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Life Span of a Big Screen HDTV

goldmom

goldmom

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Mar 29, 2002
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I have a 46" Samsung that I bought in 2007 and it's been great. The picture is still great, too.
The problem is that when I turn on the TV, using my Direct TV remote, it won't come on correctly - it will shut itself on and off about 4-5 times before it will come on clearly. Plus the sound is getting just a bit fuzzy.

Seems like it is getting ready to die on me. It's 8 years old and counting. Is that about right for the average shelf life of these TV's?
 
TV's have become pretty disposable these days. I'd have expected it to last a little longer, but not by a lot.

Have you tried turning it on with the original remote to see if the same thing happens as when you turn it on with the Dorect TV remote? The Direct TV remote might be acting up and sending multiple signals.

Also, the speakers in nearly all TVs these days are junk. Don't expect those to last or be any good. That's how they sell soundbars now.
 
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I've had a Pioneer Plasma since 2008 and it still works perfectly. I keep thinking about getting something new but I have no reason to unless I want to go bigger. I keep waiting for it do die but it keeps plugging away, fine with me.
 
MathisJones said:
TV's have become pretty disposable these days. I'd have expected it to last a little longer, but not by a lot.

Have you tried turning it on with the original remote to see if the same thing happens as when you turn it on with the Dorect TV remote? The Direct TV remote might be acting up and sending multiple signals.

Also, the speakers in nearly all TVs these days are junk. Don't expect those to last or be any good. That's how they sell soundbars now.
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Agree with suggestion on using the original remote. My DirecTV remote had an issue with sending multiple signals in the past and it turned out that it needed new batteries.

As you said, the internal speakers on most of these new TVs aren't good. I have a Bose Cinemate system that I hooked up to my new TV and it sounds a hell of a lot better than the internal Samsung speakers.

You can get a great deal on TVs these days. Best Buy and HH Gregg will beat each other's prices.
 
Not sure if you have the same problem but Samsung HDTV's had issues with the capacitor failing and causing the TV not to turn on. I have 2 older Samsungs and both had the same bad capacitor issue. 1 went out and then about a yr. later the other one did too.

Funny thing is I bought them about a yr apart as well. Its a known issue and usually they die after the warranty is up. Ebay even sells little DIY kits just for this problem.

I was able to fix them by changing out the capacitor myself for cheap. Definitely not worth taking to a repair shop at this point. Cheaper to by new. You can use this as an excuse to buy one of those new curved TVs.
 
We have an old Magnavox that we bought from Costco probably around 2007 or 8. It was a very good deal at the time. It has developed a thin dark line right down the middle that bugs me every now and then. I'm waiting for a super deal on Woot or something on a new 4k. Several have come and gone, but I have yet to pull the trigger.
 
goldmom said:
I have a 46" Samsung that I bought in 2007 and it's been great. The picture is still great, too.
The problem is that when I turn on the TV, using my Direct TV remote, it won't come on correctly - it will shut itself on and off about 4-5 times before it will come on clearly. Plus the sound is getting just a bit fuzzy.

Seems like it is getting ready to die on me. It's 8 years old and counting. Is that about right for the average shelf life of these TV's?
Click to expand...

If it is plasma it might be time. They have a usable life of 20-30k hours. So depending on how much it has been on it could be due. Another thing to consider is the power draw. I had a 58 inch plasma that consumed something like 1000+ watts (don't quote me on that, foggy memory) plus the heat that would roll off the thing was nuts... relative to the 70" LED I replaced it with I've likely already paid for the new TV with power savings. If you have plasma be warned that the colors on plasma are generally far better than what you will get on a new TV. It took me quite a bit of adjusting to get the LED to even come close to the Plasma it replaced and it is not, and will never be, as vivid.

We still have a 50" plasma in the bedroom and I've kept it because we don't use it nearly as much and it's mounted really high (so you can lay back in bed and watch it). It weighs a ton and won't come down until it dies.
 
Bartdog said:
We have an old Magnavox that we bought from Costco probably around 2007 or 8. It was a very good deal at the time. It has developed a thin dark line right down the middle that bugs me every now and then. I'm waiting for a super deal on Woot or something on a new 4k. Several have come and gone, but I have yet to pull the trigger.
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Regarding 4k... they generally aren't worth it. There is still very little content and the usefulness of the extra pixels are only noticeable if you sit stupid close to the TV or have a massive TV. I did the math and I'd need a 100 inch TV to notice it. If you have a 50 inch 4k you need to sit 5 feet away or less to notice 70" around 6 feet. If you sit a normal distance it quickly gets into the 90+ range needed. My 70" TV is pretty big as it is. I literally don't have room for a 90+ inch TV in my main room. I'd appreciate a 4k home theater projector for my 120" screen but they are stupid priced
 
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Thinking of a 55" Smart - either Samsung or even an LG. The Ultras are nice but by the time programming all channels catches up with it I would want an OLED or something.
 
