Sony A95L

[What Hi-Fi?]

A second, more in-depth hands-on session suggests Sony's new QD-OLED is something special indeed.

Sony A95L : Read more

 

[liteswap]

What never seems to be tested is the network speed on new TVs. I find - on my 2016 LG OLED - that a high bitrate, non-transcoded 4K stream, which can be 80Mbps or more, from my Plex server on the local network fills the TV's wired Ethernet connection (a miserly 100Mbps) or its WiFi link, despite the router offering a 5GHz connection.

The result is buffering every few seconds. Not good.

Streaming from Netflix and the like is never a problem of course because that content is heavily compressed.

So when are TV makers going to put a decent network connection on their devices - and better still - put that in their spec sheets?

I asked Panasonic this question and was told that all their wired connections are still at 100Mbps - in 2023! Talk about penny-pinching.

 

[Babur72]

That’s why I ended up buying a relatively inexpensive USB-Ethernet adapter, to increase download speeds between 250 to 300%. Of course. This does mean using up 1 of your TV’s 2 or, less common, 3 USB ports.

You’re quite right though. It is frustrating that manufactures don’t seem willing to improve the network connectivity on new TV’s. Nor for that matter, the scarcity of HDMI 2.1 48Gb/s 4K/120kHz ports.

We can but hope(?)

 

[liteswap]

Yes, I have a USB/Ethernet adapter, but my TV doesn't have the internal drivers for it. So that will only work for some TVs - probably ones more modern than mine.

 

[JournaL]

What never seems to be tested is the network speed on new TVs. I find - on my 2016 LG OLED - that a high bitrate, non-transcoded 4K stream, which can be 80Mbps or more, from my Plex server on the local network fills the TV's wired Ethernet connection (a miserly 100Mbps) or its WiFi link, despite the router offering a 5GHz connection.

The result is buffering every few seconds. Not good.

Streaming from Netflix and the like is never a problem of course because that content is heavily compressed.

So when are TV makers going to put a decent network connection on their devices - and better still - put that in their spec sheets?

I asked Panasonic this question and was told that all their wired connections are still at 100Mbps - in 2023! Talk about penny-pinching.

You can always get an 3rd party device. I recommend the Nvidia Shield Pro (2019). Supports all major streaming services and Plex, along with 4k 60hz playback with Dolby Vision and HDR 10. Also has Gigabit ethernet. It also supports a variety of audio formats with passthrough directly to your home theater receiver or sound bar device. Its 4 years old now, but still probably the best product on the market today.