we personally own a samsung un50eh6000fxza which is a 50" 120hz capable television without any smart functions. picture quality is excellent however as with most newer televisions you will likely need to disable 120hz mode and use standard 60hz as well as disable the motion blur reducer as they cause what is known as the soap opera effect and may look very strange. most people who do not like this think that the people look plasticy instead of real. once you disable such things video looks how it has always looked for year but in 1080p clarity. we are happy with that television in the other room.
the 6000fxza was the newer model (a year or so ago) and had a better picture and better panel then the previous generations. honestly unless you research differences in panel between the models its hard to say which has a good panel and which does not.
the difference between models may be that some are 120 or 240hz with different motion blur reduction modes, a difference of panel quality, the style of backlighting used or perhaps whether smart functions are included or not. as far as panel quality is concerned.. its hard to find this out without much research on the matter. the rest is easy to sort out.
generally i advise using barebones models since most people disable 120hz/motionflow and since smart functions are only relevant for a few years at best before becoming outdated. however, some of the top end models have nice features such as a grid-array backlighting system which offers better contrast than traditional edge-lit styles.
besides samsung i would also suggest taking a look at sony.
my personal television which i use hooked up to my pc, ps3, ps2 and other sources is a now older (circa 2010) sony bravia 40" 60hz ccfl backlit model. it has the bravia color engine but has no smart functions or other doo-dads which are not needed. while it might not be the highest end television or have the absolute best picture it certainly works very well and i've had zero issues with it. i would buy a sony television again if they have a product which fits my needs (if only i had cash for their 4k tv)
no, you do not need to buy a home theater of the same brand. the only benefit to this is that sometimes manufacturers will let you control devices using one remote or have power saving modes when you link the devices. nothing too extraordinary and in some cases you get zero benefits.
instead of buying a home theater in a box (htib) style set, if you have the budget for it then i would suggest buying a receiver and speaker set. a good budget set is the energy 5.1 take classic which can be had for about $300-350 normally and includes five speakers and a subwoofer. this can be paired up with a receiver for around the $200 range to power the speakers and manage your various inputs such as dvd players, blueray players, console systems, etcetera.
of course if you go this route it may be more expensive but you get more for your money and can hook up additional sources later on with ease as well as upgrade speakers down the road or add to them for a 7.1 or 5.2 set if you wished in the future.
if you are not interested in buying higher quality speakers and do not care about any external sources other than the bd/dvd player and tv tuner then i would suggest at minimum getting a htib with ARC support (make sure your tv supports ARC too). you can find many sets which sound half decent and are not too terrible on your wallet but again my suggestion would be to have a set with a standalone receiver instead of the very limited dvd/bd/receiver combo boxes most HTIB sets ship with. your choice.
you may want to list your budget as well as what kind of systems you were looking at.
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