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  1. I've never owned an HDTV, so I know nothing about them. I still have an old SD TV from 20 years ago that I'm used to ... and on rare occasion when I want to watch something in HD, I watch it on my computer. I only watch video files, no broadcast TV.

    I know there are 720p TVs, 1080p TVs, 4K TVs ... and some with curved screens. That's the extent of my knowledge.

    Please set aside differences in manufacturing quality for the sake of this question. I'm just asking about the difference in image quality as it relates to the increased screen resolution of otherwise similar TVs.

    If hypothetically, a guy had a large collection of 480p video files ... do 480p videos look basically the same on all TVs as far as image resolution? For example, if a guy has a choice between a 720p TV and a 4K TV ... but then ends up mostly still watching a bunch of old SD 480p files 80% of the time ... does a higher definition TV make the lower-res file look worse because the higher definition screen is more "revealing"?

    Or will 480p video files look pretty much exactly the same on a 720p screen vs a 1080p screen vs a 4K screen?

    (Again, differences in brands and manufacturing quality and LCD vs LED or whatever notwithstanding. I'm just referring to the effect of going from a 720p TV to a 1080p TV to a 4k TV - and how that changes the appearance of older 480p video files.)
    Last edited by Video_John; 13th Nov 2016 at 15:18.
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    Originally Posted by Video_John View Post
    I've never owned an HDTV, so I know nothing about them. I still have an old SD TV from 20 years ago that I'm used to ... and on rare occasion when I want to watch something in HD, I watch it on my computer. I only watch video files, no broadcast TV.

    I know there are 720p TVs, 1080p TVs, 4K TVs ... and some with curved screens. That's the extent of my knowledge.

    Please set aside differences in manufacturing quality for the sake of this question. I'm just asking about the difference in image quality as it relates to the increased screen resolution of otherwise similar TVs.

    If hypothetically, a guy had a large collection of 480p video files ... do 480p videos look basically the same on all TVs as far as image resolution? For example, if a guy has a choice between a 720p TV and a 4K TV ... but then ends up mostly still watching a bunch of old SD 480p files 80% of the time ... does a higher definition TV make the lower-res file look worse because the higher definition screen is more "revealing"?

    Or will 480p video files look pretty much exactly the same on a 720p screen vs a 1080p screen vs a 4K screen?

    (Again, differences in brands and manufacturing quality and LCD vs LED or whatever notwithstanding. I'm just referring to the effect of going from a 720p TV to a 1080p TV to a 4k TV - and how that changes the appearance of older 480p video files.)
    480p will look about the same on a 720p or 1080p HDTV as it does on your computer monitor, assuming you purchase decent TV with reasonably good upscaling. I wouldn't expect it to look as good on a UHD/4K TV as on an HDTV.
    Last edited by usually_quiet; 13th Nov 2016 at 15:45. Reason: typo
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  3. Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post

    480p will look about the same on a 720p or 1080p HDTV as it does on your computer monitor, assuming you purchase decent TV with reasonably good upscaling. I wouldn't expect it to look as good on a UHD/4K TV as on an HDTV.
    Hello UQ,

    Can you tell me what about 4K is different from 720p and 1080p? ie, why would 480p look the same on 720p vs 1080p, but not on 4k?
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    One of the pros / cons of getting a HDTV is that you'll likely get a larger screen (32"+) than your monitor and possibly larger than your current TV, which means that you'll see more details AND defects that weren't visible on your monitor.

    That said, IMHO, life's too short to spend watching something on a PC monitor, when I can watch it on 55" HDTV.
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  5. Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
    One of the pros / cons of getting a HDTV is that you'll likely get a larger screen (32"+) than your monitor and possibly larger than your current TV, which means that you'll see more details AND defects that weren't visible on your monitor.

    That said, IMHO, life's too short to spend watching something on a PC monitor, when I can watch it on 55" HDTV.
    That may be true, but it doesn't answer the question of the difference between watching a 480p video on a 720p TV, a 1080p TV, or a 4K TV.

