Thoughts on 55 inch Roku QLED? (1 Viewer)

[John*Wells]

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6536733.p?skuId=6536733

I am considering upgrading to this model from my 4K UHD model I purchased in 2020. Is QLED really worth the extra cost?

 

[JohnRice]

In the TCL 5 Series? Probably not. However, you might as well go with THIS 6 Series for the same price.

Keep in mind, the 6 Series doesn't appear to be Roku, which is actually a plus for me.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Do you know how it was typically filmed, and if the 16:9 is a combination of cropping and open matte?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6536733.p?skuId=6536733

I am considering upgrading to this model from my 4K UHD model I purchased in 2020. Is QLED really worth the extra cost?

In the TCL 5 Series? Probably not. However, you might as well go with THIS 6 Series for the same price.

Keep in mind, the 6 Series doesn't appear to be Roku, which is actually a plus for me.

That is a Roku-branded TV, not a TCL. Looks like TCL has abandoned Roku for now, likely because Roku has decided to now make their own TVs. And that Roku is only 60Hz.

If you haven't done so already, you may want to take a look at this review:


I would recommend the same model as @JohnRice did above (it is 120Hz), and if you must have Roku (and I don't blame you, as I am not a fan of Android/Google TV) then pick up a Roku Streaming Stick 4K for about $30. That's pretty much your only other option at that price point at Best Buy or pretty much any store for that matter. Costco has the TCL for the same price, and you get an additional year of warranty service at no cost.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Well its not a Roku TV but I have a 55" Vizio QLED and I like it.

 

[JohnRice]

I should explain my objection to Roku TVs. I still use an antenna sometimes, and unless something has changed, Roku TVs have no direct channel access. In other words, you can't just enter "4 > Enter" to go to channel 4. You have to go to the channel guide and scroll through it to change channels, which kind of sucks if you're going from channel 4 to channel 31. I can't really speak to the streaming differences though.

 

[Worth]

In addition to the aforementioned TCL, I’d also consider the Hisense U7K.

 

[Todd Erwin]

In addition to the aforementioned TCL, I’d also consider the Hisense U7K.

I think John is trying to stay under $400.

 

[John*Wells]

I think John is trying to stay under $400.

Todd is right. That was my initial thought. But I actually went up in my price point to this.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...4k-uhd-smart-tizen-tv/6537339.p?skuId=6537339

My reasoning had to do with the type of stand it came with. I don’t really care for the Roku stand feet and this Samsung works better for my small space. In doing that I gave up on getting the RCA jacks built in. But I have an old flat screen that has those for plug and play games

 

[JohnRice]

Todd is right. That was my initial thought. But I actually went up in my price point to this.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...4k-uhd-smart-tizen-tv/6537339.p?skuId=6537339

My reasoning had to do with the type of stand it came with. I don’t really care for the Roku stand feet and this Samsung works better for my small space. In doing that I gave up on getting the RCA jacks built in. But I have an old flat screen that has those for plug and play games

Which is why I often get a separate vesa stand. $40 or so usually gets you there, depending on the size of the TV.

 

[JohnRice]

THIS is the one I got for my 55" TV.

And THIS one for the 65".

 

[YANG]

In the TCL 5 Series? Probably not. However, you might as well go with THIS 6 Series for the same price.

Keep in mind, the 6 Series doesn't appear to be Roku, which is actually a plus for me.

the added point for the TCL 6 series, miniLED TV.

 

[LeoA]

In doing that I gave up on getting the RCA jacks built in. But I have an old flat screen that has those for plug and play games

It's not super cheap, but if you ever want to upgrade your new tv purchase in order to play these on it down the road (such as if your old flat screen dies), this is a quality option at a lowish price point to upscale those and output them via HDMI to your new television.

2X-Pro | RetroTINK

The RetroTINK-2X returns in it's Pro form! Everything that was great about the original is back plus new improvements and features: Professional injection molded enclosure Inputs: Component, S-video, Composite (shared with the green jack) at 240p/288p/480i/576i Output: Digital Video Automatic...

www.retrotink.com

Lower priced options like the many choices on Amazon from unknown brands will likely not offer pleasing results with significant input lag, picture quality issues, longevity of the upscaler, and mistreating 240p (a common resolution for many composite video equipped plug & plays) as if it's 480i being some of the common issues with such cheap upscalers and older gaming hardware.

It's not as fancy or capable as something much more expensive like their own upcoming Retrotink 4K upscaler, but the Retrotink 2X Pro is widely viewed as the most bang for your buck when it comes to upscaling classic games.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I should explain my objection to Roku TVs. I still use an antenna sometimes, and unless something has changed, Roku TVs have no direct channel access. In other words, you can't just enter "4 > Enter" to go to channel 4. You have to go to the channel guide and scroll through it to change channels, which kind of sucks if you're going from channel 4 to channel 31. I can't really speak to the streaming differences though.

The Hisense U7K that I purchased a few weeks ago for our SC condo is the same way, and it uses Android TV. While I did connect the CATV (we get it as part of our HOA), I have just been using YouTube TV to watch live television on the display - - we subscribe to that service instead of cable TV for our Michigan home. I also connected a Roku Ultra 4K streaming box (already had it for the previous Vizio TV, which died) to the display, as I like that much better than Android TV.

 

[John*Wells]

New TV showed up this morning. Samsung Qled. Forgive my ignorance but it says the speakers support Dolby atmos. In terms of Surround sound, what does that mean exactly?

 

[JohnRice]

New TV showed up this morning. Samsung Qled. Forgive my ignorance but it says the speakers support Dolby atmos. In terms of Surround sound, what does that mean exactly?

I suspect they also have some Florida oceanfront property available.

 

[Todd Erwin]

New TV showed up this morning. Samsung Qled. Forgive my ignorance but it says the speakers support Dolby atmos. In terms of Surround sound, what does that mean exactly?

Nothing. Dolby has really screwed up the marketing approach when it comes to Dolby Atmos.

 

[JohnRice]

The serious answer is, it simply means that it will accept an Atmos digital stream, and pretend like it's actually reproducing anything resembling Atmos. Which it isn't. It should mean that it will actually reproduce sounds that are supposed to come from overhead, rather than just ignoring them.

So yeah, it's mostly marketing...

 

[Todd Erwin]

New TV showed up this morning. Samsung Qled. Forgive my ignorance but it says the speakers support Dolby atmos. In terms of Surround sound, what does that mean exactly?

The serious answer is, it simply means that it will accept an Atmos digital stream, and pretend like it's actually reproducing anything resembling Atmos. Which it isn't. It should mean that it will actually reproduce sounds that are supposed to come from overhead, rather than just ignoring them.

So yeah, it's mostly marketing...

Or, it has some form of "simulated" Atmos surround capability. But with tiny, tinny TV speakers, don't expect much.

 

[Lord Dalek]

How would that even work anyway? On the majority of HDTVs, the built in speakers are downfiring which hamstrings Atmos.