HDTVs

joeboo_sl said:

yeah, TV speakers pretty much suck anymore, they are almost all placed behind the TV, pointing back or to the sides. The LG LED in our living room hangs on a wall that then continues down the hallway to our bedrooms. You can hear the TV better in our bedroom, 50 feet down at the end of the hallway, than you can in the living room sitting 10 feet in front of the TV. Stupid side speakers. That's our secondary TV, so I don't sweat it much, but I'll probably break down and get a sound bar one of these days.

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that's partially the fault of the way design visuals are going- they all want virtually no bezel so there is nowhere to put speakers, and speakers also usually need some grill/hole and breaks the flow of seamlessness... I my first Olivia 32" HDTV had big ol speakers on the side facing out and where great, and my cheap noname has two on the bottom extending out facing down- again better than my Philips that looks better but- as stated has some oddly placed little tiny speakers.

Is it your actual TV passing through the XBOX via an HDMI OUT directly from the TV, or is it actually a cable/satellite box passing through the XBOX, with the XBOX plugged into a receiver, and then ALL video from the receiver feeding back to the TV via an HDMI in? If the second scenario there is the case, then your TV isn't actually outputting anything, its just acting as a monitor, so yes, you'd need to use the optical out to send sound that originates from the TV.

I can't quite picture it in my head, but I don't think either one of my TVs (LG Plasma, LG LED) have an HDMI OUT, you'd need that to send both video and audio out of the TV via HDMI. I don't think most TVs have HDMI outputs, so I have a hunch that your TV isn't actually passing through the XBOX, it's your cable/satellite box that is doing that.

Its easy to get lost when staring at the tangled mess of cords behind an entertainment center. I always tell myself I'm going to unplug everything and re-run them all with nice, neat cable ties and labels, but I'm never quite that bored.

I'm stuck between a Vizio E Series 60" or an M Series 55." It boils down to 10-bit color and 16 dimming zones, or 8-bit color and 32 dimming zones. I have no idea which would be more noticeable, or if it's just a moot point.

a_skeleton_06_sl said:

This may or may not belong here but I have a question. I have a Samsung TV with Smarthub. It's going through HDMI1 into my Xbox which then outs to my receiver. EZPZ. Today, I finally decided to browse the hub and launch HBOGO and then found I had no sound. Do I need to run an optical out from the TV to the receiver or is there some setting I missed?

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If your TV has an audio return channel you can use that to output sound, most nicer smart TVs have one. ARC just means one of the HDMI inputs can output sound, on my panny it's HDMI-2. There is usually ARC printed by the input and unless your TV auto detects you will have to use the menu to turn it on. Only downside is some TVs don't support 5.1 through ARC.
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I perused AVS Forum over the last couple days, took a trip to Best Buy last night, and walked out with a Sony XBR55X850B. I didn't get it set up until tonight and just finished applying calibration settings that I found at AVS Forum. So far I'm in love, and don't give a half shit that I spent twice what I'd originally planned. It definitely seems like a lot of TV for $1800.

McQueen_sl said:

I perused AVS Forum over the last couple days, took a trip to Best Buy last night, and walked out with a Sony XBR55X850B. I didn't get it set up until tonight and just finished applying calibration settings that I found at AVS Forum. So far I'm in love, and don't give a half shit that I spent twice what I'd originally planned. It definitely seems like a lot of TV for $1800.

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Yeah I was looking at that also... Think I want a 65 though, waiting on black friday.

I wanted to go bigger, but my space just wouldn't accommodate. I was trying to hold out until Black Friday/Cyber Monday, but the TV in my bedroom finally crapped out, and the price on the XBR##X850B line dropped pretty substantially recently.

I'm about 100% sure the answer is "you're fucked" but the bottom quarter of my TV is kind of messed up. I don't know exactly how to phrase it but it is very dark and very slow to refresh. When I turn it off the image kind of just fades out instead of instantly going to black. I don't know enough to really google the problem. Any advice or way to fix it?

Is it an LCD? If so I would guess that its an inverter that went bad. Search on youtube for your model of LCD and "inverter" or "dark" keywords, you'll probably find some helpful videos that will give you a decent idea if it's an easy repair or not

Its also possible it could be something like connectors along the edge of the screen coming loose/going bad. Does the problem change/fix itself over time, or if you put pressure on the edges of the screen along the bottom? If that changes how it looks, you have ribbon connection problems. Something ghetto like this might work if its just a loose tab or two:52 Sony Bravia Ghost Image Fix - YouTube

It is an LED TV. I saw some people were fixing their sets via applying pressure on the sides but I wasn't having any luck. I am inclined to think it could possibly be some sort of connection issue since really it is the bottom right which is far worse than the bottom left.

Best Buy Black Friday Ad

Best Buy 2014 - Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals Wiki Guide - IGN

LG 55" Class LED 1080p HDTV - $479.99
Samsung 24" Class LED 720p 60Hz HDTV - $127.99
Samsung 32" Class LED 720p 60Hz HDTV - $199.99
Samsung 32" Class LED 1080p 60Hz HDTV - $227.99
Samsung 40" Class LED 1080p 60Hz HDTV - $297.99
Samsung 40" Class LED 1080p 60Hz Smart HDTV - $327.99
Panasonic 55" Class LED 1080p 120Hz Smart HDTV - $599.99
Samsung 55" Class LED 1080p 120Hz Smart HDTV - $599.99
Sharp 60" Class LED 1080p Smart HDTV - $699.99
Samsung 60" Class LED 1080p 120Hz Smart HDTV - $799.99
LG 65" Class LED 1080p HDTV - $799.99
Samsung 65" Class LED 1080p 3D 240Hz HDTV - $1,497.99
Samsung 60" Class LED 1080p 3D 240Hz HDTV - $1,297.99
Samsung 55" Class LED 1080p 3D 240Hz HDTV - $997.99
Insignia 40" Class LED 1080p 60Hz HDTV - $179.99
Sony 32" Class LED 720p 60Hz HDTV - $189.99
Samsung 50" Class LED 1080p 60Hz Smart HDTV - $497.99

Them not having the model #s on the ad is kind of annoying. Makes me think they're not the standard models or something. I'm in the market for a new TV but I'm not going to even bother heading into a store on black Friday before the afternoon or evening at the earliest, especially for something I can't check reviews on.

I never black Friday shop but I assume all these ads you see with a brick and mortar store are in store only. I don't own a TV so was thinking of picking up something cheap. Might just walmart it.

Looked at the best buy ad looks like some is available online and some in store only. I might just get a small cheap one and order it somewhere and then see what I can pick up online later in the year.

Walmart's two versions with the Samsung 55" curved screen and the P-series Vizio 50" are both rock solid deals. The rest, meh.

joeboo_sl said:

Best Buy Black Friday Ad

Best Buy 2014 - Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals Wiki Guide - IGN

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I can't believe they had black Friday deals listed at Radio Shack on there. Seriously?