SA's best cheap 4K TVs

[scienide]

But how is the software for these? I doubt that the OS will be useful 1-2 years down the line. The first Samsung Smart TV's got kinda left out when Samsung decided to roll with Tizen. LG started off with the WebOS flavour back in 2014? My LG smart TV is two years old, but still gets updates, still fast. The only problem I have, is the Showmax app (randomly crashes). Netflix and YT still works well.

yeah, even on my Hisense the showmax app crashes.

run everything off miibox and thus can run VPN. (Much better!)

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

I have learnt that cheap smart tvs are actually very stupid
waste of money
they only good for a year or 2
after that apps are outdated and some dont run anymore
And you cant update the Android either

You buy cheap, you buy twice

 

[pinball wizard]

I have learnt that cheap smart tvs are actually very stupid
waste of money
they only good for a year or 2
after that apps are outdated and some dont run anymore
And you cant update the Android either

You buy cheap, you buy twice

I like my dumb TV and run everything off an old laptop.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

I like my dumb TV and run everything off an old laptop.

Exactly, me too
Both my smart tvs are stuck on old OS
1 is on Android kit kat or whatever chocolate that year was on 4.4.2 and other on 4.4.4
2 stupid tvs

 

[Goosfrabba]

Even a cheap TV needs a TV license:

 

[NR7]

HD=1366x720

HD is actually 1280x720 AFAIK ?
1366 x 768 is just the typical laptop screen.

 

[NR7]

Jissus and to think DVD is 720x576 here in South Africa, PAL
Worse in the states, I think the vertical is 480
That must look kak nowadays on our big screen flat tellys

DSTV 1080i is looking dated on my 65 inch too.

Netflix 4K is so clear compared to DSTV.

 

[Lupus]

HD is actually 1280x720 AFAIK ?
1366 x 768 is just the typical laptop screen.

Yeah sorry it is, I was thinking of entry level laptop res

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

DSTV 1080i is looking dated on my 65 inch too.

Netflix 4K is so clear compared to DSTV.

Strooth, Interlaced
Do people still shoot in that?
I thought that was just for the old CRT screens back in the day for fast moving stuff like sport and such

 

[wingnut771]

Strooth, Interlaced
Do people still shoot in that?
I thought that was just for the old CRT screens back in the day for fast moving stuff like sport and such

Think it's a satellite bandwidth thing.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Think it's a satellite bandwidth thing.

No I mean is 1080i still a thing? Does DSTV broadcast in that resolution or 720P ?

 

[wingnut771]

No I mean is 1080i still a thing? Does DSTV broadcast in that resolution or 720P ?

AFAIK, DSTV decoder is 1080i, not sure about the app tho, could be 720p.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

AFAIK, DSTV decoder is 1080i, not sure about the app tho, could be 720p.

Yeah it isnt much from what I can gather
Looks terrible
But then again it isnt all about the resolution, it is the quality of the pixels
The bit rate makes a big difference
And they are streaming like a 100 channels through this tiny pipe smaller than a Indians exhaust pipe on his Kadett here in Ottery

 

[NR7]

Think it's a satellite bandwidth thing.

Yip. Apparently for every 1 x 1080p channel they can do 2 x 1080i instead.

So instead of delivering the rugby in 1080p they can now give you 1080i Rugby and Ginx Esports 1080i for free !
And instead of delivering Premier League channel 203 in 1080p they can now give you 1080i Premier League and eExtra 1080i too !

What a bargain.

 

[NeonNinja]

You buy an external box and use that instead

+1000

 

[deesef]

Think it's a satellite bandwidth thing.

It's not a bandwidth thing! DStv is overcharging massively for their antiqued service. They could have converted already, but greed is too strong...

 

[SauRoNZA]

HD is actually 1280x720 AFAIK ?
1366 x 768 is just the typical laptop screen.

It’s a bit of both.

Technically it’s 720p yes, but many TV’s that were 720p on the box actually ran resolutions of 1366x768 natively.

Not exactly sure why but that’s kind of why it’s universally accepted as both.

****

Come to think of it may have something to do with the transition to HDMI and all those TV’s also supporting VGA.

 

[noxibox]

yeah, even on my Hisense the showmax app crashes.

Probably buggy software from Showmax.

I have learnt that cheap smart tvs are actually very stupid
waste of money
they only good for a year or 2
after that apps are outdated and some dont run anymore
And you cant update the Android either

You buy cheap, you buy twice

Even the expensive ones are stupid. You’re still going to buy twice, so rather buy a brand that offers the best value.

No I mean is 1080i still a thing? Does DSTV broadcast in that resolution or 720P ?

Showmax was only 720p with stereo sound for a long time. Even on that low resolution they had regular buffering problems. Don’t know if they eventually started offering something modern.