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My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

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Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#181

Post by tannhaeuser »

buro9 wrote: post #60
buro9 wrote: post #55

I'm the author and linking to my tweets is a bad idea because they auto-delete after 14 days. For future HN context, as the author I'm reproducing them here in full: My @Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app from https://samba.tv and boy oh boy... this is worse than recent @facebook stuff. From their own privacy policy: https://samba.tv/legal/privacy-policy/ … they track what you w…

HN replying to myself with some context outside of the tweets. I actually trust stock Android over Samsung, Sony, etc Android. Hence my "if we're going to have Android TV perhaps Google could supply it without the forced add-ons". I see this similar to installing Windows yourself rather than having "Windows with added vendor crap"... like if you know you want Windows, a stock one is better and same with Android. I'm…

I've bought a Sony Bravia TV set around this time a year ago, too, but mine doesn't seem to have Android TV. Or does it? The firmware only has basic TV, EPG, and recording capabilities, plus Netflix but no "apps". It's an absolute joke compared to PlayTV on PS3 of ten years ago. I was about to reset/update it because the recording software is stuck in a state where it can't delete a scheduled recording in the past and won't take programming for new recordings.

So I'm selfishly asking if you could look up the version number of yours, so that I can identify mine and avoid updating it?

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#182

Post by jghn »

Keverw wrote: post #150
jghn wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wound up having to change my wifi password. Without thinking about it I configured my current TV to join my wifi network. After it so kindly started putting ads on the screen while watching things I turned it off. A few months later, ads again. Somewhere in the bowels of the settings the wifi was reenabled, so I shut it off. A few months later, more ads. In a new place in the settings it was back on. Repeat a few m…

Wow. No way to opt-out of the ads? Do they have a in-hardware or in-app purchase to remove the ads? <- That would be a horrible trend to start.

Actually I take it back, that is what kept changing location. They'd have an opt out but bury it in increasingly arcane places, and of course since it was "different" I was opted back in.

Then I started disabling my wifi and that kept magically re-enabling.

And that's the point I took the nuclear option.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#183

Post by pjc50 »

skrebbel wrote: post #175
buro9 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Content owners dictate in contractual terms the availability of their content in high definition (UHD, 4k, etc) be determined by the app securing access to the content. The result is that the higher quality content is only available on apps on closed platforms. So if you got a dumb panel and wanted high definition content, you'd still need to hook up something like the Nvidia Shield... essentially a closed platform (…

Right! Ok this makes sense. Any clue on why content owners do this? It seems a bit arbitrary. Fortunately I'm the opposite of a videophile - I don't even know how High the Definition of our TV is. But I see your point, so indeed, a 4k dumb TV won't be able to show most Netflix content in 4k, correct? That's a major shame and pretty ridiculous. edit : I just noticed that Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10…

> Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10 app and on Microsoft Edge

Still a closed platform :)

It's the DRM problem. They insist on these limitations as an anti-piracy measure. Fundamentally the only way to decode 4k in real time is to pass it fairly-unmodified to the video hardware, and at that point in a non-closed system a driver could steal it. Or just record it off the screen from the inside.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#184

Post by pjc50 »

tehwebguy wrote: post #134
buro9 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try it. I did. I couldn't find a non-smart TV. They are everywhere. If you want the 4k, then you have a smart TV. The best alternatives were super large monitors (way over the price of a TV, and with no decent sound built in), or corporate display panels (for advertising, signage, etc) whose prices are also way above a TV and include no sound system at all.

Is it dangerous to open a modern TV? Might be worth finding the network chips and disconnecting or breaking them off.

It's usually a single-board highly integrated solution; CPU, RAM, Flash. You might be able to disable the wifi (if present).

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#185

Post by sunstone »

Rather than using the "smart" function of your TV you would be well advised to get a 'tiny form factor' computer (I use Zotac), perhaps running Ubuntu, so that you can get the 'smartness' under your own terms.

Otherwise you may find that your smart TV is tracking everything you do and listening to everything you say! (ala 2001 A Space Odyssey; "I'm sorry Dave I can't do that.")