    Yes, I would also have blu-ray videos in my collection after a while ... but for now I'm asking if anyone sees a significant difference in watching 480p vids on the different HD resolution TVs.
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    Originally Posted by Video_John View Post
    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post

    480p will look about the same on a 720p or 1080p HDTV as it does on your computer monitor, assuming you purchase decent TV with reasonably good upscaling. I wouldn't expect it to look as good on a UHD/4K TV as on an HDTV.
    Hello UQ,

    Can you tell me what about 4K is different from 720p and 1080p? ie, why would 480p look the same on 720p vs 1080p, but not on 4k?
    All the UHD TVs I've seen are 40-inch screens or larger. 55 to 65 inches is average, but I have seen some 85-inch screens. Between the size of the screen and the amount of upscaling needed to produce a 2160p picture, every defect in the 480p video will be more visible.

    It is possible to buy a small HDTV. (HDTVs are considered small at 32-inches or less). Sitting 8-10 feet away from one of these, 480i video ranges between good (DVD) and barely watchable (old TV shows on secondary SD channels). I don't have any 480p videos.
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    Let me explain you as well as i can cause english isn't my maternal language, i hope you'll understand.
    The first you have to understand is, SD, HD and Ultra HD have diferent color gamma standard for video playback, not olnly resolution.
    SD is BT.601
    HD is BT.709 and
    Ultra HD is BT.2020
    The videos you care are SD BT.601 upscaled to higher resolution but implies greater gamma upscaling tho, and the gamma standarts from sd to hd or ultra hd IMHO is very noticeable, so you can notice more image quality because of colors with hd and ultra hd tvs, the higher resolution the more colors you get, with a properly algorithm upscaler.
    Sorry if bad grammar.
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  8. Good 480p can look better and sharper on modern 720p+ TVs. Bad 480p will look worse than on an old SD CRT.
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  9. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    My take:

    Let's say you had a properly calibrated set of tvs (of the same display tech), all which had good scalars.
    A 35" SDTV
    A 42" 720p HDTV
    A 42" 1080p HDTV
    A 42" UHDTV (aka 4k)

    Given only an SD source, you will most likely get the best playback quality on the SD display, as it is native resolution needing no scaling. No interpolation=no blurring.
    But the other displays can be VERY close. Plus, you are having increasingly denser dot pitch the higher your rez (given the equivalent display size), so this can look better to your brain.

    Iiwy, I wouldn't let this deter you from running out and buying a new tv as soon as you can reasonably afford it.

    Scott
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  10. Originally Posted by Cornucopia View Post
    My take:

    Let's say you had a properly calibrated set of tvs (of the same display tech), all which had good scalars.
    A 35" SDTV
    A 42" 720p HDTV
    A 42" 1080p HDTV
    A 42" UHDTV (aka 4k)

    Given only an SD source, you will most likely get the best playback quality on the SD display, as it is native resolution needing no scaling. No interpolation=no blurring.
    But the other displays can be VERY close. Plus, you are having increasingly denser dot pitch the higher your rez (given the equivalent display size), so this can look better to your brain.

    Iiwy, I wouldn't let this deter you from running out and buying a new tv as soon as you can reasonably afford it.

    Scott
    Whoa! Thank you everybody for the very knowledgeable replies.

    I did in fact go to Costco today. 90% of their inventory is now 4K, so 1080p TVs are very cheap. The one 720p TV was just over $200.

    I would have bought one today if I thought I knew what I was doing. My collection right now ... hundreds and hundreds of movies and DVDs. 70% are 480p files and DVDs. 30% 720p and 1080p files. No blu-ray discs yet.

    Most important to me are all my old favorite vintage TV shows on DVD and compressed files. But I'm hesitant to buy a 720p TV and then cheat myself out of really enjoying my 1080p files at full resolution.

    I think right now it's established that I'll be getting a 1080p. I just need to find "the one" that really does the best job with lower res files. And elsewhere, I read that a guy wants to depend on his blu-ray player's media playback for that, not the TV. So it may turn out the TV is much less important than I thought ... and all the focus needs to be on the player and upscaler.

    Geez, this is so complicated.


    Cornucopia, so you are disagreeing with the first reply? You are saying that an SD file can look better on a 4k TV than on a 720p or 1080p, assuming screen size is the same?

    (I had long talks today with people at both WalMart and Costco. All were clueless and made stuff up as they went along. I'm very grateful for the more knowledgeable replies here.)


