Sony or Samsung 43" 4k TV?

[Henderson]

I need to replace a horribly bad screen for my bedroom TV, and it's down to the Sony KD43X720E or the Samsung UN43NU7100FXZA, but I have a few questions.

I know the Samsung should have the much better looking screen, better contrast, but very poor viewing angles and ads. Do you really need to be sitting squarely in front of it? And can you stop their ads if you add their ad urls to your router to block them? Does that still work?

Can the Sony TV play .mkv files through it's media server? I've downloaded the manuals for both TVs, and the Sony lists about 40 different containers and codecs for playback from a USB drive. But under the media server section, it only lists "Video: AVCHD, MPEG2, MPEG1, MP4 (AVC), MP4 (MPEG4), WMV", and that's it. Since the majority of my files are .mkv, I want to be sure before lugging it home and then having to return it.

Any other advice between the 2 TVs would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gingerbread]

The two are pretty high end TVs and not some low budget poor tvs. Both will have pretty much a perfect picture and you won't have troubles with the viewing angles of any, don't know where you got that, this is not a monitor.
I'd buy the Samsung because it for sure supports more video formats, is newer model and has a better OS overall.

 

[Henderson]

I was leaning towards the Samsung (especially since a 40" Sony developed bubbles or burn in all over screen within 2 years), but then I had read about the ads in the app section. Seeing ads on a TV that I paid for would just irritate me to no end every time I saw them though, in spite of a better picture, which is why I asked if they can be stopped by blocking their ad servers through your router. If not, then I'll get the Sony, but the Samsung seems to have a better picture by all accounts.

Thanks for your info.

 

[Gingerbread]

Hard to tell, I'm using a Samsung from 2017 with latest os and I have no adds so I'm not sure. But adds would work only during app selection I'd guess and they shouldn't be that bad, not to mention I didn't find anything about ads, so no idea.

 

[Henderson]

If you Google "ads on Samsung TVs", you'll see posts by unhappy people after $3000 for a TV, get it home and get hit with ads (and then return the TV). The ads only come up while in the SmartHub, do you ever use the smart features? You must be connected to the internet since you said it has the most recent OS, so must get updated.

Or possibly you're not in the US? This might only be in the US for now, but I've read it will be coming up elsewhere too.

 

[Gingerbread]

Ah ye, I'm not in the US. Guess that's the thing because I use it mainly for smart tv.

 

[Henderson]

That explains it then, I hope you never get hit with the ads. I'm tempted to pick up the Samsung and try it, as long as I can return it should blocking the ads not be possible through the router. If I get the Sony, I'll want to get the additional 4 year warranty, and I really hate doing that... TVs should last more than 2 years.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[jsmithepa]

.mkv, I want to be sure before lugging it home and then having to return it.

Very simple dude, bring your fav flash stick into the store, they will let you play with it. U know.

 

[Henderson]

.mkv, I want to be sure before lugging it home and then having to return it.

Very simple dude, bring your fav flash stick into the store, they will let you play with it. U know.

As I said, I've downloaded the manual and what it lists for playback on USB sticks is FAR different than the little bit of info for playback through the media server. Are you saying if it can play a format from a USB stick, it's guaranteed it can also play those same formats through the DLNA media server? I would think yes, but as I also said, I'd rather not lug the TV home to find out it doesn't. I was hoping someone had this particular TV and could verify .mkv playback through the media server.

 

[jsmithepa]

Oh DLNA, dang that's a monkey wrench. Dunno dude. Most reviews on web are superficial and don't go into details u seek. Me giving up on this one.