General > General Technical Chat

An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them

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free_electron:
i don't have a tv subscription like cable or satellite. programming has deteriorated to the point they interrupt the commercials to show bits of a movie. and you need to pay to watch the commercials.
streaming only. i watch what i want, when i want. no commercials.
i don't even goto movie theatres. the seats are cramped. there's invariable a tall guy in front and a back kicking, stinking popcorn munching kid behind. with some person that needs to get up in the middle of the movie to answer the phone. if anything interesting happens you can't stop and rewind and if you need to get up to pee you miss half the stuff. i have a motorized double recliner with center console and a 85inch 4k HDR screen and kick-ass surround.
between my Netflix and amazon prime (and CBS pass to watch star trek discovey, picard and others ) i have any program i like. There is nothing on 'live tv' i care about anyway. programs like shitfactor , the masked whaler or nobody's got talent don't interest me.
scifi, documentaries , the big bang theory, young sheldon, dexter , the blacklist, walking dead. all stream.

TimFox:
"...who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own..."
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado, Act I.

EHT:

--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---Great documentaries that none of the other broadcasters would make/fund (otherwise they already would have), News, World Service, most of the stuff on BBC4 (TV), Radio 3, Radio 4, and actually quite a lot of really good drama series. Sure, they make some crappy Saturday night lowest common denominator audience crap, like all the other broadcasters do, but at least they make the good stuff too!

How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?

--- End quote ---

Fully agree. UK TVs used to just have 4 buttons on the tuner: BBC1, 2, ITV, Ch4. Now we have literally a thousand channels on any set-top-box, but almost all of them are rubbish, unless you want to pay extra for sports, which I don't. I could still just have 4 buttons except replace ITV & Ch4 for BBC3, 4. :)
In practice, I only watch through iPlayer, a few series & films on Netflix and listen to R4 on podcast.  BBC Current Affairs, Drama, David Attenborough & similar. Unfortunately the UK's new "culture secretary" has instigated the dismantling of the remaining culture we have left. To be fair the BBC have a very broad reach that could be slimmed down but it's not easy to work out how a new funding scheme that wouldn't have a massive negative impact overall.

Regarding the TVs, there is usually a sweet spot in price. Once you go past it, you pay a much higher % premium for a luxury model- same with CPUs etc. AFAIK you can get a really good value screen say around £500 mark and excellent at £1k, but obviously they will depreciate pretty fast.

coppice:

--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---Great documentaries that none of the other broadcasters would make/fund (otherwise they already would have)

--- End quote ---
It used to be that all the channels offered pretty good documentaries. ITV has never been quite as down market as most people remember. They are all pretty bad now.


--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---News, World Service

--- End quote ---
BBC news, both its UK and World Service forms, are completely disconnected from reality. World Service TV was OK when it was launched, but it pretty dreadful now.


--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---most of the stuff on BBC4 (TV)

--- End quote ---
I've never noticed anything there that drew me to look.


--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---Radio 3, Radio 4

--- End quote ---
Radio 3 is still OK, although they've gone for a more annoying DJ style of presentation. Radio 4 (and extra) are a pale shadow of the service 30 years ago. Radio 4 used to be great for comedy. Now its about as funny as toothache.


--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---and actually quite a lot of really good drama series.

--- End quote ---
Not like there used to be. As I said before, I've watched a few older BBC made dramas on other services in the last couple of years. Really good stuff. All of it at least 10 years old.


--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---Sure, they make some crappy Saturday night lowest common denominator audience crap, like all the other broadcasters do, but at least they make the good stuff too!

--- End quote ---
Every channel always made Saturday night pretty grim.


--- Quote from: Gyro on February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm ---How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?

--- End quote ---
They do well in international sales with children's programs and natural history. You don't see as much BBC drama, comedy and other material around the world as you did in the 90s.

Halcyon:
I have to disagree with the point you made about brand X vs brand Y... there are some significant difference both in terms of specifications and image quality between brands and models.

Like with most things technology-related, you get what you pay for. Last time I bought a TV, I spent weeks doing my homework and actually looking at different models before I came to a decision that was right for me. For example, if you go and compare your basic run-of-the-mill 165cm model from brands such as TCL, Kogan or Hisense (at something like AUD$1000) to a more mainstream brand such as Sony, LG, or Samsung, you're going to notice quite a significant difference in quality.

Aside from the quality of the panel itself, a lot of those cheaper TVs tend to be under-spec'd. Couple that with all the "smart" garbage they install on them these days, the user experience can be rather sluggish and horrible, so it does pay to get a unit with a faster CPU and more RAM. Televisions, like many other appliances these days, are like buying computers. No longer are they merely a "light box". Most TVs will do quite a bit of image processing depending on the settings (which is sometimes quite useful for low resolution or low frame rate video).

However that being said, consumers need to look past the marketing bullshit and look for the features that are most important to them.

One thing is true however, no amount of money you spend on a television will ever fix the absolute garbage that is broadcast these days.

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