Suggestions for a new HDTV

[spdragoo]

So, I'm looking at getting a new TV for our living room within the next few weeks, as a) we've decided that the 20" TV in the bedroom needs replaced (screen is kind of small, & the speakers are apparently of low quality because we get a lot of vibration when we turn it up past 50%), & b) we determined that the current 32" TV in the living room will actually fit on top of the dresser in the bedroom without blocking any of our wall decor. So, I'm looking for some advice on what I should keep an eye out for, & any potential issues we may have.

First off, I am not looking for the following:
-- 3D capability (gives my wife a headache when we see 3D movies in the theatre, not to mention I think it's overpriced & overhyped for home use).
-- curved screen (we both think they look very, very stupid when we see them in the store).
-- “Smart” TVs. Aside from the recent privacy & malware issues I’ve been reading about, I don’t need that capability. If we’re not watching broadcast TV, we have other devices that we use on a regular basis to access other non-broadcast content & use their own connections. So I don’t need a TV set that comes with its own apps.

What I do need in capabilities:
-- At least 1 USB port
-- At least 3 HDMI inputs; currently using 1 for connection to my laptop (although that was primarily for watching free Hulu -- which has now gone the way of the dodo -- we occasionally also watch stuff on CBS's website as well), & 1 connection for our new Roku streaming stick (bedroom uses the Roku 3, but we had an alternative in the past in the living room)
-- At least 1 component input set; currently used for our DVD player (no, not Blu-Ray, actual DVD player). I’d have to check to see if it has an HDMI option or not, as I may have to use it for something else…
-- I may still need a composite (RCA) input set. We currently have a Wii (no, not the Wii U, the “old” Wii). Although we tended to use it more for watching Amazon Prime & Netflix, we do have some Wii games (mostly from the Lego series & Just Dance) that we still play. If our DVD player has an HDMI output option available, and if I can find one of the Wii component cable units (or even one of the adapters, as I’ve seen a couple that claim to be compatible with PS2/PS3, XBox 360 & the Wii), I might not need the composite input. But that would be the only reason, as most likely any future replacement would be an XBox model (my brother-in-law has one, & my wife has been pretty impressed with its capabilities), which uses HDMI anyway.
-- I need the built-in speakers to be decent. Yes, I know that the speakers in flat-panel TVs aren’t anywhere near as good as the speakers in the older cabinet-style TVs. And yes, I know that they recommend the use of soundbars with flat-panel TVs. However, while I would also love a full 5.1 surround sound system for the living room, both fall into the category of “If I don’t need it, I can’t justify the expense”.
-- Obviously, it’ll be a digital TV, as I live in the US. So I assume that all of the models will come with an ATSC tuner. I would also assume that they would still have the coaxial connector on them, so that you can hook up an external antenna to boost the signal strength.

Our current 32” TV is an LG model, which has worked very well to date, so LG models would probably be preferred but not necessarily required. Size-wise, it depends on the size of the particular model, of course, but based on the available space I’m assuming at this point I might be limited to 49-50” tops. Beyond that, I don’t really care. As long as the color is decent & it has at least 1080p resolution, I’m pretty much open.

Thoughts & suggestions?

 

[hdmark]

that was a VERY detailed post! however im not sure exaclty what answers your looking for? seems like you know exactly what you want
i guess if youre looking for model advice... id give a budget and people can suggest certain LG models .
i personally have a 50" samsung and love it. I guess i would stick to samsung/LG/sony. but those are just brands that i personally like. i dont have any real benchmarks to support that

 

[jsmithepa]

Very detailed indeed. So you already know what you want, don't know what you need us for!

Only thing I advise you is, make sure it has both analog and digital audio outputs. TV built-in speakers often sux as you already know, you may not feel like a priority item now but sooner of later you will want external speaker(s), more so in the main room of the house which tend to be larger and needs audio power to fill. So buy a TV with those outputs so it's ready to roll when you decide on external speaker at a later time.

Other than that stick with brand names and whatever is on sales locally.

 

[spdragoo]

Thanks. Mainly, I'm just wondering if I'm going to paint myself into a corner by needing the RCA inputs -- except for my Wii, the last time I needed that input was when I had a VCR (& that's been a looong time, as we got rid of our VHS tapes at least 3 years ago), & when we had our older non-digital TVs & had to use RF modulators to get the digital TV signals.

Price-wise, the budget is probably flexible. If I had to ballpark, I'd say let's definitely keep it under $500 USD, & if possible under $400 USD.

 

[jsmithepa]

Thanks. Mainly, I'm just wondering if I'm going to paint myself into a corner by needing the RCA inputs

Excellent point.

That indeed maybe an issue. Lots of TV these days, we blame them for saving a few bucks, give you the obligatory HDMI ports and that's it. Support for your legacy analog components, Ha! They are in cahoots, they want us to upgrade everything! CEO needs a new boat!

