171–180 of 661 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Solder the wifi antenna to ground (so long as the remote is IR and not radio!)
My TCL starts to bootloop if it goes more than a month without connecting to the internet so it can download screensaver ads. The warranty people force me into the support gauntlet. The support gauntlet's first demand: connect it to the internet.
I’ve had good luck with sceptre brand TVs. They are no frills and cheap. Plug in a $30 roku and hook it up to some decent speakers and you are good to go. I’ve had two of them going on 8 years strong now. Loads of connectivity to. From vga to dvi to component/composite, 1/8” audio in/out, spdif, hdmi, etc, etc. On the other hand the power supply in my (former) LG plasma tv died after 1.5 years. I DIY replaced that wi…
It's worth noting that Roku devices apparently send a lot of information about your usage habits back to their servers, so if "privacy" is one of your reasons for choosing a dumb TV, perhaps Roku's not the best choice. Not sure if there are authoritative deep dives out there, but here's what the Pi-hole folks saw: https://pi-hole.net/2018/09/19/what-really-happens-on-your-n... I was disappointed but not surprised to…
My 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…
I was curious because I have a Vizio that I deliberately keep disconnected from the internet, and rely on an Apple TV. Seems like that's not an attack vector in this case, though #1 is (and #3) seem worth looking into.
What's ACR in point #4?
[0] https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/325215/appletv-eth...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
#2 sounded intriguing, but it seems likely to not be the case [0]. I was curious because I have a Vizio that I deliberately keep disconnected from the internet, and rely on an Apple TV. Seems like that's not an attack vector in this case, though #1 is (and #3) seem worth looking into. What's ACR in point #4? [0] https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/325215/appletv-eth...
My apartment's current A/V setup is an old third-hand projector I picked up for free pointed at a blank wall of our living room. The only thing I paid for was the serial cable so I could configure the correct input port, but even if I'd purchased the projector new it would run me about $150. In comparison, one of the article's top recommended dumb TVs is $450, while the other is "no longer available". Plus we can use…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My TCL starts to bootloop if it goes more than a month without connecting to the internet so it can download screensaver ads. The warranty people force me into the support gauntlet. The support gauntlet's first demand: connect it to the internet.
Edit: Didn't know TCL is a brand, not available in my part of the world... - What brand is your TV?
You're probably better off the buy the screen you like and pair it with a low cost NUC to sidestep the privacy invasion of the "smart" part of that TV.
Like a raspberry pi?