**A Reviewer's Dilemma: The Challenges of Evaluating Modern TVs**

As a TV reviewer, I've had my fair share of experiences with modern televisions. Recently, I reviewed a particular model that was locked into its firmware, meaning there were no updates available. This limitation made it difficult to get an accurate representation of the TV's capabilities. While I was able to measure certain aspects of the TV, such as its color accuracy and brightness, these measurements may not have been representative of the broader range of features and performance that the TV is capable of.

Furthermore, my experience with this particular model highlights a common challenge in evaluating modern TVs. With their complex software and firmware, it's increasingly difficult to get a clear understanding of how they work and what they can do. As a reviewer, I need to spend time twisting knobs and pulling levers to fully understand the TV's features, but often I don't have the opportunity to do so in real-time.

**The Problem of Limited Reviews**

One of the challenges facing TV reviewers is the limited availability of reviews and comparisons. With so many different models on the market, it can be difficult to get a comprehensive understanding of each one. This means that reviews may be either too shallow or too deep, failing to provide a balanced view of the TV's strengths and weaknesses.

As a result, some viewers may find themselves bombarded with headlines and thumbnails for articles that are not succinct or helpful. In contrast, they might expect a more detailed overview of a particular TV or comparison article. This can be frustrating for consumers who simply want reliable advice on which TV to buy.

**The Impact of TV Makers' Reactions**

Another challenge facing reviewers is the reaction of TV makers to negative feedback and criticism. When a reviewer highlights a particular feature or performance issue with a TV, it's not uncommon for the manufacturer to respond with sensitivity and defensiveness. This can lead to the development of new features that may not be as effective as initially thought, or even introduce new problems.

**The Complexity of Modern TVs**

One of the main reasons for this challenge is the increasing complexity of modern TVs. With their sophisticated software and firmware, they are more like computers than traditional TVs. As a result, the opportunity for error has risen, and updates to software or firmware can sometimes have unintended consequences.

This is reflected in the experience of Microsoft with Windows updates, which often introduce new bugs rather than fixing existing ones. Similarly, TV makers may issue updates that seem helpful at first but ultimately lead to new problems.

**The Need for Patience**

In light of these challenges, I believe that patience is essential when evaluating modern TVs. While it's difficult to get a comprehensive understanding of each model, the best reviewers can try to provide constructive feedback and guidance. This may involve digging deep into the TV's features and performance, but it's also important to recognize when more information is needed.

Ultimately, the goal of a reviewer is to provide helpful advice and guidance to consumers. While it's frustrating to encounter issues with modern TVs, I believe that by being patient and persistent, reviewers can still provide valuable insights and recommendations.

**The Importance of Moderation**

As a reviewer, I also believe in the importance of moderation. This means avoiding excessive technical detail or getting bogged down in minutiae, while also providing enough information for consumers to make informed decisions. By striking a balance between depth and brevity, reviewers can help to create a more constructive conversation about modern TVs.

This may involve exploring specific features or performance issues in-depth, but it's also essential to recognize when more information is needed. By being mindful of our audience and the information we provide, reviewers can help to create a more positive and productive discussion about modern TVs.

**The Future of TV Reviews**

As for the future of TV reviews, I believe that things will start to normalize in late fall, around six or seven months after the release of new models. In 2023, I expect to see a better selection of reviews and comparisons, with more information available on each model. However, for now, it's essential to be patient and persistent when evaluating modern TVs.