But that's your decision. How much are you willing to pay, mulla and emotion-wise to support your legacy components.

 

[spdragoo]

Yes, very true.

As an update, neither DVD player supports HDMI: living room model can do component or RCA, bedroom model can only do RCA. I'll have to check on what kind of adapters are still offered for original Wii models...

 

[spdragoo]

May have found a way around it for both of these systems. Apparently, for around $10-20 USD, I can either pick up a generic Composite to HDMI converter (one side takes the Red/White/Yellow cables, the other has an HDMI port), or I can pick up an actual Wii HDMI converter (one side plugs directly into the Wii's video port, the other side has an HDMI port & a 3.5mm stereo jack for hooking up to speakers, & can switch between 720p & 1080p scaling). That will solve the Wii issue.

For a little more (looks like maybe $20-30 USD), I can also pick up a Component to HDMI converter. That will help solve the DVD player issue.

 

[americanaudiophile]

DVD players with HDMI output run about $30 so an adapter doesn't make sense.
Why not replace your DVD with a BD player. No adapters, better picture and only cost $60.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA87V41A5677
Most TVs have a shared composite component input that you can use for the Wii.
The real problem is going to be good sound. TV makers have found that if they put better speakers into the TVs (making the TV bigger) people won't buy them. The tiny speakers are relegated to the back of the set facing the floor.

 

[spdragoo]

Yeah, we'd tried that a while back. The BR-D player's disc tray became stuck, & I had to take it apart to get the DVD out of it -- luckily we hadn't started converting our movie collection over. It was cheap enough that we didn't bother trying to RMA it (not to mention I wasn't sure they would accept that since I had to tear it apart). So, my wife has decided that we're holding off on another BR-D player until a) they stop making DVD players, & b) we need a replacement for one of our existing DVD players.

The sad thing is, the newer DVD player has been relegated to the bedroom (which means it's hardly ever used, as our viewing preferences tend towards movies where it won't matter if my wife falls asleep 10 minutes into it) because it kept giving us those annoying Cinavia-related errors.... except it was on a DVD -- not a BR disc (which is what Cinavia is supposed to be used on) -- that we'd rented from Redbox. Very annoying to have to keep stopping & waiting 15 minutes to watch a movie, especially when it's the fault of a DRM "solution" that's only meant to be used on BR discs.

 

[spdragoo]

Just for an update, I spent a lot of time doing research, had it down to 2 possible TV sets (VIZIO D43-D2 & a Vizio D40u-D1). One was at the local Target, one at the local Wal-Mart...& when we ended up at Wal-Mart to look at that model, it turned out that my wife like the picture on a 3rd TV set better (Sharp 43" N6100U, 4K resolution) that was the same price as the 40" 4K VIZIO we'd been thinking of.

Let me just pass on the few things I'd discovered during my research:
-- It's really hard to find enough HDMI ports on TV sets below 49". I had originally focused on LG models (because that's the model of our 32" TV), & then expanded to VIZIO after we'd looked at some floor models in the stores (which actually had better-looking picture quality than most of the LGs), but found myself eliminating a lot of them because 40"-43" TVs are generally only equipped with 2 HDMI ports, & we wanted at least 3 (1 for Roku stick, 1 for the Wii, & 1 for a laptop connection).
-- Rating sites like Consumer Reports & Rtings.com really, really love big TVs. Pretty much Consumer Reports only gives 70/100 or higher ratings to TVs with 49" or larger screens (the 40" VIZIO I'd considered was only rated at 64/100). Not sure if it's because of an actual technical reason (maybe the manufacturers aren't putting their best tech into the "small" TV sets?), or just a bias towards big TVs in general.
-- Be very, very careful to make sure you get a "TV" instead of a "display". In case you haven't run across it before, a "display" looks like a TV set, mounts on the wall like a TV set, but it has no TV tuner it & no RF jack to attach a coaxial antenna cable to. Basically, unless you a) exclusively use a cable/satellite system for watching TV, b) rely on streaming services (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) 100% for your TV needs, c) only watches movies & TV shows on DVD or Blu-Ray, d) a combination of options a to c, or e) are willing to pay extra to hook up a TV tuner to your "display", you won't be able to watch any over-the-air local channels. That's no CW for Flash/Supergirl/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow, no CBS for NCIS or the Sunday Morning Show, no PBS for your Downton Abbey or Masterpiece Theater viewing, no local news channels for local news/weather updates, etc. For a restaurant that's going to just broadcast ESPN (even ESPN 8 "The Ocho") in all of its flavors, or for someone setting up a home theater for their Blu-Ray/VOD collection, it's probably worth it; for someone that wants a backup for local channels in case the cable goes out (or if they don't have cable at all), it's not a good choice.