How often do you upgrade your TV?

[cinenosin]

We have an LG 4K OLED from 2015 and no plans to upgrade it until it dies.

 

[Robert Zohn]

austinblackboxspace, Chuck Gerlach, & everyone who reads this, Sony's BRAVIA Projector 8, VPL-XW6100ES and the BRAVIA Projector 9, VPL-XW8100ES, and JVC's DLA-NZ500, DLA-NZ500, DLA-NZ500, DLA-NZ500 new long throw projects are the biggest advancements in their rendered picture quality that I have ever seen in long throw projector enhancements!

Also many of the new UST Projectors, and even the new very reasonably priced Portable Lifestyle projectors are priced very reasonably and deliver exceptional image quality with all content.

For those who do not want a projector or do not need a new projector I still very strongly recommend checking out the new Portable Lifestyle Projectors that range from $499 up to $3,795 for Leica's New CINE Play 1. One of our customers who purchased Hisense's New Flagship C2-Ultra Portable projector enjoys taking the projector into his back yard and projects his content at 300" on his white wall. He also uses the portable projector in the living room and then moves it into the bedroom and fills the ceiling with any content he likes.

One thing to be warned about before you buy any of these new projectors is that will will never want to leave your house again!

 

[mechman]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

[Tim Dawson]

I first thought that this was asking about firmware, and that response would be "whenever a new release comes out" As far as replacement, that would be "When it dies, degrades, or I see a huge enough difference old to new to call to me". I am not one of those lemmings who always charges to the next gimmick . . . new is often not better, just wasted $$$, more undesireable gimmicks (and pay to play crap), and incomprehensible user interfaces based on hierogylphics.

 

[D.-J. Walter]

What is this the purpose of this question? Marketing?
Most new TV models are not built for working 15 years without any problems. But that is what the customer expects for these devices, which are no longer High Tech and often only marketing hogwash. Some models only work around 5 Years without problems.
I use my actual TV (8 years old) as long as it works. There is no reason to buy a new TV. In the future I hope I can just buy a Screen without TV Tuners and hogwash programming inside. The program comes from a Computer.

 

[what bass]

When I cant read text on the current display.

I was renting a small bungalo and sat abot 6’ from my Panasonic 55” plasma in 1080p. After moving into my new home about 5 years ago, I now sit about 10’ away from my display. The Panasonic still had a great picture, the best plasma ever made imo but I was starting to have trouble reading text, eyes are getting old. I upgraded for size more than anything to a 77” LG OLED.
I like 4k but honestly cant tell a whole lot of difference from my Oppo blu-ray on the Panny. Some difference yes, but not enough to warrant buying a new set just for the resolution imo.
The higher resolution has created a problem though. I upgraded, and I use that term very loosely, from my Oppo to a 4k player to take advantage of the display. Finding a quality 4K player seems to be impossible.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

What is this the purpose of this question? Marketing?

We like asking thought-provoking questions to help generate discussion.

 

[MoabUtah]

I was quite happy with an aging Panasonic 50" plasma until my daughter needed one in her new home. So gave the plasma to her (totally happy) and bought ourselves a Panasonic 57" something or other in the sales. A lovely tv except only 3xHDMI's.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I have a weird, conflicting response to this.

My initial thought was "I upgrade TVs only when I have to, only when they die." I have a 2019 Samsung QLED in the living room and a 2015 Sony in the bedroom. The Sony is all but dead, requiring a hard reboot anytime we want to turn it on (which is very rarely) since the AndroidTV operating system is out of date and unstable. The Samsung in the living room has started to show lavender vignetting all the way around.

The second part of that "only when they die" comment was going to include "any critical viewing happens on the projector". But then I realized the projector is also 3 JVC cycles out of date. I bought about a month before the original N_ series was released, and looking it up, I bought it 6 years and 2 days ago. So it's out of date as well, but all my thoughts of upgrading are focused on the projector, not the TVs.

In fact I'm hoping in 2025 to replace the projector and ditch the Samsung in the living room for a huge wall unit for housing my vinyl collection. This would probably also involve replacing the dying Sony in the bedroom for the occasional viewing, but I'll be looking for a very basic model for that. It's unfortunately becoming harder to find a 42" TV, too.

 

[Jimp540]

How often do all of you upgrade your main (or secondary) TV sets over the years? Do you upgrade every few years on schedule to take advantage of new display tech? Are you comfortable with what you have until something MAJOR comes along (HDR vs. SDR, 1080p vs. 4K etc)? Or do you just look for deals when you can?


As a reviewer I keep to a moderate schedule of ever 4-5 years as display technology changes enough where I have to in order to take advantage of new formats and new tech within the formats, although for my secondary (Living room, bedroom, office) I keep a much more lax approach on the subject and do so when I get a good enough deal to make it palatable to change out a $1,000 display

So what are your upgrade habits? Do you have a specific time frame? or does it simply happen when your old one dies?

