Have a regular PC hooked up to the TV. That's my smart machine. I control every aspect of it. Fuck Smart TVs.
Raspberry pi with Kodi hooked up to a projector and a NAS serving files works well for me.
When I completely replaced my PC, I intended to use my old PC as a media box. But in reality, I've basically used my Chromecast for everything. One of these days I'll probably want to watch something that isn't on one of my streaming sites, but I've been surprisingly resistant to that so far.
Chromecast is the ideal smart device so far, for me. No ads or anything. I use my phone as a remote and basically every video app supports it easily. Open app, press cast, select what I want to play. Exactly what a smart TV should have been like.
What type of Chromecast do you use? I recently bought a Chromecast Ultra for a new TV after being happy with a secondhand one for years (3rd gen, I think). The difference in UI was such a disappointing step down. I don't want a home screen with apps and ads, I just want something I can stream to from my phone! And I can't say for certain, but it also feels like I get more ads on YouTube compared to using the older Chromecast.
My only beef with Chromecast is I feel like they are designed to die after 2 years. I've gone through three now; it always seems like right around the 2-year mark, it starts having issues staying connected to the network. But I keep buying them because, like you said, it's basically the ideal smart device.
You are better off sticking with the Chromecast and setting up the old pc as a Jellyfin/Plex/Emby server with a playback app on the Chromecast. You can even run a pi-hole on it too.
this has been an absolute game changer for me. i run an HDMI thru OBS so if i'm watching sports, i can crop out the distracting awful score ticker / now permanent ad space. and an even bigger game changer, i got a USB foot switch that i set as the mute keystroke, so instead of scrambling to hit the right key or find the remote while i'm busy, i can just stomp on the pedal to mute. it's bliss.
That sounds wonderful especially the mute if you actually have a peddle connected just for that.
Careful though, some smart TVs actually list in the ToS where they'll take screen captures of what you're watching for "informational purposes", make sure you have all data collection turned off anyway even if you don't use it as such.
The ethernet cable goes to the computer, not the TV.
Yeah, I just plug in my laptop when I want to use a TV.
I'm gonna get a rPi for this purpose I think.
The Nvidia Shield is a very solid sub-pc option. This said, they do still shove ads in your face in the form of a scrolling banner with new shows on it.
It doesn't bother me too much, though, and you might be able to disable it. Every blue moon it's useful is the thing.
This is what I did for a long time, and I still have a PC permanently connected to the TV (it doubles as the home server).
But once I got a decent smart TV, a WebOS based LG that lets you disable or avoid ads, I’ve been happy to use the TV’s apps with the remote control’s voice or wiimote-like pointer.
I believe you can still get "dumb" flatscreens, but they're getting rare, and they cost at least hundreds more than their "smart" brethren. So of course those sell very slowly.
The older I get the more I miss the sheer freedom that was built into our daily lives back when technology was just a notch or two less advanced. Phones that stayed trapped on their wall, not in your pocket, tracking you. TVs that were made of dumb stuff that could still pull free content from the air. You had to be part of a special "Nielson family", fully set up with a little tracking box and all that, for the TV to tell anybody what you were watching.
People expected you to basically fall off the earth for 8 hours at work, and didn't expect to contact you for less than a housefire-level emergency, which meant you spent most of the day free, and not just while you were at work. Nobody blinked if you stepped out for the evening to go shopping and could not be contacted for hours. Now people end up in screaming arguments because they didn't answer that text fast enough. It's misery.
I had a shock the other day, watching some YouTube short featuring a young woman (an adult, not a minor) complaining humorously about her mother, who always knows where she is, and thus has all sorts of unwanted opinions on her location. Mother always knows because of an app called Life360, which is basically the kind of spying app that an abusive spouse would hide on your phone. But it's not hidden. You force your children to install it on their phones. It's a leash. So now this adult woman, who of course cannot quite afford to leave home, because economy, cannot simply delete this spying app from her phone without consequences and arguments, so she has no privacy in her movements, from anyone, never mind the government and such. Never mind what actual minors are now putting up with.