    And one more question for anyone that knows. I don't watch TV, only video files and DVDs. I saw several TVs at Costco that were referred to as "tunerless". I assume this means they don't have a TV receiver? Why would that be so prominently advertised on the box? Are people looking for tunerless TVs because they are cheaper? Or is there some other benefit to a big screen being tunerless?
    Last edited by Video_John; 13th Nov 2016 at 22:46.
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  11. Forget 720p. They're bottom of the barrel crap now. When upscaling a 480p source it doesn't really matter whether it's upscaled to 720p, 1080p, or 2160p. What matters is how big the screen is relative to your viewing distance and the quality of the upscaler (with the latter being of minimal difference with midrange and higher TVs) . DVD quality video will look decent at 2x or more the diagonal measure of the TV. So DVD on a 50" TV will be ok at about 7 feet or more. If you sit much closer the picture will be fuzzy and you'll start to notice artifacts.

    And as noted before, how clean the 480p source is will make a difference. Professionally mastered DVDs will usually look very good. Some old fuzzy Divx file with no detail and full of macroblock and DCT ringing artifacts will look terrible.
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    I'm not disagreeing, but his answer addresses it differently.

    Screen size & closeness & dot pitch affect perception of sharpness.
    But interpolation is ALWAYS gonna be a major factor in scaling of non-native pixel sizes. And the more extreme the scaling, the greater the potential for guessing error.
    It is certainly an obvious axiom that an image that is the exact size of the display it is shown on (and its reverse: a display that matches the intended frame resolution of its content) will give the sharpest rendition for that resolution.
    But, it is also well known that downscaling/downsampling in conjunction with accompanied physical downsizing also maintains high fidelity to the sharpness, if not the resolution, of the original, by virtue of oversampling/supersampling.
    The hardest case is downscaling no with downsizing or even with physical upsizing.

    The case of upscaling to HD or UHD resolutions falls in between these extremes. And much depends on the scaling algorithm: scaling was tons worse when HDTV first came on the scene.
    UHDTV, by nature of its newer technology & higher price point, very often can take advantage of newer & more powerful & accurate algorithms. But it does need to anyway, because both SD and to a lesser extent HD have to have their material scaled all the time on those devices, and they are the vast majority of what will be seen on them for some time to come.

    What I said earlier tried to deal with differences with all else being equal. But as we all know, all those other things are almost never equal.

    If you really want to do a good comparison, take some well-known SD material to a number of stores and compare, using an equivalent size distance ratio for each viewing (as well as consistent contrast & environment). Better, take your older TV in and do a side-by-side comparison.

    TVs have made a lot of advancements in recent years that don't all have to do with scaling, so moving to an HD or UHD tv has many other benefits. I got a UHD last fall after having had 2 HD tvs, and I love it (even though I've only seen 2 or 3 things on it in true 4k). Of course, for me one of those benefits had to do with improved 3d.

    Scott
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  13. Originally Posted by Cornucopia View Post
    If you really want to do a good comparison, take some well-known SD material to a number of stores and compare, using an equivalent size distance ratio for each viewing (as well as consistent contrast & environment). Better, take your older TV in and do a side-by-side comparison.
    Thank you, Scott ... I don't think it's really practical to take a thumb drives into stores and test the TVs. I could, of course, but what a hassle. I'm actually more inclined to buy a TV blind, based on a recommendation from someone on the forum who took the time to understand my wish to watch a lot of old TV shows ... enjoy quality upscaling of those 480p files ... and still have a good TV for 1080p files. That 60" on the bottom looks tempting - and it looked great in the store with the HD content they display - but most of the advice here suggests that, unless I get plenty far away from the screen, that's too big for my videos.

    I'm going to take your advice, jagabo, and just avoid the 720p TVs altogether.


    Here is every 1080p TV Costco still sells. The rest of their inventory is now all 4k, which I'm starting to believe from the replies on this thread would compromise my videos. It will be years before I ever watch a 4k video, so that's just overkill for me. The price difference doesn't matter to me - I'm fine with paying $550 for a TV if that's the one that's going to give me the best image for lower res . I just want to know that I'm not going to be cursing fuzzy images every time I put on old vintage shows.