I am currently waiting for the old one to die. I have a Sony SXRD KDS-R60XBR1 which I purchased around 2006. I occasionally put in a new lamp and had to replace a fan once. It still looks pretty good, nothing like the new tech but adequate resolution and good color for our viewing distance, out of the box great sound from its speakers which flank both sides of the screen putting voices and sound at viewing height with response down to 40Hz (which is great for a TV!) and it has inputs for legacy gear like my old S-VHS and FireWire HDV devices. It’s all tied in with my surround receiver so even though I have some picture envy I’m still good with my rear projection. It’s my video equivalent of “vinyl”.

KDS-R60XBR1​

 

[Knitman]

How often do all of you upgrade your main (or secondary) TV sets over the years? Do you upgrade every few years on schedule to take advantage of new display tech? Are you comfortable with what you have until something MAJOR comes along (HDR vs. SDR, 1080p vs. 4K etc)? Or do you just look for deals when you can?


As a reviewer I keep to a moderate schedule of ever 4-5 years as display technology changes enough where I have to in order to take advantage of new formats and new tech within the formats, although for my secondary (Living room, bedroom, office) I keep a much more lax approach on the subject and do so when I get a good enough deal to make it palatable to change out a $1,000 display

So what are your upgrade habits? Do you have a specific time frame? or does it simply happen when your old one dies?

When we bought Sony flagship 77" version last year we thought that would be it no. (we are 66 and 77) BUT have noticed tech has taken a leap forward so maybe in ablout 2 years we'll be shopping. This is the best telly we have ever owned. We startred with Sumsung, never again, after 3 models, then Pansonic which we thought we'd stick with but their flagship model in 22 was disappointing and that is when we switched to Sony. We saw it on when we went to our supplier for another eason and was o taken we immediately decided we would change our brand.

However, for us to upgrade the difference is really goin got have to be spectacular as this Sony is good. As an aside, we have stopped using the Fire Tv cube in favour of the latests Apple Tv box. Picture is far superior.

The sound comes from my AVR 31 Arcam, 6 Monitor gold floor standers, 2 Yamaha subs and the tv is the centre speaker.

 

[GeorgeAb]

Great question. About every four years on average. I enjoy finding out how the TV manufactures are incrementally making improvements and determining when an upgrade will actually provide improvements I can perceive without the use of test patterns. Been quite pleased with Sony's flagship TV. Currently have a TV from 2022 and do not see a need to upgrade.

 

[Todd Anderson]

The Samsung in the living room has started to show lavender vignetting all the way around.

This would have me on the horn, talking to ValueElectronics in about 5 seconds. I couldn't do it.

 

[Todd Anderson]

When we bought Sony flagship 77" version last year we thought that would be it no. (we are 66 and 77) BUT have noticed tech has taken a leap forward so maybe in ablout 2 years we'll be shopping. This is the best telly we have ever owned. We startred with Sumsung, never again, after 3 models, then Pansonic which we thought we'd stick with but their flagship model in 22 was disappointing and that is when we switched to Sony. We saw it on when we went to our supplier for another eason and was o taken we immediately decided we would change our brand.

However, for us to upgrade the difference is really goin got have to be spectacular as this Sony is good. As an aside, we have stopped using the Fire Tv cube in favour of the latests Apple Tv box. Picture is far superior.

The sound comes from my AVR 31 Arcam, 6 Monitor gold floor standers, 2 Yamaha subs and the tv is the centre speaker.

It's tough to beat Apple TV 4K.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

This would have me on the horn, talking to ValueElectronics in about 5 seconds. I couldn't do it.

It is used about 60 minutes/week, so I can deal with it for now.

 

[owcraftsman]

I typically buy a top quality set with leading edge tech so replacing before its out of warranty or goes bad would only be done if some new compelling tech draws me to it. I can't see that happening for me with 4k tech and 8k is way far out there in terms of available content. The only thing starring at me are the OTA tuner upgrades that are no doubt attractive but again it boils down to content, I don't see TV stations climbing on that train anytime soon in my market so why have it if you can't use it.

 

[Schaale]

My living room tv is a Plasma from I don't remember when at least 15 years ago. My man cave tv is close to 10 years old. My bedroom tv is 3 years old because I wanted a tv I there and didn't have one. I watch a lot of movies but can't see spending a couple grand on a new tv. I spent the money on the sound side instead. I've been thinking about upgrading the tv to match the sound side but for some reason I have trouble spending that much on a tv but no problem spending $800 on a new cartridge for my turntable

 

[Alan Halfhill]

Easy!

I don't have a TV.
No cable subscription, some streaming here and there, and an extensive collection of movies and tv shows amassed through the years.
When I want to watch something, I fire up the projector and lower the screen.
The rest of the time, I have a good sound system and I listen to music. No TV running all day in my house. No TV at all.

I used to think that some people not having a TV in their house were weird.
Now I get it... or maybe I'm weird too.

We share a lot in common. We have a substantial collection of media and stream on several services without commercials. This setup has been in place since 2007. Our primary viewing experience is on an LG ProBeam 1080p laser projector. An 110-inch screen size is ideal for us. We don’t have a 4K projector. It replaced an Optima 720p projector years ago.

I’ve come to realize that projected light is superior to the light emitted by direct light like a light bulb, which is what TVs do. Additionally, the advanced technology being introduced in TVs these days often results in overly processed images. I find 120Hz refresh rate to be unpleasant, more like live TV. I prefer watching media at its intended frame rate.

