TCL to gain majority ownership over Sony’s Bravia TVs

TCL will own 51 percent of the high-end TVs.

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[th3suffering]

This is disappointing news indeed.

I have a Sony SXRD projector which is still going strong, 8 years and three globe changes after purchase. Zero smart features, and flawless playback of everything I can throw at it.
Compare that to my other display: a Samsung Frame TV. After 5 years, the backlight has gone and Samsung have advised parts are simply no longer available.

My experience with Samsung products has been lackluster. Years ago I had a Samsung SOHO laser printer - nothing but driver issues which basically rendered it unusable. No support from Samsung. For a few years around 2008 I also sold phones, and Samsung had one of the highest return rates, and one of the highest warranty refusal rates, in the industry.

Not only has not being able to repair a five year old TV with a failing backlight been disappointing, but incremental software updates, which Samsung advised me to install to troubleshoot the backlight, have introduced ads that weren't there when I bought the TV.

Which makes Sony's likely exit even sadder.

In Australia, the only major reputable brands that remain are Sony, Samsung and LG. There's also some Hisense, TCL, Blaupunkt, Ffalcon and Philips around. Over time, Panasonic, Sharp, Pioneer, Toshiba and JVC have all exited the market.

Samsung are now on my "do not buy" list, which leaves Sony/TCL and LG.
I regret selling my rock-solid Panasonic 60" plasma.

Not sure what I am going to replace the Samsung with, Maybe a painting or photo print.

FWIW, Hisense does make higher end, good models just like TCL does. The U8 line gets a lot of praise: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/hisense/u8qg

They do make a lot of budget, entry level models too just like every one else, if you are buying a $2-300 tv, do not expect it to do much besides show a picture halfway decently.

 

[azazel1024]

I've got a Sony LCD TV (42") which is 17 years old and still works fine. I want it to die so I can justify a new one which is also bigger and better display... but why replace something that still works just fine? And I was planning on spending the money on a Sony Bravia for my next one... but now? Who knows....

Yeah. None of mine are quite that old. Until this summer when my fiancé and I moved in together (and have subsequently gotten married), I had a nice Vizio P65 (2023 model?) and a really old Vizio 42" M series (probably like a 2015 model. My ex and I bought it when our then 3 year old daughter smashed our then extant 40" LCD TV with a wooden egg half a dozen times).

That 2015 42" isn't amazing, but at 42", its 1080p screen is still decent, the Vizio's using VA panels have pretty decent contrast, so it still looks nice, even if most current ones would be a lot nicer. Anyway it had recently become the exercise room TV about a year prior to my divorce when we got a 55" LG OLED for the front living room. I took the P65 and M42 with me in the divorce and the wife kept the new LG OLED 55" and the upstairs newer Vizio P60 TV (A 65" wouldn't fit in the space).

Well in combining households, my wife has a nice Samsung 55" TV that is about 3 years old. Definitely a lot nicer than that old 42" Vizio. Plus the sellers of our house sold the Toshiba 75" TV with the house to us for about $2000 (the TV, riding mower, some furniture, old generator, and a couple of other things, all for $2000). It isn't a very nice 75" TV, but it IS 75" and the family room is BIG. The 55" would be WAY too small. And on a very tight budget right now. That 75" has really bad screen bleed from the backlight, color depth isn't very good, and the contrast is also not great. Even though I think the model is a year newer than my Vizio 65" P65, that Vizio is drastically nicer and crisper with much better contrast and significantly more accurate colors and color depth. That TV is in the Living room. The basement got the Samsung 55" and the 42" is just sitting next to some shelves, likely never to be used. We got rid of my wife's old (very old!) 40" Samsung in the move. The Vizio 42" might end up on a ceiling mount in the garage or something at some point. Or maybe out in a shed/workshop if I get around to building the later (There is already a shed).

The 75" will get replaced in the next couple of years once we have some spare money kicking around and a good sale. Maybe for an 85", but at least a 75". It IS a big room. But we would both like a MUCH nicer TV. If it was larger, that Vizio P65 is more than nice enough that it is likely to be MANY years before there is any good reason to replace it (cheap 8k? Cheap OLED at that size? The space can't accommodate bigger than a 65" TV, at least not reasonably).

Also I just got the basement set up enough after 7 months in our house that I have the AppleTV in the basement hard wired and the Samsung TV hooked up. Been tackling a ton of house projects since moving in, plus planning and executing my wedding with/to my wife, a couple of big family vacations with our kids, etc. Anyway, I now have my "sanctuary space" to build legos, with the TV on for some background and when my back or fingers get sore and I just need to chill on the couch with the cats (my wife's pitbull is still not cat safe, so they have to stay in the basement and him upstairs during the daytime. Night time the pitbull gets shut up in my and my wife's bedroom and the cats get run of the house).

Nothing like working on a Lego city project, with a cat chilling in your lap, while watching some DIYer building a house, or hydro project, or the latest lego leaks...

 

[fknuckles]

Mine deep sleeps (everything off) with more vampire drain than my Raptor Lake PC running normally at windows desktop because no one cared to implement basic power management. If it's not unplugged periodically the audio in stops working if you try and video call. For a year or so they pushed an update that would crash all audio playback if you tried to use the YouTube app.

IMO they're fine panels but extremely under-engineered with half baked software and some fairly questionable power management.

