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In Defense of Dumb TVs

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Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#261

Post by vhanda »

withinboredom wrote: post #172
yellowapple wrote: post #168

I definitely second the Sceptre recommendation. Yeah, there are probably higher-quality displays out there, but my TV's been more than good enough for me, and the price point is pretty hard to beat. In terms of bang for the buck, a Sceptre TV and a box/stick of one's choosing is about as close to ideal as I've seen these days. Hopefully they realize that the lack of smarts in their TVs is indeed a differentiator in a…

If you're in the market for speakers, trying to find ones without "bluetooth" or "Alexa" support is just as difficult. I ended up buying speakers built for computers because they were simple and dumb and just played sound.

I don't quite follow the problems with having bluetooth support. Could you please elaborate?

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#262

Post by Freak_NL »

gonehome wrote: post #79
pridkett wrote: post #15

I’m really pleased the author called out the Apple TV as a device that lets you avoid ads. We tried to go cheap on another of our TVs and get an Amazon Fire Stick and in addition to it being not as smooth (combo of UX and speed) at the Apple TV, it had a good amount of ads all over the place. There’s lots of griping about the cost of an Apple TV 4k, but I’ll pay that extra $100 to avoid ads and not be tracked so exte…

Yes - I wish Apple would just make a TV. Call it a living room screen or a living room monitor or something. Make it OLED, dumb TV, instant on, Apple TV box plugs in. Separate box with front facing ports that connects to screen with one cable. A remote designed by someone who thought about it for ten seconds (why do modern TVs have dozens of buttons no one ever uses?). This entire market is in desperate need of someo…

They can't. They already used up the name 'Apple TV' for another of their products (which oddly enough doesn't actually seem to be a TV at all).

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#263

Post by petercooper »

74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #248

What is actually the appeal of a (smart) TV - especially for the tech-friendly scene on HN? Why doesn't a large monitor cut it? (Serious question)

My LG CX "just works". Turns on in seconds, all the apps work fine, and everything is integrated really well. Certainly beats having to juggle three or four other things to get all the same services and figure out how to get the HDR/Dolby Vision and 4K-ness working between them all.. I'd probably need an HDMI switch as well. Instead I have one device with update-able apps and it works flawlessly. The only thing I needed to add was a Bluray player.

Oh, and the sound is fantastic, complete with Dolby Atmos support, without needing a soundbar or anything separate at all. Plus where am I going to find a non-smart 65" OLED panel with Dolby Vision support anyway?

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#264

Post by petepete »

colincooke wrote: post #120

This resonates with me. Recently my Samsung "smart" TV decided that after I turned off an input device, the appropriate behaviour was to immediately display some garbage "entertainment" channel called cheddar. I think it's what is played at gas station pumps? The day that happened is the day my TV lost internet privilages (wifi is turned off) and we started just using a chromecast for all the "smart" functionalities.

> Recently my Samsung "smart" TV decided that after I turned off an input device, the appropriate behaviour was to immediately display some garbage "entertainment" channel called cheddar.

This could be the opening line from a near-future dystopian novel.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#265

Post by Freak_NL »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #158

I just bought the TV I wanted and never connected it to the internet, never ran the "setup". I use an AppleTV 4K which has all the streaming apps you want (Netflix, Amazon, BBC, Pluto, etc.). For local media I use an application called MrMC ($6.99) which is a Kodi port to the AppleTV that allows you to mount Samba/NFS ( https://mrmc.tv ). MrMC even supports using a SQL backend for keeping track of your media (like Ko…

I'm a bit worried about the TV having some kind of internal clock set in the factory configured to throw an undismissible prompt after a year or two because your firmware 'expired' and you need security updates to keep your internet connected device that is not connected to the internet safe.

You won't know if the TV has such a feature until someone encounters it years after the device is first sold.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#266

Post by petepete »

account-5 wrote: post #219

Im in the market for a dumb TV. My current "smart" TV from Samsung is a joke. Slow to start, adverts in the UI. Snapped the "smart" remote so no voice stealling nonsense. Im think a dumb panel connected to either a PC or RPi. I don't see the point in swapping one tech company for another, so Apple and android are out. Dont trust them any mire that Samsung.

I wrote this guide on blocking the UI ads a few years ago. These days a PiHole might be more straightforward.

https://gist.github.com/peteryates/b44b70d19ccd52f62d66cdd4b...

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#268

Post by 74d-fe6-2c6 »

petercooper wrote: post #263
74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #248

What is actually the appeal of a (smart) TV - especially for the tech-friendly scene on HN? Why doesn't a large monitor cut it? (Serious question)

My LG CX "just works". Turns on in seconds, all the apps work fine, and everything is integrated really well. Certainly beats having to juggle three or four other things to get all the same services and figure out how to get the HDR/Dolby Vision and 4K-ness working between them all.. I'd probably need an HDMI switch as well. Instead I have one device with update-able apps and it works flawlessly. The only thing I nee…

fair enough. I guess I don't have such high expectations regarding the multimedial experience. it seems a 30 to 40 inch display would be more than large enough for my home cinema activities (at the moment I'm actually using a 26 inch monitor). and soundwise I'm anyway wearing bluetooth ANC headphones. all connected my notebook.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#269

Post by gambiting »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #191
myrandomcomment wrote: post #158

I just bought the TV I wanted and never connected it to the internet, never ran the "setup". I use an AppleTV 4K which has all the streaming apps you want (Netflix, Amazon, BBC, Pluto, etc.). For local media I use an application called MrMC ($6.99) which is a Kodi port to the AppleTV that allows you to mount Samba/NFS ( https://mrmc.tv ). MrMC even supports using a SQL backend for keeping track of your media (like Ko…

>never connected it to the internet Which is all fine and dandy but if you've bought a fancy new TV with bleeding edge features for use with your next-gen console, like low-latency gaming mode, HDMI 2.1 4K/120Hz, dolby atmos, etc, it can all comes apart when you realize you need a firmware update that fixes a bug with said bleeding edge features, since a lot of consumer HW these days is rushed out the factory door wi…

I mean.....I have the top of the line LG CX TV and it can be updated from a USB stick. I honestly have no idea why you'd leave it unplugged though, the OS is super fast, starts up instantly and it has all the apps I need, plugging in another device just to watch Netflix seems super wasteful.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#270

Post by amelius »

gonehome wrote: post #79
pridkett wrote: post #15

I’m really pleased the author called out the Apple TV as a device that lets you avoid ads. We tried to go cheap on another of our TVs and get an Amazon Fire Stick and in addition to it being not as smooth (combo of UX and speed) at the Apple TV, it had a good amount of ads all over the place. There’s lots of griping about the cost of an Apple TV 4k, but I’ll pay that extra $100 to avoid ads and not be tracked so exte…

Yes - I wish Apple would just make a TV. Call it a living room screen or a living room monitor or something. Make it OLED, dumb TV, instant on, Apple TV box plugs in. Separate box with front facing ports that connects to screen with one cable. A remote designed by someone who thought about it for ten seconds (why do modern TVs have dozens of buttons no one ever uses?). This entire market is in desperate need of someo…

> I wish Apple would just make a TV.

But that would be a TV which you can't use to watch adult content. And Netflix and HBO would be 30% more expensive.

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