THIS^^^^^

The new XBR 850D series is money...Apps that work...voice control and the Android back end is fast as hell....So far the IP driver has been right on the money with Elan...I cant wait to see it with true 4K content and HDR.

We have moved to Sony as well. The 850d is thinner this year so really no more reason to go back to Samsung. Plus that stupid One Connect Mini box is a nightmare. Last Samsung TV I sold was DOA. I am done and happy about it.

Sony is our go-to as well, especially for an awesome IP driver in Control 4. My only beef about the new 850D series is how thin it is... we've already cracked a panel lifting the thing and it folded-in on us.

Samsung is our 2nd pick, and pretty much just do IR drivers without too much hassle. But last years models shipped with bad firmware that required a firmware update before the TV would change to HDMI 4 (ARC).

Sharp has consistently been out worst, mainly due to them leaving the market/ selling out to Hisense.

I put a 65X930D on an articulating mount. I was not impressed with how flexy it was. Luckily this client does not move the TV on the mount so it should not be an issue. I am prepared to tell people I will not mount a 65"+ on a motion mount unless they sign a waiver that says if they taco the TV, do not come crying to me. :)

Why not just make the whole thing the same thickness? Why does the top half need to be paper thin? Seriously? I am sure there have been a few accidents at the factory....especially with the 75" and 85" models. No way am I about to mount an 85" on anything but a flat mount.

Sony has an IR input, a RS-232 port, and IP drivers for just about every control system out there.  Samsuck has that new One Connect Mini box which sucks major ass.  Other than the inability to order a display only piece (without Android built in) it's a good product.  If you do start installing these, unbox it and update the software before you do anything else.  Preferably on a wired ethernet connection as it could take at least an hour before its done.

Agreed, the update on the Sonys take a ridiculous amount of time. Unbox, mount, network connect and update... then go take care of the wire pulls and hope its done when you return.

How's the 850D look? I wasn't impressed at all with the 850C series. The 850Bs were awesome but the C series didn't look good at all.

Can someone tell me off the top of their head if the KD65X8500C has ip control? I always get sony models mixed up!!!

It does!

Please share the model so the rest of us know when the penetration is coming.

Since we're piling on...

Samsung moved to the bottom of my go to list the day one of their top-tier support engineers (after days of working our way up) told me that "RS232C Input" on a spec sheet didn't mean that there was a protocol do anything with it, just that there was a physical input on the back of the display. Also no discrete IR on what were top of the line models at that time. All of them (15-ish) got pulled out and replaced and that was the last time I approved Samsung on a project without a "might work" disclaimer.

ADI

When did we ever say Samsung was the CI choice? I have actively gone out of my way to stay away from Samsung.

LG has been our go to for years. Take your original post and replace Samsung with LG and the OP makes much more sense. Up till about 2 years ago LG had DB9 on most every panel, the IR codesets have not changed in 10 years or more, good enough picture quality.

LG started screwing with the DB9 and IR discrete became a little more hit and miss, we added Sony to the mix.

Does everyone else find it hilarious one thinks Samsung actually gives a flying f@ck about the CI world?

As mentioned though, update the firmware fixes the discrete issues. At least that is the feedback I am getting from the guys in the field.

Are you guys seeing any 2016 sony TV's with a bent screen out of the box ? Seems like they didn't design the packaging very well , a lot of complains on line . The last thing I want to happen is for a customer to spend $3000 with me on a new Sony TV and to notice that the top of the screen is bent , after we install it .