We have officially left the era where the adults pissed and grumbled about them damn kids wanting them damn phones they don't need, and we are now in the era where some kid has absolutely been beaten with a belt because he tried to leave his phone in the bedroom and slip out of the house in privacy.
Things like Life360 are normalized among children and parents, so other people will now expect to track you and treat a refusal of tracking as a violation of trust, and probably a sign that you are elderly, thus your rights are becoming debatable.
Again, 5 minutes ago this was evil shit that abusive spouses snuck onto people's phones, suddenly, it's normal, and people will just expect it.
I guess the ongoing shock is that we expected Big Brother to somehow slap a shackle on our necks that we can't take off, but this is all worse. This is putting the shackle on your neck, every morning. It doesn't even lock. You could, theoretically, throw it into the lake at will. Nobody would stop you. But you don't. All the chains are made of other people. The whips at your back are the opinions of children, and what they think is normal. The surveillance cameras do not loom from posts in the sky, no. They're in every pocket. They're much harder to hide from than a security camera ever would be.
I hope I'm just melodramatic, or something.
Great writeup, hope the world moves away from crap like this
I've still got an old 1080p LG TV.
I got it early in the chord cutting days, and knew that Smart TVs were going to be at shitty option.
Smartest decision I ever ever made.
(which is quite sad really, it's just a TV).
“The greatest form of control is when you think you're free, when you're being fundamentally manipulated and dictated to. One form of dictatorship is being in a prison cell and you can see the bars and touch them. The other one is sitting in a prison cell but you can't see the bars and you think you're free.”
-David Icke
Nearly hucked my Vizio out last night as I discovered that between last football season and today they have hidden the broadcast channels I receive with my antenna, in their "Free+" offerings and no longer show the channel number when you rotate between them.
This also means that when you choose "Antenna" from the input menu, you get around 15 seconds of black screen while it loads an informative slide about the change and then demands you press the OK button to finish loading their program
Then, to change the channel you must open their fiddly "broadcast guide" and use it to choose the channel you want to watch (after 15 second loading delay for the guide and another 5 second delay once you've picked a channel.
To change the TV from the Nintendo game to Fox took me 10 minutes. Then I realized Fox was showing the Packers game and I needed CBS and it took me 5 more minutes to find the menu again and find CBS.
Just last February this exact same action took maybe 20 seconds? Turn TV on, change input to Antenna, flip channels manually.
Look into plex! They have a dvr option, and you just need some sort of old, but functional PC to run the server and a cheap add-on to connect your antenna to it. It's amazing if you get clear signals!
Ooo, there's a name I haven't heard in a bit. I had Plex sometime a decade ago. I had a Boxee 2 Beta test device around the same time or maybe later. They were followed by an early Roku which I have neglected to replace and got stuck relying on the Vizio software for the antenna.
time to hook an old pc running linux up to that bad boy. while you're at it, maybe set up a NAS. they can't get to you on open source software!
Don't forget to disconnect that "smart" TV from the internet! It usually works for me to tell it to use a LAN connection and disconnect the LAN cable
This is the way.
I've seen nas mentioned a couple of times what is that?
Network attached storage. A computer that hosts files, media in this case. You can roll your own or buy one, and they often have other server features.
I have a ~$100 tiny form factor dell computer attached to my TV. It was probably used in an office for 5 years before I got it from the dell outlet.
I installed Linux Mint and plugged it into my TV with a wireless keyboard and mouse. It was a painless experience and it works beautifully.
