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[DonMarks]

I am relived and miffed at the same time.

My Samsung TV is 10 years old and has started to show vertical bands of coloring on the left side of the screen. The bands are slowly creeping towards the center so I figured it is just a matter of time before it gives up.

Not really looking for a TV yet, but saw a Darko Audio video were he talks about a Samsung Frame TV, and I was intrigued enough to read a bit about it. Maybe it could offer something cool, and let’s be honest… the stereo is in a tv console below the tv for me.

What I discovered is MENTAL! apparently the Samsung smart TVs have buildt in advertisment since 2015. No matter what it can’t be completely turned off, and the work arounds are not effective.
As far as I understood only Samsung offers this feature…

This is got me thinking how lucky this s#%* hasn’t reached HiFi (yet)
Imagine if your streamer no matter how much you paid for it, pushed ads to you once in a while. Or if there were ads in the middle of a record!

I know that Spotify (and the other providers) have ads, but that is a free tier, and can be turned off by subscribing.

oh the wonders of the internet of things.

 

[flutteringwow]

The Samsung operating system Tizen does have some advertising built in, but its fairly low key and you’ll be more annoyed with the overall buggyness of Tizen than the small advertising boxes that appear. On the flip side Samsung do offer free tv shows and films though which is nice.

LG by far have the best OS though.

Technically you aren't paying for the TV OS as a subscription service or bought content like an LP or CD and the Hifi market is tiny in comparison to the tv market.

 

[PhilDick]

LG by far have the best OS though.

Can't agree with that. We have two new TVs, one is LG the other a Philip's. I much prefer the android TV operating system on the Philip's. LG seems too focused on apps, live TV seems like an afterthought. Also it recently has updated and now has a big webos picture at the top of home screen taking up valuable space and I can't get rid of it.

 

[flutteringwow]

Can't agree with that. We have two new TVs, one is LG the other a Philip's. I much prefer the android TV operating system on the Philip's. LG seems too focused on apps, live TV seems like an afterthought. Also it recently has updated and now has a big webos picture at the top of home screen taking up valuable space and I can't get rid of it.

The operating system isn't really for live tv though, thats what your remote buttons are for.

Android TV has to be the WORST operating system ever for me, but Philips TVs come equally as close, I returned both the Philips OLEDS i bought, although I do love Ambilight.

Theres plenty of threads on AV forums of people having to give up with Philips. Its a shame as they are the only manufacturer putting effort into including soundbars with their units which is why I originally bought one to replace my LG E7 OLED, but it very quickly became apparent that the ageing E7 was far superior the new Philips 936 and it stays to this day.

 

[Amber Audio]

The operating system isn't really for live tv though, thats what your remote buttons are for.

Android TV has to be the WORST operating system ever for me, but Philips TVs come equally as close, I returned both the Philips OLEDS i bought, although I do love Ambilight.

Theres plenty of threads on AV forums of people having to give up with Philips. Its a shame as they are the only manufacturer putting effort into including soundbars with their units which is why I originally bought one to replace my LG E7 OLED, but it very quickly became apparent that the ageing E7 was far superior the new Philips 936 and it stays to this day.

I considered Philips for their all round take on specs/features and especially the ambilight feature which is very good but like you the Android TV OS put me off (bad experiences in the past - slow and buggy), have a family member with one and they seem happy enough with it and do rate the Ambilight. Nowadays you can get 3rd party Ambilight kits powered from a TV USB socket - best of both worlds LG OS and a light show. I have 65CX and 77C1 LGs at present, really happy with them for what we need, no terrestrial feed in use, either watch UHD, Sky or Apps, Filmmaker Mode does a great job 99% of the time. Had a couple top end Samsungs before the LGs and can’t say I was bugged by any Adverts. Pretty sure my vinyl system won’t get plagued by them

 

[flutteringwow]

I considered Philips for their all round take on specs/features and especially the ambilight feature which is very good but like you the Android TV OS put me off (bad experiences in the past - slow and buggy), have a family member with one and they seem happy enough with it and do rate the Ambilight. Nowadays you can get 3rd party Ambilight kits powered from a TV USB socket - best of both worlds LG OS and a light show. I have 65CX and 77C1 LGs at present, really happy with them for what we need, no terrestrial feed in use, either watch UHD, Sky or Apps, Filmmaker Mode does a great job 99% of the time. Had a couple top end Samsungs before the LGs and can’t say I was bugged by any Adverts. Pretty sure my vinyl system won’t get plagued by them

I have considered one of those light systems, but to do it right, as good as Ambilight, I think it costs a fairy big chunk from my research?

My GF has a Philips and even though she has little interest in anything a TV can do other than giving her a picture, she always moans about why she can't have the LG OS pointer remote on hers

How do you find the difference between the CX and C1 series?