By continuing to engage in constructive conversations and providing helpful advice, reviewers can help to create a more positive and productive discussion about modern TVs. Whether you're looking for technical detail or just general advice, I hope that my reviews will continue to provide valuable insights and guidance as you navigate the world of modern TVs.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entv reviews in 2022 are a hot mess and if that only affected reviewers like me well that would be one thing but the sad fact is it's affecting anyone who just loves learning about tvs or is trying to do some research to make a purchase decision so what's going on and why am i so stressed out about it welcome back everyone i'm caleb dennison and here's the deal in every video i've made over the past several months i've been met with the same questions hey caleb where's the lg g2 review hey caleb where's the sony x90k tv review hey caleb really looking forward to that samsung qn 95b review when's that coming how about those high sense tvs caleb what about tcl any news on vizio fair questions all of them and the simple answer is they're not here sorry but you know that's not how i roll look tv reviews this year are a mess for a number of different reasons and like i said earlier that would be easier for me to just absorb if it didn't end up doing you my viewers and fans and this whole community we have going a serious disservice so let me dig into what's going on with you and by the end let's see if there isn't a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel before i dig in i just wanted to say thanks for watching y'all are the reason i'm here well that and i just love tvs and wouldn't know what to do with myself if i couldn't make these videos so thanks for making that possible and showing your support by clicking some very important buttons down below and hopping into the comments section with me so we can have some fun chatting about this stuff now where do i start so i guess the best place to start is with one of the most glaring problems a global pandemic as is often the case with life-altering events some effects are lagging that is it takes a while for the effect to be felt because it involves a chain reaction of events if you've been in the market for a car i'm sure you've noticed that prices are sky high and that's because inventory is low and that is because there was a chip shortage and because shipping problems have made it hard to land imports into our respective countries it took a while for that problem to get to us and it's taking a long time to recover from it well it's basically the same issue with tvs right all it really takes is one factory and a supply chain shutting down for a while and the impact is massive let's say several tv makers get their i don't know hdmi boards from one manufacturer and that hdmi board manufacturer has to shut down for even a few months even if every other part of a tv was in good supply that missing hdmi board would cause a tv shortage across nearly every brand in nearly every market the thing is it wasn't just one supplier of one part that had a shutdown it was several so the issue was compounded and today we are seeing a seriously short supply of tvs now it may not seem like that from where you sit but trust me once the stock of 2021 tvs is dried up the limited availability of 2022 tvs will start to become more obvious and anyone in the market for a new tv is going to be vying for what little stock is available and all of a sudden we're going to feel it for a little while at least manufacturing is rebounding and by extension logistics issues are starting to smooth out a bit but it's going to take some time to get back to what we'd consider normal so that addresses a problem at the retail level but what does that have to do with tv reviews well for those reviewers who purchase tvs for review it can make them harder to get you might be able to pull one in here or there but the usual glut of tv models to choose from is simply not there and for those of us who work with tv manufacturers to get review samples on loan well forget about it those review samples are slim pickings and the competition to get them is fierce why are review samples so hard to come by because retail units are getting prioritized see the pr and marketing arms of companies like lg samsung sony high sense tcl they're all used to getting an allotment of tvs for their own internal use and for external programs like review programs but right now they're not getting them they may eventually but it'll be super late and at that point the conversation around those tvs has been happening for weeks if not months this is why on this channel right here you've seen me fly to san diego to visit sony fly to new jersey to visit samsung and lg and perform on the ground reviews with limited time on their turf that's the kind of thing i would normally reserve just for occasions like reviewing a massive micro led tv or maybe a massive 8k mini led tv that's just so expensive it's too risky to chance a tv getting damaged as it's wheeled across the country but this year since there are so precious few review samples to be had i've flown to review tvs like the samsung qn90b which granted is a nice tv in samsung's lineup but normally i would have had that model in my office months ago in late april or early may now if i'm lucky i might get one here in july maybe and while i appreciate the opportunity to do that kind of thing i mean it's better than not evaluating the tv at all i'm not going to sit here and pretend that i'm able to put that tv through all the testing i feel i should in order to offer the best quality review actually that samsung qn 90b review is a great example the tv was locked into its firmware there was no update available i got the measurements i got which is fine but they weren't representative of a broader range of the tv model and i had the experience i had which was good but again potentially not representative of what may be going on at the retail level i had limited time to twist this knob and pull that lever never mind that i don't have time to pit that tv side by side with another tv in real time none of this is ideal and in the end while i'm glad i got to have that experience and share it with you i'm going to have to retest that tv and do another review twice the work and i don't love twice the work my friends not because i'm lazy but i'm a work smarter not harder kind of guy so because of limited availability what we have is fewer reviews of fewer models and the reviews we do have are either a little shallower than we'd like or possibly worse way too deep here's the thing we tv reviewers like to stay busy we feel this responsibility to create new content to share whether that's on this platform or