The only 4K programming you can get right now, that I have found, is offered by Amazon and Netflix. It definitely looks better but it isn't that noticeable. I recently bought a 4K set and did so because it was an amazing deal. The only 1080P sets that Samsung still has out are 60Hz.

If I were you, I would take a hard look at LG. I almost pulled the trigger on an LG but only got the Samsung because it was a killer deal. Samsung seems to have put all their marbles in that curved screen crap. I was in Best Buy for 2 hours and I honestly can't tell you why people find the curved thing fascinating. I found it annoying. I wound up getting Samsung's best non-curved 4K TV and I've been pleased with it.
 
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TexSkills said:
The only 4K programming you can get right now, that I have found, is offered by Amazon and Netflix. It definitely looks better but it isn't that noticeable. I recently bought a 4K set and did so because it was an amazing deal. The only 1080P sets that Samsung still has out are 60Hz.

If I were you, I would take a hard look at LG. I almost pulled the trigger on an LG but only got the Samsung because it was a killer deal. Samsung seems to have put all their marbles in that curved screen crap. I was in Best Buy for 2 hours and I can't honestly tell you why people find the curved thing fascinating. I found it annoying. I would up getting Samsung's best non-curved 4K TV and I've been pleased with it.
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Totally agree. And LG has really upped its TV game the last couple of years. They make a nice TV these days.
 
MathisJones said:
Totally agree. And LG has really upped its TV game the last couple of years. They make a nice TV these days.
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Agreed. I liked LG sets before but always gravitated towards Samsung. Now I think they're on par with each other.

My FIL just bought Sony's new razor thin 4K set and, don't get me wrong, it's a nice TV but I don't think it matches up to LG or Samsung. Might be a case of brand bias but I didn't think it was as good of a picture.
 
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try getting a brand new universal remote or a brand new replacement remote (check on amazon) and see if that solves your issue. for $20 you might be able to holdout a while until there is more 4K programming and the prices for 4K come down.
 
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I have 9 TVs, I basically replace one every year. I always take the oldest one and put it out by the pool. They dont last long out there living so close to the gulf. I just keep rotating.
 
ericram said:
I still have a Panasonic 55" Plasma. I the image is beautiful. Blacks are true. I can stand on the side of it and still see the image crystal clear.
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I was very disappointed that Plasmas are disappearing/disappeared. They are so much better than their LED competitors it's not even close for me. I've held off on getting a new living room tv even though at 60 inches my Samsung is now basically a tiny toy simply because it's still (knock on wood) more vivid than any of the larger LED screens I've seen.
 
We have a plasma for main room viewing, I'm keeping it until it's a smoking crater on the wall.
Our folks bought a shiny big new LCD and everyone was commenting on how beautiful the picture was. I hated it. We watched A Christmas Story there and the Soap Opera Effect was so bad I had to get up and leave. I ended up playing with their controls and turning off all the motion interpolation processing and suddenly it looked like a real movie again. But I was the only one happy. Everyone else wanted the overblown picture back.

I'll take a little motion blur not to have to look at that mess again when I do have to make the switch.
 
jamnolfin said:
I have 9 TVs, I basically replace one every year. I always take the oldest one and put it out by the pool. They dont last long out there living so close to the gulf. I just keep rotating.
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Ha ha - I keep getting $30 televisions from Goodwill for our porch.
 
BelemNole said:
We have a plasma for main room viewing, I'm keeping it until it's a smoking crater on the wall.
Our folks bought a shiny big new LCD and everyone was commenting on how beautiful the picture was. I hated it. We watched A Christmas Story there and the Soap Opera Effect was so bad I had to get up and leave. I ended up playing with their controls and turning off all the motion interpolation processing and suddenly it looked like a real movie again. But I was the only one happy. Everyone else wanted the overblown picture back.

I'll take a little motion blur not to have to look at that mess again when I do have to make the switch.
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Agree with this. Bought top of the line Panasonic 65 incher in 06 or 07. Tv is set for 100k hours with the quality. Will not pull that thing down until tv's are free. Like mentioned above, love that I can watch that thing from any angle, awesome colors, ect. Heat and power use is a problem, but this is the LR and who cares about that crap.
 
I have a 42 inch lg lcd I bought in 2007 hanging on my bedroom wall. No issues. Also have a 55 inch Samsung led I picked up in 2012 that seems like it's in great shape.

Best viewing experience for me is my projector though. Also, upgrading from stock tv speakers is probably a good idea.
 
BelemNole said:
We have a plasma for main room viewing, I'm keeping it until it's a smoking crater on the wall.
Our folks bought a shiny big new LCD and everyone was commenting on how beautiful the picture was. I hated it. We watched A Christmas Story there and the Soap Opera Effect was so bad I had to get up and leave. I ended up playing with their controls and turning off all the motion interpolation processing and suddenly it looked like a real movie again. But I was the only one happy. Everyone else wanted the overblown picture back.

I'll take a little motion blur not to have to look at that mess again when I do have to make the switch.
Click to expand...

