So after watching Game of Thrones last night in the Hurricane, we decided that the Seiki TV in the main entertainment center had to go. The sound was awful and it wasn’t a smart TV or cable ready, and we really wanted a 4K TV to go with the XBox One S. So we went to Best Buy and picked up a new 40” Samsung 4K Smart TV to replace the Seiki. You would think that it would just fit but as it turns out, not quite so. Of course, the mount swings out and there is plenty of access to wiring, etc. However, that is where the “easy” stopped.
The Seiki used M6 bolts and the Samsung needed M8 bolts, so off to Lowe’s I went to get some bolts for the VESA mount. Once I had the M8 bolts, I found they didn’t work with the existing mount so I had to drill out the holes to fit the new bolts. Then, because the Samsung is less deep than the Seiki, I had to reposition the TV mount to the left about an inch and add some spacers so the whole mount could be closed. Using the previous configuration, the TV was hitting the wall on the right and wouldn’t allow the catch to click in the locked position. Additionally, the Seiki had a hard wired power cord and the Samsung does not, and of course it is a right angle connector but right at the corner of the mount bracket. This is why spacers were needed, to be able to offset the additional distance needed to connect the power cable and still keep a squared presentation to the viewers.
When finished, it is simply amazing what a difference in quality there is. The picture is fantastic - sharp, colorful and brilliant. The sound is also leaps and bounds better, 20 watts using the built in speakers and an optical out available for a sound bar or other accessory. We were hoping for a headphone jack as we wanted to try out a Bluetooth audio transmitter so we could use the house speakers, but there is no standard audio out. So maybe we will see if we can find a slim sound bar that we can mount above the new Samsung to really extend the sound (really needed when the front AC is on!)
The other cool thing is that it has a smart remote that discovered all of our video devices and controls them, and my Samsung Galaxy S8+ is also supposed to be a remote control,although I haven’t tried it yet.
I guess we can take the tape off now!
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