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I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

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Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#161

Post by darkteflon »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #105
sgtfrankieboy wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a 32" monitor is small for a TV? and a projector has tons of downsides? The solution is to buy a commercial TV used in retail environments.

> and a projector has tons of downsides? I'm not so sure. I've been using a projector as a TV for something like four years straight: no TV at home, only a projector. As a bonus the living room becomes a home cinema. I didn't see much downsides. Zero issue. No ads. Cheaper than a TV for a much wider diagonal and a more "cinema'ish" picture too (I hate it when movies look like cheap sitcoms on modern TVs). And as many…

> I hate it when movies look like cheap sitcoms on modern TVs

This really is the trope about LCD TVs that will not die. I blame the manufacturers.

Yes, it looks terrible. It’s called motion smoothing (or something like it) and it’s often switched on - for reasons I cannot possibly fathom - when TVs are in demo mode and/or in the showroom.

And it is absolutely trivial to disable. Most any modern TV is either fully capable of playing 24p / 30p and 60p at native frame rate, or playing 60p at native, 30p at half-rate and 24p at 3:2 pulldown, in each case without any interpolated frames muddying the native presentation. It looks perfectly great (while 3:2 pulldown is perceived as juddery by some, that’s an issue any projector incapable of either 120hz or native 24p would also share).

There are loads of legitimate reasons to prefer projectors over flat panels (and vice versa); motion smoothing is not one of them.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#162

Post by jason-phillips »

jmcphers wrote: post #125

I own this exact model -- the QN90A, though in a smaller size -- and have had exactly the same experience. The most maddening advertisement is the one that is forcibly inserted in the menu between the apps and the settings. Using the remote, you must literally click past an ad to switch inputs. You ... must ... click ... past ... an ... ad ... to ... switch ... inputs. Every time. Unbelievable for a TV that costs thi…

If only they could get access to the real estate inside your eyelids, just imagine the possibilities!

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#163

Post by cassianoleal »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #78
mikestew wrote: post #31

Just give me my Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO Max,... All of which are available on an AppleTV, and I assume other less-intrusive devices. TFA comes to that conclusion in the last paragraph, but just in case anyone didn't make it that far. And then, as everyone on this page is going to say, never let that TV anywhere near a network connection. Why anyone would go to the effort of dicking with a pi-hole cat-and-…

Why anyone would go to the effort of dicking with a pi-hole cat-and-mouse game is beyond me Fun way to pass the time for some folks, I assume.

Also the cat-and-mouse mostly happens at the block list level. I just set it up once and my LG TV never shows any ads.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#164

Post by owenwil »

warble wrote: post #152
sgtnoodle wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firmware updates may resolve HDMI compatibilities, though, and in my mind it's always worth the risk even if there's a 10% chance of improvement because HDMI reliability is terrible. When I mounted my TV, I embedded a single HDMI cable, a single cat5e cable, and a single optical cable in the wall. Conduit wasn't an option due to the age and construction of the wall, so changing it would require power tools and drywal…

Wow, never once ever had an issue with HDMI, although I only go 4K at most. I never even considered it a possibility.

I wish I was in your shoes! I also had no issues with HDMI until recent years--but HDMI-eARC is so buggy on Samsung TVs, especially when being used with surround sound or a sound bar. I had no problems before I moved to a surround system/beyond ARC, but with eARC I need to reboot the TV at the wall once every two weeks or it will "forget" it's plugged into a sound system, it's very annoying. It was far worse when I first got the TV and updates have improved it somewhat, but it's still very annoying. I don't hold out hope for Samsung updating the TV for much longer, my last one from them they abandoned it after the first year. :/

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#165

Post by kikokikokiko »

sliken wrote: post #56

Queue a zillion posts about wanting dumb TVs. My suggestion is buy a Roku, don't give the TV an IP address, and run Netflix, Amazon Prime, Plex, Hulu, and whatever you want out of one of the biggest channel catalogs out there on the Roku. It's way nicer remote, supports RF (so no pointing at the TV), and even supports using earphones (BT or wired from the remote).

