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Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#71

Post by justizin »

yupper32 wrote: post #52

Why don't people like their Smart TVs? I've had a 4k smart TV for years and love it. Being able to stream without needing my phone is great. It seems ironic that people are complaining about smart TV ads while the [2] link in the OP has an absolutely MASSIVE video ad that takes up 2/3s of the screen. And it's not like you're not being tracked when you stream from a Roku stick / Chromecast. Edit: I have a 4k Samsung t…

Soo..

[1] Having an ad on a web page about concerns with Smart TVs is not the same as the TV manufacturer selling ads on your TV. For one, it's just one more opportunity for the TV to fail. My smart TV won't load its' UI enough for me to select an HDMI input if it can't connect to the internet.

[2] Again, there are levels of tracking. I don't know about Roku, but I imagine when you use one, you have tracking from Netflix while watching Netflix, Hulu while watching Hulu, etc.. At least, this is my expectation of my Apple TV. If you're streaming to a Chromecast, you can limit what it sends to Google.

[2] None of this has to do with the fact that a manufacturer can apparently brick your TV remotely, and while this is meant as an anti-theft measure, it's pretty easy for them to accidentally include your valid serial # in a CSV or whatever. I'd imagine un-bricking it is very difficult, if even practically possible.

All in all, over several years of having Smart TVs, I've still not ditched my Apple TV or Chromecast, and I find that both tend to give me higher quality, though I expected the inverse by avoiding dependence on an HDMI cable.

Smart TVs are also amongst the most notoriously poorly updated smart devices, and over time this becomes a risk to your entire home network.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#72

Post by cmpb »

michelpp wrote: post #31

Seems like this would be a good use case for a "TV Honeypot" that would intercept phone-homes, recognize the model, imitate whatever jank rpc is needed to keep the unit happy, and dump all telemetry to /dev/null.

PiHole[1], with the default adlist/gravity configuration, actually works pretty well for removing ads from my LG smart tv from about 3 years ago. Doesn't keep it from updating, but you can easily configure pihole to block whatever domains you want

[1] https://pi-hole.net/

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#73

Post by [deleted] »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #58
Apreche wrote: post #26

One thing people haven't mentioned is that there are some non-smart televisions available that are marketed as extra large gaming monitors. For example, there's the Alienware 55" OLED Gaming Monitor and the ASUS ROG Swift PG65UQ that's 65".

That's interesting, but it doesn't look like you have many choices at the 55" size unless you're willing to pay double what I paid 4 years ago for my Sony.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#74

Post by the_duke »

Swedx [1] has really nice, affordable products. I've bought about 5 of them over the last few years.

All of their screens come in a "TV version" with a tuner, and a "monitor version" without one, but are otherwise identical.

The speakers are pretty crappy, but that's to be expected.

(European company, so not sure where they ship to outside the EU)

[1] https://www.swedx.com

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#76

Post by jstanley »

cmckn wrote: post #69

Look, I think it’s a legitimate question, and I’m not thrilled about most “smart” TV operating systems. But why pigeonhole your search like this? You will almost certainly end up with a worse actual display, which is what you’re spending the money on in the first place. Just buy a nice panel and disable as much of the smarts as you can—-it’ll be fine. Android TV is the best option out there, in my opinion; and it’s w…

For some people, a TV that doesn't actively view its owner as an adversary is a "nicer TV" than one that does.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#77

Post by preinheimer »

cmckn wrote: post #69

Look, I think it’s a legitimate question, and I’m not thrilled about most “smart” TV operating systems. But why pigeonhole your search like this? You will almost certainly end up with a worse actual display, which is what you’re spending the money on in the first place. Just buy a nice panel and disable as much of the smarts as you can—-it’ll be fine. Android TV is the best option out there, in my opinion; and it’s w…

Is it a battle? Or is it 45 minutes of google searching and reading an HN thread.

Vote with your dollars every time you can.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#78

Post by jjoonathan »

haunter wrote: post #32

4K monitors. You need a soundbar though or some kind of audio setup + remote. Also no built-in tuner or such but I assume you get a set top box from your service provider or use a streaming device (Apple TV, Fire stick etc.) 4K OLED https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=7 4K IPS https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P=2 4K VA https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384002160&P…

Why does (consumer) monitor tech always seem to lag TV tech by a few years?

It looks like the situation is still that in the 4k OLED space there are a few ~$4000+ monitors and dozens of ~$1000 TVs. Per the pcpartpicker link, maybe the Gigabyte FO48U will change that, but it's still out of stock. Besides, I feel like this has happened before with HDR and 4k and IPS. First it shows up in TVs, a year later it is cheap in TVs, a year later it is expensive in monitors, and finally it becomes cheap in monitors. But it takes years. Which seems odd, since surely they use the same panels? Is it an industry structure thing, where panel manufacturers integrate and co-develop with TV manufacturers but monitor manufacturers are separate, only get the panels after release, and need a year or three to turn things around?

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#79

Post by floatingatoll »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #58
Apreche wrote: post #26

One thing people haven't mentioned is that there are some non-smart televisions available that are marketed as extra large gaming monitors. For example, there's the Alienware 55" OLED Gaming Monitor and the ASUS ROG Swift PG65UQ that's 65".

That's interesting, but it doesn't look like you have many choices at the 55" size unless you're willing to pay double what I paid 4 years ago for my Sony.

What value would additional choices serve, if it’s just a pane of glass of a fixed size and resolution?

Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?

#80

Post by ceejayoz »

cmpb wrote: post #72
michelpp wrote: post #31

Seems like this would be a good use case for a "TV Honeypot" that would intercept phone-homes, recognize the model, imitate whatever jank rpc is needed to keep the unit happy, and dump all telemetry to /dev/null.

PiHole[1], with the default adlist/gravity configuration, actually works pretty well for removing ads from my LG smart tv from about 3 years ago. Doesn't keep it from updating, but you can easily configure pihole to block whatever domains you want [1] https://pi-hole.net/

Some TVs have gotten wise to this, and are using IP addresses or serving ads from domains that are also needed for things like installing the various apps like YouTube/Netflix.
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