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

Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 413 posts

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#21

Post by Fezzik »

Shank wrote: post #5
jitl wrote: post #4

I’ve kept my Samsung offline since I purchased it in 2019. I’ve kept my LG offline since I purchased it in 2016. As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline. (I recommend LG over Samsung - Samsung TV has native undismissable ads from 2019 still)

> As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline. Do these TVs start up and boot directly into the selected input for something like an Apple TV, or do you have to go to extra hoops when it starts up to switch to your desired input? I'd actually be perfectly happy with a smart TV that's disconnected if it never throws its UI in my face wh…

On TCL panels (recommended in a separate comment) you can toggle/select what input the TV boots to and then you’re never bothered again.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#22

Post by jancsika »

giantg2 wrote: post #2

This has been brought up several times on here. Maybe you can use the search to find those similar questions. One of the suggestions I remember seeing is to buy a large display/monitor instead of a TV. I don't remember the specifics.

> Maybe you can use the search to find those similar questions.

But the answers are probably out of date by now.

E.g., my answer about buying a cheapo Spectre from Walmart-- that one has been out of stock for at least two of the several times this topic has been brought up now.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#23

Post by Matthias247 »

sathomasga wrote: post #15
donclark wrote: post #12

Or is there a process to turn a "smart tv" into a dumb tv? (per brand/make/model)

Don't give it WiFi credentials. (I've got a 5-year-old Samsung that's never connected to any network and it works fine.)

And don’t plug in an ethernet cable

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#24

Post by radley »

solardev wrote: post #8
Shank wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline. Do these TVs start up and boot directly into the selected input for something like an Apple TV, or do you have to go to extra hoops when it starts up to switch to your desired input? I'd actually be perfectly happy with a smart TV that's disconnected if it never throws its UI in my face wh…

My "smart" Vizio TV and LG projectors just go directly to the last active input (in my case a Google TV). I never even remember they have their own built-in smart OSes because I never see them. However, these days, most of the streaming sticks have their own shitty recommendations and ads anyway, so unless you're doing a self-hosted Plex box or something, expect ads. And then of course there are the actual streaming…

The Apple TV menu only shows preview cards for apps in the top row. Most apps show what you're currently watching, but other apps (Prime Video, ATV+, Twitch) will show promos instead. Best to move these apps to the right end of the top row, or down into the 2nd or 3rd row.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#25

Post by metadat »

jitl wrote: post #4

I’ve kept my Samsung offline since I purchased it in 2019. I’ve kept my LG offline since I purchased it in 2016. As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline. (I recommend LG over Samsung - Samsung TV has native undismissable ads from 2019 still)

+1, this is great advice.

I've been doing the same; get an AppleTV or GoogleTV dongle and never, ever attach the LG or Samshung TV to the network.

Benefits of this strategy:

* So simple, even non-savvy folks can follow the rule

* Protects your privacy

* Eliminates an unnecessary, highly invasive, and parasitic advertising vector (ads directly from LG or Samsung)

* Protects your TV performance and functionality from surprise degradation due to "updates"

I don't see any significant downsides compared to the upsides :)

It's unfortunate the manufacturers are in a position where such perverse anti-customer incentives exist.

All we really need and want is a great product crafted with love. What we got was a creepy spy box that eventually gets so slow it becomes unusable and worthless e-waste.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#26

Post by walrus01 »

Just don't ever give it the wifi password. Drive the TV from a PS4/PS4, xbox series X or home theatre PC. Use the youtube/netflix/amazon video/whatever client software on those platforms.

I have a thousand times more confidence that microsoft or sony will keep their operating system patched and free from zero days than some random OS on a TV. And at least they're big enough that their telemetry and data collection practices are documented.

Yes, it's true you can't get much use out of an xbox series x without an internet connection, but at least you know what you're getting yourself into in advance.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#27

Post by Beta-7 »

There are TVs, here most are Chinese white label brands, that instead of using Android TV just have a microcontroller running Android on it. In fact I've installed Android on a Raspberry pi and the experience was literally the same. There's no smart features unless you select the input to Smart TV (which i assume is some internal HDMI interface renamed to Smart TV on the UI)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#28

Post by Grazester »

sathomasga wrote: post #15
donclark wrote: post #12

Or is there a process to turn a "smart tv" into a dumb tv? (per brand/make/model)

Don't give it WiFi credentials. (I've got a 5-year-old Samsung that's never connected to any network and it works fine.)

One would think this would have been more obvious.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#29

Post by johannes1234321 »

sathomasga wrote: post #15
donclark wrote: post #12

Or is there a process to turn a "smart tv" into a dumb tv? (per brand/make/model)

Don't give it WiFi credentials. (I've got a 5-year-old Samsung that's never connected to any network and it works fine.)

How do you then get the software update, to fix buffer overflows while decoding the video stream?

(ok, most TV vendors won't bother to fix and most video sources ate somewhat trusatable not to exploit ... especially as an exploit can't do much unless it is connected to a network)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a TV on the market without “Smart TV” features?

#30

Post by walrus01 »

Fezzik wrote: post #19

Buy a TCL panel and never connect it to the internet. They are technically marketed as Smart TVs but there is no requirement that you connect them, and there are zero prompts or limits if you don’t. I’ve been using them for years and love them, primarily for the stupidly simple remotes and UI.

there's often a reason TCLs are very cheap, however, the 55" 4K for sale at costco for $280 right now is fine if you only ever use it in a dark room, but even when cranked up to 100% brightness is near unusable in a sunny room when a samsung at 70% brightness is just fine.
Post reply on HN