    I wouldn't dare ask anyone on the forum to do my shopping for me, but are there any of these brands that are known to be crap that I should avoid? Any prone to have a short life? Any reason to believe one of these would be better with 480p than the others?

    Vizio … 39” … D39H0D0 … 229.99 (720p, not interested)
    Vizio … 40” … E40-D0 … 289.99
    Vizio … 48” … E48-D0 … 369.99

    TCL … 40” … 40FS3750 … 249.99 (Roku smart TV, no idea what that means)

    Samsung … 40” … UN40J520D … 319.99
    Samsung … 48” … UN48J520D … 399.99
    Samsung … 55” … UN55J620D … 569.99
    Samsung … 60” … UN60J620D … 547.99


    It just occurs to me. If someone were to say "get the 40 inch because the small screen size will display a 480p better" ... is that the same thing as getting a 60 inch and just zooming out if the video looks that crummy? Can a guy get a 60" TV and just zoom out to a 40" image if necessary to achieve good image quality with a compressed 480p video? Or does it not work that way?
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    Testing a TV for sale in the store should not be inconvenient as long as the TV is not physically out of reach and the salesperson is willing to allow it. I actually did take a thumb drive with me for testing when I bought a TV in 2012. One of the three TVs I was considering included a media player capable of playing HD and SD video. I was able to test the TV and ended up buying it. Today, more TVs have a media player.
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  15. Originally Posted by Video_John View Post
    Here is every 1080p TV Costco still sells. The rest of their inventory is now all 4k...
    So what? Even if you don't want 4K now, who knows what the future will bring for you? Even the big 4K units have gone down quite a lot in price in the last two months or so, and I expect Black Friday or Christmas will bring some really good prices. I go to Costco about once every ten days, and they have them discounted all the time. Good 65 inchers are under $1000 now. And if you order online (I can't, being in Hawaii) you'll also be exposed to very good deals.

    Of course, the size you get should be pretty much determined not by the price but how far away from the screen you sit. And forget the curved screens as they're all a useless scam. I watch plenty of 480p movies through Plex on my current 46" Sony and they look just fine. As already mentioned, though, if you have crap 480p, a 1080p television will just magnify the defects.
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  16. Agree with pretty much everything that has already been said here, so I'll just add;

    Inputs and outputs: Don't know what other equipment you intend to connect to your new TV but make sure that it has every connection that you currently need and provision for any future devices you might be adding in the not-too-distant future.

    Sound: Don't know if you'll be relying on the TV's speakers or if you already have some external sound system. If it's the TV's speakers then Definitely try before you buy!

    I'd also take my own video - either DVD and/or thumb-drive - to try out. Obviously ask the sales person before plugging in, but even the cheaper TVs are still expensive enough to warrant 'taking them for a spin around the block' before handing over the cash. Also, try and view the TVs in the store from roughly the same distance that you'll be viewing at home (and same relative height if that's not going to be too embarrassing!) Don't be afraid of trying the various preset Picture Modes in the TV's menu as some of the 'in store' modes are too bright and too saturated for normal viewing. And do be prepared to spend some time tweaking the settings when you get the TV home (at the very least using the THX Optimizer found on most Lucas Arts DVDs. Better yet the freely available AVS HD 709 Bluray & MP4 Calibration disc and downloads.)

    And finally I'd say if you can, stick to one of the better known makes (e.g. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung) as a significant part of the extra cost will be due to the quality of the picture processing that goes with up-scaling standard definition material to fill the screen. (Although you might also get away with a cheaper TV and rely on better up-scaling provided by a better Bluray player, media player, laptop or PC?) Also I'd stick to Full HD (1920x1080) or better as the lower resolution TVs these days are likely to be ranging somewhere between 'older technology' and 'cheap doo-doo'.

