Hey guys-
I am one of those guys that got screwed on the Sony Bravia TVs no longer supporting PLEX and unfortunately have 3 of them, 60", 65" and 75". We have been using work-arounds with BluRay players (that are basically useless now, except for Plex) and or the Kids’ XBox’s.
I’m looking to refresh our TVs and want to get ones that works great with Plex. Samsungs Smart TV interface (used to) suck, might still. Have never owned an LG and see great reviews and ratings on their TVs. Anyone recommend LG or other good brand for PLEX streaming and good Smart TV interface? Would appreciate first hand, thumbs up or down… Thanks in advance guys.
JSnell
Samsung and LG both don’t support DTS audio now days. So if that’s not an issue I would buy a lovely LG 65"OLED. I have one and it works great except for 7.1 Channel HD-MA titles, my set is a 2018 Model so DTS was available.
If looking at a LG make sure the TV model has alpha 7 or 9 processor and you will be extremely happy, OLED over the moon.
What you experienced is exactly why I have sworn off depending on the “smart” features of a TV. Vizio did the same to me (not related to Plex). When my TV was about a year old, they updated their “smart” platform, and it was not compatible with my TV, so the “smart” features no longer received updates, eventually stopped working, and new apps could not be added.
I determined at that time that add-on boxes like Roku, Shield, or Apple TV were the better way to go. I would strongly recommend that for you. You won’t need to replace your TVs.
5 Likes
I agree completely. Unfortunatly it is usually less, sometimes a LOT less, expensive to buy a “smart” TV than it is to get a dumb one even though it is very rare for TV manufacturers to keep their software up to date.
Of course there is absolutely nothing that says you have to use the built in features of “smart” TVs.
It really is a lot less expensive to replace an expensive box like say the Roku Ultra for about $89.00 or less that it is to replace a cheap TV for over $300.00.
The other important thing is that if the TV fails all box settings including app settings do not have to be redone. The settings follow the box not the TV.
Thanks guys for the input. My goal was to eliminate a 47th device plugged into the TV, BluRays, XBoxs, Switchs and who knows what else and to follow SE56s lead, an excuse to move into the OLED era.
Ill need to look at the Dolby issues with LG though.
My TVs are all beautiful 4K Tvs, except the 60 incher, but I drool at the OLEDs I see at local stores.
Additionally, I had a Roku Firestick PoS on our upstairs small 39" TV (only size that fits in our armoire) and it wouldn’t work for crap. The remote would lose connection all the time until I pulled the batteries from the remote and placed them back in. I’m not a Roku fan.
I also get the “don’t be dependent on TV Apps”, the same reason why I tell clients not to buy All in One PCs… your monitor dies, you’ve just lost your whole computer.
Thanks again for all your input.
JSnell
Whether you buy a new tv or not, absolutely do not depend on it for any long term support.
As you have already been burned once, do not let yourself be burned again, and you will if you continue to rely on tv makers to keep supporting old models.
They want them to be disposable, so they can sell you a new one every couple years.
Finally, no known smart tvs support the all-important truehd/atmos required for many full 4k bluray rips.
The shield (pro) is still your only/best option, even if you hate the prospect of a ‘48th device’ hanging off your tv.
Honestly, if you have that many devices, they should be plugged into an AVR with sufficient hdmi inputs to handle all your devices.
If you mean the old purple stick that is a poor device to judge all Roku’s on. 
It was a sluggish thing.
I have two Hisense TV’s with Roku built in. Nothing fancy, just a 4K TV. Easy for my wife cause we’ve had Roku of some type for years.
I use an nVidia Shield for the TV I use the most.
Thanks again guys. I will look at the newer\better Roku as well as nVidia Shield but at 4 TVs, it almost makes more sense to get a $39 bluray player for each. Tek brings up a good point also, about disposable… just as soon as I buy new fancy OLED, something will come out next week and Ill be behind again.
Thanks again for all your input, all of you, I may not have mentioned by name but appreciate everyone giving time to my Qs. Thanks all.
JSnell
Amazon FireSticks are an inexpensive option too. I’ve got one for travelling.
Remember travelling? 
Oh we can still sit shoulder to shoulder on a plane to Mexico, order drive-thru from a sweaty kitchen of 8 people… we just cant have loved ones in our house for Thanksgiving… Don’t get me started Dan!! 
Get an Nvidia Shield, it plays anything and is android based.
the point i wanna push on is the truehd/dts-ma problem. if your new tv will be the source (ie: plex app) and wanna push high res audio to an external player you need eARC on ALL devices. i got a 2019 samsung q80r 55" and it only supports ARC. some TVs get eARC via OTA update, but eARC is first and formost a hardware solution. -->more reliance on manufacturer support 
i have noticed tho, with the rise of more high quality streaming orginals, that there are more dolby atmos via DDP options. and that will go over ARC. so you got that going for you.
that is pretty much my biggest regret not looking out for.
also dont get samsung. i paid $1000+ and get fricking ads in the ““smart””-menu. 
and they’re not small ads. Not just that, they have preloaded apps (10+), which will get redownloaded if you uninstall them within 15min. Not a joke. You definitely need a pi-hole for Samsung
unfortunately, E-ARC is not the savior that we once thought it would be.
E-ARC appears to ONLY work with HDMI inputs, like bluray players.
there are NO KNOWN smart tvs that will pass truehd/dts-hd-ma via app, through e-arc.
So, do not buy an e-arc tv expecting to pass HD audio via plex (or any other tv app).
things that DO work with E-arc, are external hdmi devices like 4k bluray players, nvidia shield, etc
I have been using Roku devices for a few years. I now have a new TV with Roku built into it. It seems to work good for Plex.
good to know. in which case OP should just go (external player)->(external audio)->(tv)
thus ramping up device-count in his household. gotta say, they’re making it pretty hard to get good quality these days.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