The most egregious action I've seen was from a Vizio smart TV I bought several years ago. It shipped with a simple remote control, and a tablet with a control app preinstalled. One day I turned the TV on and was notified that in order to use the updated UI I would need to reach out to support to order (and pay for!) a new remote that had additional buttons.
i had a vizio tv in high school, i remember that it quite literally took 10-15 seconds from the moment you turned it on to actually see live picture from an HDMI -- it spent at least 2/3 of this time displaying a black screen with a giant 'VIZIO' logo. most egregious thing i've ever seen.
this isn't a phone where you turn it off rarely! this is a television!
look! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVth6PP9t14 i timed it to TWENTY FIVE SECONDS
This is our current living room tv. It was perfectly fine until a random update made it take 10-15 seconds to turn on and then 15 seconds if you want to change inputs. It’s still our living room tv but I would not buy another Vizio.
I hope everyone reading this knows that you can just not connect a "Smart" TV to the internet. Leave it as a "dumb" TV.
Get a separate device like a Roku or AppleTV or Amazon Fire or whatever. The garbage hardware that TV manufacturers slap inside a TV so they can advertise its "smart" features will always be inferior to a purpose built external device.
To say nothing of the security implications of having an unpatched probably unsupported IoT device running on your network for years.
I thought new TVs basically refused to function until you connect them to the internet to go through all that?
My plasma TV is about 10 years old and I'm scared thinking about it dying.
I have a Samsung Q80T that I run unconnected and it works just fine and ad-free. It’s still clunkier/more frustrating than it should be thanks to it still trying to be “smart”, however it’s mostly benign. The second you connect it to the internet though, it downloads all the ads and sponsored apps that clutter up the entire UI, and the only way to get rid of them is factory reset it and keep it offline
My Samsung one I bought a few months ago works fine without ever connecting it to the internet. Just click skip or no when you do the initial setup.
I have a TCL and it works just fine without internet.
Honestly, if I bought a TV, brought it home and it refused to function without internet I'd march that thing right back to the store for a refund.
Vote with your wallet.
Tbf, of the big manufacturers, Samsung is the egregious offender. As long as you avoid them in particular, the UX on the other brands are okay. But ofc, using a streaming player is highly recommended.
This is super interesting, as I have both a Samsung and Sony that I bought in 2018, and Sony’s Android UI is by far more laggy and intrusive than Samsung’s.
Both have never been connected to the internet, but my Sony tv will not shut up about not functioning “optimally” without wifi, tries to constantly load sponsored content on the homescreen, and has giant built in Netflix, Google Play and Google Voice buttons on the remote. The Samsung TV asked me for the wifi at setup (I said no), and now just asks what input I want to display from when I turn it on.
I have no other Samsung devices, but from what I hear, Samsung UI across all their tech seems to have shit the bed the last couple of years. I wonder what changed.
Yes. This absolutely infuriates me. I use my Xbox or my laptop connected via HDMI to provide these applications that I want to use. I never set the TV to use WiFi or even connect to the internet at all. You couldn't pay me to use the UI that half those shitty brands have.
Thats sooooooo simple to fix! /s Honestly, cut the wires leading to the antena. If you know that to look for, boom! no more wifi again! And if you dont, boom! No more TV! You always run a risk doing this, if you dont know, ask questions, keep the TV away from electricity for a few days and make shure the larger capacitirs are discharged or it will really hurt or worse. The antenna is usually a piece of scrap metal or the metal around the lcd/led pannel's frame.
That sounds illegal, also my robot vacuum cleaner kills people. We cant get it to stop doing that besides not having guests over. Theres sadly no market for regular vacuum cleaners anymore and we have a dust problem. So..... /s
For those with similar problems, use pihole dns to effectively block all that bullshit
Also, do NOT buy a Samsung TV, it's the worst offender of them all. Nothing but bad experiences with itl
Don't buy Samsung anything. Their hardware is junk. They used to be okay, but they decided years ago that they want to be an advertising company, not a hardware company, so they push cheap crap that is used solely as data harvesting and ad delivery devices. Even their home appliances spy on you and break down a few years later.
I've found Samsung to be uniquely terrible across every type of anything I've ever owned that they've made.
