Decent "cheap" 40-45" UHD TVs (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

Thanks for your help, @Josh Steinberg . The way Apple has implemented HDR with the AppleTV really is poorly done. When I set up the new TV and switched the input to it, a menu popped up stating an HDR TV had been sensed, and did I want to enable HDR on the ATV? Of course I do. Why wouldn't I? I clicked "Enable". The thing is it switches the overall output setting to HDR for everything. It SHOULD set the output to 4K SDR in that setting, and enable "Match Source" in the second setting that I didn't even know existed.

Also, I got looking at the specs of this TV. As I suspected, it can't really do HDR, though it can process it. I compared it to a Samsung QLED and an LG OLED, which can truly do HDR. The test results with those had local, HDR output capability that was significantly higher than their regular output. The TCL was no different between standard and HDR. So, it can process HDR, but it's just remapping the dynamic range within it's regular range. Still, the picture is very good, especially the streamed DV sample clips I found. I can't believe this TV was barely over $200.

 

[JohnRice]

Welcome to my world, where electronics manufacturers eliminate features that cost very little or nothing once it's been decided that a majority of consumers don't use them. It doesn't seem to matter that there might be a minority that's still hundreds of thousands or millions of people who still do. I find that very frustrating but that seems to be the way things go these days.

The funny thing is, when you tune to a channel, it shows the signal strength for a few seconds, which is a great feature that none of my previous HD TVs has done. So, it has that priority toward broadcast, but then it drops the ability to directly tune to a channel. Bizarre design.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I figure this is the best place to get in on this...

I'm working with roughly the same budget, maybe slightly bigger (50"), but there's one thing I'm looking for...

The old Samsung I have (and will continue to have in the living room) has a feature that allows you to turn off the screen but the audio keeps playing.

Are there any TVs out there now that have this feature? I can't find any info. I've searched manuals on websites, reviews... nothing. But, you guys are buying TVs, and someone here may have stumbled across it.

 

[JohnRice]

At roughly a month in, I'm fine with the TCL TV. In retrospect, ideally I'd have done a little deeper digging and might have gone with a Vizio (M Series? I think... I forget) that's roughly $50 more, but says it has a full LED backlight panel, rather than edge illumination. I don't know how much of a difference it would make.

The inability to directly tune a broadcast channel is a little annoying, but I've gotten used to it, and the TCL has stellar broadcast schedule info, that I think is actually a benefit of the Roku feature. So, it's kind of a trade-off. The picture smokes the Samsung it replaced, but there seemed to be something wrong that developed with it early on. A lot of "stair stepping" or whatever the technical term is, in fine gradations. It was really kind of annoying. My 32" Samsung from the same series (I think) and age doesn't do that.