I'm sure there's plenty of market research that explains why there are maybe two mediocre dumb TVs and a handful of bad smartphones with screens smaller than 5", but I'm kind of glad to be left out of all of it. The dearth of things that I'd actually want to buy sure has saved me a ton of money.
What is the best dumb TV?
141–150 of 661 posts
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
All smart TV's are dumb if you don't connect them to the Internet.
They won't spy on you, but you'll still have to deal with the laggy shitware they run. In some I've had the misfortune of using, simply changing the inputs was a torturous affair because of the shitty software the TV was running.
I am personally considering just getting an HDMI switch that I can manage externally from the TV. I mostly use the Android TV device I bought and its much more stable than the UI on my offline Smart TV thankfully it has most if not all the apps I need.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
They won't spy on you, but you'll still have to deal with the laggy shitware they run. In some I've had the misfortune of using, simply changing the inputs was a torturous affair because of the shitty software the TV was running.
I still remember the near-instant channel switching from the 90s, when analog signals and CRTs where the norm. You could change channels on a dime. Now with complex video and audio codecs, video post-processing and shoddily coded software there's been a very severe downgrade in that department. I don't have a TV at home but every time I'm in a hotel or my parent's place I notice how laggy it is when I'm just browsing…
That video is already laggy compared to what I remember as a kid. If you were watching OTA analog the channel change was near instant. Even on our cable box it was near instant.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#144“A few of the more popular ones are the Roku Streaming Stick+ , No products found., Amazon Fire TV Stick , and No products found.. There are many more options in the market to choose from.”
I use a Sony smart TV that I’ve never given a network connection to and it’s fine with that, starts up to inputs and let me sideload firmware updates and apps when I need to.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
I let mine on the network so it will get updates, but I just don't use any of the smart features. I understand that some TVs (Samsung?) apparently track your activity and show you unsolicited ads, but as far as my LG TV doesn't track me and all the apps and smart features don't do anything unless I choose to open them.
Genuine question: what kind of updates would a dumb TV possibly need?
They are mostly app updates and security issues that only relate to networking and the smart features. But there are occasional updates to support new media features, new color management options, power management changes, etc.
My LG OLED has received updates to support TrueHD audio, add new color settings like Technicolor modes, UI functions like the ability to apply your customized picture settings to all inputs, and changes to the motion smoothing for certain video formats.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#146My advice is to stop seeing a “smart tv” as a feature and see it as an expensive piece of equipment subsidised by extra advertising revenue. Don’t get upset about this, just understand it for what it is. Now, what can you do about it? Easy, don’t connect it to the internet. They will tell you that it needs updates but come on, what is a security vulnerability going to to to something that’s only output is a screen an…
no no no. this is bad advice.
1) "Some Samsung TVs already try and connect to open WiFi networks if you don't connect them yourself."
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24629155
2) there is ethernet over hdmi - I would image this is another source of inadvertent connection.
3) samsung tvs require an ethernet cable to "update firmware" so HDMI works.
4) ACR - which will look at ALL the inputs.
and wait for the next few iterations
- smart devices talk to each other and exfiltrate data
- smart device manufacturers collaborate with ISPs who have put wifi gateways in your house and your neighbor's house.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
I read about Samsung (?) smart TVs connecting to nearby unsecured Wi-Fi networks and others containing LTE hardware with a data SIM.
Sounds like a folk tale, unless you have a source? The second part in particular.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like HDCP. I've read that some cheap hdmi splitters will strip HDCP as an undocumented side effect. By strip I mean communicate to the player/source that the display/destination is compliant regardless of whether that's true.
> I've read that some cheap hdmi splitters will strip HDCP as an undocumented side effect I haven't heard that before, but according to Wikipedia a master key was leaked or reverse engineered 10 years ago, so presumably manufacturers out of Intel's legal reach can produce devices that strip HDCP.
For 1080p yes; 4K generally uses HDCP 2.0 which as of now is unbreakable. OP unfortunately didn't specify.
(An alternate option might be to rip the 4K BluRays, which is doable if you have the right drive, but also a bit of a pain.)
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#149My advice is to stop seeing a “smart tv” as a feature and see it as an expensive piece of equipment subsidised by extra advertising revenue. Don’t get upset about this, just understand it for what it is. Now, what can you do about it? Easy, don’t connect it to the internet. They will tell you that it needs updates but come on, what is a security vulnerability going to to to something that’s only output is a screen an…
That's fine for now, but you just know within a crop or two there's going to be panels that insist on being connected to the Internet or they won't even display anything. And then once one or two companies have made that acceptable, they all will go that way.
As usual, _Idiocracy_ is a documentary from the future.
https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/idiocracy....
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#150This article reads like paid blogger content.
That’s because it’s an Amazon affiliate site.
The content and structure is intended to be SEO-optimized, but I think it could use some work.