Some years ago I sold my TV because of its annoying UI and ads. I use a large PC monitor instead to watch stuff.
Went back to pirating everything so I dont have to worry about whatever DRM garbage comes next or ads or streaming subscriptions etc.
Zero regret. I waste way less time consuming media in general. I watch more youtube (with ad block and sponsor block ofc) and I go more to the cinema (expensive but I enjoy it way more than a streaming subscription).
I buy merchandise form stuff I like and I go to concerts if possible and that's it.
I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
191–200 of 398 posts
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people do that to use integrated streaming apps. This is less expensive than buying an Apple TV/Chromecast
$3k on a TV but won't spend an extra $50 on a Chromecast?
It's not just the money. I bought a new LG OLED last year. I didn't care that it had integrated Netflix, YouTube, whatever because I had a chromecast.
But the experience of using the integrated apps is just better. It all just works out of the box, there are basically no ads (some "recommended content", but it's pretty unobtrusive) and I don't need to use my phone or worry about why youtube or netflix have randomly decided not to see the chromecast.
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#193Just 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-…
", does anyone seriously think that using the duplicate app on the Samsung is going to be anywhere nearly as pleasant a UX as the AppleTV?" I in general think the Apple UX experience is pretty awful across all their products with Apple TV being the worse of all. I have used the Samsung interface and it is bad but I still dislike the Apple TV more.
I can't really imagine what you believe is so bad about the Apple TV UX. It's a basic grid of available apps and videos, with an easy swipe to access video settings (subtitles, language, etc). Not complicated at all.
Most streaming boxes have the same basic interface... my usual issue is when one is laggy (e.g. TV built-in, Roku, Chromecast, etc). The Apple TV is buttery smooth, fast to scrub through videos, and never feels limited by its CPU.
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#194Dumb question - How does one go about (cost effectively) getting just a monitor that has: * Same size/resolution range as the comparable TV * Same price range as the comparable TV * X display ports (combination of hdmi, usb, etc) * Wifi (and bluetooth too?) * Audio + ports * Fine infra-red too for remotes * Other absoulute hardware essentials i might have missed Absolutely no inbuilt players or software or bloatware…
The magic words you are looking for here is 'commercial display' and it will always cost more than a comparable sized TV -- smaller volume of production & sales and the manufacturer is forgoing the revenue stream all of that adware and crapware on the standard TV offers them. It may have audio ports but is unlikely to have more than toy speakers because a commercial installation knows to keep the audio and video separated.
tl;dr you can get something close to what you want but you are going to pay 2X or more for the unit compared to a similarly sized TV.
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#195Seems like there's a market here for a relatively bare-bones high quality TV. Someone could probably start a small manufacturing business around that.
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
You sound like somebody going on about how vinyl is better than CDs. Sure, projectors give you that "authentic" cinema look, in the sense of bad color reproduction, especially being unable to show dark blacks like OLEDs can. The "cheap sitcom" look is objectively better. With the right filters you can reproduce the cinema look; but nobody who isn't already used to it would want to to that, unless you are going for a…
The "cheap sitcom" look is objectively worse, but it can be disabled on every TV I've encountered so far. If I bought a TV that didn't allow me to disable it I'd return it as defective.
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Obviously most users won't be able to do this, but this is exactly the type of reason I use OpenWRT on my RPi-based router. I have a firewall rule that prevents the TV from communicating with anything in the WAN zone. I can still have the TV on the Wi-Fi and still use features like Airplay. I disable the firewall rule if I want to try updating the TV firmware.
That breaks the built in chromecast, right (since the TV is the one fetching the stream), but I suppose you could plug in a regular chromecast dongle if that matters to you.
So... do all that work so that you can send all your shit to Google instead of Samsung?
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is good advice. I kept my 4k Vizio offline until updating the firmware on a whim. The update broke the ability to run 1080p@60hz from my PC, making it effectively useless for normal use. The annoying part about the panel is that it was advertised as 4k but only works at 30hz at that resolution. Cheap, so should have figured.
It might be supported but non obvious, some TVs only support 4k60 through one of the HDMI ports. It could also be a cable issue, although I believe the option usually shows up on cables that dont support it and only fails once you try to switch.
New cable, tried both ports. The update was the only x-factor.
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
> things like input switching are part of the TV OS As opposed to what? On my LG there's a button for input switching that does only that. It's part of the OS but I don't see how it could be more convenient.
Something like input switching should operate below the OS.
What am I missing? What's wrong with input switching being made at the OS level?
Re: I spent $3k on a Samsung Smart TV and all I got were ads and unwanted content
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Samsung (Dacor) discloses this behavior in their fridge manual; it says it will mesh with Samsung TVs to better target ads. ...seriously? ...we collectively did this to ourselves. We live in the science fiction dystopian future we deserve.
You know all those stories about weird little shops run by suspicious characters but filled with incredible items that end up being cursed. That's every single shop right now. All of our technology is cursed. They will bring you great things, as promised, but always at some hidden price because those items exist to serve a dark master.
> serve a dark master.
They're not in the necromancy business.
Yet.