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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?

#121
This is why large monitors are so expensive, because they aren't subsidized by the ads large TVs force upon their users for the most basic usage.

But if you can afford it, there are 40+" 4k and 8k monitors to which you can plug AppleTV/Chromecast/a small PC with a budget discrete graphics card. Or you can get a conference projector if no monitor on the market meets your size needs.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#125
post #4

I’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.

It's hard to find definitive information on this, but from what I can recall I don't think Samsung actually rolled out the current ad platform until mid-2019, and only in certain regions. So you might have been spared if you never updated your firmware or were in a region with no Samsung ad sales channel.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#126
post #114
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These products are designed not to rely upon DNS to serve the ad content, though.

If true, this is an excellent chance for white hat flooding. Knock, and keep that ip offline. With no way to change locationation(DNS), their little ad sceme won't work. Even better if it makes companies shy about using such methods.

> white hat flooding

Very curious definition of “white hat” you have

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#127
post #55

I 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

A thing they seem to go out of their way to hide:

TCL + Roku TVs (and probably other models?) have one physical button that you can use to turn on and off and change inputs. It's well-hidden, under the center logo.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#128

Yes! I’ve bought many for my old work as we don’t allow smart tvs. I bought the Panasonics and never had any issues. https://na.panasonic.com/us/audio-video-solutions/profession... Im sure there are other companies. Im on my phone so can’t research. Look for “digital displays” instead of tv. Good luck!

I know them as 'digital signage' or 'hospitality tvs' and they do work for their intended use. But they're usually a lot more expensive than their consumer counterparts? My guess is they are either heavily subsidized and/or built to be powered ON 24/7?

DS displays are built better, yes (usually, they get the top yield of panels with the target resolution and in outdoor cases also stronger background lighting). The real difference however is the explicit guarantee that there will be support and spare parts available for anything from 5-10 years or that there will be at least a mounting-compatible successor model.

Since noise is usually not a factor to be considered, they are also usually built with much bigger temperature profiles in mind than your consumer indoor TV (e.g. by using cooling fans or heating elements) so they can work just as well in -20 °C in the winter or at 80 °C in the summer heat.

Also, some of these offer features that consumer displays do not offer:

- YUV or SDI inputs

- RS232 remote control / status monitoring

- especially in zero-bezel modules: support for grid processing. Basically you have a HDMI/DVI/SDI input and a loop output, and you daisy-chain the whole bunch of displays. Then you tell each of them to slice and upscale just a specific part of the picture.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#129
A TV is just a monitor with a TV tuner. Right now, TV tuners and smart features are almost universally found together. But if you are using an external video source (especially if it's not OTA tv in the first place, so you don't need a tuner), you can just use a monitor (or “commercial display”), instead of a “TV”.
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