[deleted]
Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
481–490 of 518 posts
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#482Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plex also phones home, I thought. I could never understand why anyone uses it. What is wrong with mplayer running purely on a local client?
Local playback is fine, but greatly restricts your options for media boxes. The top end Apple TV 4K for example only has 64GB of storage, and the Nvidia Shield TV caps out at a paltry 16GB. The Apple TV would fit a few shows if you were willing to rotate them out, but wouldn’t be able to provide a “library” experience. The Shield supports external storage, but who wants an external HD or NAS taking up space on their…
> with a client on your streaming box like Plex, Kodi, Infuse, etc connecting to your server.
Never heard of Infuse but don't Plex and Kodi both contact the vendor's server? That is enough to make me not want to go anywhere near them. I do know there are home media center distros for the RPI and PC and they are supposedly nice. I'd be ok with using one in principle, but I haven't cared that much about media UI to bother. I just use command line mplayer on my laptop if I want to watch a video, and that's good enough for me. I can understand other people wanting a more TV-like experience, which is also fine.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#483Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was Samsung TVs that will automatically connect to any open Wifi nearby to get their ads updated, even if you tell it not to.
Really? Source? Which models? I just bought a Samsung 4K TV a month ago. I didn't connect it to wi-fi or do any setup. I just plugged my computer in. I have not seen any ads. It seems to work fine offline in all respects. If it actually did this I would definitely return the TV. In case it matters it was this Q60A "QLED" 43 inch 4K TV: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-43-class-q60a-series-ql...
Can't find a better source since the subreddit where I got the info is now private for some reason: https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/bpr6xs/if_you_choo...
Basically Samsung TVs at least used to grab any open Wifi to connect to if you don't provide them with credentials to your own. Also there is no way to fully disable the wifi.
The solution was to set the connection to manual configuration and set all addresses to 0.0.0.0.
Of course this is not an issue if the only network your TV can see is your own, more of a problem in apartments where there might be 20 wireless networks available at any time.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#484One thing that I end up relying on fairly often as part of my day job is Hotel Mode - https://factory-reset.com/wiki/Category:Hotel_Mode - most likely it will be of use to a lot of you who just want to lock the set to one particular input and have it function as a dumb monitor.
Give me a shout if anyone needs a hand accessing it - or wants to know what some of the set specific features are.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#485Earlier quoted context omitted.
But does digital signage have good panels like "real" TVs? Eg. the high end oleds with deep blacks and stuff?
It depends. I have an Iiyama 44” and the display, while nominally 4K, is noticeably not as good as a good 32” 4K monitor. It’s not really visible when watching video, but using it as an external display looks horrible close up. This is one of the ones with an android board in it, and if I did it again, I’d be getting someone sold as a computer monitor.
Of course a 44" panel doesn't look as good as a 32" one, it has lower pixel density. This has nothing to do with it having a bad panel.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#486What’s the difference between a “TV” and a “monitor”?
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#487Earlier quoted context omitted.
It depends. I have an Iiyama 44” and the display, while nominally 4K, is noticeably not as good as a good 32” 4K monitor. It’s not really visible when watching video, but using it as an external display looks horrible close up. This is one of the ones with an android board in it, and if I did it again, I’d be getting someone sold as a computer monitor.
Of course a 44" panel doesn't look as good as a 32" one, it has lower pixel density. This has nothing to do with it having a bad panel.
The pixel density difference is about 30%. With careful close observation, you can easily see the pixels in each one. The monitor has smooth solid colors. The Iiyama looks more like it's a native 1920px wide with some 'interesting' pixel layouts for more dynamic range. It looks like complete crap with things like window titles, the MacOS blue highlight, and other gradients.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#488Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not only this, but how long until they start including a cheap modem and paying for their own cellular connectivity?
Or they buy access to things like this: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?node=21328123011 No need to include a modem when your customer's neighbor has an internet-connected toaster within bluetooth range of the TV.
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#489All 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…
Smart TVs boot slower, display stupid elaborate graphics and menus when doing simple things, and have slow clunky UIs.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any 4K “dumb” televisions?
#490Earlier quoted context omitted.
Built-in cell modem that can only call home? Also, Amazon and other companies are building out networks of their wifi devices. I assume at some point they will start selling access to other companies. So, even if you decline to set up wifi, the appliance might be able to get online through your neighbor's doorbell.
> Built-in cell modem that can only call home? Doing that to get around a feature they put in themselves just seems like conspiracy theorizing at that point.
That's now how they will sell it. It will be about ease and convenience. Plug in the TV and it's ready to go! You don't have to go find your wifi password and type it in with the remote. Nobody likes to do that. It would be sold as something they do to make things easier for their customers.