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Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#391

Post by filoleg »

anonymousab wrote: post #185
metadat wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1, this is great advice. I've been doing the same; get an AppleTV or GoogleTV dongle and never, ever attach the LG or Samshung TV to the network. Benefits of this strategy: * So simple, even non-savvy folks can follow the rule * Protects your privacy * Eliminates an unnecessary, highly invasive, and parasitic advertising vector (ads directly from LG or Samsung) * Protects your TV performance and functionality from s…

> and never, ever attach the LG or Samshung TV to the network. I recall seeing some pictures of models that eventually refuse to display content until they get a network connection to update (well, really, download new ads).

> refuse to display content until they get a network connection to updatw

If they refuse to run built-in apps (like netflix/hulu/etc), I can see that, makes sense. But if you dont use those TV apps anyway and just get all content on TV through Chromecast/AppleTV, that refusal doesn't matter at all.

Source: that's how I've been running my own setup for a while, zero issues. Tried with both a 5+ years old 4k Sony smart TV and a more modern LG C1.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#392

Post by metadat »

dmitriid wrote: post #351
metadat wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A new dongle is a lot cheaper and less e-waste than a new TV.

And a new single will help me with getting rid of the ads how exactly?

Select something like AppleTV or another product that doesn't show you ads..

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#393

Post by GekkePrutser »

hellisothers wrote: post #344
GekkePrutser wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I thought LG was pretty good. I'd have bought one already but I'm thinking about moving house and I don't want to have to deal with a fragile 55 or 65" TV. Also, I need the money for a downpayment. I currently have a 32" LG LCD which I'm also pretty happy about. It's obviously no OLED and it's not 4K but for a cheap LCD it's pretty decent. I also love the serial control options (over USB) and I'm working to i…

Not to derail the overall discussion but LG OLED is still the best blacks and the best option if you can control room lighting. The latest Samsung QLED has gotten closer on blacks (though the latest LG have gotten closer on brights too…) and is still the brightest but neither “beat” the other, it depends on if you want the blackest blacks or the brightest brights. Also of note is the QLED only goes to 65”, LG goes to…

Ok for me I'd want the blackest blacks for sure, I would often use my screen in the pitch black. It's because I live in Spain and in the summer I live with the windows wide open and that means that at night I can't have lights on or my house will be swarming with bugs (the creepy crawly kind, not the regular HN kind :P ) You can use netting etc but in my place this is really difficult.

So yeah that would be super important. Thanks for the comparison!

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#394

Post by molszanski »

93po wrote: post #390
cpach wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intriguing! What was the use for the floss there…?

if the logo is attached with adhesive, you can slip the floss under the plastic logo and floss it off without damaging the TV (which you may if you just try to pry it off)

Yes :)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#395

Post by gnicholas »

somehnacct3757 wrote: post #242
gnicholas wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I faced this dilemma, I’d just turn on my phone’s hotspot, give the credentials to the TV, then turn off the hotspot after it’s updated.

It's not so much the connection that's the problem. You might have to agree to a ToS when you first connect to internet. Who knows what privacy you give away signing that. The update might be a trojan horse containing both the bugfix you need and a new mandatory streaming service tile on the home screen.

As a practical matter, I'm not especially concerned about ToS updates since my TVs are never online. The only way to exfiltrate data is to log it all and then upload as a chunk when I next do an update, or to log into a public wifi network and send data that way. But the former is not likely, and if they can do the latter I'm already defeated.

I also don't care about tiles on the home screen, because I literally never see the home screen. I always have a device plugged in (and have never connected a TV to the internet for software or other updates, thankfully).

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#396

Post by Georgelemental »

vineyardmike wrote: post #355
Georgelemental wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, please no committees of incompetent government stuffed shirts that raise the barrier to entry so high that only the established megacorps and their armies of lawyers can hope to compete. Instead, mandate that people must be allowed to opt-out of ads/tracking antifeatures, with private right of action so consumers don't have to rely on government agencies to enforce the standards.

> instead, mandate that people must be allowed to > ... don't have to rely on government agencies to enforce ... Who's enforcing the mandate?

"private right of action" -> means that private individuals can sue the corporations that break the rules, they don't have to rely on a government agency to bring charges. (I'm not against government agencies also bringing charges, but that shouldn't be the only enforcement mechanism)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#398

Post by muzani »

phkahler wrote: post #268
MR4D wrote: post #205

You want to buy a “monitor”, not a TV. For instance there is this from LG [0] or this from Dell [1]. Just do a search for “large 4K monitor” and you’ll find more. [0] - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-43-ultrafine-4k-uhd-monitor-... [1] - https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-55-4k-conference-r...

>> You want to buy a “monitor”, not a TV. I bought a TV for a monitor. 55" 4K curved Samsung a few years ago for about $600. It went down in price and is probably discontinued now because curved TVs are stupid. Never connected it to the internet, so it's not too smart. Also, a real "monitor" doesn't come with a TV tuner and this did.

I used one as a monitor once and found that the low resolution and 30 Hz display was painful to code on.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#399

Post by GWBullshit »

dopa42365 wrote: post #316
GWBullshit wrote: post #175

You and I suspect half the country. During the 90s I remember there was this big fuss when Gateway 2000 was introducing the first "smart/PC" TV to the market. Steve Jobs went on record as saying something along the lines of "Not only will it not work out, it shouldn't, because TV is the place where people head to at the end of the day to shut their brains off, not figure out even more ways to interact with tech." It…

Ah yes, THE country. How we doin' today, fellow Ugandans?

I'm in the U.S. actually; racist much?

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#400

Post by nborwankar »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #179
LeoPanthera wrote: post #3

Rtings maintains a list of ad-free TVs. This isn't the same as smart-free, but maybe that's what some people want: https://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/ads-in-smart-tv (The ones with a "10" in the ad-free column.) The often-given advice of "just don't connect it to the internet" is viable only sometimes. My TV shipped with some missing features that were enabled after a software update. Perhaps plug it in, update the soft…

If I have to narrow down a specific definition of "smart feature" I would say voice input of any sort. So my take on OP's question is: can I buy a TV that has no built in microphones? Maybe OP meant something different but that is what I would want. Simplest though is to just not have a TV at all. If there is something important, it will be online.

Yes that would be a close enough definition of what I meant. But I am also not sure if some TVs come with built in cameras. I don’t want those either. I am not happy with, but willing to tolerate, the “what I am watching” tracking that comes with say Apple TV. The 42” LG monitor with remote and speakers suggested elsewhere sounds interesting. Thanks all for the suggestions plus related discussions. The unrelated discussions are also very welcome. They are what give HN its “unique” flavor.
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