Compression look on displays in store? (1 Viewer)

[NickBrazzi]

I've been looking at TVs in the store. I'm switching to a 4K TV after using a projector for years.

The Samsungs have great reviews. But, in the store, the image looks smeared and full of compression on all the Samsung displays.

Clearly, this could be a crappy signal fed into the TV at Best Buy. But, how can I buy a TV when the only one I've seen in person has an image quality I don't like?

I guess I'm looking for some thoughts or reassurance that the compression I see is a problem in the store, and not a real issue with the Samsung TVs. If I could believe the compression artifacting I saw is just bad in-store setup, I would be on board with the other positive aspects of these units.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Without knowing what was feeding into the TV, it's impossible to say for sure, but it's certainly possible that the TV in the store wasn't getting the best signals. Sometimes they split the signal so many times so that the same thing is playing on every monitor, and it can degrade the overall quality.

If the TVs are 4K TVs and the source material being played on the TV is of lower resolution, the TV could be revealing limitations of the source material that wasn't previously visible on a lower resolution TV.

A lot of stores will allow you to bring in a disc of your own and put it on the TV you're thinking of buying. So if you have a movie or two that you know really well, and know how they're supposed to look, I'd suggest seeing if the store will allow you to demo it with your own material so you can determine if it was just getting a low quality signal to begin with, or if the TV's imaging just wasn't to your liking.

 

[NickBrazzi]

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. I might give that a try.