His response earlier...

Understood.. Well, that depends on what happens or is decided within the next few months. For most, it's not much of an issue, especially since most TVs come with either 1 or 2 years manufacturer warranty. I'm no expert but, a full scale down won't be happening in 2 years. So to be safe, get an extended warranty.. Most are backed by the stores themselves.. I.e. H.N.

Probably just bad luck.. In every production batch, there'll be a few "lemons". For example, I have a 21" Samsung 1080p TV that has been in use for over 6 years. Currently using it as a monitor & it's had zero issues. Same with the living room TV that's just over a year old.. (knocks on wood). Fairly certain that there are Samsung TV users out there, that have sworn off Samsung TVs due to manufacturing defects.. Big brands like Samsung, Sharp, LG, Sony, Dell, etc are okay, as they have decent QC.

As for power consumption, TVs of today even while on standby mode, are quite energy efficient, particularly when compared with Plasma or the much older CRT tech. So no worries there.

Sounds like Sharp really screwed up there huh.. On the older Samsung Smart hub here, it handles USB drives & media playback beautifully. Upon plug in, a popup appears on screen asking how to view the plugged in device: As Files (regular explorer style), Pictures (gallery) or Videos (Thumbnails with scrolling images from within each media file). No lag, also HDMI-ARC, DTS/DD detection just works. After playback or if one simply wants to disconnect, simply press the Source button repeatedly till the drive is selected, hold down on the enter button to dismount the drive safely, a confirmation notice appears to that effect, the drive can now be unplugged safely.. Alternatively, it also performs a safe eject when the TV is placed in standby mode.. I've performed either method, hundreds of times, with multiple drives & never had any issues.. Hopefully, it's incorporated & performs better in the newer Tizen OS. The Android TV OS is supposed to be smarter.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Mar 4 2016, 03:57 PM

Perhaps, they were in a hurry to pump out 4K TVs running Android TV and didn't bother much or didn't have enough time to squash bugs like those.. Good thing is, as long as it's not hardware limited, such issues might be rectified with an OTA firmware update.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Mar 4 2016, 04:12 PM

Sure the Android TV OS is still in its early stages, however, that's not an excuse for Sharp shipping out a defective firmware. Especially since other devices like the Nvidia Shield TV box or Nexus player running Android TV, handle such issues properly.. As for Plex, it's nice and all, basically I prefer getting the full HD video and audio experience. Don't care much for network latency, transcoding, audio downmixing, PCM and extra decoding.

Haha, it's still a good choice as future firmware updates can fix the current usb playback issues.. Still have 4K + Android TV..

Nope, tried it a couple of times and wasn't satisfied with the performance.. File had 7.1 DTS-HD MA audio & I got PCM on the TV instead. I thought perhaps, Plex would have done some improvements so far, but some light reading around their forum still suggests passthrough issues.. A compatibility thing I guess.. I'll try it again.

The UI & simplicity of how everything should work is all well and good.. For simple low bitrate videos with AC3, etc.. Media server is a gaming rig, wireless ac with full signal connection , core i7 HQ CPU, more than sufficient RAM, GPU's capable of driving at least two 4K monitors, etc.. So I don't think it's the PC... Maybe as you suggested, it's the TV (quad-core processor) or the HT.. Doesn't like what Plex's sending, tries to keep it simple instead. Forcing me to keep it simple thru USB

I've been looking at getting a dedicated NAS unit for awhile, still can't justify the price to rewards ratio. Besides, instant streaming is the rage. Price of a 12TB NAS unit with Raid 1 setup.

Will do.... You too...

Not really, for one, Netflix doesn't push anything close to true 4K. Jarvis can handle true 4K content streaming over Wifi.. So it's more like, either the TV can't handle it or at minimum the Wifi adapter can't handle it.. You can try the RC1. Plus, should be using Ethernet for the TV for optimal results.

Full length movies of that size are geared towards smaller screens like laptops and cell phones... IMO, i don't consider them "full HD" and playing such on the big screen TV, a 4k TV is considered (in my books) an abomination.. . Nothing wrong with the TV's upscaler per say.. Just that movie files of that size have very low video bitrates; there's only so much extra processing and filling in, the upscaling engine can do. Bet you, there are 1280 x 720p files that look much better.

Well that sucks.. So even Netflix's DD isn't passed through HDMI-ARC or Toslink?

Soap Opera Motion? I'm not a fan.. Had extra motion processing disabled on a Samsung.. Don't need the fluidity..

Hi.. Buddy.. Not being rude or anything, however, might want to recheck the title of this thread... Thy current budget is err...

Since you could figure out how to setup & maintain an RPI, you'll get the hang of the Android TV OS as well..

Heres my take about major decisions like the living room TV.... Either buy the best 1080p TV you can afford or grab a more decent 4k TV. An entry-level 4K TV can be satisfactory, but you could do better. I've heard many horror stories about Courts Mammoth's installment plans, so be careful there as the final figures may not tally with the promo price.

Fixed

One of the reasons why I'm giving the 4K industry a couple more years to gain traction before jumping in.. We'll see in, say 5 years...Tech can only get better..

Hey.. Don't give the TV any ideas.. .. Knocks on wood.

Yup.. I have to force myself to look away, if I have to walk past the display units..

What jdgobio says.. That's store mode on the TV in action.. Apparently, the majority like it all bright & sparkly.. Plus, it's in the store and with all the artificial lighting, they need to be able to draw in potential customers.. Once the TV's home, then one can tweak the settings to suit the eyes & viewing environment.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Mar 16 2016, 02:55 PM

Go big... Go OLED

This pretty much sums up why...

True, but no worries as long as the international community does not adopt it.. It'll either die, remain a niche product or they'll be forced to open it up. Will try it later in the day on the PC, just for the lols.