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It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

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Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#111
I haven't had a TV for 18 years. I used large monitors for a while, then when I moved 10 years ago I bought an 42" LG "digital signage" panel. They're the flat screens you'd see used for advertising, product display or notification in hotels, stores etc. They still sell them.

If I had to replace mine now, I'd probably get the 65UH5F-B, a 65" LED, 500 nits, 3840x2160, 60Hz, HDMI 3.0, DP, DVI, RS232, RJ45, IR.

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#112
post #103

For a tech periodical, this seems to be a stretch for content. Thirty seconds poking around the interwebs led me to this Samsung 65” 4K “digital signage” for $1125: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/displays/4k-uhd/qb-serie... 43, 50, 55, 75, and 85 also available. I assume that these are as good as or better than most people have in their homes (esp. with Vizio), but probably not as good as what home theater enthu…

I don’t know the answer but wonder if “digital signage” means it is more often viewed at a distance, and thus has lower quality control around say, dead pixels. Just a guess, but it seems like that could be true.

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#113
post #103

For a tech periodical, this seems to be a stretch for content. Thirty seconds poking around the interwebs led me to this Samsung 65” 4K “digital signage” for $1125: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/displays/4k-uhd/qb-serie... 43, 50, 55, 75, and 85 also available. I assume that these are as good as or better than most people have in their homes (esp. with Vizio), but probably not as good as what home theater enthu…

I think the digital signage ones are overkill for what a consumer needs because they’re meant to be left on for long periods of time. Maybe that makes them more expensive?

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#114
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GDPR requires consent, and no feature is allowed to be removed to coerce you into consent. So at least in the EU, there must be an option to switch off data transmissions.

i would imagine that watch-time of a show is not Personally Identifying Information, and thus do not require GDPR consent.

GDPR also regulates non PII, such as profiling.

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#115
post #103

For a tech periodical, this seems to be a stretch for content. Thirty seconds poking around the interwebs led me to this Samsung 65” 4K “digital signage” for $1125: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/displays/4k-uhd/qb-serie... 43, 50, 55, 75, and 85 also available. I assume that these are as good as or better than most people have in their homes (esp. with Vizio), but probably not as good as what home theater enthu…

They don't operate as TVs - no tuners - they are displays for content that is downloaded or streamed.

Yep, but if you want a tuner, you get a tuner. Most cable/satellite boxes handle everything for you. If you want a "dumb TV" digital signage is the way to go.

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#116
post #103

For a tech periodical, this seems to be a stretch for content. Thirty seconds poking around the interwebs led me to this Samsung 65” 4K “digital signage” for $1125: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/displays/4k-uhd/qb-serie... 43, 50, 55, 75, and 85 also available. I assume that these are as good as or better than most people have in their homes (esp. with Vizio), but probably not as good as what home theater enthu…

They don't operate as TVs - no tuners - they are displays for content that is downloaded or streamed.

A TV tuner can be plugged in, if it's even needed - the same channels will be available via e.g. in the UK case, the Sky box (cable tv) or BBC app (running on Chromecast or similar).

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#117
post #36
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The premium for a dumb TV screen is about 500-1000$ though. Are you ready to pay that? Because manufacturers will earn more than your 100$ with ads and all other smart features on you if they don't let you buy a dumb screen.

> Because manufacturers will earn more than your 100$ with ads and all other Is there any evidence that this is the case?

TFA provides the evidence that they profit more from this that from what they get from the hardware itself. So more than $400 over the tv's lifetime these days ?

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#118
post #103

For a tech periodical, this seems to be a stretch for content. Thirty seconds poking around the interwebs led me to this Samsung 65” 4K “digital signage” for $1125: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/displays/4k-uhd/qb-serie... 43, 50, 55, 75, and 85 also available. I assume that these are as good as or better than most people have in their homes (esp. with Vizio), but probably not as good as what home theater enthu…

They don't operate as TVs - no tuners - they are displays for content that is downloaded or streamed.

You are supposed to connect a dvb-t tuner to it, or maybe a chromecast if you want online content.

Re: It’s Still Stupidly, Difficult to Buy a ‘Dumb’ TV

#119
The reason why no one wants to buy “dumb” TV sets is because no one wants one.

Let’s face it, it’s not easy to connect a computer or get some set top box that is probably just as intrusive security-wise as a smart tv.

Sometimes we here on HN don’t think about the normal requirements of civilians.

And I’m saying this having bought a few TV sets recently. Both a dumb 1080p panel and 2 smart 4K tvs.

And yes it was extremely hard to find the dumb set in the store here. Almost don’t even bother looking online - it’s the same problems.

But in the end I’m using a Roku box which is no less intrusive than your typical smart set. So really we can’t win.

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