azkid Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Need a 70 inch TV. Looking for a super reliable control method (assuming IP is the best?) since we use a custom program to show a IP camera whenever it detects motion. If the tv wasn't already being used to watch something after 30 seconds it turns the tv back off. The current TV in this spot is being controlled via IR and doesn't turn off maybe once every 20 times. What is the best TV right now to buy to integrate to control4? To be honest the TV is used as a monitor (don't use TVapps) so while extra features are nice, 100% reliability is first priority. The one exception is if any of the TV's would allow a picture in picture feature to show the IP camera when the tv was already in use that would be nice vs changing the input. Overall speed both for turn on and changing inputs would also be a priority. Appreciate your feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 A good LG and the Annex4 driver Is my favourite as this also gives one the toast message functionality. All my TVs are LG or Samsung and I have had seamless integration with both brands. cdcllc, joecheech and c44me 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joecheech Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 1 hour ago, South Africa C4 user said: LG or Samsung Have both and both work great. LG / Annex4 is my fav with the toast messages. Thought I read something about problems with toast messages if you have more than one, or maybe there was an issue with the newer WebOS models and toast messages. Check on that first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azkid Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 56 minutes ago, joecheech said: Have both and both work great. LG / Annex4 is my fav with the toast messages. Thought I read something about problems with toast messages if you have more than one, or maybe there was an issue with the newer WebOS models and toast messages. Check on that first. Does the Samsung have IP control or just IR? Thought I remembered reading somewhere that only Sony and LG had IP control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 1 hour ago, azkid said: Does the Samsung have IP control or just IR? Thought I remembered reading somewhere that only Sony and LG had IP control. Almost all Samsung’s have IP and of course IR. Some of them have serial as well. i am using Samsung and LG with IP control and it has been very good. The most reliable though is probably Samsung via serial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Samsung IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo1738 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Sony just works enzeder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveControl Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Here is my view after testing quite a few different manufactures: Figure out what technology you going to support: 4k / 8k, QLED, LED ettc Manufactures on the actual panel technology are pretty similar the difference comes with integration functionality It does depend on actual region ( physical location US, EU, Asia) Point three is important. Good example: Samsungs are great TV's but unless you are in the USA and very few regions around the world you are limited to IR control and cant use the IP control. The IP control on Samsungs mostly works on firmware for the USA. Most EU and rest of the world this functionality is turned off and you stuck with simple IR control. For me the best out of Samsung, LG, Hisense, Sony that I have tested is the LG with the Annex driver. Why: The driver just works and with IP The mini apps drivers are awesome (to call up apps installed on the TV) and you can create your own on their website - so greater flexibility The LG panels are (again depending on which review you read) the best The additional functionality of the toast notifications with the Annex drive is really neat feature. LG are constantly updating their OS software compared to my Samsung's in the house. They add features with the updates the Samsung updates when they do come seem to be more just stability updates. Having said all of the above, all the TV's work in my house hold and I have LG, Samsung, Hisense and Sony. My best experience that I have is the LG. South Africa C4 user and jfh 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveControl Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 11 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: A good LG and the Annex4 driver Is my favourite as this also gives one the toast message functionality. All my TVs are LG or Samsung and I have had seamless integration with both brands. @South Africa C4 user do you have your Samsungs working with IP control in South Africa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 7 hours ago, ILoveControl said: @South Africa C4 user do you have your Samsungs working with IP control in South Africa? I would have answered “yes” without thinking and then went to look. They are IR controlled. My dealer has done an incredible job of hiding the wire and the Bud in the frame of the TV. They have been rock solid despite being on IR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 For more less expensive TVs I like the Roku TVs that are now sold under a number of brands includiong TCL and Sharp. There is a driver that works very well and Roku has apps/channels for pretty much all services that can be controlled via C4 mini-apps. SMHarman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 All brands have there own issues. It's a crap shoot whether you get a lemon or not. Sony would be my vote, but put the dang thing in Pro Mode to hide all the bloatware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Sony, Pro Mode. Done. That said I've got numerous Samsungs out there that are working flawlessly, but some have issues using SDDP (just us direct IP ID). Done plenty of LG no issue, then there are some... As per above post, all brands (and lines/models) can have quirks, there is no TRUE 'this TV brand just works)' answer. When it come time to upgrade my 4K curve Samsung, I'm going Sony and fork out the bit extra.... Make of that last bit what you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Cyknight said: Sony, Pro Mode. Done. That said I've got numerous Samsungs out there that are working