best bang for but 4k tv? is it needed?

[tomekkplk1]

Well the time has come to buy a new tv. My 50" samsung plasma has started to die out after 4 years and it's time for a replacement. The only tv's available are 4k with only a couple being LED. Tomsguide says 4k isn't yet needed, cnet says yes. I go by reviews.

Everything watched is streamed and some sports. I'm looking for a 55" tv this time but is a 4k tv worth the investment?

I've been eyeing the Vizio M55-c2, along with some sony/samsung tv's. Can anyone throw in some input? Not really much of a tv guy so any help would be great. Thanks in advance!

 

[Rogue Leader]

As the owner of 2 65" 4k tvs I can tell you it IS awesome, and amazing.

The fact you mostly stream favors 4k. Right now the only 4k you're really getting in the mainstream is Netflix and Youtube. There are some other apps that have 4k coverage, but those are the main ones. Its sort of not worth it yet, however if you plan on keeping the TV for a long time, 4k is only going to become more ubiquitous.

 

[sizzling]

2 questions, how much 4k will you have available and are you looking at a high end 4k TV? Low and mid range 4k TV's still display 1080p worse than a native 1080p TV so unless you are going to be watching lots of 4k or buying a high end 4k TV I would rather a high end 1080p.

 

[tomekkplk1]

I'm not looking for anything crazy my budget is $1,400 not looking to go any higher. Like I was saying I've been looking at the vizio m55-c2 and a few Sony and samsungs around the 900-1400 range

 

[americanaudiophile]

Coming from plasma you might be unhappy with the artifacts generated when UHD TVs upscale HD and SD material. Check out the review on this site of the top of the line LG OLED 4K. This is their only complaint on a really expensive flat screen TV. There is also the new HDR or Dolby Vision TVs that are coming out. This provides wider brightness and color space than standard 4K but only on HDR encoded 4k video.
So maybe getting the best quality 1080p set makes the most sense. When you are ready for a 4k in 4-5 years the tech will be much more developed and cheaper.

 

[tomekkplk1]

I figured as much, the only LED tv's out are vizio and LG, looking them up on rtings.com they rank extremely low. Not sure if it's because they are being compared to the 4K tv's

 

[americanaudiophile]

If your budget were higher an HD OLED TV would give you the best picture. Check with the AVS forum for help.
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/166-lcd-flat-panel-displays/

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

You would e disappointed going from Plasma to LCD. Do Plasma to OLED instead. You'll be giving up a lot of detail going with LCD. I don't think that UHD is worth it yet. Personally I'm just waiting for UHD projectors to drop in price. Depending on how the manufacturers feel, you might need to upgrade later. The UHD "specs", aren't finalised. They're still working on new ways to implement HDR as we speak, to name one...

Contrast is actually king. Contrary to what most people think, a higher contrast means sharper image. VA can only do so much, though they reach 5000:1 contrast currently, which is impressive.