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Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

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Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#41

Post by deadbunny »

Geonode wrote: post #38
interpol_p wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never allow a TV or monitor to connect to your Wi-Fi network and you'll be able to avoid these two issues

Every thread dozens of people say, "just don't connect!" They can connect to open networks such as Amazon sidewalk and other deliberate corporate IoT sabotage, and soon I'm sure we'll see the first televisions that require connection to even pass a signal from the HDMI port. The best thing to do is not support this immoral garbage through apathy or ignorance.

And every thread says they can connect to open WiFi without providing any proof that they do. It would be trivial to test and prove but no-one ever does.

I'm not saying they wouldn't do it but I'd prefer some proof before judging them (without having to shell out to be the guinea pig).

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#42

Post by throwaway81523 »

prawn wrote: post #27
throwaway81523 wrote: post #18

The whole concept of benchmarking a TV set sounds like something from a dystopian science fiction milieu.

Why's that? Wouldn't there be practical things to measure like picture quality, colour consistency, power usage, speaker quality, etc?

That stuff is measurement and is great, but "benchmarking" = measuring performance of features that don't belong in TV's.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#43

Post by prawn »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #42
prawn wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why's that? Wouldn't there be practical things to measure like picture quality, colour consistency, power usage, speaker quality, etc?

That stuff is measurement and is great, but "benchmarking" = measuring performance of features that don't belong in TV's.

I'm not following. The article talks about benchmarking "display brightness, quality, power consumption", and the cheating relates to peak luminance. Aren't they pretty normal features for TVs?

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#44

Post by lern_too_spel »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #39
icod wrote: post #26

I'm totally done with Samsung. Their TVs are overpriced and bad, their phones add undeletable bloatware, remove useful stuff like headphone/mic jack, have low battery life and capacity and they force you to buy the flagship model, if you don't you'll receive a really small battery that even in the flagship model is not large enough. If you don't buy Galaxy series you won't even be able to mirror output via USB. And s…

Many of us share your distaste for the issues your mentioned. The challenge is finding better alternatives. Do you have any recommendations?

LG makea better TVs, appliances, phones, everything.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#45

Post by JoshTriplett »

saxonww wrote: post #24
haunter wrote: post #2

Never stop recommending https://www.rtings.com/ They cover more and more gadgets but they still do the best TV reviews

It's a good site, but be aware that they don't cover all the TV brands on the market. I don't see Philips or Panasonic on there, for example. The site is based in Quebec and I wonder if they are only reviewing sets that are available in Canada.

Part of how they choose devices to cover (apart from popularity) is by request; if people asked them to cover those brands they likely would.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#46

Post by TaylorAlexander »

mgraczyk wrote: post #21
jreese wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the best parts of being happy at a "terminal level" in FAANG is that I can easily pick what I work on for best impact on the teams around me (and the engineering org as a whole) without worrying about chasing a promotion. I know the levers I can pull to get a higher perf rating here and there, but I'm also free to focus on the "papercuts" knowing that I'm not sacrificing future promotions, because I just don't…

But then you get paid less money.

As someone who left one of these big companies to earn under $100k/yr doing something I absolutely love (and working a relaxed number of hours), making less money is not the only thing to strive for. At least, not for everyone.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#47

Post by DiggyJohnson »

deadbunny wrote: post #41
Geonode wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every thread dozens of people say, "just don't connect!" They can connect to open networks such as Amazon sidewalk and other deliberate corporate IoT sabotage, and soon I'm sure we'll see the first televisions that require connection to even pass a signal from the HDMI port. The best thing to do is not support this immoral garbage through apathy or ignorance.

And every thread says they can connect to open WiFi without providing any proof that they do. It would be trivial to test and prove but no-one ever does. I'm not saying they wouldn't do it but I'd prefer some proof before judging them (without having to shell out to be the guinea pig).

What would be the proper way to test this?

Wireless networking is something I usually avoid in a technical capacity, but this seems like something worth messing around with (and reporting back on).

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#48

Post by mgraczyk »

jiggawatts wrote: post #31

Every time this comes up I feel obligated to add the following: 1) Samsung televisions spy on your mercilessly . They collect everything they can, including screenshots at regular intervals and send them back to Samsung so that they can sell this to "partners". They are not a FAANG and don't have anywhere near their level of security expertise. I have second-hand but reliable information about their security approach…

I have a QN90A, the ads are annoying but it's fine and it's a great TV overall. It's basically just a tiny banner ad at the bottom right of the home screen. Personally I take much bigger risks day to day by doing things like biking to work, so I'm okay with the risk of my TV sending data back to advertisers.

BTW, I'm pretty sure the only Samsung TVs that are five figures are the 98" beasts. My 75" QN90A was $1600, and the middle tier models are much cheaper and look great.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#49

Post by Dylan16807 »

prawn wrote: post #43
throwaway81523 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That stuff is measurement and is great, but "benchmarking" = measuring performance of features that don't belong in TV's.

I'm not following. The article talks about benchmarking "display brightness, quality, power consumption", and the cheating relates to peak luminance. Aren't they pretty normal features for TVs?

Response time is also very commonly benchmarked, and also belongs in TVs.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#50

Post by interpol_p »

jiggawatts wrote: post #34
interpol_p wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never allow a TV or monitor to connect to your Wi-Fi network and you'll be able to avoid these two issues

Well yes, but then you're basically buying an expensive monitor and will need a second device to be the "smarts". I personally use an Apple TV for this, but in general this can be frustrating for users that just want their Smart TV to work without spying on them or implementing centrally triggered scheduled obsolescence. This is a bit like saying you should "never" turn on your new car's engine and should immediately…

Exactly. I purchase an Apple TV for each screen in the house, whether that screen is dumb or smart. Actually, I have three screens and two Apple TVs, so for movie nights I move one Apple TV over to the projector so we can watch a movie there (Apple TVs are expensive!)

I also had a Fire Stick and a Roku but refused to keep using them after reading their privacy policies (their UIs are also complete and utter trash, they are so terrible compared to Apple TV)

I think the advice to never allow a screen to connect to Wi-Fi is reasonable, and I tell my family the same. In the past I have give them old Apple TVs or help them set one up to ensure that they are not allowing spyware on their network

Agreed that this needs to be handled by government, as the level of data abuse by these companies is unacceptable

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