I'm sick of goddamned streaming services

I would have to agree with this too. Since all media is compressed and certain digital compression gets funky with old or different versions things like smart TVs do not update enough with the different models to always keep up with a format or problems. A roku probably updates better and does the decoding better while transferring the TV ready data to the display devices in the TV. I was trained on the different formats of video and audio and where compression happens when working at TWC. Back then the best thing was to not have your TV doing the decoding and have it done on dedicated devices like a DVD player, computer, or cable box and sent to the TV as simple display data.

You could try a manual update of the samsung TV. They are a decent brand and may keep up with updates better than a cheaper brand. Even then they might not have a good update, or the compression might just be funky on certain titles on netflix. money for a roku is still a lot cheaper than a new TV.

Anyone watch Curiosity Stream, I’ve been thinking of trying it?

Thanks for the advice, folks.

I'd have to agree with what @The Night Funky said. From what your screen looks like, the TV is having issues with the streaming. Some Samsung TVs won't support Netflix soon. The streaking plus the green band looks like the TV can't handle the newest codecs. You can use a Roku, or an Nvidia box. Either should be good for years to come.

If you're looking for a new TV, Best Buy is going to have a 55in Samsung for $329 on Thanksgiving. You can get it online, the Black Friday ads have been released, so you can check it out for yourself

Thanks, that's a consideration (not the 55" - I have a cabinet with display shelves and a hole for the TV. The biggest TV I can fit has to be 36" wide, which means a 41" screen max. Which is fine, since I only sit 8 feet away from it )

Or get a cheap firestick which I think is more fun than roku (you can talk to alexa through its remote). If you're not on Alexa (and by on, I mean using an Amazon smart speaker) then you probably don't care.

I don’t want to talk to my fucking remote control.

God invented buttons for a reason, dammit!

Not only that, but your remote control is always listening.

I think first thing I'll do is see if I can update the damn TV software/firmware.

On Samsung’s you just unplug it for a few minutes. Don’t know about yours.

Many smart TVs do that as well. They also have a camera to watch you.

I'm looking for an 80" OLED more or less..doubt there'll be anything out there on BF for that.

I'll try that. The update menu says there haven't been any since 2014.

I love how this thread has gone from "I'm tired of all these god damned streaming services" to "how can I more effectively get my streaming services?"

Now... where's my fucking episode of The Mandalorian?

That could definitely cause issues. Make sure you have a stable WiFi or Ethernet connection when you do. The update is under menu- support-update. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think it's Samsung TVs older than 2012 that will have issues with Netflix, or Vizio TVs older than 2017.

Yeah, I didn't even think mine was that old!

A TV from 2012 is old AF by technology standards, especially given how often firmwarm gets updated. Plus, TVs depreciate a whole shit ton for this reason. My first flat screen I ever purchased in 2009, I paid $600 for a 32 in with 720p definition. The 43 in one I own (and barely use) cost half that.

Last year I retired the 2009 plasma set that was our main screen. Not because it looked bad (it still looks great--I gave it to my youngest daughter and her boyfriend when they moved out of town) I just wanted a bigger one with a faster refresh rate. The 55" 4K I got cost less than half of what I paid for the older 50" 1080 plasma.

I bought my other daughter a new set for her birthday this year and paid even less (though it's a 50" because her apartment isn't huge).

My dad bought a TCL Roku TV this past year because it was dirt cheap and he wanted a 50" screen. It was a really good deal, but I wonder how long before the firmware is no longer supported. I use a Roku Express, and my Xbox One receives updates.

This TV is the equivalent of this TV. The former you can buy for $1399, the latter was $3000 four years ago. This TV is now $2000, up until last year, or maybe the year before, LG due to collaboration held the market for OLED TV's. The first OLED 65in LG was around $8000 or so, the Sony 65in OLED for $2000 has better smart feature performance, better picture, and less burn (dimming of the pixels over time) than the LG. Sony uses LG panels for their TV's though. But even then, OLED is still something you might want to hold off on for a while. You can get in burn in less than 6-8 months depending on what you're watching.

The burn in issue occurs because the OLED TV's have white pixels along with the RGB pixels, other TV's have RGB pixels. Because the OLED pixels generate their own light, they dim over time. Since the white is used to create richer colors, they tend to dim faster, especially on text. So you'll see the band of dimmer colors where the TV displays text from banners from news, sports, etc or from the cable boxes. So if you do buy an OLED, definitely get the protection service on the TV, but make sure it covers image retention or burn in when you do. The manufacturer warranty does not cover image retention or burn in.

It depends, most TCL TV's use Roku to enable Smart TV functionality. Some models do run Android, well a version of Android. The Android TV version should be good for a long time, until the processor itself can no longer the run Android version needed to allow streaming from the major services.

Here's the menu from an Android TCL.





Here's the screen from a Roku TCL TV.

Firmware updates can be done even with non-smart televisions. As long as it's got a USB port, you should be able to load the update on a thumb drive using a computer, then connect the drive to the television and follow the directions.

I discovered this with one of our Blu-ray players a few years ago. It wouldn't play a Pixar movie or something until I updated the device. Easy peasy.

Generally when smart devices like TV's or Blue-Ray players no longer work with streaming services, is due to the hardware not being able to support the software needed to run the codecs or DRM. For your Blu-Ray player, the issue was most likely due to DRM on the disc.

The Android based TV's can take from 15 minutes, to an hour to update the firmware, depending on how extensive the latest update is.

Try waiting on Sony firmware to update on a broadcast camera.

I'm just old enough to remember when you were considered a "big shot" if you owned one of those big, bulky 50" tube TVs in the 90s. I think those started at about $5000.

Overall, the most top-of-the-line TV I've personally come across at Best Buy will put you out about $2500 today, and you're talking 75"+ AND 4k definition

I don't doubt it.

BTW, Sony TV's are made/calibrated to the cameras Sony uses to shoot their movies. When you set the TV picture mode to Cinema Home or Cinema Pro you're seeing the movie how it was intended to look when it was edited/finished at the studio. The picture on Cinema Home is a little brighter than Cinema Pro, Home is intended for most homes being brighter where the TV is. Pro would be for a darker dedicated room like a smaller home theater that doesn't use a projector.

Why is that a thing?

You know if you pirated it, it would work just fine.

Given my profession, people are always surprised when I say that I almost never buy top of the line televisions any more (the last time I did was a really nice Sony CRT in 1995).

As long as the picture looks good (and with digital, it always looks pretty fucking good) I buy whatever Samsung (my preference now, based on advice from our engineering staff) or Sony set that's got good specs and is selling for a good price.

I'm more concerned with the content.

On a side note, at work they recently bought an 80-inch Samsung to use as a monitor in a new website/digital center they were building. The box for that thing made it seem like there was a pool table inside.

I remember those too. This is what I currently have in my living room. I put my 65in Sony in my bedroom, and the 55in Sony in the guest room.

The 8K TV's are now available, but for almost anyone they're not a huge improvement. From most viewing distances your eyes can't see the difference between the 4k and 8K pixel size.