$1299 Seiki UHDTV 50" SE50UY04 - Bought it today

[James Sielaff]

Content? When i was searching for chinese UHD TVs on taobao, for few extra $ many had option of 500G HDD to ship with them.
Of course, of highly doubtful legality for those movies, but i've seen that rather commonly for many offerings.

I feel like many of my friends here in China are more likely to get a UHDtv than my friends in the US. Also the cost of watching entertainment is lower in China, so the TV is only initially expensive, and low cost after that. So, a bit less scary to buy.

By "Content", I meant the boot leg hollywood/korean/bollywood/etc... big films. But also realizing that the conversation would potentially go in that direction, when the post is about 4k tv.

 

[Patrick Grossien]

I guess somebody has to write a hack firmware for these... Of course that wouldn't help for any real technical shortcomings but it could help....

I wish I could see for myself how these perform, but I still don't have one... getting these to Germany is a pain, so I guess I'll be out of the loop on that one for a while.

 

[Alex Kiritz]

Just ordered one of the 39" ones from tigerdirect. According to UPS, the driver thought the box was damaged so badly that he didn't even want to attempt delivering it. I would recommend staying away from tigerdirect at least for right now.

 

[Elsie N]

Just to offer a commoner's view of the Seiki 39", I've hooked it up as an OTA TV and could not be more pleased with it used as a TV. I have a 48" TCL 240 Hz screen sitting beside it unused because the 39" is just so superior. First noticeable when the splash screen comes on. The TCL logo has jagged edges whereas the Seiki looks more like quicksilver. I had to get a better Graphics card but it was time for that anyway.

I've also plugged the HDMI connection from my latest computer build, and set the resolution to 3840 x 2160 and the Windows background pictures look fine. Admittedly I haven't worked with any R3Ds yet. I'm waiting to use only Dragon footage for this particular computer.

If I have one regret, it is that I didn't wait until they come with a Display Port model (if they ever do that) or until HDMI 2.0 comes out... simply because I expect to shoot some 48 timebase footage at some point and would like to see that played back as 48.

OTOH, I did catch this at the $499 price, so with that in mind, this has been a real bargain.

 

[houkouonchi]

Just ordered one of the 39" ones from tigerdirect. According to UPS, the driver thought the box was damaged so badly that he didn't even want to attempt delivering it. I would recommend staying away from tigerdirect at least for right now.

Do you really think that is tiger directs fault? Honestly I would think it much more likely the package got beat to hell by UPS.

 

[Alex Kiritz]

Do you really think that is tiger directs fault? Honestly I would think it much more likely the package got beat to hell by UPS.

I'm pretty sure the problem is on their end. Whether it's them shipping out already beaten up boxes or having a bad local UPS center I don't know. They also refused to ship out a replacement without charging me for a second one.

 

[houkouonchi]

I'm pretty sure the problem is on their end. Whether it's them shipping out already beaten up boxes or having a bad local UPS center I don't know. They also refused to ship out a replacement without charging me for a second one.

well that sucks but I hear stories about how UPS treats its packages. and if was so beaten up to begin with I don't think why UPS would have accepted it in the first place. Although I guess I am assuming it got rejected when it got near you not rejected at the first drop off location.

 

[Alex Kiritz]

well that sucks but I hear stories about how UPS treats its packages. and if was so beaten up to begin with I don't think why UPS would have accepted it in the first place. Although I guess I am assuming it got rejected when it got near you not rejected at the first drop off location.

It really makes no sense. I first found out about the problem by seeing that the driver put into the system "The receiver canceled the order and refused this delivery." The guy who called back from UPS said that the driver thought the box was too damaged to deliver but thought the contents were probably still fine. He also said they would try to repackage it and deliver it tomorrow. I've never heard of UPS repackaging anything.

On top of that, the charge for the second monitor bounced so no replacement was shipped out and tiger direct never bothered to inform me in any way.

 

[P_Browne]

#1 - Sony 790 Direct: Got the calibration much better by changing how I do the initial Green setup (@) But, can only play the Sony through the Seiki to get the 4K. This now creates the problem of Cyan still being off the chart, Greens are now a subdued Florescent, Reds much more tamed. Blues a little tad less over done. Motion tests, now close to being working, but not quite. Audio can only be heard from the TV.
#2 - IScan Duo: TV looks just as good as the LHX, after the AutoCal. Despite there being no LD, the Blacks look the same as the LHX. Motion tests now look close to working, but not quite. Audio through the sound system. No 4K!
#3 - Yamaha Upconvert: Definitely you have 4K, but Detail loss through all the cables, and electronics, make it useless. Motion tests not so good. Audio through the sound system.

Conclusions: Don't need another 1080P system that's smaller than what I have now, and expensive.
4K with audio through the TV, and some video issues, not very likely.
Seiki going back!

