Question Is 4k equally good regardless of TV make and model?

[ibex333]

So I bought a crappy 4k TV on sale about two years back. Overall I am very happy with it. Its been working like a champ without a hitch and more than paid for itself already. However, I can swear when displaying 4k it looks more like 1080p to me. The TV definitely says the material being displayed is at 4k resolution, so the signal is being received and processed properly. I could be mistaken, and there may be nothing wrong, but I'm just curious if it really may be the case that 4k on say, a $900 Samsung will look significantly better than 4k on a $200 off brand Walmart TV.

Can someone please elaborate?

 

[clubmember57]

The Tv's should all be pretty decent and show a good 4k picture, however make sure you not using a really cheap crap HDMI cable. I have found that a better cable seems to make a difference sometimes for best 4k quality.

 

[UsandThem]

When stores are back open, I would suggest taking a look at a $200 "off brand" and a $900 TV in person. There's definitely a difference in quality/picture.

While you don't necessarily need a $900 TV (depending on what size of course) to get a good picture, there are tradeoffs you make going all the way down to bare bone units.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/tv-buying-guide,review-1943.html

 

[clubmember57]

Points up, That is a way better answer than I gave. Thank you, I was rushing this post and trying to work at the same time. Humans are not supposed to multitask!

 

[killster1]

i go to www.rtings.com i recommend a nu8000 or ru8000 as a inbetween expensive and cheap tv. i own the 65" and love it. 1440@120hz is nice function, they have q70 samsungs now for a decent price as well, but rtings.com will show you all the important aspects of any tv in question.

 

[Hans Gruber]

The OP didn't say what crappy 4k TV he bought two years ago. We need a make and model so I can say if you have a piece of junk.

 

[ibex333]

The OP didn't say what crappy 4k TV he bought two years ago. We need a make and model so I can say if you have a piece of junk.

I have an Avera 49EQX10

Please let me know what you think!

 

[shortylickens]

there is most definitely a noticeable difference in image quality between cheap TV's and quality TV's, even in the 4K range. And I'm not just talking color or brightness, but the pixels themselves can look shitty on a really bad television. Having said that, I am not familiar with Avera.

 

[killster1]

already said what i think, the avera is as cheap as you can get. the colors the pixels the brightness the local brightness in different parts of the tv the HDR of newer tv's will look amazing the refresh everything about the tv will be better with a new tv. you already know this tho. i feel like new tv's will be coming out soon so all the ones are on sale, depends ho wmuch you want to spend for what to buy, i saw for 500 a ru8000 55" at walmart for low budget.

 

[mindless1]

It depends on what you're looking for. You should definitely see more detail, if you're close enough to the set, displaying a 4K image on any 4K monitor no matter how cheap it is, unless it's one of those faux-4K, RGBW panels like the Sceptre U435CV-UMC that walmart used to sell (about 4 year ago?).

What you lose with cheap sets is color accuracy and contrast, though if you are mostly having trouble seeing detail in dark scenes, you can decrease the contrast to regain some of that, at the expense of black level being too high, so of course it won't look as good as a more expensive set, but should still look like 4K, not 1080p.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I use that same Avera as a 4K60 monitor for my PC.

Did you go and set HDMI: Enhanced for that input? Also go into the factory menu and lower the sharpness to 0.

Finally, are you sure that your source input is 4K UHD?

 

[ibex333]

I use that same Avera as a 4K60 monitor for my PC.

Did you go and set HDMI: Enhanced for that input? Also go into the factory menu and lower the sharpness to 0.

Finally, are you sure that your source input is 4K UHD?

Hey Larry,

Just curious. Since you are using this as a monitor, how far away from it are you sitting while using? (there was a notion that sittign too close to the TV is bad for your health. But that was popular with tube TVs. Not sure how that is with LCD TVs)

Can you please tell me as much as possible about your color/menu settings? Anything else I should know to get the best result?

I looked up how to access the factory menu, and lowered the sharpness to zero like you said. Should the HDMI be set to regular or "enhanced" mode?

Anything else come to mind?

Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hey Larry,

Just curious. Since you are using this as a monitor, how far away from it are you sitting while using? (there was a notion that sittign too close to the TV is bad for your health. But that was popular with tube TVs. Not sure how that is with LCD TVs)

Can you please tell me as much as possible about your color/menu settings? Anything else I should know to get the best result?

I looked up how to access the factory menu, and lowered the sharpness to zero like you said. Should the HDMI be set to regular or "enhanced" mode?

Anything else come to mind?

Thanks!

I'm sitting in a chair, maybe 2.5-3 ft. away from the screen, while it is sitting on the back of my desk.

I remember turning the color saturation down a bit, and the sharpness down to zero. (Can't adjust sharpness in normal menus @ 4K, have to use factory menu. Lots of "ringing" without adjusting it.)

Also, in order to be able to utilize Chroma 4:4:4 @ 4K60 UHD, you must set HDMI to Enhanced on that input. Note that you need a decent-quality HDMI cable too (4K60-rated), to use that mode, and video card to drive 4K60 @ 4:4:4. (My RX 5700 reference model has no issue with it.)

Honestly, I think that this TV looks darn fine.