Television!: Teacher! Mother! Secret loverrr.

[dorinda]

Everybody's getting revved up for the Fall TV season! It's inspiring.

Me, I am moving into a new place, and when I moved out of my old place, my old (giant, elderly, be-tubed) TV went to the happy recycling ground. You know what that means? I need me a TV! I am going to buy my first flatscreen, very exciting, I feel vaguely modern. \o/

So--any of you who may be modern TV owners--do you have any tips? I am interested in any thoughts, hints, or preferences you may have about this delightful newfangled gadget, the teleovisor.

(I do know that it apparently will ruin my eyes and rot out my brain. CAN'T WAIT.)

Comments

[mollyamory]

Pro-tip: When you get it home, if you can see wall behind it, take it back - it's too small!!

[dorinda]

When I get home, if I do not have a hernia, it's too light!

[therienne]

Get a model with lots of HDMI inputs. Like four, if you can, but at least three. There are so many little gadgets that you will find yourself hooking up these days, and all of them are going to require an HDMI input.

Also look into getting one with a built in tuner (for over the air).

But basically, it's so much easier these days. Our last two television upgrades have basically consisted of going to Costco, finding one that's a brand name we trust, in a size we like, with the inputs we want.

Also don't take mollyamory with you, she will just heckle and heckle until you get a ridiculously large tv.

[dorinda]

Oh, excellent tips. I hadn't thought about being sure to maximize HDMI inputs!

My living room is narrow, so I'm not sure how far I'll typically be from the TV. Time for a measuring tape!

[sakana17]

My flatscreen is an LG, and I've been very happy with it. Agree with therienne about getting as many inputs as possible. :)

[terrio]

I have the same model of LG, and I love mine, too. Another feature to keep an eye out for is a USB connector. That will let you hook up a media drive with shows in a number of different formats and play them on your TV - anything from a little flash drive to a full size external hard drive. I do wish my LG had the automatic-captions-on-mute feature, though.

My folks and my sister both have older Panasonic flat-screen TVs, and they drive me nuts, because if you're watching something that doesn't fill the whole screen (4:3 or ultra-wide-screen), the fill area is not black; it's gray, which I find really hard to ignore. Probably the newer models don't still do this; those units are at least 10 years old, but the color of any fill area is something to be aware of.

[dorinda]

Thanks for the input! (Har.) I hadn't thought about making sure it has as many HDMI inputs as possible--I mean, I had HDMI in mind, but I was still in that 'in hotel room I use 1 hdmi to plug laptop into' mindset, not thinking about the other devices I might want to plug in.

And thanks, terrio, for the warning about the grays! That would drive me round the bend for sure.

[klia]

I'm totally coveting this one. I really like Panasonic as a brand -- IME, they're very reliable, and have the features I want (stuff like have a mute setting where closed captioning automatically turns on, and a large number of inputs).

And get a bigger one than you think you want, because your eyesight is only going to get worse. And trying to see details in wide shots in widescreen formats, even on a big TV, can be difficult.

I'm super-excited for you! Eeeeee!

[dorinda]

Ooooh, automatic-caption-on-mute. I've always envied that on other people's TVs! *makes notes*

[aris_tgd]

Whenever anyone asks for gadget recommendations I send them to The Wirecutter, and they have a TV section with recommendations separated by size and price range, with backups, too. So I don't know what kind of TV watching you do, but looking at their reviews might give you some ideas.

[dorinda]

Oh hey, thanks! There are excellent articles on there, including ones on setup and calibration, which is another new thing for my new lifestyle...

[thevetia]

Check the mute feature. On my Samsung the 'mute' label cannot be removed from the screen. I can clear the TiVo bar but the mute bug is there forever. It's gone from a quirky design flaw to a frequent aggravation.

Oh, and don't get a Samsung, regardless.

[dorinda]

Oh right, I seem to remember discussion of it at your house--but, since my brain is made of tapioca, I can't remember exactly what the problem was. Is it that the word 'mute' is onscreen the whole time it's muted? Or does it say 'mute' onscreen all the time or something?

[thevetia]

The word 'mute' is onscreen the whole time it's muted. Seems like a minor irritation, but you would be surprised how much information seems to sit down there in the lower left corner of the screen, invisible under that 'mute' bug.
Why? Why? I know it's muted, because I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!

[dorinda]

BUT thevetia, YOUR TV THINKS YOU ARE DUMB AND WANTS TO REMIND YOU OF THINGS.

[marycrawford]

I hear the telewatchamathing shows MEN WHO TAKE THEIR SHIRTS OFF. Though that's only a bonus if you're, like, a woman, or one o'dem goddam homosexuals.

(I still have a giant or at least bulbous tv! It may have tubes inside, too, I have not checked.)

[dorinda]

MEN WHO TAKE THEIR SHIRTS OFF.

DISGUSTING. THOSE PROGRAMS SHOULD ALL BE PUNISHED BY BEING SENT OVER HERE TO ME AND I WILL WATCH THEM A LOT, AND THAT WILL TEACH THEM SO THERE.

[gwyn]

I think it's, but I'm not sure, smart tvs that are kind of creepy. I'm not sure if it was that (whatever makes them smart) or 3D capability or what, but I've seen this in a few TVs recently and it creeps me the hell out -- it makes film look like high def videotape. It's really strange and off putting. I mean, some people don't even seem to notice it, but a bunch of us were really bugged by it at Rache's a while ago. I like film to look like film -- you know, better than real life. I don't want it to have that weird realistic look like I'm in the room with them. So make sure you actually watch the tv you're thinking of getting -- look at as much source as you can.

[dorinda]

Hmm, yeah, I've read about the settings that do this (especially "motion-smoothing"), and how those settings (plus the brightness) are super-jacked-up in the TVs by default, so they'll look bright and sharp--as if "bright" and "sharp" are by definition positive. *facepalm* I know just what you mean, about everything looking like videotape.

I think many people today haven't had the opportunity to watch old British shows, where the interiors were on video and the exteriors on film. It gives the recognition muscles lots of good practice. *g*

Anyway, before I was even actively shopping for a new TV, I started collecting useful articles that will help me make sure I can adjust my chosen TV to actually look good, not like an eye-searing animated 3D soap opera. Like this one from AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/youre-watching-it-wrong-threats-to-the-image-in-th,83548/ . It includes a link to an extremely useful article by an expert, http://prolost.com/blog/2011/3/28/your-new-tv-ruins-movies.html , which explains in more detail what the problem is, why it's happening, and how to change the settings to make it stop.

That will definitely be Step One for me, as soon as I have the new guy purchased and plugged in.