Help my dad get a new 50" TV

...send me cash, in small unmarked bills to help fund it...JK!

Out of the blue, my dad asked me if a new TV would look even better than his current 5? 6? year old Samsung 46." He says he doesn't need bigger, but what fun would that be?!? Gotta move him up to like 50-55" (he really wouldn't like TOO big, hard to accommodate in his space). This coincides with my strong desire to simplify the umpteen remote controls he is now using into fewer (and NO, I'm not going to get into programmable remotes, don't even go there please, already been discussed).

I was quite shocked at Target to see a very nice looking TCL 49" for $349 (!!!!). Holy cow, that is a crazy price. Almost as crazy as the $1850 (after gift card rebate) for an LG (?) OLED 50." "Blacker than Black" to rip off and twist a phrase from Reese Witherspoon.* I don't think my dad wants to spend that much though.

#1 factor: MUST control analog volume output from the remote. AFAIK this means just Vizio, seemingly TCL, and used to be Sony. This is NOT negotiable, so please don't mention TVs that don't have this, but if you know any others that do I am eagerly awaiting the knowledge!

#2: Another factor, to me a BIG one (again for the purposes of reducing remote clutter/confusion), is I would like to have a matching Blu-ray (could be Ultra but if not, eh, no biggie really) that could be controlled from the TV remote. That seems tricky. Vizio appears to have a Blu-ray player model VBR140, out of stock and hard to find. Or some models on eBay. TCL appears to only make TVs. Sony probably has a lot of players, though I'd like to verify if they still have any models with variable analog output and if their sets are worth the premium or no longer. Actually I'd have to verify Vizio still has a menu option to make the analog output variable.

#3: So having narrowed choices to probably near-zero, how about any that other stuff? Like HDR, Dolby Vizion, er Vision ? If he pays more above a base 4k model, what will he get in return?

Thanks!


*in the documentary for Stevie Nicks' album a few years back, Reese says "cheaper than free" and laughs. A bit later, Stevie and Dave Stewart ask her "can we use that?" and Reese, visibly shocked, says "That's a SONG?!?!"