to be quite as good. Either that, or the slight curve of the C6, helped battle reflections coming from the side of the tv.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    LostNinjaLostNinja Registered User regular
    So I just picked up a new QLED TV during the Black Friday sales (really wanted the comparable OLED but couldn’t justify the $600 price difference right now).

    It’s been a while since o got a TV but I recall the default settings not typically being optimized? What website do you all use to find the optimal settings to have it at? The TV is a Samsung model QN65Q80CAFXZA W80C QLED.

    I also got a Samsung sound bar, do those usually need separate refinement?

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    CormacCormac Registered User regular
    LostNinja wrote: »
    So I just picked up a new QLED TV during the Black Friday sales (really wanted the comparable OLED but couldn’t justify the $600 price difference right now).

    It’s been a while since o got a TV but I recall the default settings not typically being optimized? What website do you all use to find the optimal settings to have it at? The TV is a Samsung model QN65Q80CAFXZA W80C QLED.

    I also got a Samsung sound bar, do those usually need separate refinement?

    RTING's is great for calibration settings https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/q80c-q80-q80cd-qled/settings

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    And don't worry about soundbar refining, you can adjust the treble and bass to your liking, but there isn't much beyond that typically.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    IanatorIanator Gaze upon my works, ye mighty and facepalm.Registered User regular
    Hooo boy, folks. Just bought a TV tonight! 58" Hisense R6 series.
    q8E929y.jpg

    ...Fak.

    steam_sig.png
    Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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    MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    Oh no!

    Assume that happened during shipping? Because otherwise it might not be covered...

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    IanatorIanator Gaze upon my works, ye mighty and facepalm.Registered User regular
    MichaelLC wrote: »
    Oh no!

    Assume that happened during shipping? Because otherwise it might not be covered...

    Bought from the Walmart I work at. Gonna return it for another tonight.

    steam_sig.png
    Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
    Backlog Challenge List
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    The way it's spidering out of the corner like that looks like something got dropped on it, yeah. What a mess. :(

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    IanatorIanator Gaze upon my works, ye mighty and facepalm.Registered User regular
    Replacement acquired, all is well :)

    steam_sig.png
    Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    My LG C2 constantly asks me to do the screen refresh mode whenever I turn on the TV vs asking when I turn it off. Kind of want to yell at an LG engineer about this haha.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    useruser Registered User regular
    Do you turn off the TV manually with like the remote? I have a C1 as my monitor and I notice it only asks this if I happened to let the TV turn off by inactivity.

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    shadowaneshadowane Registered User regular
    I have an LG C2 and have never once been asked that. Maybe I already have it on, dunno.

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    DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    Yeah I have a c2 and never get asked either.

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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    I wonder if I'm letting it idle more? usually I manually turn it off when I put the PC to sleep. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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