I bought my current condo thinking the almost new (I think they were 2 years old at the time) Samsung appliances must not be that bad, but every single one of them has a unique design flaw that has caused it to fail or be damaged in small ways or large:
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Samsung range - coated with black stainless coating that peels off upon heat stress...cuz you'll definitely never encounter heat stress when working with a gas range 🙄, the clock's LED is also intermittently failing.
-
Samsung refrigerator - has a separate ice maker compartment that was not sealed properly at the factory, and therefore freezes over itself...which makes the ice maker useless
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Samsung dishwasher - Had a wet sensor on the bottom of the dishwasher that tripped, and then it just ran forever with a large grinding noise...I had to cut the power to the circuit to get it to stop doing whatever it was doing
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Samsung microwave - Large, heavy, stainless steel handle attached to cheap, easy to fracture plastic through a single screw hole at the top. The handle eventually snapped off of the top of the microwave....I've also heard (but not experienced because I never use it) that the sensor cook is garbage.
Add all of the above to what I consider to be samsung's already piss-poor reputation for products in my experience (I had a samsung flip phone that the screen just completely stopped working after a year of use in the early 2000s, and a Samsung MP3 player with a battery hinge that was so poorly designed it eventually stopped working because the battery kept popping out).
I fucking hate that company and wouldn't be surprised in the least if their terrible, flawed products are also privacy nightmares.
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While they definitely have many products in the cheap junk category, but I think they have pretty good hardware in the mid-upper range.
Software is the real junk in Samsung products; their high-end TVs would be great if it wasn't for the crappy software and updates.I dont have that experience with my samsung phone.
But i appreciate that you may be exaggerating when you say "samsung anything."
This galaxy fold 3 might be the best phone I've ever used, and im not being advertised at all really. The hardware is/was at launch some of the best you could get and it would be disingenuous to say that samsung are the only company out there harvesting user data. Thats all tech companies really.
This is the future that Stallman warned us about. They mocked him and said it didn't matter. It's not going to get better until everyone stops buying TVs with spyware built in.
Vote with your wallets or quit bitching. Self hosted is an option these days. But that means not being lazy. And people are really lazy.
Vote with your wallet
When are we going to finally accept that this is nothing but a delusion? How many failed boycotts over and over will it take?
I agree with the sentiment, but really more than a boycott where you're purposefully not buying something to hurt it, it's more like people opting out of something that's just bad. It does take a while of being put through the mud for most people to realize and more importantly take action, but eventually it happens. If you're following video game stuff, look at what happened with Baldur's Gate in contrast with Overwatch 2. We need some more time (unfortunately) and one daring competitor to offer the catalyst product.
Vote with your wallets or quit bitching.
I never bought one but I can't do anything about people who have AirBnB's who buy them or hotels that install them in every room.
If your solution is for everyone, everywhere to agree to do something, you're going to need a plan B.
Yo ho ho time boys. Yo ho ho.
I'm sitting here wondering if it's possible to replace the software on smart TVs with something other than what came prepackaged. Something open source, something we can control properly.
I mean, I doubt that any software will just plug and play even if you can somehow get the TV to load it.... and I'm sure with enough time and reverse engineering you could cobble it together, but, I mean, something for everyone that you can just flash onto the TV and be rid of the garbage software that came with it.
Is it possible? Yes.
Practical? Not without some very specific skills and tools
You sound triggered.
We have the burdon of knowledge. We know too much. We were there when a TV turned on and you were presented with channels. Some fuzzy some clear. Sometimes your had to wiggle the antenna. The point is, there is a generation that has never known that. They have only seen a smart tv. They don't know the greener grass. TV makers are waiting for us to die and the next generation to just accept their shitty product as normal. I hate it. I hate it so much.
I'm not an advocate for smart TVs, but my experience has been different. I found a deal for an 86 inch LG, and it's been nothing but smooth for me. No advertising built into the os, always has the apps I use right on the bar. The air mouse onnthe remote is reminiscent of owning a wii.
My LG TV on the other hand is crammed full of ads. I've blocked as much of them as I can but it looks like some of them are impossible to get rid of.