In Europe, there's a regulatory limit for standby power draw, and I doubt that they've been selling TVs that don't comply: 0.5W in standby per the specs, and 2W with networked features
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/...rs-oled-tvs-android-/xr-55a95l/specifications

 

[The Ryan]

Currently own a 65" Sony Bravia. It's about five years old and has yet to interact with the internet (it never will despite its periodic pleas). I hope it lasts another 20 years because I won't buy another Sony if it's just TCL.

 

[l1011]

As noted above, TCL does some really, truly "it should be illegal!" type stuff re: privacy, and it's likely to get worse now.

I stopped buying Sony anything after the rootkit debacle. Don't support companies that treat you like a criminal, folks!

Also, friendly reminder that privacy is a fundamental human right, and you don't have to agree to give it up for a companies profit margin.

How does one avoid Google (Android, Google TV, GMail, Google search, any web site that uses their analytics), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, any web site that uses their analytics)?

 

[l1011]

Sad to see Sony capitulating but they prices have been absurd forever. They dig their own grave by making their products have poor value

TV prices are much too low. That is why everything tracks everything for sale.

 

[joelsa]

How does one avoid Google (Android, Google TV, GMail, Google search, any web site that uses their analytics), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, any web site that uses their analytics)?

Honestly? You can't 100% avoid it. I don't use any phone apps that aren't specifically necessary, nor do I keep them on my device. I pay attention to the privacy guidance in the App Store but still don't entirely trust it because Apple, honestly, hasn't done the best job of ... protecting users from nefarious devs (be they individuals, corps, or nations). But iOS is better than the alternative in that respect, in my not so humble opinion.

I don't use any meta, alphabet, or social media app from anything but a Safari private browsing window. Do I have to login everytime? Yep, doesn't matter anymore though - I don't even know the password. That's what password managers, or passkeys, are for. I actually avoid both meta and alphabet unless there's a 3rd party requirement or there's a post I need to see for one reason or another. I don't browse FB, use insta, etc.

All you can do IMHO is mitigate. I don't take it to excess, but I don't give them anything I don't have to or that I don't get something of necessity from.

Your mileage, needs, and risk acceptance, may vary.

 

[jazzylarry]

I'm old, so I remember when Lucky Goldstar (LG) was a "Magnetbox" / "Sorny" maker of off-brand VCRs. Now they make some of the best OLED TVs.

Maybe TCL won't ruin Sony TVs, though I'm not holding my breath.

LG was originally "Goldstar"?

TIL.

 

[senjaz]

As mentioned directly below you; their TVs have a cult-like following because:
1) They last forever. I've owned 3 (4?) Bravia TVs at this point, most of them for 10+ years and they continue to just work.
2) They come with a bare minimum of TV software bloat (or at least my most "recent" tv from ~2017)
3) They are hardly overpriced; yes they are more expensive on average than other TVs with similar specs, but you are guaranteed good quality in both build and display (see point 1). Wait for an open-box deal or get last year's display on sell and you get excellent quality for the price.
4) Personal option here, but I generally prefer their design, UI/UX, and specs over other TVs I've owned/used in the past.

This news makes me sad, and now wondering if I need to pick up a new Bravia before they enshittify have that hold me over for another 10 years and hope some other company can take their place of high quality, low bloat/bullshit/gimmicks TVs.

All true before they sold out and went with Android TV rather than their own interface that was super familiar to anyone who had used a Play Station 3.

I have 3 Bravia TVs the two that are over 10 years old are still going strong. The one I got in 2021 worries me because of the software. The hardware quality is still good but there was a bunch of stuff that didn’t work properly and took over a years worth of patches to add the promised features and fix audio drop out bugs.

I just want a high quality dumb TV to connect to my Apple TV. So far the business display screens that others recommend for those of us that want to avoid smart TV software aren’t up to scratch. I want large, high resolution, HDR, VRR. It’s a major frustration. I wish Apple would just release a real TV already.

 

[The Phazer]

All true before they sold out and went with Android TV rather than their own interface that was super familiar to anyone who had used a Play Station 3.

I have 3 Bravia TVs the two that are over 10 years old are still going strong. The one I got in 2021 worries me because of the software. The hardware quality is still good but there was a bunch of stuff that didn’t work properly and took over a years worth of patches to add the promised features and fix audio drop out bugs.

I just want a high quality dumb TV to connect to my Apple TV. So far the business display screens that others recommend for those of us that want to avoid smart TV software aren’t up to scratch. I want large, high resolution, HDR, VRR. It’s a major frustration. I wish Apple would just release a real TV already.

Literally any Google TV from Sony ships with a dumb TV mode. Just turn it on.

 

[FutureFrisbee]

I for one am really excited that I will finally be able to control my TV using scripts written in TCL!

Cellular connectivity is cheap enough and will be subsidized by all that sweet sweet data. Fortunately there will be guides on how to disable that or render the cell part non-functional.

 

[vortex_mak]

My last Sony TV was a 36” VEGA. It sat in my basement for years because I couldn’t get it up the steps. My plan was to break it apart and haul it out in pieces. My wife wanted to recycle it. I paid $200 for the recyclers to get it to the top of the stairs and then watch it roll down the stairs and go through the wall at the bottom, shedding pieces as it rolled. Nah, I’m not bitter.

I swear I've read this exact comment before