I have this Sony TV and it can be used cleanly without any Smart features or connecting it to the Internet. I turn it on, use the "input" button on remote control to switch between different HDMI ports and that's it. Haven't been exposed to any Smart features, nags, etc. for as long as I remember.
Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
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Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#52I’ve kept my Samsung offline since I purchased it in 2019. I’ve kept my LG offline since I purchased it in 2016. As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline. (I recommend LG over Samsung - Samsung TV has native undismissable ads from 2019 still)
I did this with my LG TV as well. What ads do you refer to on Samsung though? I dont recall any ads on my Samsung. I have my Samsung hooked up to the internet until I buy a second Apple TV device.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Just don't ever give it the wifi password This works for now but Amazon is already working on a way to share messages from devices through echo dots etc in the area. Even your neighbors'. It's intended precisely for this purpose :( To capture days from those trying to stay under the radar. It's called sidewalk.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the next iteration of TVs will take ads over a data signal over OTA deals with TV stations and display localized ads in programming and in their apps.
It's possible but it would be one way in most locations. But yeah I'm sure it'll be possible. I have it on my list to look for ways to block Amazon sidewalk by the way.
Personally I don't even have cable TV. I never watch live TV anymore. I get all my news from the web (I never liked watching TV for it) and shows I just download or stream.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't give it WiFi credentials. (I've got a 5-year-old Samsung that's never connected to any network and it works fine.)
How do you then get the software update, to fix buffer overflows while decoding the video stream? (ok, most TV vendors won't bother to fix and most video sources ate somewhat trusatable not to exploit ... especially as an exploit can't do much unless it is connected to a network)
> How do you then get the software update
Some of them allow updates via USB stick.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#55I have a TCL with Roku that I was able to turn into a dumb display for my AppleTV
Turned off networking and did factory reset
The biggest annoyance was the Roku “smart” remote needing new batteries every couple of weeks
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#56Get a nice Gaming monitor that doesn't do much other than display usually and have built in speakers usually.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#57https://www.newegg.com/Commercial-TVs/SubCategory/ID-3672
Try this. You’ll likely pay more but your TV won’t be subsidized by ads and such.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#58I’ve kept my Samsung offline since I purchased it in 2019. I’ve kept my LG offline since I purchased it in 2016. As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline. (I recommend LG over Samsung - Samsung TV has native undismissable ads from 2019 still)
Maybe I'm being a bit cynical but given that there are data channels provided by some HDMI cables/endpoints - do we know that for example the Apple TV cannot support an Ethernet-over-HDMI connection or that if it could support it, it's configured by default not to route traffic to/from this port?
I think this feature was a commercial failure so hopefully it's universally unsupported.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#59I'm in the process of looking for a good 4k TV. I'm not worried about the smart features in the TV. I plan on using an outboard device to control the TV. In my case, a Chromecast. If I don't put the smart TV on my network, it can't phone home. Of course Google knows what I watch. But if I were more paranoid, I could put a DVD player and OTA antenna on the TV and still not network it.
Because many users will hook up their smart TV, the makers of those sets get subsidized, in the same way bloatware end up on Windows laptops and non-Pixel Androids. I'll take the w re the price.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?
#60It's one of the things that doesn't make sense anymore, like cars with manual transmission. Smarts in smart TV might cost $25 per unit, but OEMs get paid for streaming service placements on remote / home screen and a cut of revenue if users sign up. Even without streaming functionality, TV would still need some smarts to display tuner/inputs/settings UI and it's cheaper to develop Android apps than go custom route. P…
TIL most car in my country doesn't make any sense :P
Like it or not, it is true. As reliability and performance of automatics gets better and the gas mileage is now also on par and the cost to produce an automatic is reduced by economies of scale, manual transmissions are going by way of horse and buggies. It’s not everywhere but it will be.
Also consider that EVs have different requirements for their transmissions than ICE vehicles and there are no EVs with manual transmissions as far as I know at all.