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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?

#351

Post by Scoundreller »

cronix wrote: post #173

All TV's are dumb tv's if you only use them as an external display/monitor and don't connect them to the net. I have a dedicated computer for a media center and just use HDMI1 input on the TV. Never enter menus. Never update the OS. Never agree to anything. Never let the TV "phone home." Never set up wifi. Never connect a CAT5 to it. Set the input using the remote and forget it. Treat it as a dumb monitor. Computer i…

What’s stopping the TV from taking OTA updates through data sub-channels on TV channels?

Satellite receivers have had this type of capability for a few decades.

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

#352

Post by KennyBlanken »

guidedlight wrote: post #286

Modern Sony Bravia TV’s ask whether you want a “Basic TV” or a “Google TV” when you first set them up.

It's Google TV either way. The setting is for whether you want to neuter any sort of functionality involving the network or not.

That doesn't mean the TV isn't still reporting your viewing habits back to them; it's still running Android, still has a network connection.

Hilariously, they allow you to go back to "smart" Google TV with a click of a button, but going to 'basic' mode requires a full reset.

Oh, and they're petulant about you disabling "smart" functions; you lose chromecast, even though there's no technical reason for it. Probably because it's the only actually useful feature people want if they have an external streaming box.

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

#353

Post by Scoundreller »

TheDudeMan wrote: post #229
jiveturkey wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not all. some require a network connection at least to get started. some find an open network and connect "for you"

And some bombard you with "helpful reminders" to set up networking.

I think Gmail.com has asked me about 500 times to try their app and I’ve said “I am not interested” 500 times in a row.

But they seem to have a good feeling about tomorrow.

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

#354

Post by kazinator »

thih9 wrote: post #322
foobarian wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and there is no way to turn bluetooth off Challenge accepted!

Warranty voided?

A warranty is never voided if nobody knows what you did.

The profit margins are quite thin on consumer equipment; they can't afford to investigate into the chassis, having someone look at every chip that might have been tampered with.

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

#355

Post by laumars »

Volundr wrote: post #252
cronix wrote: post #173

All TV's are dumb tv's if you only use them as an external display/monitor and don't connect them to the net. I have a dedicated computer for a media center and just use HDMI1 input on the TV. Never enter menus. Never update the OS. Never agree to anything. Never let the TV "phone home." Never set up wifi. Never connect a CAT5 to it. Set the input using the remote and forget it. Treat it as a dumb monitor. Computer i…

That's sadly not really true. I have an LG that I (thought) I was using this way until one day in the middle of watching some TV I get a prompt about a OnePlus phone trying to control my TV, do I want to accept? Needless to say and didn't, but I was baffled by what happened. Turns out that the stupid TV is controllable via an app over bluetooth, and there is no way to turn bluetooth off. I'm just stuck with my TV con…

Which model have you got? I have a few LG TVs and there’s various options across the different firmwares that might disable that.

Eg LG Connect Apps

I’ve also often wondered if “store mode” disabled all of the radios because that’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t want enabled in a store.

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

#356

Post by duderific »

sc90 wrote: post #315

What parts can you modify/remove to make a Smart TV dumb? i.e. WiFi card

I posted above - if you have an LG tv it's pretty straightforward to disconnect the Wifi Module - instructions are here:

https://www.theraffon.net/spookcentral/tcp/2019/07/10/lg-sma...

I'm not the most technical guy in the world and I was able to do it pretty easily, took about 30 minutes.

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

#357

Post by vineyardmike »

krustymeathead wrote: post #283
gopalv wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> grant the fucker an internet connection over BT, it starts to rat on you Or it does that by itself, with a mesh network that your neighbours have setup by accident with their Alexa or Ring - Amazon Sidewalk is an amazing end-run around your own firewall rules.

I wonder when home security setups will start including a Faraday cage, at least for certain rooms or areas.

Not gunna lie, i'm looking at building/remodelling a home in the next few years, and i'm seriously considering foiling the walls of some rooms just to build a faraday cage.

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

#358

Post by kazinator »

Smart TV's are pretty silly; why would I install all my apps and logins on something attached to wall in one place? Smack in the middle of the age of mobile computing?

You can put your streaming box into your pocket and take it anywhere where there is a HDMI panel. For instance, when there is no pandemic, you can take it to a hotel room in another country. Depending on geographic restrictions, you can view all your regular content.

One thing that is very important to me is that my livingroom streaming box has its own audio out. Bluetooth would be okay; in my case, I use a 1/8" jack: even better. That goes straight to a stereo amp.

What this lets me do is turn off the TV while listening to audio-only material, like music. The streaming box doesn't care that the TV is off; it keeps streaming audio to the speakers. Once I introduced this practice, my wife takes advantage of it all the time, to play music for the kids without the distracting screen.

Can smart TV's do this at all? Completely power down everything related to the screen, but keep audio going?

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

#359

Post by vineyardmike »

hellojesus wrote: post #325
bogwog wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also maybe I'm mistaken, but don't most modern cars have a built in modem for sending telemetry to the manufacturer as well?

Yes. Toyota seems to like putting the transceiver behind the glove box, forcing you to introduce a bundle of rattles to your newly purchased vehicle to remove. Also, I'm pretty sure removing it disables some of the front speakers, requiring manual wire connecting to get them back. You could maybe leave the device in there but encase it in a Faraday cage, but still rattles are introduced. Ford, iirc, places it on the…

> I think MA just passed a law about not allowing vehicles sold there to sell your telemetry data or something.

i believe they just have to share the data with others, which they don't want to do.

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

#360

Post by laumars »

neltnerb wrote: post #347
Volundr wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's sadly not really true. I have an LG that I (thought) I was using this way until one day in the middle of watching some TV I get a prompt about a OnePlus phone trying to control my TV, do I want to accept? Needless to say and didn't, but I was baffled by what happened. Turns out that the stupid TV is controllable via an app over bluetooth, and there is no way to turn bluetooth off. I'm just stuck with my TV con…

I imagine they'll happily let your neighbor accept the terms and conditions you have yet to accept too =P That's a failure mode I hadn't thought about, I didn't realize people tried to control a TV with bluetooth. Why would you do this? Initial configuration but then never again? I can't think of a technical reason it meaningfully helps when you can already type in a wifi password with the remote, so I'm inclined to…

I used to quite like BT control of the TV back when my kids were babies. Advance warning though, these are going to be pretty niche use cases…

I would feed them and they’d fall asleep in my arms but sometimes I would be terrified to move them in case they woke (and sometimes I’d just enjoy cuddling them as they slept). However the TV remote might have been too far to reach, whereas my phone was always in my pocket.

BT became useful again when they became older and started playing with the TV remote. It was always getting lost. Whereas my phone wasn’t.

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