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Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#101

Post by salamandersauce »

haunter wrote: post #32

4K monitors. You need a soundbar though or some kind of audio setup + remote. Also no built-in tuner or such but I assume you get a set top box from your service provider or use a streaming device (Apple TV, Fire stick etc.) 4K OLED https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=7 4K IPS https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=2 4K VA https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P…

You can get OTA tuners for incredibly cheap. Like $30 for a basic one. These come with the bonus of allowing you to plug in a USB HDD and record live TV. For a little more you can get a HDHomeRun or Tablo and have a network connected tuner so you can stream live TV to tablets or phones and streaming boxes like the FireTV.

Powered bookshelf speakers are also an alternative to soundbars.

I personally use a monitor as a TV. One con is that some devices like the Fire Stick don't send HDMI display off signals but instead a black screen in sleep mode which wakes the monitor and keeps it on. You need a smart switch to easily turn it off.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#102

Post by cmckn »

luluganeta wrote: post #88
cmckn wrote: post #69

Look, I think it’s a legitimate question, and I’m not thrilled about most “smart” TV operating systems. But why pigeonhole your search like this? You will almost certainly end up with a worse actual display, which is what you’re spending the money on in the first place. Just buy a nice panel and disable as much of the smarts as you can—-it’ll be fine. Android TV is the best option out there, in my opinion; and it’s w…

It's not even an issue of "picking your battles" or "voting with your wallet". Whatever your position, OP is justified in not wanting (and looking for an alternative to) a potential surveillance device in their home.

As I said, I think it’s a fair question. But having shopped for a TV in the last 18 months, you get a worse TV if “dumb” is your goal. I mean the giant colorful thing showing your content is worse, in the products without smarts. It is what it is.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#103

Post by mattnewton »

notananthem wrote: post #28

Just don't let it connect to the internet. I have a lot of firewall rules to block my TV off, but you can also just literally turn off the features.

My experience with an LG panel was it slowing down to wait for network requests that would never complete and asking for wifi every time it was turned back on. I just use a projector now; it's a dumber, bigger screen (and as a plus it encourages me to limit screen time to after dark for better picture quality)

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#104

Post by jjoonathan »

caymanjim wrote: post #99
jjoonathan wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does (consumer) monitor tech always seem to lag TV tech by a few years? It looks like the situation is still that in the 4k OLED space there are a few ~$4000+ monitors and dozens of ~$1000 TVs. Per the pcpartpicker link, maybe the Gigabyte FO48U will change that, but it's still out of stock. Besides, I feel like this has happened before with HDR and 4k and IPS. First it shows up in TVs, a year later it is cheap i…

TV display quality is dogshit compared to monitors. Even cheap low-end monitors tend to have better displays. They aren't the same panels at all.

Nope. I'm using an OLED TV as a monitor on my main PC, and it kicks the pants off any monitor I've ever used before, including the 2021 MBP monitor I'm typing this on right now.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#106

Post by danudey »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #100
haunter wrote: post #32

4K monitors. You need a soundbar though or some kind of audio setup + remote. Also no built-in tuner or such but I assume you get a set top box from your service provider or use a streaming device (Apple TV, Fire stick etc.) 4K OLED https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=7 4K IPS https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=2 4K VA https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P…

It's amazing how much more expensive those are than traditional TVs, non-starter even.

Economies of scale, and subsidies. TVs that ship with Netflix buttons on the remote, Prime Video app, and built-in crappy ads all over the place are being subsidized by those companies.

Meanwhile, no one is buying non-smart TVs, so lower quantities are more expensive.

(Or they know that non-smart TVs are a niche product that they can charge more for.)

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#107

Post by 8note »

jjoonathan wrote: post #78
haunter wrote: post #32

4K monitors. You need a soundbar though or some kind of audio setup + remote. Also no built-in tuner or such but I assume you get a set top box from your service provider or use a streaming device (Apple TV, Fire stick etc.) 4K OLED https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=7 4K IPS https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=2 4K VA https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P…

Why does (consumer) monitor tech always seem to lag TV tech by a few years? It looks like the situation is still that in the 4k OLED space there are a few ~$4000+ monitors and dozens of ~$1000 TVs. Per the pcpartpicker link, maybe the Gigabyte FO48U will change that, but it's still out of stock. Besides, I feel like this has happened before with HDR and 4k and IPS. First it shows up in TVs, a year later it is cheap i…

Monitors are built for being an arm's length away. TVs are built for being several yards away. The pixel density changes accordingly

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#108

Post by jjoonathan »

brtkdotse wrote: post #98
jjoonathan wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does (consumer) monitor tech always seem to lag TV tech by a few years? It looks like the situation is still that in the 4k OLED space there are a few ~$4000+ monitors and dozens of ~$1000 TVs. Per the pcpartpicker link, maybe the Gigabyte FO48U will change that, but it's still out of stock. Besides, I feel like this has happened before with HDR and 4k and IPS. First it shows up in TVs, a year later it is cheap i…

TV manufacturers can offset the lower price by selling ads to show you on your “smart” tv

That wouldn't explain the delay, and do they really expect to sell $3000 of ads per customer? I have doubts.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#109

Post by tombert »

It's a kind of hackey way of handling this, but what I do is open up the TVs and removing whatever components are required for the WiFi to work.

Sometimes you can just remove the network card easily, but usually the easiest thing to do is find and break the antenna. It's inelegant, and of course the smart features are still there, but it at least reduces or eliminates the tracking crap.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#110

Post by mikepurvis »

salamandersauce wrote: post #101
haunter wrote: post #32

4K monitors. You need a soundbar though or some kind of audio setup + remote. Also no built-in tuner or such but I assume you get a set top box from your service provider or use a streaming device (Apple TV, Fire stick etc.) 4K OLED https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=7 4K IPS https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=2 4K VA https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P…

You can get OTA tuners for incredibly cheap. Like $30 for a basic one. These come with the bonus of allowing you to plug in a USB HDD and record live TV. For a little more you can get a HDHomeRun or Tablo and have a network connected tuner so you can stream live TV to tablets or phones and streaming boxes like the FireTV. Powered bookshelf speakers are also an alternative to soundbars. I personally use a monitor as a…

I would assume most setups leveraging a monitor as the display would also be going through an AVR and that should take care of this kind of thing?
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