Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 197 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#61

Post by carlosjobim »

reaperducer wrote: post #39
gruez wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing out on resolution (4K) and picture quality (HDR, contrast ratios, color gamut) improvements by doing this.

You're missing out on resolution (4K) and picture quality (HDR, contrast ratios, color gamut) improvements by doing this. Not everyone suffers from FOMO. I've only seen one movie that was worth the bother and expense of seeing it in 4K (Rear Window). The rest of the things you mention are mostly for a very small slice of theoretical people with perfect vision in perfectly lit rooms at the perfect height and viewing a…

The OP is not asking for a TV to watch TV on, he's asking for a TV to use as a second monitor for his laptop. When it comes to computer interfaces, the difference between 4K and HD is enormous. Especially for text.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#62

Post by chatmasta »

Why does it need to be a TV? Why not a monitor? I don’t know why we even differentiate between the two of them these days… basically the only difference is that a TV might have an IR receiver for a remote.

I’d go with a basic monitor and factor out the “smart TV” into whatever device you prefer – Apple TV, Chromecast, Firestick, any SBC with Kodi loaded onto it… an Xbox… why couple the smart features to the display?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#63

Post by dreamcompiler »

chatmasta wrote: post #62

Why does it need to be a TV? Why not a monitor? I don’t know why we even differentiate between the two of them these days… basically the only difference is that a TV might have an IR receiver for a remote. I’d go with a basic monitor and factor out the “smart TV” into whatever device you prefer – Apple TV, Chromecast, Firestick, any SBC with Kodi loaded onto it… an Xbox… why couple the smart features to the display?

TVs are much cheaper than monitors. They are produced in larger numbers and their lower price is enabled by spying and advertising.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#64

Post by mmastrac »

paulgerhardt wrote: post #45

Do recommend the LG C series (C5 or C4 are new or the C1 series if you want a deal on classifieds - same hardware as the higher end models but needs a firmware bit flip). The OS is very rootable and it makes a great TV that doubles as a monitor. Supports free sync / g-sync. OLED is nice at this scale. Text is very readable, refresh rate is good. It uses the same panels as the fancier G series in the larger sizes. One…

I am curious if the Cx series has the same issue as my B2 where Dolby Vision (Atmos?) seems to kill the video processing circuitry and requires me to power-cycle it.

Apparently the only fix is to disable it in your source, but it works like 75% of the time and I'd hate to lose the excellent picture quality of Netflix and YouTube via Google TV.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#65

Post by robertakarobin »

chatmasta wrote: post #62

Why does it need to be a TV? Why not a monitor? I don’t know why we even differentiate between the two of them these days… basically the only difference is that a TV might have an IR receiver for a remote. I’d go with a basic monitor and factor out the “smart TV” into whatever device you prefer – Apple TV, Chromecast, Firestick, any SBC with Kodi loaded onto it… an Xbox… why couple the smart features to the display?

I had the same thought but found there are very few TV-size monitors on the market, and the ones there are cost an arm and a leg. There are also very few "dumb" TVs -- we finally got one by Insignia, Best Buy's store brand, which has been fine. If someone knows a better alternative please let me know!

Worth clarifying that when I was a kid "TV-size" meant anything above 13", but the times have changed considerably. :)

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#66

Post by hamdingers »

andrepd wrote: post #43
hamdingers wrote: post #20

For "fun and interesting" consider an LG WebOS TV. Many can be rooted[1] which allows installing a homebrew channel[2] of unauthorized apps or writing your own. I initially did it for Jellyfin before they made it into the official app store, but the Moonlight game streaming app has unlocked many hours of entertainment. 1. https://cani.rootmy.tv 2. https://www.webosbrew.org/

Unfortunately it still spies on you if you connect to the web :S I guess you can mitigate that if you use something like a pi-hole? I do wish there was a solution using root/devmode to block ads (or better yet, run in whitelist mode!).

You're correct on all points.

However, if you do have an pihole/adguard home, this list does get rid of all the ads: https://gist.github.com/d4kine/b2458cc9d693d7d36193be0247094...

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#67

Post by atmanactive »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #63
chatmasta wrote: post #62

Why does it need to be a TV? Why not a monitor? I don’t know why we even differentiate between the two of them these days… basically the only difference is that a TV might have an IR receiver for a remote. I’d go with a basic monitor and factor out the “smart TV” into whatever device you prefer – Apple TV, Chromecast, Firestick, any SBC with Kodi loaded onto it… an Xbox… why couple the smart features to the display?

TVs are much cheaper than monitors. They are produced in larger numbers and their lower price is enabled by spying and advertising.

Agree, but also, much worse image quality. Put a, for example 32" TV and a monitor one next to each other, set native resolution, put up a screen with a lot of text, and you'll see - the difference is night and day.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#68

Post by cheschire »

gruez wrote: post #19
RajT88 wrote: post #4

Craigslist an older 1080p TV. People are getting rid of old "dumb" TV's, and sometimes you can get them free. I see seemingly undamaged LCD TV's out by garbage bins all the time. I sourced one such a TV for my wife for $100 a few years ago to use as a monitor - works great. No apps or anything - dumb as they come.

You're missing out on resolution (4K) and picture quality (HDR, contrast ratios, color gamut) improvements by doing this.

HDR is a mixed bag on PCs, and 4K comes at a system performance cost. OP said this was intended to be a monitor.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#69

Post by Blackthorn »

Larrikin wrote: post #51
reaperducer wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing out on resolution (4K) and picture quality (HDR, contrast ratios, color gamut) improvements by doing this. Not everyone suffers from FOMO. I've only seen one movie that was worth the bother and expense of seeing it in 4K (Rear Window). The rest of the things you mention are mostly for a very small slice of theoretical people with perfect vision in perfectly lit rooms at the perfect height and viewing a…

Pretty sure I read this same comment when the transition from DVD to 1080p/Blu-ray occurred and people were updating their TVs.

The difference is the 4k content isn't available like the 1080p content was then. Streaming "4k" is a bad joke with its bitrates.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

#70

Post by bryceacc »

hamdingers wrote: post #20

For "fun and interesting" consider an LG WebOS TV. Many can be rooted[1] which allows installing a homebrew channel[2] of unauthorized apps or writing your own. I initially did it for Jellyfin before they made it into the official app store, but the Moonlight game streaming app has unlocked many hours of entertainment. 1. https://cani.rootmy.tv 2. https://www.webosbrew.org/

This is also the coolest thing you can do for a rooted webOS tv:

https://github.com/satgit62/How-to-Install-and-set-up-Ambili...

doesn't need to go through another device to capture the HDMI, it's built right in!

Post reply on HN