    Good luck and let us know how you get on.
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  17. Originally Posted by TimA-C View Post
    Sound: Don't know if you'll be relying on the TV's speakers or if you already have some external sound system. If it's the TV's speakers then Definitely try before you buy!
    Yes, the quest for thinner and thinner TVs has made the sound worse and worse. There's no room for low frequency drivers so everything sounds very tinny. If you want halfway decent sound you'll need to use external speakers. Even a pair of inexpensive powered computer speakers plugged into the headphone jack can sound better than the TV's speakers. You probably won't be willing to do this with a new TV, but for everyday viewing I opened up the TV, disconnected the internal speakers, and ran wires out to a pair of floor standing speakers that sit next to the TV. The system is also hooked up to a 5.1 receiver for times when I need serious sound.
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    Your watching video files
    That's means they are already on your pc in digital format
    It boils down to what is going to play those files,
    Are you going to connect the pc, does it have HDMI output
    Are you going to use an external media player box
    Are you going to use the media play capabilities of the tv
    The device with the best upscaling engine is the device that will give the best picture
    It is not about tv pixel resolution, it is more about the upscale quality of the play device
    If you have a 1080 pc, get a 1080 tv
    If your pc and tv have the same resolution
    The only difference between them, will be the physical dimensions of each pixel on the screen
    You will only notice any difference between pc display and tv , IF you are to close to the tv
    I would not spend money on 4k unless I was also buying a new 4k pc ( graphics card or pc, depending)
    You are currently using A/V or Vga to send digital content to an analog display
    Even a 720p tv should give you a sharper cleaner picture then your current one
    Last edited by theewizard; 14th Nov 2016 at 11:19.
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  19. Holy cow. All this helpful information just to help me buy a television set. THANK YOU, guys. I've read every word - understood about 90% of it. You've been very generous.

    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    Testing a TV for sale in the store should not be inconvenient as long as the TV is not physically out of reach and the salesperson is willing to allow it. I actually did take a thumb drive with me for testing when I bought a TV in 2012. One of the three TVs I was considering included a media player capable of playing HD and SD video. I was able to test the TV and ended up buying it. Today, more TVs have a media player.
    Thanks, UQ. I've read elsewhere that there are very few, if any, TVs that have a media player that upscales as well as the media players in a quality blu-ray player. So even if I took a USB thumbdrive to test drive a TV, I still wouldn't be seeing the same image I'll see when I get the TV home and start playing files through a blu-ray.


    Originally Posted by manono View Post
    I watch plenty of 480p movies through Plex on my current 46" Sony and they look just fine. As already mentioned, though, if you have crap 480p, a 1080p television will just magnify the defects.
    Manono, perhaps you're the person to restate my question to. If I had a 60" 1080p and had a 480p file that was not top quality, would it make sense to zoom out on the picture and watch my file in the equivalent of, say, your Sony's 46" image size? Does that work?

    Originally Posted by manono View Post
    Of course, the size you get should be pretty much determined not by the price but how far away from the screen you sit.
    That's "of course" to you. That's revelatory information to me. Thanks! My eyeballs will be about ten feet from the screen, give or take. Is that enough to comfortably enjoy a 60"...? It seems a shame to get a smaller - and ironically, more expensive - TV, just because my room's not big enough.

    I found this elsewhere while doing my research:

    For example, most people sit about 9 feet (108 inches) from their TV, so THX recommends a screen size of around 90 inches diagonal for that distance. They realize, though, that not everyone has the space (or desire) for a TV that big, so they also recommend something in the 60-inch range for seating distances up to 9 feet.

    Does that match your experience?

    Again, my short-list of TVs for sale at Costco at this point in time. I believe these are all 1080p's. (I'm hung up on Costco because they have a generous return policy, much better than Best Buy, and buying from Costco doubles the time on the manufacturers warranty.)

    Vizio … 40” … E40-D0 … 289.99
    Vizio … 48” … E48-D0 … 369.99

    TCL … 40” … 40FS3750 … 249.99 (Roku smart TV, I have no idea what that means)

    Samsung … 40” … UN40J520D … 319.99
    Samsung … 48” … UN48J520D … 399.99
    Samsung … 55” … UN55J620D … 569.99
    Samsung … 60” … UN60J620D … 547.99


    Quite honestly, I would probably just go out right now and pick up the Samsung 60", if someone said to me, yes, ten feet viewing distance is enough to watch 1080p movies perfectly clearly on a TV that size ... it will display normal DVDs as well as any other TV ... and if your compressed 480p file is poor quality, then just zoom out to the equivalent of a 48" screen and that will sharpen it up - just as though you actually had a 48" TV.