My tvs and my projector are all variants of lcd tech. Configuring your picture properly is important. Only application, in my opinion for the motion processing is sports. Works well for that. Other than that, it stays off. Lcd tech has improved a lot. I do like plasma. It has its negatives though. Image retention. Bright light performance (glossy, light reflecting screens).

Also , I really like 3D on a big screen. My primary movie viewing screen is 106 inch and 3D is great on that in my opinion.
 
Lemon Thrower said:
try getting a brand new universal remote or a brand new replacement remote (check on amazon) and see if that solves your issue. for $20 you might be able to holdout a while until there is more 4K programming and the prices for 4K come down.
Click to expand...
Somehow over the years I have like six or seven DirecTV remotes of which they can all be program to whichever DirecTV box
 
BelemNole said:
We have a plasma for main room viewing, I'm keeping it until it's a smoking crater on the wall.
Our folks bought a shiny big new LCD and everyone was commenting on how beautiful the picture was. I hated it. We watched A Christmas Story there and the Soap Opera Effect was so bad I had to get up and leave. I ended up playing with their controls and turning off all the motion interpolation processing and suddenly it looked like a real movie again. But I was the only one happy. Everyone else wanted the overblown picture back.

I'll take a little motion blur not to have to look at that mess again when I do have to make the switch.
Click to expand...

The plasma is better but the new TV has to be properly set up. If you google the specs generally you will find a thread on one of the home theater sites that list what to set it at. I couldn't watch my new TV, it literally made me motion sick, with the out of the box settings. (and I don't get motion sick with actual motion). After looking up the specs and setting them it was fine. The colors aren't as good as my old plasma but they are close
 
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LT4PLY said:
The plasma is better but the new TV has to be properly set up. If you google the specs generally you will find a thread on one of the home theater sites that list what to set it at. I couldn't watch my new TV, it literally made me motion sick, with the out of the box settings. (and I don't get motion sick with actual motion). After looking up the specs and setting them it was fine. The colors aren't as good as my old plasma but they are close
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Agree on the out-of-the-box settings. I found an article on CNET that listed the step-by-step settings for optimal viewing on my new TV. Took a few minutes to mess around with it and it made the picture a lot better. I only turn on 120Hz for sports.
 
As far as 4K Ultra programming goes, 4K Blu Ray is going to hit the market this year. I'm sure the 4K BD players will be ridiculously priced but that will be another source of 4K content.
 
TexSkills said:
As far as 4K Ultra programming goes, 4K Blu Ray is going to hit the market this year. I'm sure the 4K BD players will be ridiculously priced but that will be another source of 4K content.
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Not too pricey. The PS4 was designed to deliver 4k video. Neither the XBone nor the PS4 will play video games at 4k resolution as the processing speed necessary isn't there, but they can handle 4k video and the PS4 was already designed with that capability. Allegedly there are reports that new models for both the PS4 and XBone will be designed to handled 4k graphics but since the current models both struggle to get 60fps at 1080 currently I bet we won't see true 4k graphics until their replacements not just the remodels.
 
TexSkills said:
As far as 4K Ultra programming goes, 4K Blu Ray is going to hit the market this year. I'm sure the 4K BD players will be ridiculously priced but that will be another source of 4K content.
Click to expand...
http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/01/27/resolution_chart.jpg

This chart shows the issue... When people are in the store they walk right up to the 4k tv and are wowed by how it looks but no one sits their big screen in their lap at home. The chart is pretty accurate. I sit 12-15 ish feet from my 70 and 720p is all I need. When I watch things in 1080p they look no better from my seat. To get the full benefit of 4k on a 70 inch TV your eyeballs would have to be less than 5 ft away from it. That is not reasonable. If you lean back in a lazy boy it would have to be sitting at your toes. This just means we are wasting money until screens get huge.

To put it in a different perspective most people sit about 9 ft away from the TV (think about your sofa, then coffee table, then some space around it, it adds up). Then you lean back in your chair and your eyes are 10+ feet away. That means to get any benefit from 4k you need a 90+ inch TV and to get the full benefit you need 150 inch tv. I sit that distance from 120 inch screen and wouldn't go any bigger because I'd have to move my head to watch the whole screen at once if I did.
 
The only TV I have ever had worked on was a Vizio. I asked the service guy, and he said it's his most worked on TV, but he thought the numbers were skewed in that there were so many of them.

I have always been a SONY guy, and have never had issues with one, but I will purchase a Samsung next.
 
RunRonnieRun said:
Some of y'all are realllllllly into television huh?

There's a big, beautiful world out there.
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I agree. I watch TV at night but never during the day. I couldn't even tell you what's on TV during working hours and I don't want to know!
I just fear a time when I might turn on the TV to watch the Noles and it is a big black dead screen.
 
Call samsung, sometimes it may be a warranty defect that is covered. Considering its 2007. I'm guessing it won't but they can direct you to a repair service.

Sound: get a sound bar.

Best bet: You can get a 46" smartTV for under $500
 
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