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Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

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Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#51

Post by interpol_p »

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.

Interesting you mention that. My partner just bought a Samsung monitor and set it up in the house

Then she sat down nearby and used her iPhone. Immediately a message popped up on the monitor telling her it had detected her iPhone and did she want to set up some app or remote thing

It was incredibly creepy and I imagine it was implemented by scanning for nearby Bluetooth devices

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#52

Post by KennyBlanken »

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).

https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/if-you-choose-to-not-c...

https://web.archive.org/web/20190521054343/https://www.reddi...

The reason there are likely so few reports is because a)open wifi networks are very rare b)you can't really tell that the TV has done it, until it shows its hand (as in the case above, notifying the user that it auto-updated itself.)

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#54

Post by dataflow »

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…

> This is why consumer protection agencies are created by governments!

Enjoy them while they last (see Part III): https://www.natlawreview.com/article/fifth-circuit-decision-...

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#55

Post by ketralnis »

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.

Did you read the article? It doesn't talk about any of those things

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#56

Post by effingwewt »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #44
CoastalCoder wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No, they do not. The TVs and the appliances are garbage.

So garbage they still can't hire techs in LA. They pay you commission but only only on closed and profitable calls. They are almost never closed due to backorders of parts, especially boards, and especially now.

Samsung and LG are both the same garbage in different packages.

For TVs Id do your best to find a dumb one or use a monitor.

For applicances it depends but stay away from Maytag and Whirlpool and Kitchenaid. WP bought out maytag and now both are garbage. Speed Queen makes amazing washers and dryers, kitchen applicances I'd try and go with Subzero for refrigerators and freezers, and ranges don't really matter just stay away from induction heating and dual or cabinet-microwave ranges.

Just my $.02 after working on them and still being WP certified. IMO WP/Maytag and Amana are probably the worst. Samsung and LG not far behind, doubly so for their insane prices.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#57

Post by KennyBlanken »

Ocha wrote: post #13

Not surprised Samsung doing it. They consistently over promise and under deliver. I remember when buying their SSDs they promised support for HW encryption in future firmware update (Opal2/eDrive if I remember correctly) but they never actually delivered it. Since then I don’t trust anything Samsung promises or says.

They've been caught cheating on phone benchmarks, too.

They also hyped the hell out of Apple removing the headphone jack...and then did the same thing. Ditto for Apple removing the default charger; Samsung quietly followed suit not long after Apple.

The whole headphone jack thing is a joke. Just buy the sub-$10 Apple lighting or USB-C headphone adapter. An adapter that tests better than more than half of the "high end" "audiophile" DACs.

Mine now lives on the end of my one pair of wired headphones. It has been very rough, but somehow I have managed to persevere.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#58

Post by livueta »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #47
deadbunny wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Should be a fairly straightforward bit of airodump. Even if you don't capture the handshake, you can cross-reference the macs of stations associated with the AP of interest against the mac of your device. If the mac is randomized to a sufficient degree that you can't cross-reference it I guess you'd need to capture the association, but that shouldn't be a problem if you can turn the tv off/on and it does the thing consistently.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#59

Post by oxplot »

The problem is that none of these tests are regulatory tests. There is no approval process for monitor performance nor is there a penalty for not adhering to a standard (short of a class action suit). Heck, even when there was such a regulation, testing and penalty, VW saw fit to fake their diesel emission tests.

Re: Samsung Busted for Cheating TV Test Benchmarks

#60

Post by cesarb »

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…

> Well yes, but then you're basically buying an expensive monitor and will need a second device to be the "smarts".

If all you want is a TV (as in, connecting to an antenna and tuning to over-the-air channels), you don't need any "smarts".

(The main difference between a TV and a monitor is that a TV has a tuner, while a monitor doesn't.)

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