What is the best dumb TV? • Hacker News Board

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#241

Post by Semaphor » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 4:52 AM UTC

5.5 years ago I bought a 40" Hisense LTDN 40D36 dumb TV. Back then there was a review somewhere that said it’s better than others in its price class (310 € ≈ $ 364) and most importantly it had no smart features. I am still happy with it and I dread the day I’ll need a new one. The much mentioned (including in this article) Sceptre TVs don’t seem to be available in Germany and HiSense seems to have switched to smart-TVs only.

Before I bought it, I saw smart TVs at other’s places and never understood why anyone would actually want those.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#242

Post by alecthomas » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 4:56 AM UTC

emmelaich wrote: post #218

magnetowasright wrote: post #196

I absolutely adore my totally dumb $650 48" JVC 4K LED TV. NFI on input lag stats but I game (offline) and it looks beautiful and my SO games (online) and doesn't have issues outside Australian fraudband speeds. It's got pretty much the same operating system as the ~15 year old cheapo TV (22" 1080i) it replaced. It just works. It's perfect for our usage and I hope it will last as long as the 1080i TV did. I'm trying…

Another vote for JVC. My 58" was half the price of so-called smart TVs and looks great.

This one? https://jvctv.com.au/product/58-4k-uhd-led-tv/

No mention of "Android" or "Smart", but it does do DVR of some sort, so it's not 100% clear.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#243

Post by CamperBob2 » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 4:57 AM UTC

davidhyde wrote: post #73

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…

Easy, don’t connect it to the internet.

No good. The TVs are starting to nag the user if left unconnected.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#244

Post by snappr021 » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:09 AM UTC

Mainstream news coverage of US politics.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#245

Post by minitoar » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:09 AM UTC

mtalantikite wrote: post #235

kebman wrote: post #207

I don't have a TV, only a few monitors (it's very liberating, actually). So instead I'll talk about my microwave. Yes, unironically! :D It has two dials. OMG how do I survive with only two dials? How do I program it? Well, the answer is, unsurprisingly, that I don't program it. Instead I crank it to watever wattage I need (usually the top one), and the time I think it'll take until the food I becomes hot. Aaaand that…

“I don't have a TV, only a few monitors.” I also highly recommend this. It’s been 18 years since I’ve lived in a house with a tv. It’s still weird to me that people design their living rooms around sitting facing a screen rather than other humans.

Less weird now with most of my social interactions being via screens.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#246

Post by pandaman » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:17 AM UTC

wmf wrote: post #32

Spivak wrote: post #3

I agree with the sentiment but you’re only hurting yourself by choosing a worse TV at a given price point compared to just never connecting your TV to the internet. If you want a competitive display market where the best options are still dumb then look at getting a projector. The price and quality are comparable and I really like being able to “put away” the TV by just rolling up the screen.

So the Sceptre 65" is $500. Where are you seeing a higher-quality 65" for $500 or less?

You can get an LG (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-65-class-un7000-series-led-4...) for $500, which has HDR. Did not compare these two side-by-side but generally HDR is what sells 4K TV: a small (<80") TV does not benefit from higher resolution, IMHO. HDR on the other hand, is a huge difference (and even on a regular SD signal a "smart" TV can usually blow up dynamic range with some image processing).

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#247

Post by _underfl0w_ » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:19 AM UTC

mdonahoe wrote: post #189

deeblering4 wrote: post #16

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…

I got a tv with built-in Roku, and its actually pretty nice. I can change volume, select hdmi inputs and power on/off the tv with the Roku remote (and app) now.

Same, though the giant ad on the home screen was almost a dealbreaker. Can't reclaim that screen real estate either - I blocked all the ad domains on my router and the ad disappeared, leaving a giant hole taking 40% of the screen.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#248

Post by k12sosse » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:23 AM UTC

ponker wrote: post #217

tomatotomato37 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't those signage panels have godawful refresh rates though, like 10hz? I believe it's part of the reliability tradeoff

They used to but now since video is popular they don’t. But they have poor blacks.

And you can view some outdoors in the sun of high noon

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#249

Post by neilv » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:23 AM UTC

If I can add an additional requirement to the question, what are good dumb-TVs/monitors that have acceptable integrated speakers (driven from HDMI)?

(To avoid "smart TVs", I got a nice Sony Bravia TV, from circa 2009, and even that has more "smart" than I'd like (e.g., linked to online services that were discontinued), but it doesn't try to get onto the Internet, it has a great 1080p picture, the remote worked easily with my airgapped Blu-ray player, and the integrated speakers are good enough for my needs.)

(Before that, I used a series of monitors, usually hooked up to PC 2.1 external amp&speaker systems, since PC monitor integrated speakers I tried were awful, and using kludges like a smart power strip to power on/off monitor and amp/speakers from PS3/whatever controller. I decided to go to a vintage Sony TV, just to simplify that mess.)

I'm not 100% happy with the vintage TV approach, and would like to move to 4K+ someday, while keeping decent integrated speakers/soundbar and be able to plug video&audio&limitedcontrol right into my PS4 (PS5?) and random other HDMI-spitting devices.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#250

Post by vocram » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 5:27 AM UTC

ponker wrote: post #216

kebman wrote: post #207

I don't have a TV, only a few monitors (it's very liberating, actually). So instead I'll talk about my microwave. Yes, unironically! :D It has two dials. OMG how do I survive with only two dials? How do I program it? Well, the answer is, unsurprisingly, that I don't program it. Instead I crank it to watever wattage I need (usually the top one), and the time I think it'll take until the food I becomes hot. Aaaand that…

You have an actual variable power microwave? Not a duty cycle power control??

Now I am curious of how most microwaves are modulating power.