The remote is really cool though, much better for typing.My Smart TV is now blocked from the wifi, I use a Fire TV stick in the back of it now, it was just far too slow.
Also I can bearly use the TV remote because it takes ages to wake up and reconnect to the TV.
I was becoming frustrated with how slow my Vizio "Smart TV" had become. I went with a FireCube that was on sale. It was overkill but I don't want to deal with it slowing down again for awhile.
I'm looking at getting back into a PC hooked up to my TV with the fragmentation of the streaming services. It's becoming as bad as cable again.
I'm on my second TV of the Smart gen, one LG and one Samsung and haven't had any of these issues, I've found them snappy, the menus fully customisable and the updates not slowing them down.
Same. Our OLED LG and roku TV have had no ads. While I have my old laptop connected to the LG anyway I don't actually need it, it's just for gaming and the browser.
Depending on what you use it for, I actually found the built in browser to be rather useable
I have a 10 year old LG whose smartness was left updated long ago and I love it.
Because the vast majority of times people complain about this stuff, they have no idea what they're talking about.
If you buy a nice TV and spend 2 seconds going thru the options you won't have a single issue OP is complaining about.
Edit:
Apparently OP banned me for saying their meme doesn't make sense...
The only thing that a "cheap" TV would do is slow down overtime, because it's cheap and has the absolute bare minimum processing speed.
You need that processing speed to properly up sample to 4k from streaming.
If you want a cheap one, buy a decent 1080p so it doesn't have to upsample.
Rtings.com is a good resource.
But it should be common sense that buying a cheap product will give you poorer results.
Andriod tv's take a long time to boot because they literally have to boot an operating system when they fire up, there's no way around that in any settings.
That said, I don't have any of the other issues because my tv has never had net access and I have a pc with wireless keyboard/mouse hooked to it, and typing this while sitting on my couch.
My grandparents have a cheap 2014 1080p LG LCD webOS TV that they never connected to the internet but it is and always was very slow, and the LED backlight became dull blue in places. Our dumb CCFL-backlit 2007 768p Sony Bravia has <100 ms response time in menus as opposed to 1~5 s, and is awesome with a Linux HTPC (which frankly should get an upgrade to an SSD but no big deal – I can still start streaming any major movie in <3 minutes).
I tried to find the article, but of course it is lost to the anals of the internet. (Yes, I know what I said). I saw an article a couple of years ago about how there was a push in China that would use the built-in cameras in smart TVs to watch how many eyes were looking at the screen during rented features and charge extra if there were more than some small threshold of people watching it. I think 3 people were allowed for a single rental price and it would be charged again if more than that watched.
This is likely coming for us. Also... Yo ho ho.
So when are we gonna start rooting smart TVs?
It's now patched in newer firmwares, but there was an amazing root for LG TVs last year: https://github.com/RootMyTV/RootMyTV.github.io
Alls I can say is that when the “smart” tv has “run out of memory” so it intermittently cuts out when I’m trying to beat Ridley in Super Metroid, it’s time for a lobotomy.
You have an LG TV? Cause I have one and want to go Office Space on it because of that shit. Not only will I never buy another LG TV, I'll never buy another LG product because of it.
Yep, it is an LG. However, after doing a factory reset and plugging a roku soundbar into it, I’ve had no problems with it since. I did the same with our other tv, a Samsung—sans the reset because I never bothered setting it up with Wi-Fi access in the first place.
I too saw all the complaints from others, which led me to the soundbar because I figured that if they’re going to suggest deleting all the apps as a solution, I may as well make sure and make it permanent.
Sounds like a memory leak. Because your not diging thru menus, your using HDMI, either its doing some background task or its the hardware excelerated video decoding. either way, the company using their own product would find bugs like that as fast as you did.
I never add "smart" TVs to the network and I block unknown mac addresses at the router. All apps are loaded either on a gaming console or a Roku (the lawyer units with more power). If you keep your TV off the network (and uninstall the apps), you'll never have performance issues.
