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In Defense of Dumb TVs

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Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#381

Post by zzyzxd »

aembleton wrote: post #289
Arn_Thor wrote: post #58

While I let my smart TV connect to the internet for firmware update reasons (bug fixes), I’m running my entire home network through NextDNS, and before that a PiHole. Not seeing any ads in the UI, and I note some attempted logging traffic is blocked. Before I upgraded to LG last year I had a Samsung and it was trying to ping home constantly. It constituted 80% of outbound requests denied by the PiHole

Out of interest - Why do you use both a PiHole and NextDNS? I removed my PiHole once I got NextDNS as it just seemed redundant.

I have a similar setup at home: local AdGuardHome deployment with NextDNS as the upstream. I have several NextDNS configurations and AdGuardHome's upstream is one that has no filters. I use other profiles with filters when I am on the go.

I can't install NextDNS client on a lot of devices like a robot vacuum. Sure you can configure NextDNS to be the resolver on the gateway, but then the gateway becomes the only client in your NextDNS logs and you can't figure out which device is downloading Google ads, which makes the log useless. It is also easier to temporarily disable filters -- changing DNS on some routers may need a rebooting, which causes downtime on the whole home network.

The only thing you can do with NextDNS logs is looking at them on NextDNS web UI. I had a lot of fun messing with my local AdGuardHome logs with visualizations, analysis, and alerting.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#382

Post by NoSorryCannot »

friseurtermin wrote: post #253

I fully agree about dumb TVs for personal use. Even having to wait for your TV's OS to boot up when you turn it on is a terrible UX. However, when it comes to buying a TV for your conference room where you have a TV running 12hrs/day (when you're not a small startup with 10ppl), invest in a proper commercial TV like NEC or (my personal favorite brand) iiyama: 1) the're dumb TVs from the start, 2) you get proper warra…

Most smart TVs turn on nearly instantaneously because they do not really shut down with a typical "soft off", so neither do they need to boot up with "soft on".

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#383

Post by karolist »

arh68 wrote: post #293
listic wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't plasma screen susceptible to burn-out? What search terms do you use?

Plasma & burn-in : I have a '13 Panasonic Viera VT60 with 10,000 hours, no real burn in. I've got a '08 Viera and it's fine, too. I actually bought it with a vertical line malfunctioning, and it's seemingly sorted itself out (looks fine now). No dead pixels, no burn in, tens of thousands hours. If I watch 24 hours of CS:GO, the white scoreboard text will be visible, but if I turn to max brightness/contrast and play M…

Hey, would you mind telling how's owning VT60 in 2021? Would you buy one as a real OLED alternative? I see it has some smart features like "apps" and that is kinda a red flag to me, sooooo... "how is it?" Thanks!

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#384

Post by rurban »

naikrovek wrote: post #371
rurban wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No citation possible, because the data is encrypted. What is measurable is the delayed startup. Of course they can send the data later, but that's not what is measured.

> No citation possible Then why are you saying something as if it is fact? You don't know what is happening there, you've assumed. You're guessing.

Maybe is not fact. Maybe is a guess

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#385

Post by naikrovek »

rurban wrote: post #384
naikrovek wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No citation possible Then why are you saying something as if it is fact? You don't know what is happening there, you've assumed. You're guessing.

Maybe is not fact. Maybe is a guess

Then what is the point of mentioning it? Maybe your bones are blue. Maybe not. It's a guess. It could go either way! So why mention it at all?

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#386

Post by anshumankmr »

petepete wrote: post #267
anshumankmr wrote: post #203

In my parent's house, they have a regular flatscreen and they bought a Chromecast. There are ads when they use YouTube but thankfully Netflix does not.

If you pay for YouTube Premium, like you do Netflix, you can go totally ad-free.

I don't think they are concerned too much with ads as much as I am.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#387

Post by mayankkaizen »

adtac wrote: post #247
TylerE wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, Apple could charge 2-3x, because the prices have gotten so cheap. People would absolutely pay $1000-1200 for a 55" Apple TV with nice software, and maybe a nice brushed aluminum frame that looks nice on the wall. (For comparison, the cheapest 55" I could quickly find from a major retail is around $300, with a "name brand" starting around $400).

The $300 TV that you found probably has poor audio, viewing angle, contrast ratio, support, etc. From the limited research I did before buying my TV, a 55" TV with good reviews for panel and sound quality that you can rely on for 5-10 years costs C$1,200 today.

I'd say 1500 dollar TV is a viable purchase given that a TV has a life of 15+ years as against to 1000 dollar iphone or any other mobile which actually has a life of may be 4-5 years.

It would be the best of Apple product to show off.

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#388

Post by abendy »

barrkel wrote: post #189
rishav_sharan wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are ads on firestick a US only thing or have I been blind to not notice any ads in my firestick?

The only ads I see are the banners, but I don't pay any attention to those. There aren't any video ads, which is all I really care about. (My dumb TV is a projector, one of the best decisions we've made in the past 5 years.)

Which projector did you go with?

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#389

Post by Arn_Thor »

aembleton wrote: post #289
Arn_Thor wrote: post #58

While I let my smart TV connect to the internet for firmware update reasons (bug fixes), I’m running my entire home network through NextDNS, and before that a PiHole. Not seeing any ads in the UI, and I note some attempted logging traffic is blocked. Before I upgraded to LG last year I had a Samsung and it was trying to ping home constantly. It constituted 80% of outbound requests denied by the PiHole

Out of interest - Why do you use both a PiHole and NextDNS? I removed my PiHole once I got NextDNS as it just seemed redundant.

I was unclear, sorry about that. I used to have a PiHole, but have since switched to NextDNS

Re: In Defense of Dumb TVs

#390

Post by iFreilicht »

jannes wrote: post #353
iFreilicht wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is to get to choose the experience you want, and if you want the simplicity of having an Android box connected to your dumb Tv, that’s a-ok. If you want to go kore custom and just have a raspi with plex on it, that’s great, too. The problem with smart TVs is that they force tracking and ads upon you, with little to no options of opting out.

The problem with Google is that they force tracking and ads upon you, with little to no options of opting out. You don’t know what background processes are running on an Nvidia Shield, do you?

I do, I’m just saying not everybody cares. And one may care even less when there’s no ads to be seen.
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