@ - Two ways of getting the initial calibration started.
First bring Green to the 100 line, then work with Red and Blue until all on the 100 line.
Second Option, leave Green alone, and only work with the Red and Blue until all are on the 100 line.
I use the second method on the LHX since in the SM WBs, Green is set at 192, and only Red and Blue are adjusted. When back into the regular menu, Green is at 0 on the 2 Point, and if using, also at 0 on the 10 Point. Then Red and Blue are adjusted.
On the Seiki, tried the first method, but after the resulting Florescent Greens and Bright Reds, decided to try method #2. Here the Advanced Menu RGB Gains/Offsets start midpoint 128/512, and Green isn't moved from the 128/512. Just the Red and Blue are adjusted.
This resulted in the less Florescent Greens, more subdued Reds and Blues that are closer to what they should be. This made the general viewing more tolerable. After the iScan Duo AutoCaled Greyscal and CMS - beautiful looking - just no 4K.

Final Settings: Contrast: 49, Brightness: 46, Colour: 37, Sharpness: 0, Backlight: 55, Warm
Advanced Menu Settings: Red Gain: 136, Green Gain: 128, Blue Gain: 106
Red Offset: 500, Green Offset: 512, Blue Offset: 515

 

[Les Dittert]

ATI 5450 not doing UHD on PC ... How to get smooth playback ?

ATI 5450 not doing UHD on PC ... How to get smooth playback ?

So I got an ATI HD5450 based on a Redusers report that it drives the Seiki just fine but I have not been able to activate 3840x2160 at all on that card.
Was that a bogus report, or is there a custom or special driver to make this work?

I am hoping to see more Judder free playback with the ATI card. All Nvidia cards including Titan seem to have unstable playback on it so far.

I started a thread on April 26 on the issue, which was largely ignored. More recently in this thread others have finally admitted that it has playback problems.
I'm talking about MP4 or h264 UHD long play playback here. Critical playback for QC purposes. What your client would see.
The media can playback stumble free on the 30" Dell for example , but not on a Seiki monitor.
It's not the computer or playback software.
I have both the 50" and the 39".
I was hoping the hardware HDMI signal timing of the ATI might be more Seiki compatible.

 

[houkouonchi]

I kind of admitted to some judder but maybe that isn't right depending on the behavior maybe someone could explain that to me. I thought it is when you kind of see flashing like on a CRT in certain situations on the display? I see a very small amount of that (flashing) with certain colors on certain parts of the panel but it is not very bad at all on my display.

If judder refers to un-smooth video playback then I do not have that problem at all but I run on nvidia/linux not windows.

 

[Les Dittert]

Judder refers to uneven framerate playback. I am going to make a synthetic test pattern with rolling jail bars and then attempt to play it back while shooting it with the Red at 300 FPS to really see what the heck is going on here.
I'm very sensitive to frame rate jitter. I hate it

 

[Nick Stavinsky]

Les, I mentioned HD5450 because it did work during my own troubleshooting trials. It actually booted straight to 3840x2160 on Windows 8 build, and did the same on older Windows 7 build after Catalyst driver install. Although it may have been OK for general 2D picture quality comparison, it was obvious that this chip would not allow any kind of playback in 4K - it's very low end at that. I saw some tearing/artifacts during windowed playback of lower resolution already. I also plugged in 7770 and I have returned it since, I'm currently using 7970.
If you'd still like to get that 5450 working, I can suggest Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) by ToastyX, this let me easily dial in 1920x1080@120Hz, as some people reported having problems forcing ATI cards into custom resolutions.

 

[houkouonchi]

Judder refers to uneven framerate playback. I am going to make a synthetic test pattern with rolling jail bars and then attempt to play it back while shooting it with the Red at 300 FPS to really see what the heck is going on here.
I'm very sensitive to frame rate jitter. I hate it

So maybe this is a problem specifically with nvidia/windows then? Video seems to play just fine and just as smooth as any other LCD I use in linux be it 4k or regular 1080p or even SD content (being upscaled to 4k as that is what I run the desktop at).

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I kind of admitted to some judder but maybe that isn't right depending on the behavior maybe someone could explain that to me. I thought it is when you kind of see flashing like on a CRT in certain situations on the display? I see a very small amount of that (flashing) with certain colors on certain parts of the panel but it is not very bad at all on my display.

If judder refers to un-smooth video playback then I do not have that problem at all but I run on nvidia/linux not windows.

Judder is when the motion isn't smooth or the cadence (timing) between each frame is irregular. I've seen nearly a dozen 50" SEIKI displays with my own eyes at this point. They ALL have the judder issue. The guys at SEIKI have confirmed it to be a problem. It only does it when the incoming signal is 24 or 25 Hz. Doesn't matter on the source and only does it at UHD resolution. I can reproduce it with any PC (Windows, Linux), Mac, upscaling Blu-Ray, REDRAY player, etc.. 3840x2160 @ 30Hz runs perfectly fine. 3840x2160 @ 24Hz = judder city.

Some people watch and tell me they can't see it, but I guess I'm just sensitive to it with all the years of looking for little issues like this. But I'm far from the only one who sees it and I have confirmation that the problem exists from the manufacturer.