Just plug your laptop to an HDMI port, and use a wireless mouse/keyboard set. I've been doing this for over 10 years, and since 2020 I'm also working from home. Nothing beats a 70 inch "display", my workspace never felt better than on my TV. Using the TV remote to consume content is soooo annoying, and not having the ability to block anything you want (i.e. using Ublock Origin) are absolute deal breakers to me. It surprises me that the average HN user doesn't do the same as I do. TVs are just glorified PC monitors, nothing more. No internet for them.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#166

Post by dn3500 »

cantrevealname wrote: post #35

The sentiment here on HN is to never connect the TV to the Internet and instead use a digital media player or external streaming device. I wholeheartedly agree. But then several people mentioned wanting to update the firmware. If you'll never connect it to the Internet, then you should never update the firmware either. It goes against conventional wisdom, but updating the firmware in this situation is more likely to…

I had a Panasonic TV about ten years ago that refused to play any content off my home server unless it could talk to its own servers over the internet first.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#167

Post by clouddrover »

cantrevealname wrote: post #35

The sentiment here on HN is to never connect the TV to the Internet and instead use a digital media player or external streaming device. I wholeheartedly agree. But then several people mentioned wanting to update the firmware. If you'll never connect it to the Internet, then you should never update the firmware either. It goes against conventional wisdom, but updating the firmware in this situation is more likely to…

> The sentiment here on HN is to never connect the TV to the Internet

Once 5G is cheap enough the TVs will come with built-in 5G in order to always be connected.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#168

Post by the_snooze »

reaperducer wrote: post #137
tenebrisalietum wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes me think this will never happen is that - Open Wi-Fi networks are a thing of the past. There hasn't been any around me in a residential area for a long time now. Businesses and workplace lobbies, more likely, though. - No one is going to just give Samsung free Internet except the hapless consumer by supplying Wi-Fi credentials. - Samsung might make a deal with providers, but it would have to have unique cr…

Open Wi-Fi networks are a thing of the past. I've been to two medical facilities and a large regional hospital in the last week where there were open wifi networks with no portals. My apartment building operates an open wifi network for guests so we don't have to bother giving out passwords to visitors. An airport I visited last month has wide open wifi. A see ads on transit buses all the time stating that the bus ha…

It's pretty common for public networks to still have a captive portal to get the user to view an ad or click "I agree" before actually granting full connectivity.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#169

Post by cassianoleal »

cgrealy wrote: post #159
jmcphers wrote: post #125

I own this exact model -- the QN90A, though in a smaller size -- and have had exactly the same experience. The most maddening advertisement is the one that is forcibly inserted in the menu between the apps and the settings. Using the remote, you must literally click past an ad to switch inputs. You ... must ... click ... past ... an ... ad ... to ... switch ... inputs. Every time. Unbelievable for a TV that costs thi…

Get an LG. Picture quality is just as good, and bugger all ads. I will never buy anything from Samsung ever again.

Likewise. I used to mostly buy Samsung. My latest TV was an LG OLED. Not only I find webOS infinitely more usable than anything I've seen on Samsung TVs, but the image quality is excellent and even the built-in speakers are acceptable after I disabled the crappy AI-assisted stuff that makes it all sound like it's reverberating in a dumpster.

Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content

#170

Post by vkou »

reaperducer wrote: post #137
tenebrisalietum wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes me think this will never happen is that - Open Wi-Fi networks are a thing of the past. There hasn't been any around me in a residential area for a long time now. Businesses and workplace lobbies, more likely, though. - No one is going to just give Samsung free Internet except the hapless consumer by supplying Wi-Fi credentials. - Samsung might make a deal with providers, but it would have to have unique cr…

Open Wi-Fi networks are a thing of the past. I've been to two medical facilities and a large regional hospital in the last week where there were open wifi networks with no portals. My apartment building operates an open wifi network for guests so we don't have to bother giving out passwords to visitors. An airport I visited last month has wide open wifi. A see ads on transit buses all the time stating that the bus ha…

It's a thing of the past in residential areas. There are ~80 wifi networks that I can detect from my apartment, and not a single one of them is open.
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