I am still toying with changing my E7, but LG just don't seem to focus on sound quality anymore, and Sonys with their excellent surface sound are very expensive, and again, plagued by a crappy OS. I am not a fan of soundbars.

 

[Amber Audio]

I have considered one of those light systems, but to do it right, as good as Ambilight, I think it costs a fairy big chunk from my research?

My GF has a Philips and even though she has little interest in anything a TV can do other than giving her a picture, she always moans about why she can't have the LG OS pointer remote on hers

How do you find the difference between the CX and C1 series?

I am still toying with changing my E7, but LG just don't seem to focus on sound quality anymore, and Sonys with their excellent surface sound are very expensive, and again, plagued by a crappy OS. I am not a fan of soundbars.

Not much if anything in it day to day on Sky/Prime/Amazon - might be imagining it but I think Disney looks better on my C1 which is in the lounge, the Mrs has the CX in the bedroom. UHD disks - Oppo 205 to the C1 is pretty special though and a bit better than the Panny to CX.

Don’t use onboard sound, started with a Pioneer 43MX twenty years ago no built in speakers and then a Kuro so have always had a separate full on sound system (Yammy A8A in lounge, smaller Yammy in bedroom, MA/RELorSVS 7.1.2 both rooms).

The Sony TVs that use the screen as a speaker make a decent job if you absolutely can’t have a Sub or externals. Philips new TVs with B&W bars attached might be competitive but not seen/heard any yet, dunno what their newest OS behaves like, don’t venture out much since Covid so not done any AV installs with a mate for a while, I help with the IT/DSP calibration stuff as a favour and get a decent bit of scoff out of it, I like messing with new AV kit, he puts in small home cinemas with the like of REL/JVC/Anthem/B&W etc.

 

[linnfomaniac83]

I’ve had Android on Sony TVs for a few years now, I’m very happy with it. Had a couple LG Smart TVs, didn’t like them, buggy, clunky… the pointy remote thing is good in theory, but if you sit off to the side, as I often do, it’s too finicky. I’ll stick with Sony!

 

[DonMarks]

Interesting, seems like the ads being pushed is a non issue based on the discussion.
Personally it turned me of Samsung regardless of picture quality or interface.

 

[flutteringwow]

Not much if anything in it day to day on Sky/Prime/Amazon - might be imagining it but I think Disney looks better on my C1 which is in the lounge, the Mrs has the CX in the bedroom. UHD disks - Oppo 205 to the C1 is pretty special though and a bit better than the Panny to CX.

Don’t use onboard sound, started with a Pioneer 43MX twenty years ago no built in speakers and then a Kuro so have always had a separate full on sound system (Yammy A8A in lounge, smaller Yammy in bedroom, MA/RELorSVS 7.1.2 both rooms).

The Sony TVs that use the screen as a speaker make a decent job if you absolutely can’t have a Sub or externals. Philips new TVs with B&W bars attached might be competitive but not seen/heard any yet, dunno what their newest OS behaves like, don’t venture out much since Covid so not done any AV installs with a mate for a while, I help with the IT/DSP calibration stuff as a favour and get a decent bit of scoff out of it, I like messing with new AV kit, he puts in small home cinemas with the like of REL/JVC/Anthem/B&W etc.

Yes always wondered about the difference in OLED PQ in the LG range being that they all use the same panel..until this year when the C series got the EVO panel.

The Philips OLED's because of the BW soundbar was why I bought one - and yes the sound is great, although can be a little tuned towards the high end but overall was really really good - that and Ambilight was the only redeeming features though, the PQ was sharp and somewhat harsh, the EPG a nightmare and the Android OS acted like it was made in the 80's on a Commodore 64. I returned it under their 100 day Ambilight Trial, which was a shame as a design piece it looked very good.

I was surprised that a 5 year LG OLED surpassed it in every way, the OS was smoother and responsive, the picture infinitely more natural and the sound just as good.

The problem with Sony is that you essentially pay £1k more for very little over an LG and get an inferior OS, so it's a tough buy especially as home demo's are never an option with Sony so trying to experience their sound in your own space is difficult.

Interesting, seems like the ads being pushed is a non issue based on the discussion.
Personally it turned me of Samsung regardless of picture quality or interface.

I can totally understand your point - I guess not many have commented who actually have Samsung TV's about the invasiveness of it, but I probably agree with you, we are already inundated with advertisements in life, we don't need anymore especially after spending a couple of grand on a TV! Just buy an LG OLED, you won't regret it.

 

[Tony L]

I’ve had Android on Sony TVs for a few years now, I’m very happy with it.