flawlessly, but some have issues using SDDP (just us direct IP ID). Done plenty of LG no issue, then there are some... As per above post, all brands (and lines/models) can have quirks, there is no TRUE 'this TV brand just works)' answer. When it come time to upgrade my 4K curve Samsung, I'm going Sony and fork out the bit extra.... Make of that last bit what you will. What is Sony Pro mode? I have a couple of Sony E series and can't recall seeing that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanDad Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 It's a neat way of locking/excluding certain menu features. Get rid of all the stuff that you don't need to see and/or don't want users to mess with, especially if the TV is being used with an AVR and an external media player like Roku etc. Access by pressing the following sequence quickly (within 2 seconds). Not simultaneously - in sequence : DISPLAY, MUTE, VOL+, HOME Then when you go to the settings menu, 'Pro Mode' will be at the top. You can configure the pro mode options from there. ejn1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cshepard Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 12 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: I would have answered “yes” without thinking and then went to look. They are IR controlled. My dealer has done an incredible job of hiding the wire and the Bud in the frame of the TV. They have been rock solid despite being on IR. They have been rock solid because of—not despite—being on IR. You make it sound like you think IR is the inferior method of control here. It isn’t. Unsocialtoaster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crustyloafer Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 For UK users, my only major bugbear with Samsung IP control is they completely omitted the 'Guide' button from their API. A large proportion of consumers in the UK use the built in DVB/Freesat tuners in the TVs for Free to View terrestrial broadcasts, this then requires to use the TV's built in TV Guide function for these broadcast services and there is no Guide command in the IP control API for Samsung TVs. This is unforgivable when it is a dedicated button on the remote control for all their TVs here. You can work around it but adding a custom programming macro to bring up the Home Bar and then navigate to the 'Guide' function but it should not be required at all. Sony or LG for the win for me here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J to the D Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 7:49 PM, South Africa C4 user said: A good LG and the Annex4 driver Is my favourite as this also gives one the toast message functionality. All my TVs are LG or Samsung and I have had seamless integration with both brands. I have both Panasonic and LG TV’s. Originally my LG’s were on IR and although it worked flawlessly I hated the bug flashing and limitations around using apps such as Netflix. I then found Annex4. I have had that running on 2 LG’s which has worked flawlessly. The toast messages are great particular with gates and garage doors. My understanding is Panasonic has C4 integration already included in the software which again has worked flawlessly. Did LG not recently add SDDP in the engineer menu for C4 integration. As someone else mentioned the style of TV you want is most important. I wanted OLED so meant I was restricted to LG or Panasonic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 9 hours ago, cshepard said: They have been rock solid because of—not despite—being on IR. You make it sound like you think IR is the inferior method of control here. It isn’t. IR is for sure the inferior method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 It is the inferior method, I agree. But it is more dependable for various reasons. I always prefer using IP but there are a variety of things that can go wrong with IP that don't go wrong with IR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 IP or serial has the ability (in general, though it is device and driver dependent as well) to have 2-way communication. This could be considered 'superior' if implmented as the system can then know if a device is on or off, muted or not, the system can display volume % and possibly program off of changes done externally (ie 3D mode). In THAT sense IR is inferior. BUT IR has been around for a looooooooooooooooong time for a reason - it IS reliable. IP in particular is prone to networking issues, implementation, minor changes in firmware can break it and so on. In both cases it (IR or other) it will depend a lot on the device, the driver and other, secondary, factors (examples: is the IR window in a good place/inconspicuous - is the device exposed to a lot of daylight which can wash IR signals out, is the network dependable) on which is the BETTER choice for any given situation. Not to mention - if a device has an IR remote that is in hand...ANY dealer should be able to quickly make a basic driver in a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I just dont see why anyone would use IR now when given a choice between IP and serial. If you want to integrate a device that only can do IR then you do what you have to do but when given the choice now it shouldnt even be a question what to use. msgreenf and South Africa C4 user 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 For more less expensive TVs I like the Roku TVs that are now sold under a number of brands includiong TCL and Sharp. There is a driver that works very well and Roku has apps/channels for pretty much all services that can be controlled via C4 mini-apps.This. It depends on your price point. LG OLED or SONY at the top, TCL series 6 Roku is a lot lower price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo1738 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 18 hours ago, therockhr said: I just dont see why anyone would use IR now when given a choice between IP and serial. If you want to integrate a device that only can do IR then you do what you have to do but when given the choice now it shouldnt even be a question what to use. Generally bc API changes won't break IR control, it's the most fool proof but has less functionality with no 2 way feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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