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Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

arstechnica.com

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Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#441

Post by bookofjoe »

wltr wrote: post #329
PaulHoule wrote: post #112

As a Plex user I'd recommend a used last-gen game console as a TV source. In my AV room upstairs I've had an XBOX ONE S for a long time and more recently I got a PS4 Pro for the spare room downstairs -- both at Gamestop. I have some games for both of them but I am more likely to game on Steam, Steam Deck or mobile. Every Android-based media player I've had tried just plain sucks, the NVIDIA Shield wasn't too bad but…

Do you mind elaborating on plasmas? I have entirely missed this technology, and wonder what’s about it.

I paid $5,000 in 2007 for the best TV you could buy at the time: Pioneer Kuro Elite 50” 1080p plasma. I’m still using it as my only TV. For the past 5 years I’ve been looking to upgrade/replace it with a state-of-the-art top-of-the-line 4k OLED/micro-OLED/quantum dot/etc. — but when I go to look at current screens, none match the almost 3D depth and beauty of my plasma display. So, I’m patiently waiting for my 18-year-old TV to stop working — but much to my amazement it’s never ever needed service! Edit: Smart TVs appeared in 2007-8; mine did not offer this “feature.”

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#442

Post by gosub100 »

taxmeifyoucan wrote: post #101

For a hacker news article, it misses the crucial option - hacking a smart TV! I have LG OLED jailbroken using rootmy.tv, it was pretty trivial. It's basically a linux computer with a huge screen, you can customize it, SSH into it, map any commands to the remote, etc. Before I only used monitor, simple DP/HDMI input is all I wanted. But being able to take full control of the tv and connect it with other devices in the…

I have a no-name brand smart tv and it runs an OS called Tizen, and with a very little bit of googling, you can enable developer mode and install 3rd party apps on it. It probably doesn't solve the "spying-on-you" part, but it is nice to have the option of more apps.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#443

Post by orangecat »

haarolean wrote: post #376
djoldman wrote: post #337

For the tech-savvy, I'm not too worried about smart TVs. I just do this: > If you want premium image quality or sound, you’re better off using a smart TV offline. In the future, if they add e-sims, we'll just remove them or de-solder or whatever. The real risk is cars: if they start not working without cell network connections.

ha good luck. they already aggressively scan and use public wi-fi networks and have everything shipped on a chonky SoC

they already aggressively scan and use public wi-fi networks

This is commonly repeated and but as far as I can tell nobody has actually demonstrated it.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#444

Post by gosub100 »

jader201 wrote: post #395
ranguna wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you can make it a PC and then turn it off, I guess. Then let the rest of us have all the fun.

It sounds like you still want a smart TV, just with control. Which is fine. But for many people, we just want a monitor, maybe with speakers (I personally am fine also separating this). I prefer separation of concerns — if I want to attach a computer to my TV, I’ll do that as a search device. Why have a dependency on the TV hardware, when I can attach upgradable parts?

Because if you own a TV manufacturing company, you can sell more TVs if they have more features. You can get more features by including a linux SBC and integrating it. In fact, some of the paid-app makers will even _pay you_ for this "real estate". You could make a dumb-tv, but you wouldn't sell as many and you would have to charge more.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#445

Post by vitaflo »

PaulHoule wrote: post #366
wltr wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind elaborating on plasmas? I have entirely missed this technology, and wonder what’s about it.

Deep blacks, smooth motion, wide viewing angle. Most people would say OLEDs are better, but some still say the motion is smoother on plasmas.

Motion is 100% better on Plasma because OLED's are just a stuttering mess at 24p because of instant response time. People love OLED blacks but the stuttering makes all of them look like total ass.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#447

Post by ori_b »

broof wrote: post #416
ori_b wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That still gives money to the people producing this garbage.

I don’t know the finances, but I wouldn’t be surprised if their margins are low enough that their profit comes from advertising and data gathering post sale. So all this bloatware and advertising is subsidizing a high quality product and if you can strip out the unwanted stuff you’re probably getting a good deal at the expense of the company

You're showing the company that shoving advertising and data gathering into products will help them make products that sell.

What you buy is what companies put out into the world.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#448

Post by orangecat »

nottorp wrote: post #334
allarm wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please provide a specific example of a tv that does that, or stop spreading misinformation.

I was just extrapolating. Why wouldn't a "smart" device connect to any wifi it has credentials for, and why wouldn't the implementation consider "has credentials" to include "it doesn't need any"? But now I wonder why your aggressivity sounds so defensive.

Why wouldn't a "smart" device connect to any wifi it has credentials for, and why wouldn't the implementation consider "has credentials" to include "it doesn't need any"?

Practically because lots of "open" wifi networks have captive portals that don't actually get you Internet access without further action, and legally because using random networks without user confirmation is rather dodgy.

But now I wonder why your aggressivity sounds so defensive.

It's an urban legend that people keep repeating, and nobody can ever point to a specific case of it happening. It would be extremely easy to demonstrate: set up an open network, take a new or factory-reset TV, and wait.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#449

Post by aprilnya »

robmsmt wrote: post #178
mrandish wrote: post #154

If you already have a "smart TV" of some kind, one strategy is to block it from having Internet access at your router and then use an Android TV based streaming box/stick or other external source for all content (OTA tuner, 4K Blu-Ray player, game console, etc). It's pretty easy to side load apps like Kodi and SmartTube on Android TV (a YouTube client with ad blocking, other features and zillion UX improvements).

What’s wrong with never configuring the WiFi for it?

Connecting it to Wifi means you can use Airplay, Chromecast, Miracast..

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#450

Post by mattacular »

1. buy any model that meets your specs (i like TCL)

2. setup a one time use wifi network with randomized SSID and password (hotspot from your phone works well)

3. connect your tv to it and update to latest software

4. delete the wifi config and reset that network (roll to new SSID and password)

5. connect an apple tv set top box and never use any of the tv features ever again

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