Since getting the 55" Sony, thanks to a generous client who likes me, I don't use the SEIKI anymore. It's sitting off to the side, waiting to be hung in our basement when our basement finish project is complete in the next couple weeks. I can't use the SEIKI for pro work. I recommend anyone who is don't so don't do it if they're showing 24/25 Hz content. Even if you think you don't see the irregular cadence or judder issue, some client will. I already had one client see it and that actually led to them buying me the Sony. They're an ad agency that really likes me and one of their producers saw the judder on the SEIKI. Also saw it on her SEIKI panel after receiving it. I know she returned hers. I was past my 30-day window from Tiger Direct as I was hoping it would be fixed via firmware updates. And I still am holding onto that hope. I'm keeping the SEIKI as opposed to reselling it for a loss... it's filling a need for a TV about that size anyway. But extra UHD pixels aside, I can't say I'm that happy I bought it. Even with it mostly calibrated and looking pretty good (what a PITA that was!), it's nowhere near as good as the current 1080p models from Samsung, LG or others in terms of overall picture or color rendition.

 

[Phil Holland]

Since getting the 55" Sony, thanks to a generous client who likes me, I don't use the SEIKI anymore.

Heh. I need clients who like me too. Just literally saw material on that Sony last week and was pretty impressed yet again.

Don't love the placement of those speakers, but they do sound pretty good. Might have to nab one of these.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Saw the Sony 55" in a Best Buy display the other day and the saturation (chroma) was turned up past 11 - think Willy Wonka on hallucinogenics. BTW, considering what Sony must have spent to get those kiosks into the big retailers can anyone tell me why they wouldn't put a shade above the screen to cut the glare? Mind boggling.

Cheers - #19

 

[Derek Morrison]

Hey everyone, Its been a while since I perused this thread. I think I stopped around page 76 or something. Just thought I'd run a test in fcpx. I've been using premiere CS6 for the past few months and had some time on my hands so I thought I'd test all the resolutions. Forgive me if this has been posted already, but I just got 4096x2160@24hz on my Seiki 50". I didn't think it was possible. I've been looking for an overscan chart at 4096x2160 to see if it is really true or its overscanning the image out of X. Anybody else know the truth. It does say in the info on screen that it is at 4096x2160. Anybody have a chart and I'll check if its a true 4K DCI image?

Sent out using a Mac Pro 1,1 using blackmagic decklink 4K extreme.

 

[Dustin Hoye]

Subscribing! Hope I'm not too late to the party. Reviewing previous pages now. :001_tongue:

 

[Les Dittert]

That's interesting Jeff. I did not know the problem is not there on 30hz. It seems odd that Seiki can't solve the problem with a firmware update, unless there was a hardware design mistake made. Maybe the actual panel can only be updated at 30hz and that is the problem ? I'm going to film some test patterns on it today to see whats going on as the stumble does not seem to have a cadence that would indicate a refresh rate mismatch.
Even if a user posts that they have smooth playback it can't be trusted because some people don't see these types of issues!
So the ATI card does no better, I take it ? ( different hdmi clock skew or something could have made a difference ).

Judder is when the motion isn't smooth or the cadence (timing) between each frame is irregular. I've seen nearly a dozen 50" SEIKI displays with my own eyes at this point. They ALL have the judder issue. The guys at SEIKI have confirmed it to be a problem. It only does it when the incoming signal is 24 or 25 Hz. Doesn't matter on the source and only does it at UHD resolution. I can reproduce it with any PC (Windows, Linux), Mac, upscaling Blu-Ray, REDRAY player, etc.. 3840x2160 @ 30Hz runs perfectly fine. 3840x2160 @ 24Hz = judder city.

Some people watch and tell me they can't see it, but I guess I'm just sensitive to it with all the years of looking for little issues like this. But I'm far from the only one who sees it and I have confirmation that the problem exists from the manufacturer.

Since getting the 55" Sony, thanks to a generous client who likes me, I don't use the SEIKI anymore. It's sitting off to the side, waiting to be hung in our basement when our basement finish project is complete in the next couple weeks. I can't use the SEIKI for pro work. I recommend anyone who is don't so don't do it if they're showing 24/25 Hz content. Even if you think you don't see the irregular cadence or judder issue, some client will. I already had one client see it and that actually led to them buying me the Sony. They're an ad agency that really likes me and one of their producers saw the judder on the SEIKI. Also saw it on her SEIKI panel after receiving it. I know she returned hers. I was past my 30-day window from Tiger Direct as I was hoping it would be fixed via firmware updates. And I still am holding onto that hope. I'm keeping the SEIKI as opposed to reselling it for a loss... it's filling a need for a TV about that size anyway. But extra UHD pixels aside, I can't say I'm that happy I bought it. Even with it mostly calibrated and looking pretty good (what a PITA that was!), it's nowhere near as good as the current 1080p models from Samsung, LG or others in terms of overall picture or color rendition.