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Amazon Sidewalk

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Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#521

Post by distances »

smackeyacky wrote: post #185
austincheney wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My answer is a home projector. It’s not 4K but it’s cheap and puts out a great display. It’s also just a projector without any applications or network access.

Yeah but the instant you plug in a chromecast to watch netflix or disney+ they got you. Blu rays are drying up at an alarming rate, at least it feels that way.

I think I can accept the tracking Chromecast does when I stream Netflix through it. I have it behind a remote switch so that Chromecast only gets electricity while I'm watching something, then it just gets switched off again.

Or am I underestimating the tracking Chromecast is doing?

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#522

Post by gonehome »

discardable_dan wrote: post #516
gonehome wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there’s a market for this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26290427 “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 someone to make something decent…

Doesn't Spectre fill basically all of these requirements? For example, this 4k offering on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sceptre-U550CV-U-Ultra-2160p-60Hz/dp/... There is no smart functionality, just some HDMI ports. I haven't owned one myself, but I plan to when it's time to eventually replace my 10-year-old TV.

It's not OLED, also looks pretty cheap?

I don't want a crappy, cheap, panel with no smart features. I want a premium panel without smart features.

Think like Apple Pro Cinema Display in TV form.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#523

Post by vimy »

gonehome wrote: post #509
pupdogg wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The controller in my industrial display accepts serial commands for control and has a fairly simple IR remote you can use as well. For customer application, we developed a simple .NET utility that they use to control approx. 240x individual displays at each facility from a single control room. Knowing that RS232 can be controlled using NodeJS these days, I'm sure more creative solutions can be developed for a persona…

I'm not sure why TVs still use IR - haven't all other forms of wireless moved past that to much better performing standards that don't require direction or line of sight? Nobody is pointing their xbox controller at the console.

Cheap IR supply line?

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#524

Post by teekert »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #447
teekert wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, or perhaps build it on Ubuntu Core (their transactional/IOT version of the OS)

Ubuntu actually made a "Ubuntu TV" almost a decade ago that was based on Unity. It never had a TV actually go for sale with it (as far as I know) and the project was abandoned.

Now that you mention it I remember! But Ubuntu core is IMO better suited for this. I find it sad to see it go nowhere (visible to me at least), the value proposition is pretty clear to me, coupled to the snap store and with easy rollback and transactional updates it has all the tech to take it up with Android and WebOS.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#525

Post by clairity »

pupdogg wrote: post #483
rswail wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I meant their IronCast display that's designed to be basically just a display that takes whatever feed you want. But they don't seem to have updated their info for a year. What I'd like is a 55" 4K monitor display that is minimal bezel and has a bunch of HDMI inputs and support HDCP etc. Displays should be to video like speakers are to audio. I can connect multiple sources to speakers without the speakers imposing th…

Yes, that's easily doable. However, unlike consumer grade displays, it's much harder to find dumb controllers with multiple HDMI inputs for industrial displays. A new growing trend in the industrial sector is to move towards dumb controllers having 1x HDMI input and 1x IPTV (ethernet) input. This might fit your requirements as you could easily put the display and your streaming devices on the same VLAN and stream dir…

1 hdmi input is fine for connecting whatever a/v receiver you want to it that can have multiple hdmi inputs and outputs, as well as speakers and audio zones and such. the only problem is now the receiver becomes the privacy/speed bottleneck. i have an older receiver that doesn't require internet, but now receivers are going down the same invasive road as smart tv's. so while i like my current setup, i think the tv would need multiple hdmi inputs to bypass this issue (and not require a receiver).

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#526

Post by phs »

discardable_dan wrote: post #516
gonehome wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there’s a market for this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26290427 “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 someone to make something decent…

Doesn't Spectre fill basically all of these requirements? For example, this 4k offering on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sceptre-U550CV-U-Ultra-2160p-60Hz/dp/... There is no smart functionality, just some HDMI ports. I haven't owned one myself, but I plan to when it's time to eventually replace my 10-year-old TV.

Picked up a few of these, they look fine and work great.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#527

Post by alasdairnicol »

gonehome wrote: post #509
pupdogg wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The controller in my industrial display accepts serial commands for control and has a fairly simple IR remote you can use as well. For customer application, we developed a simple .NET utility that they use to control approx. 240x individual displays at each facility from a single control room. Knowing that RS232 can be controlled using NodeJS these days, I'm sure more creative solutions can be developed for a persona…

I'm not sure why TVs still use IR - haven't all other forms of wireless moved past that to much better performing standards that don't require direction or line of sight? Nobody is pointing their xbox controller at the console.

My Roku remote takes several seconds to wake up and connect (over bluetooth?) every time I turn on the TV. It's infuriating. Give me back IR with its line of sight limitations!

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#528

Post by o___ »

axaxs wrote: post #513
pupdogg wrote: post #363

If anyone is interested, I wouldn't mind collaborating to create a privacy oriented SmartTV or PC for devs or simply an industrial grade dumb TV. I have experience designing and building 70" industrial displays that utilize Samsung LCD panels. These "industrial" panels are normally twice the price of consumer grade ones but are designed to operate 24/7 with a MTBF of 100k hours (approx. 11 years) and are usually twic…

Out of curiosity, how much would such a thing cost? I'd love a 'dumb' display, but it would be hard for me to justify dropping thousands to have one, when I'm perfectly satisfied just leaving the internet disconnected from my $400 'trash tier' TV. This isn't knocking the idea, it's a genuine question that also kinda ties into the question of how much money mfgs are making from this privacy invasion.

Amazon Sidewalk enables your "disconnected" Smart TV to phone home using a neighbors network.

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#529

Post by jasonjayr »

gonehome wrote: post #468
pupdogg wrote: post #363

If anyone is interested, I wouldn't mind collaborating to create a privacy oriented SmartTV or PC for devs or simply an industrial grade dumb TV. I have experience designing and building 70" industrial displays that utilize Samsung LCD panels. These "industrial" panels are normally twice the price of consumer grade ones but are designed to operate 24/7 with a MTBF of 100k hours (approx. 11 years) and are usually twic…

I think there’s a market for this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26290427 “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 someone to make something decent…

Define a standard form factor for a box that can have attachments to it. (Say approximatly 1 x RPi or 1.5 x RPi), that has a secure modular connector that is fed HDMI IN/OUT, Power, a data bus (Ethernet?), and space so custom connectors can be on the other side. Offer panels with a 'startup' block, and maybe 1 or two others for other devices. Ensure there is enough ventilation for passive/silent cooling.

Set up partners to make custom boxes. Things like SSD's in the same form factor storing media to be shared with other media block devices, (HDMI would be unpopulated), a Roku in the secondary/primary position. DTv Tuners with a Coaxial F-Connector for the antenna, etc.

This "Standard media block" connector could even be retrofit to legacy panels by means of an external box, and one master upstream connector.

Does anything like this exist yet? If not, what would be preventing it?

Re: Amazon Sidewalk

#530

Post by gonehome »

bmcahren wrote: post #510
gonehome wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there’s a market for this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26290427 “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 someone to make something decent…

A disconnected roku works well once you fumble around and bypass the mandatory setup then activate HDMI-CEC so Google TV can simply and easily power, unpower, and switch inputs without issue. The remote is simple enough only containing maybe 6 unused buttons.

Roku has ads built into the UI? I'm also not sure how it meets the qualifications of everything else I listed?
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