The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool • Hacker News Board

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#421

Post by spywaregorilla » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:12 PM UTC

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #408

spywaregorilla wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah these threads pop up on HN all the time and everyone starts talking about apple tv and roku whatever and I think they're all... pretty dumb. HDMI + Computer is just the best answer. Works in hotels just fine. I'm not aware of any smart TVs that push ads over your connected devices feed even if you do let them update for no good reason. Keyboard and mouse is better than remotes. Web search is the best search. You…

PC's are intentionally gimped to prevent trivial copyright infringement. Netflix forces you to use Edge on Windows or Safari on Firefox to stream in 4k because they integrate with the OS's DRM. HBO Max doesn't allow 4k at all on PC's but I think will at least do 1080p if you use an approved browser. I don't think Hulu will stream anything higher than 720p regardless of which browser you use. Disney+ is the same. Good…

I think a pleasant user experience in 1080p is a great deal personally.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#422

Post by andsoitis » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:12 PM UTC

ericmay wrote: post #253

Karsteski wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Words have meaning. I despise the insertion of ads in every form of media, but it is not violence. That's just silly.

We have precedent for mental and emotional harm. I'd argue that invasive advertisements including but not limited to ads that make you remember catchy jingles, billboards on highways, ads that specifically target you based on profiling ("addictive") etc. are or can be emotional and mental harm. Ever hear the phrase "stuck in my head"? This happens with commercial jingles all the time. What if I don't want it to be st…

If you truly believed that words can be violence, then logically you condone a physical response (eg hitting, shooting, etc.) to said verbal violence?

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#423

Post by pkroll » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:23 PM UTC

Aloha wrote: post #386

SayMyName wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can still get cheap ones. And by cheap I mean TLC/Hisense level quality displays. Walmart sells Sceptre's for low prices and have no smart features, best purchase I've made in years. We use a lot of Rokus here and my issue isn't the ads, its that every Roku built-in TV gets REALLY slow after a few updates, so now it's just easier to chuck a $20-30 device instead of having to buy an entire $300+TV. Sure I don't ge…

I dont like 120Hz refresh, it looks weird. I see it a whole lot on bad 4k transfers of older movies, they're either doing a 3:2 pulldown or something else to up convert the scan rate, but no matter what it is, it makes the motion look weird and excessively fluid.

3:2 pulldown is taking 24fps film and making it work in 29.97fps TV video, generally with a couple interlaced frames. If you're seeing something "excessively fluid" the TV is interpolating frames. Which I love: 24fps needs to die. But a 120Hz refresh TV can also display 24 fps exactly, by showing the same frame 5 times, if the manufacturer has provided such a mode. 60Hz TVs cannot display 24fps without judder or interlacing

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#424

Post by jayd16 » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:24 PM UTC

drcongo wrote: post #365

scarface74 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t buy hardware from an ad company - problem solved. Why do you think Google got into the TV streaming business?

The first time I saw a TV advertised with Google as the OS I laughed out loud thinking "who in their right mind would buy that?!", but then again, quite a lot of people buy a phone with it so I guess there's enough people out there who simply don't understand why it's problematic.

>who simply don't understand

Most likely they do and their pros/cons calculation is just different from yours.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#425

Post by jandrese » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:24 PM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #228

xoa wrote: post #87

FWIW, it is still possible to get TVs without this stuff, albeit at a premium. TVs are still made for business usage in areas like conference rooms, wall displays etc. They're often found under labeling like "commercial digital signage" or "business display" or the like, they seem to often try to avoid using "TV" (if being cynical maybe to make them harder for normal people to discover and confuse them if they do). B…

OMG it has a carrier board for an RPi Compute Module built in: https://i.imgur.com/D3p8bCA.png That's amazing!

Wasn't the RPi hardware originally developed for a STB before being sold separately? Seems like it should be well suited for the task.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#426

Post by BozeWolf » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:25 PM UTC

nsgi wrote: post #340

xoa wrote: post #87

FWIW, it is still possible to get TVs without this stuff, albeit at a premium. TVs are still made for business usage in areas like conference rooms, wall displays etc. They're often found under labeling like "commercial digital signage" or "business display" or the like, they seem to often try to avoid using "TV" (if being cynical maybe to make them harder for normal people to discover and confuse them if they do). B…

Which brands of smart TV show ads? I live in the UK and I've had three different brands of smart TV (Philips, Samsung and Toshiba) and my experience with all of them has been pretty good. Netflix, YouTube, etc. have worked pretty well and I haven't seen any ads that weren't linked to the apps themselves. Perhaps they're tracking me in ways I don't know about, though?

Samsung frame. Hardware: It has physical netflix, prime, somethingelse buttons which immediately switch to that app without asking if you want to close the current app. Frustrating when you accidentally sit on your remote. So i modified my remote, put tape underneath the buttons to disable them.

Software: In menu ads, sometimes, for some crap thing like tennistv. I have no idea how to disable it.

The fucking frame store is inbetween apps and starting point of the menu. Alyways need to do 4 (or 5, depending on ad) times to the right before being able to run the app you want.

It started playing samsung tv. After a week. I hate tv. Took me a day to get annoyed enough and then spend an hour to disable the shouting XL Americans.

So, typical Samsung. Software ux just sucks. Luckily a tv is mostly turned off* and that is why I bought it; hardware looks great when it’s off.

*off: it always switches to the frame mode. It is a laughable gimmick. Ever seen a painting giving light? You cannot disable it (i assumed it was possible). Long-hold power off to turn the tv off. Else frame mode. Sucks.

We need to save energy here in Europe. @Samsung: please fix it.

I thought i would not use thr smart functions, but I use it a lot. Tune-in radio and spotify work great. Also a lot of youtube and national tv app are pretty good. Airplay works fine too.

Recommend it? No. Happy with it… just enough to not return it.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#427

Post by jayd16 » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:25 PM UTC

DethNinja wrote: post #6

There is a much better option for HN crowd: Buy a large/modern computer monitor and connect it to your homelab’s media server. Literally there is no need for a smart TV so long as you are capable of setting up a small homelab.

Who's making 65" 4k OLED monitors?

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#428

Post by jayd16 » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:27 PM UTC

bilekas wrote: post #29

Gigachad wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d honestly rather watch adverts than have to run a home server again.

Controversial .. Would you care to expand on that ? I don't know anyone who would prefer to see adverts compared to plugging in a NAS / DLNA ? These days there is nothing more than plug and play..

Its not about what it takes to do it yourself, its about the upkeep required to keep the family happily using it.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#429

Post by CivBase » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:28 PM UTC

Is there anything holding back an OpenWrt-style project for TVs? I can imagine something like that becoming popular among hacking communities if TV manufacturers ever resort to installing SIM cards.

For now I just don't connect my TV to the internet and it works just fine. My laptop, an HDMI cord, and a Logitech K400+ makes for a much better experience than any smart TV interface.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#430

Post by jayd16 » Mon, Aug 22, 2022, 5:28 PM UTC

noisy_boy wrote: post #95

scarface74 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where can I get a 65 inch computer monitor? I’ve done the homelab media server. I did my first one back in 2006 with a Mac Mini running Front Row. But this is 2022. If you want a set top box without tracking, just buy an AppleTV. It cost more because Apple makes money off of hardware and not advertising. Yes I know the reports about Apple getting even deeper into advertising. Yes it saddens me.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-75-4k-interactive-touch... Not cheap though.

Touch screen? Probably looks like crap considering picture quality is not the primary concern.