    But somehow I just know it can't be that easy, can it?
    Last edited by Video_John; 14th Nov 2016 at 13:14.
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  20. Originally Posted by Video_John View Post
    if your compressed 480p file is poor quality, then just zoom out to the equivalent of a 48" screen and that will sharpen it up - just as though you actually had a 48" TV.

    But somehow I just know it can't be that easy, can it?
    Yes, it is that easy. If your TV or player has that ability. I do it occasionally when watching really poor videos.

    For example, most people sit about 9 feet (108 inches) from their TV, so THX recommends a screen size of around 90 inches diagonal for that distance.
    THX's recommendation is based on how close you can be before you start seeing the individual red, green, and blue dots that make up the picture. For a 1080p display they recommend you sit at a distance 1.2x the diagonal measure of the TV. 90" * 1.2 = 108" = 9 feet. At that distance you get the most immersive experience (ie, biggest picture) without it looking like there's a screendoor is between you and the TV. Most places recommend more like 1.5x the diagonal so you can more comfortably see the entire picture.
    Last edited by jagabo; 14th Nov 2016 at 13:33.
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  21. There are lots of places where you can find the optimum distance to sit from a specific sized television. It looks like you've done some research already and discovered, among other things, that they don't always agree with each other. Here's another one:

    http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Article/How-Far-Should-I-Sit.php

    For your viewing distance and the 480p videos you view, a 40' television is fine. But, thinking ahead, I'd go for a much larger one, and not the cheapest you can find. I like Samsungs, though, and if you're ready now, that 60 incher you mentioned is fine. The Vizio 'M' series is better than the 'E' series you quoted. You might look for reviews for some of the ones that interest you (except Costco often gives them different model numbers than every place else).

    As for zooming in when watching crap videos, I don't know how. Maybe it's possible to make the video half size but I've never investigated.

    TCL … 40” … 40FS3750 … 249.99 (Roku smart TV, I have no idea what that means)
    It just means it has Roku built into it meaning you have access to the ton of 'channels' of a regular Roku box. It has access to all the major streaming apps (NetFlix, Hulu, YouTube, Crackle, etc.), as well as a ton of other channels, some free with ads and others subscription-based). But TCL isn't a major brand name. Try and find a review.

    If you're ready now, I'd suggest waiting for Costco's post-Thanksgiving sale to find something that suits you. They've had some really good deals on LGs recently and they will only get less expensive.
    Last edited by manono; 14th Nov 2016 at 14:59.
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    Assuming the DVDs area normal
    The 'crap 480 video' is probably being played from the pc
    So yes it could be played at any resolution between 1/2 of actual size to full screen
    What ever made it look best

    So many software media players are available, you could set the preferences in One of them specifically for improving crap videos with less sharpening and some lighten colour and blur
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  23. Awesome ... this is so great ... thank you again, guys.

    I was just on the phone with Costco ... free delivery for 60" TVs, which is cool.

    I think you guys helped funnel me right into a TV that's going to work out great. Samsung … 60” … UN60J620D … $547.99.

    I'll need to remember to make sure that whatever blu-ray player that I buy ... the one that would need to double as a USB media player ... also allows for zooming out for the more poorly compressed 480p files I have.

    I really appreciate everyone who posted and offered up so much knowledge. Thanks.

    Last edited by Video_John; 14th Nov 2016 at 15:10.
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  24. You're about to take your first step into a much larger world! Let us know how it goes and what you think of the TV and how your Vids look on it.
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  25. Member
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    Reccomend visiting avsforums.com for more info before your purchase. The HDTV forum there is far more focused on which HDTV is best for your needs.
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  26. [SEVERAL HOURS LATER]

    Originally Posted by TimA-C View Post
    You're about to take your first step into a much larger world! Let us know how it goes and what you think of the TV and how your Vids look on it.
    Well ... maybe not as large as I had hoped.

    In the last minute, I took Cornucopia's (Scott's) advice and loaded up a thumb drive with some old 480p TV shows and some compressed 720p and 1080p files - and went shopping. I made the sales rep climb behind the TVs (no easy job) and pop in my thumb drive and get me a remote.