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#186

Post by skrebbel »

pjc50 wrote: post #183
skrebbel wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right! Ok this makes sense. Any clue on why content owners do this? It seems a bit arbitrary. Fortunately I'm the opposite of a videophile - I don't even know how High the Definition of our TV is. But I see your point, so indeed, a 4k dumb TV won't be able to show most Netflix content in 4k, correct? That's a major shame and pretty ridiculous. edit : I just noticed that Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10…

> Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10 app and on Microsoft Edge Still a closed platform :) It's the DRM problem. They insist on these limitations as an anti-piracy measure. Fundamentally the only way to decode 4k in real time is to pass it fairly-unmodified to the video hardware, and at that point in a non-closed system a driver could steal it. Or just record it off the screen from the inside.

> Still a closed platform :)

Sure, but not a smart TV and that's the part I personally care the most about. I doubt Microsoft, even with all their telemetry nonsense, will ever include something as ridiculous as samba.tv. Also, they employ more than 0 UI designers.

Thanks for the explanation btw. So it's basically the 4k video version of copy-protected CD's. And that was a great idea that totally worked!

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#187

Post by lucb1e »

fwdpropaganda wrote: post #135
lucb1e wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> linking to my tweets is a bad idea because they auto-delete after 14 days. I feel like you should mention that in your bio, it's not standard and breaks conversations. People should know that they should cite you if they want something to be preserved in conversations or when linking.

> People should know that they should cite you if they want something to be preserved in conversations or when linking. If people are worried about that they shouldn't be relying on a third-party (twitter) for record keeping.

Link rot is something we can't avoid, but that's wholly different from actively going back and deleting things.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#188

Post by fabian2k »

skrebbel wrote: post #175
buro9 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Content owners dictate in contractual terms the availability of their content in high definition (UHD, 4k, etc) be determined by the app securing access to the content. The result is that the higher quality content is only available on apps on closed platforms. So if you got a dumb panel and wanted high definition content, you'd still need to hook up something like the Nvidia Shield... essentially a closed platform (…

Right! Ok this makes sense. Any clue on why content owners do this? It seems a bit arbitrary. Fortunately I'm the opposite of a videophile - I don't even know how High the Definition of our TV is. But I see your point, so indeed, a 4k dumb TV won't be able to show most Netflix content in 4k, correct? That's a major shame and pretty ridiculous. edit : I just noticed that Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10…

The 4K quality is tied to some pretty specific hardware and drivers as far as I remember. And 1080p is also different in my experience in the Windows 10 App and in Edge. I was able to get 1080p for some content in Edge, but not everything. The only way to consistently get 1080p quality was to use the rather crappy App. The search and filter features were worse than the website in my experience, and I ran into quite a few bugs when I used it.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#189

Post by lucb1e »

braythwayt wrote: post #105
andybak wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much as I hate linkrot I'm not sure we should be using Twitter as a archival source. But people do and you're not making future historians happy. ;-) So - why are you using Twitter at all if you want to delete stuff so quickly? You sound the kind of chap who would much prefer their own platform. Heard of these things called "blogs"?

Many years ago I used Posterous as my blog, in good HN fashion. Aaaaand it went away. Walled gardens are always going to be a massive vulnerability for link rot.

Twitter is not exactly a walled garden, though. AFAIK it's perfectly indexable.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#190

Post by cup-of-tea »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #116

I would like to see a TV with the following attributes: 1. 8 Inputs, with at least four HDMI and one HDMI accessible from the front panel. The remaining inputs would have at least two composite inputs. There would be no cable input since most cable companies, around here anyway, require a set-top box anyway. 2. An optical audio output, for those who wish to hook up a proper audio system. Those who don’t would get ok-…

What you're describing is a monitor. A big, good looking monitor. That's all I want too. The interface on my (non smart) TV is unbearably slow and I don't want to use it. Unbelievably, the interface on the last "smart" TV I tried, which costs 5x as much, is even slower. I cannot stand using tools that can't keep up with how fast I think.
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