I’ve got one too. Overall pretty good, but not without bugs. I’ve certainly had to cold boot it a few times as YouTube (where I spend huge amounts of time) has crashed so spectacularly it can’t be exited and force-quit. Sony are pretty good with updates though. It is now running Android 8.something. It came with 7.

The adverts are odd. There is often a background splash for some Prime movie or whatever on the home screen, but it is not intrusive. The thing I don’t understand is I never get YouTube ads. Literally never unless the content creator themselves are reading from a script in their own video. No pre-roll, no mid-roll. Nothing. Ever. Android is in its default settings beyond I’ve arranged the icons a bit. I’ve configured nothing beyond the basic TV stuff of colour, brightness, contrast etc, certainly installed no blockers if such things even exist. I am signed in with Google and using the same account as my Adsense here on pfm, but I see the my ads here. I don’t get it at all and if I was a YouTube content creator I’d be annoyed some TVs appear to block ads by default.

 

[linnfomaniac83]

I’ve got one too. Overall pretty good, but not without bugs. I’ve certainly had to cold boot it a few times as YouTube (where I spend huge amounts of time) has crashed so spectacularly it can’t be exited and force-quit. Sony are pretty good with updates though. It is now running Android 8.something. It came with 7.

The adverts are odd. There is often a background splash for some Prime movie or whatever on the home screen, but it is not intrusive. The thing I don’t understand is I never get YouTube ads. Literally never unless the content creator themselves are reading from a script in their own video. No pre-roll, no mid-roll. Nothing. Ever. Android is in its default settings beyond I’ve arranged the icons a bit. I’ve configured nothing beyond the basic TV stuff of colour, brightness, contrast etc, certainly installed no blockers if such things even exist. I am signed in with Google and using the same account as my Adsense here on pfm, but I see the my ads here. I don’t get it at all and if I was a YouTube content creator I’d be annoyed some TVs appear to block ads by default.

I have had the odd crash in YouTube (where I also spend a lot of time), but not enough to ruin the overall experience… I get ads in YouTube though!

 

[JensenHealey]

So... I have a pretty new (18 months old?) Samsung Frame type TV in my man cave - connected to Ethernet and a Sat dish. Advertising on it? What advertising? - I do not see any.

 

[flutteringwow]

So... I have a pretty new (18 months old?) Samsung Frame type TV in my man cave - connected to Ethernet and a Sat dish. Advertising on it? What advertising? - I do not see any.

Go to OS and you’ll see little boxes on the left hand side of the menus advertising stuff like Now Tv etc

Its fairly in-evasive imo

 

[mansr]

After recently looking at various 4K options to replace an ageing Samsung TV, I ended up getting a commercial large-format display from NEC. It is gloriously dumb, and there certainly are no ads displayed.

 

[garyi]

I installed a frame TV in one of our contracts. Lovely things go totally flat to the wall it looks like magic. OPerating system is neither here nor there, I would always use my Shield TV.

 

[PhilDick]

We've got a LG CX and a Philips 806, both are good. Sound and picture on the Philip's is better, especially the sound, it has bass! Picture on the Philip's is more impressive but perhaps less natural.

No probs with the operating systems but I do prefer the Philip's. The LG does not have a direct button on the remote for the TV guide or to switch to broadcast tv and I have to disagree about how good the guide is compared to the Philip's android one.

 

[Amber Audio]

We got a LG CX and a Philips 806, both are good. Sound and picture on the Philip's is better, especially the sound, it has bass! Picture on the Philip's is more impressive but perhaps less natural.

No probs with the operating systems but I do prefer the Philip's. The LG does not have a direct button on the remote for the TV guide and I have to disagree about how good it is compared to the Philip's android one.

I don’t use normal TV so don’t have the Guide but there is a Quick Access option to program the number buttons on LG Remotes.

Hold down the number zero button 0 for a bit, the Quick Access window should pop up, choose a free slot normally you have 2 to 8 available to Add. Clicking brings up a list - TV Guide should be in amongst them - it’s handy to program the numbers to go straight to things like Disney, All4 and iPlayer etc.

Once programmed you hold the number key down for a second or so and then go straight into the App, saves a lot of clicky click.

 

[mansr]

I'm a little surprised to see so much talk about the TV sound quality. Don't you guys have real speakers to send the audio to?

 

[Tony L]

I'm a little surprised to see so much talk about the TV sound quality. Don't you guys have real speakers to send the audio to?

Mine goes through a 303 and Spendor S3/5R speakers. Makes for a nice clean articulate TV sound. I can’t deal with built-in TV speakers at all. Just dreadful IME unless they’ve improved markedly in recent years. I have to admit I’ve never even heard the speakers in my current 50” Sony, I just got it out of the box and plugged it straight into the passive pre ahead of the 303! I don’t care what’s in there, it certainly isn’t going to worry a pair of S3/5s!