    I was not impressed with the SD files on the 60" Samsung, needless to say. But yes, it did have an easily accessible zoom-out feature and that made the low-res videos watchable. It basically made the 60" TV into another 21" computer monitor, which is what I've been using for a while. I also hooked the 480p videos up to both a 4K TV and a $5900 65" SUHD thingie with an upscaler that the sales rep told me was the most advanced tech available. Neither of them gave me a better image. So lesson learned: There is currently no technology that makes compressed SD look smooth and presentable on a jumbo sized screen.

    I was able to test-drive both the 60" and the 48" Samsungs side by side and the 48" inch was far less offensive with the grainyness, pixellization, whatever you call it. Neither was perfect, of course, but I speculated that I could sit and watch the 48" for hours at a time and not be distracted every few minutes by the breakup of image quality. I would just have to settle for a smaller screen.

    And the 1080p compressed videos looked great on the 48" screen ... on the 60", not so much. I'm sure a movie on a commercial blu-ray disc would look super on a 60", but compressed 1080p still created significant artifacts that, to me, were unacceptable.

    In the end, I decided that a sixty-inch TV is really only worth the money if 1) a guy is very forgiving with image quality when he's watching 480p or compressed videos or 2) he's got a blu-ray player with plenty of blu-ray discs ... neither of which describes me. I still get annoyed when I see black shadows break up or I can see pixels in an actors face. It completely ruins the flow of a movie for me. I don't know how so many other people have no problem with it. And while I have hundreds of old SD DVDs laying about and countless compressed 480/720/1080 video files, I'll almost certainly never have more than a few dozen blu-ray discs.

    So I made my peace with the 48" Samsung 5200 and schlepped it home a few minutes ago.

    Thank you again, everyone that posted, for your generous help. I really feel that, because of you, I made an educated decision that I can now be happy with.



    -JOHN
    Last edited by Video_John; 14th Nov 2016 at 21:33.
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  27. You have to be careful with comparing TVs like that. They all have noise reduction filters, sharpening filters, contrast and saturation enhancement filters, etc. The differences you saw may have had more to do with those settings than differences in the screen sizes or inherent abilities of the TVs.
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  28. Member
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    Congratulations on your puchase!

    Be sure you use either the Movie or Standard picture mode as a start before you begin tweaking the picture to your liking. You'll probably be able to reduce some of the artifacts you say in-store.

    The picture you saw at Costco was overly color saturated, bright and sharp (typical of all general retail locations). Great for catching the eye in a bright store, not what you want at home.
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  29. Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    You have to be careful with comparing TVs like that. They all have noise reduction filters, sharpening filters, contrast and saturation enhancement filters, etc. The differences you saw may have had more to do with those settings than differences in the screen sizes or inherent abilities of the TVs.
    Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
    Congratulations on your puchase!

    Be sure you use either the Movie or Standard picture mode as a start before you begin tweaking the picture to your liking. You'll probably be able to reduce some of the artifacts you say in-store.

    The picture you saw at Costco was overly color saturated, bright and sharp (typical of all general retail locations). Great for catching the eye in a bright store, not what you want at home.


    Thank you for the heads up, both of you. And thank you for the congratulations, Lingyi. All I did was buy a TV, but you made me feel like I accomplished something today!

    Let me mention again that this is my first HDTV ever. I'm moving up from a two-decade-old rear projection TV and a little 21" iMac screen. Maybe someone else here remembers their first time bringing home an HDTV and how exciting it was.

    I just set up the TV and have it playing. Boy howdy, I did the right thing settling for a 48 inch. I'm so glad I didn't get the 60". Now, here in my home, my crummy old compressed 480p TV shows look plenty good. Very pleased with what I'm seeing. If anyone ever googles the issue and finds this thread, my two cents worth is that, if you're watching compressed 480p videos or compressed 720/1080, do limit the size of the TV. In my case, comparing the same files on different TVs in the store, I found 48" to be the maximum size before image quality degradation became a real distraction. But of course there are other TVs which, for more money, might do a better job with upscaling those videos. Same could be said for external media players that might do a better job. (Although I personally never found one, and I looked.)

    I'll also add that 48" looked rather small in the store next to all those fifties and sixties. Here at home, it's really plenty big.

    With all of your help, I found the perfect balance for watching old SD DVDs and small video files and still getting a very clear image.
    Last edited by Video_John; 15th Nov 2016 at 12:58.
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  30. And if you want a bigger picture with 1080p video you can always sit closer!
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