another like our website digitaltrends.com and in the absence of variety what happens well some of us dig deep we pull back every layer of the onion and dive into every little nook and cranny until we've got so mired in the minutia that we start losing perspective now while i'm thrilled that there are others out there like me who love deep dives into minutia even i have my limits more importantly though most views slash traffic come from your average consumer who just needs buying advice so imagine what it's like to type xyz tv review into a search engine and get absolutely bombarded with headlines and thumbnails for articles that are not succinct helpful reviews instead of getting a nice overview of a tv or maybe a cool comparison article you get a 30 minute exposition on how to hack the service menu of a tv while in the same breath you get told about why you should never do exactly what you're being shown how to do it's that's not helpful i mean so there's another reason tv reviews kind of look messy out there and then well then there's the problem that arises when tv makers start getting sensitive and reactive and start making mistakes that do nobody any favors at all i'm speaking in very broad terms here but let's say that in the process of dissecting a tv down to a gruesomely deep level we expose some nitpicky little thing that really doesn't affect most users but still we make a really big noise about it well tv makers are paying attention and they don't like negative press and to their credit they may be trying to make a product better but it's also possible they are overreacting to a loud conversation about something that frankly most folks don't understand and then they go and try to address it and in their rush to try to address this thing and maybe steer the conversation in a new direction they overlook something and end up causing a new problem see that's a thing in today's tvs where so much can be changed with a simple update to software or firmware and as tvs have gotten more complicated the opportunity for error has risen i mean look at microsoft how many times has microsoft issued a windows update that fixes a long list of bugs only to introduce new bugs that didn't exist before the update one can fairly call into question how helpful that update actually was it's like a dog chasing its tail and we're starting to see this in tvs as well because they look a lot more like computers now than they did even just six years ago as a result the tv you buy at the store based on the review you saw last month might end up being a different tv a month after you bought it and then it might be a different tv still just a month later and that's not a good user experience that's a lot of complaining but what's the solution what can be done well from where i sit not a lot can be done until things return to what we used to consider normal and that's just going to take time so really the best thing we can do is just be patient i do think we'll see things start to normalize a little bit in late fall about six or seven months later than usual and i think 2023 will be a lot better but for now i think we need to take what we can get when we can get it and continue to have constructive conversations hopefully moderated by a reasonable perspective at least that's what i intend to do right here today and well into the future thanks as always for watching everyone if you found this video interesting please hit me with a like consider subscribing for more content like this as well as our excellent product reviews and while you're here here's two other videos i think you might liketv reviews in 2022 are a hot mess and if that only affected reviewers like me well that would be one thing but the sad fact is it's affecting anyone who just loves learning about tvs or is trying to do some research to make a purchase decision so what's going on and why am i so stressed out about it welcome back everyone i'm caleb dennison and here's the deal in every video i've made over the past several months i've been met with the same questions hey caleb where's the lg g2 review hey caleb where's the sony x90k tv review hey caleb really looking forward to that samsung qn 95b review when's that coming how about those high sense tvs caleb what about tcl any news on vizio fair questions all of them and the simple answer is they're not here sorry but you know that's not how i roll look tv reviews this year are a mess for a number of different reasons and like i said earlier that would be easier for me to just absorb if it didn't end up doing you my viewers and fans and this whole community we have going a serious disservice so let me dig into what's going on with you and by the end let's see if there isn't a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel before i dig in i just wanted to say thanks for watching y'all are the reason i'm here well that and i just love tvs and wouldn't know what to do with myself if i couldn't make these videos so thanks for making that possible and showing your support by clicking some very important buttons down below and hopping into the comments section with me so we can have some fun chatting about this stuff now where do i start so i guess the best place to start is with one of the most glaring problems a global pandemic as is often the case with life-altering events some effects are lagging that is it takes a while for the effect to be felt because it involves a chain reaction of events if you've been in the market for a car i'm sure you've noticed that prices are sky high and that's because inventory is low and that is because there was a chip shortage and because shipping problems have made it hard to land imports into our respective countries it took a while for that problem to get to us and it's taking a long time to recover from it well it's basically the same issue with tvs right all it really takes is one factory and a supply chain shutting down for a while and the impact is massive let's say several tv makers get their i don't know hdmi boards from one manufacturer and that hdmi board manufacturer has to shut down for even a few months even if every other part of a tv was in good supply that missing hdmi board would cause a tv shortage across nearly every brand in nearly every market the thing is it wasn't just one supplier of one part that had a shutdown it was several so the issue was compounded and today we are seeing a seriously short supply of tvs now it may not seem like that from where you sit but trust me once the stock of 2021 tvs is dried up the limited availability of 2022 tvs will start to become more obvious and anyone in the market for a new tv is going to be vying for what little stock is available and all of a sudden we're going to feel it for a little while at least manufacturing is rebounding and