We don’t use the projector’s streaming apps; instead, we utilize an Apple TV box with HomePod speakers. The projector has two inputs. One input has an eARC connection with the Apple TV, allowing the projector’s sound to be routed to the Apple TV. The other input features a HDMI switch with a Sony Blu-ray player, a Toshiba HD-DVD player, and a Pioneer Laserdisc player that has been converted to HDMI.

We do have a 40-inch Panasonic Plasma TV from 2008 in our bedroom, but we rarely use it. I also have an Insignia 13-inch LCD TV in my studio that I’ve had since 2007. I use it to watch NTSC TV tapes that I digitize.

 

[eturk]

Upgrade when TV begins to fail.
Getting roughly 6 yrs out of each TV before something fails.

Just replaced 2018 LG OLEN 65B7A as it started red burn in from YouTube's logo and progress bar.
Cannot see any noticeable picture quality improvement in new 2024 LG C4. It is cool that the new remote also controls the Shield TV w/o setup. We use Shield and Pioneer receiver so only used as a monitor, only picture quality is relevant.

 

[robertkjr3d]

I don’t think I’ll be going 8k very soon.

As said in my comment above... there isn't enough meaningful content to use on the 8k screen, and then it might be just upscaled stuff anyway. I believe we are at the end of the technology envelope for TV technology. The future is probably not in more 'K'... the future is going to be in more native content for VR or something.

 

[Ty_Tanium]

I wait until the old one is shot. But then for a replacement I usually go with the good stuff. The last TV I bought was a 4K OLED.

 

[Gerry Iaria]

It seems like that people here upgrade more often the sound, than vision, I'm the opposite, I would love to get new speakers, but my financial minister (my wife) says there's nothing wrong with the speakers

 

[josh358]

LG C1 OLED here which I got for a great price just before the C2 was released ie. about 3 years ago. I'm 100% happy with this TV.
Had to tweak it a bit to get my preferred picture though, out of the box IIRC it's in "Vivid" mode which is really unnatural. The only other tweak was to get the service remote so I could disable auto dimming as I also use it for PC monitor and that feature is annoying.
Can't imagine replacing it until it dies, unless I get a bigger room.

Wow, aren't you afraid it will burn in? I've never used mine as a monitor, partly for that reason.

 

[josh358]

Generally when there's a major technological advancement, and tech lust gets the best of me. :-) My LG C2 OLED has now been surpassed, but not by much -- I'm in awe of the picture every time I watch it -- and I imagine it will be many years before I replace it. On the other hand, I've gone through numerous projectors. Most recently, I got a VAVA to replace my BenQ, because I thought I could get a larger picture in my small room with its limited throw length. Turns out the BenQ makes a better picture. I'd say that when it comes to projectors, I upgrade every 3 or 4 years. (By way of contrast, my loudspeakers are some 40 years old! I've repaired and modified them, but in essence, they're so remarkably good that I'd gain little by replacing them, even if I spent in the tens of thousands.)

 

[Bent1]

How often do all of you upgrade your main (or secondary) TV sets over the years? Do you upgrade every few years on schedule to take advantage of new display tech? Are you comfortable with what you have until something MAJOR comes along (HDR vs. SDR, 1080p vs. 4K etc)? Or do you just look for deals when you can?


As a reviewer I keep to a moderate schedule of ever 4-5 years as display technology changes enough where I have to in order to take advantage of new formats and new tech within the formats, although for my secondary (Living room, bedroom, office) I keep a much more lax approach on the subject and do so when I get a good enough deal to make it palatable to change out a $1,000 display

So what are your upgrade habits? Do you have a specific time frame? or does it simply happen when your old one dies?

I just replaced my LG Nano cell 86 inch after 5 years. Too much has changed in 5 years not to upgrade. I bought an off brand that's becoming bigger in the country. I purchased the New QLED 100-inch U8K from Hisense after watching and reading many reviews of what it can do and for a very good price that you can afford compared to the name brand, LG, and Samsung, they're prices are out of site if you looked lately, and I have for the last year before buying the Hisense. I have to say so far for owning it for 3 weeks I didn't make a mistake buying it. The QLED is living up to its name, even my wife says she has seen a difference in detail that this QLED is doing its job. The black levels are very good, better than the LG, which I wound up giving the LG to our daughter and husband and they love it, but they haven't sat down and watched this one yet, but they will get to here this coming week. People might think, you bought an off brand 100-inch Tv??? yeah, I did and hope it does last 5 years. Oh, another thing that made me feel better of buying that brand, they give you a two-year warranty, who else is doing that. I would have loved to have gotten the 98-inch Samsung, but even on sale at $6000. dollars I wasn't about to jump on it. I myself just couldn't part with that much cash for it, and LG isn't much different, 5 to 6 grand for theirs, I just couldn't do it. But every 5 years is about time for a new upgrade by the way they're improving everything you can think of with the new tech coming around. I just wonder how much better it will be in another 5 years. Oh, these new QLED TVs are improving the most, even more then OLED's that are out with the newest tech.