Once again I fucked myself because I didn’t take the time to do the research. The sound-synch issue wouldn’t go away and so I finally decided I had to junk the Samsung 60″ 1080p that I’ve had for about three years and get a newbie. Well, the big stores don’t sell 1080s any more — you pretty much have to buy a 4K. Being a cheap-ass and insufficiently temperate in these matters, I decided to buy the most reasonably priced 4K that had first-rate approvals on CNET and elsewhere — a Samsung 65″ 4K (UN65JU65OOF) for $1700 and change.

They delivered it last weekend. The 4K was set up after an hour or so, and I was pretty damn delighted with the resolution. It really does seem to pop a bit more than 1080p. But then I was told by a guy who knows all about this stuff that the “cheap” Samsung I’d purchased doesn’t have HDR (high dynamic range) and therefore it won’t be able to interface with and/or derive maximum visual benefit from a 4K Bluray player.

Do I have the slightest interest in purchasing a 4K player? No, but sooner or later you have to succumb to what’s happening and available and current. Yes, it’s all streaming these days (I also got a new Roku 4 because it’s 4K-friendly) but I can’t completely divorce myself from the comforts of physical media.

I’m flabbergasted that the Best Buy guys have the balls to look people in the eye and sell them 4K TVs that can’t play 4K Blurays. Which is roughly analogous to selling customers 1080p flatscreens six or seven years ago and then telling them the next day that their sets can’t play Blurays. But that’s exactly what they’ll do if you let them.

Yes, they’re just being salesmen. Which is to say opportunistic fucks. It’s my own damn fault for not doing the research and thinking too much about haste and cost and not enough about quality. All I had to do was look at the back cover of any 4K Bluray — it says very plainly that you need a 4K TV with HDR.

So yesterday I went down to the La Brea Best Buy and cancelled the Samsung 65″ 4K purchase and bought a Sony 65″ LED (2160p) with HDR. Which cost about $300 extra. The delivery guys will bring it by on Monday morning and take the Samsung back. God! And my own damn fault.