by extension logistics issues are starting to smooth out a bit but it's going to take some time to get back to what we'd consider normal so that addresses a problem at the retail level but what does that have to do with tv reviews well for those reviewers who purchase tvs for review it can make them harder to get you might be able to pull one in here or there but the usual glut of tv models to choose from is simply not there and for those of us who work with tv manufacturers to get review samples on loan well forget about it those review samples are slim pickings and the competition to get them is fierce why are review samples so hard to come by because retail units are getting prioritized see the pr and marketing arms of companies like lg samsung sony high sense tcl they're all used to getting an allotment of tvs for their own internal use and for external programs like review programs but right now they're not getting them they may eventually but it'll be super late and at that point the conversation around those tvs has been happening for weeks if not months this is why on this channel right here you've seen me fly to san diego to visit sony fly to new jersey to visit samsung and lg and perform on the ground reviews with limited time on their turf that's the kind of thing i would normally reserve just for occasions like reviewing a massive micro led tv or maybe a massive 8k mini led tv that's just so expensive it's too risky to chance a tv getting damaged as it's wheeled across the country but this year since there are so precious few review samples to be had i've flown to review tvs like the samsung qn90b which granted is a nice tv in samsung's lineup but normally i would have had that model in my office months ago in late april or early may now if i'm lucky i might get one here in july maybe and while i appreciate the opportunity to do that kind of thing i mean it's better than not evaluating the tv at all i'm not going to sit here and pretend that i'm able to put that tv through all the testing i feel i should in order to offer the best quality review actually that samsung qn 90b review is a great example the tv was locked into its firmware there was no update available i got the measurements i got which is fine but they weren't representative of a broader range of the tv model and i had the experience i had which was good but again potentially not representative of what may be going on at the retail level i had limited time to twist this knob and pull that lever never mind that i don't have time to pit that tv side by side with another tv in real time none of this is ideal and in the end while i'm glad i got to have that experience and share it with you i'm going to have to retest that tv and do another review twice the work and i don't love twice the work my friends not because i'm lazy but i'm a work smarter not harder kind of guy so because of limited availability what we have is fewer reviews of fewer models and the reviews we do have are either a little shallower than we'd like or possibly worse way too deep here's the thing we tv reviewers like to stay busy we feel this responsibility to create new content to share whether that's on this platform or another like our website digitaltrends.com and in the absence of variety what happens well some of us dig deep we pull back every layer of the onion and dive into every little nook and cranny until we've got so mired in the minutia that we start losing perspective now while i'm thrilled that there are others out there like me who love deep dives into minutia even i have my limits more importantly though most views slash traffic come from your average consumer who just needs buying advice so imagine what it's like to type xyz tv review into a search engine and get absolutely bombarded with headlines and thumbnails for articles that are not succinct helpful reviews instead of getting a nice overview of a tv or maybe a cool comparison article you get a 30 minute exposition on how to hack the service menu of a tv while in the same breath you get told about why you should never do exactly what you're being shown how to do it's that's not helpful i mean so there's another reason tv reviews kind of look messy out there and then well then there's the problem that arises when tv makers start getting sensitive and reactive and start making mistakes that do nobody any favors at all i'm speaking in very broad terms here but let's say that in the process of dissecting a tv down to a gruesomely deep level we expose some nitpicky little thing that really doesn't affect most users but still we make a really big noise about it well tv makers are paying attention and they don't like negative press and to their credit they may be trying to make a product better but it's also possible they are overreacting to a loud conversation about something that frankly most folks don't understand and then they go and try to address it and in their rush to try to address this thing and maybe steer the conversation in a new direction they overlook something and end up causing a new problem see that's a thing in today's tvs where so much can be changed with a simple update to software or firmware and as tvs have gotten more complicated the opportunity for error has risen i mean look at microsoft how many times has microsoft issued a windows update that fixes a long list of bugs only to introduce new bugs that didn't exist before the update one can fairly call into question how helpful that update actually was it's like a dog chasing its tail and we're starting to see this in tvs as well because they look a lot more like computers now than they did even just six years ago as a result the tv you buy at the store based on the review you saw last month might end up being a different tv a month after you bought it and then it might be a different tv still just a month later and that's not a good user experience that's a lot of complaining but what's the solution what can be done well from where i sit not a lot can be done until things return to what we used to consider normal and that's just going to take time so really the best thing we can do is just be patient i do think we'll see things start to normalize a little bit in late fall about six or seven months later than usual and i think 2023 will be a lot better but for now i think we need to take what we can get when we can get it and continue to have constructive conversations hopefully moderated by a reasonable perspective at least that's what i intend to do right here today and well into the future thanks as always for watching everyone if you found this video interesting please hit me with a like consider subscribing for more content like this as well as our excellent product reviews and while you're here here's two other videos i think you might like\n"