Roku lawyer unit??
Honestly, after my first smart TV I never bought another one ever again. I just buy computer monitors that are very TV like and slam an android box of some kind on there. Oftentimes it's cheaper than the TV with a better picture cause it doesn't come with crap speakers depending on the model. Most even have ARC now which makes it crazy easy. I'd never suggest this solution for anyone not tech savvy but with even the slightest tech knowledge it's super easy.
But computer monitors that are the size of the gable end of my house are too expensive!!!!
Sure, but this will only work for so long. Eventually they'll just come with in-built cellular antennae. I can't imagine how that won't be more profitable to the manufacturers. Then all those performance issues will be even worse if you don't connect them to your home network because the tv will be loading all those ads over cellular networks instead.
Depends on the TV, unfortunately. The Samsung(?) TV we had used to have ads pop-up on boot. It would show a black screen for the duration of the ads if you disconnected it from the internet, so you were stuck waiting.
My current LG TV has its stupid ad-filled menu pop-up whenever I turn it on and it takes a while to disappear too, regardless of if it's connected to the internet or not.
Link to the original toot
Nice username. I bet that makes you lots of friends!
thank you. i needed the original source because i am suffering the urge to go and give that toot a like. damn, it describes dystopian technologies so well pffft haha
Some years ago around the advent of smart home devices I bought a huge fullhd Hisense tv for cheap. It has zero smart capabilities, and essentially acts as a big second screen for my computer, and I couldn’t be happier with it.
I am scared once it is time to replace it for something more modern I won’t be able to find one without all the smart crap I don’t use and don’t want.
PC monitors have been steadily growing in size and business-focused displays for conferencing or digital signage also don't seem to be burdened with any of that nonsense. Also a good option if you want a big, matte display!
Using a computer monitor is a great suggestion. The biggest problem is that monitors are a lot more expensive than TVs. Probably still worth it though if it lasts long enough
PC monitors are mostly awful. You pay way more more for worse picture quality. You're better off buying a smart TV and just not connecting it to the internet.
I'm considering wiring my PC up to my TV just to avoid that as well. The only things I'd need would be a long HDMI cable, a DP to HDMI adapter and a bluetooth dongle for my PC to use bluetooth headphones.
KDE connect is miles better than google's crappy phone remote thing anyways, so it would make up for having to use the desktop UI instead of TV apps.
By the way: SmarttubeTV is youtube without ads and with a great UI. It's the only reason why I haven't connected the PC to my TV yet.
I got a super nice Hisense with Google TV built in last year. I like streaming right on it but you can also use the inputs on the back if you don't want the smart stuff. good for pc gaming 😏
Bloatware, adware and over reliance on software/complex electronics has ruined a lot of the experience with consumer electronics. Almost everything is festooned with half assed processing units for relatively pointless non-sense. Some of its useful, much of it over or under built. I think we have a big market correction on the horizon, it's currently over saturated with marginally useful junk and a definite market exists for upgraded simple electronics.
I've had a Vizio "smart" TV for about 3 years. It is my first experience with a smart TV and it has been a massive pile of shit since day one. Most recently it has decided to show a black screen every time I turn on the Nintendo Switch. In this state it does not allow me to do anything but turn it off. So I have to turn it off, turn it back on, go into settings and restart the TV. It will then work for a single play session, but as soon as I shut the Switch off I will undoubtedly have to go through this same process the next time I want to play.
This is only the most recent issue I've had with Vizio's garbage ass software. To those saying to just unplug it from the internet, trust me when I say the solution is not that simple. It was even worse before any updates, but with each update they break something else. There is no "good" software version to leave it at.
Vizio is the worst. I bought a TV of theirs back in 2017 because it was just a display with integrated chromecast. Having a remote with 8 buttons that does both tv volume and chromecast play/pause is awesome.
Not too long later, they mailed me a standard garbage fire smart tv remote, and pushed a software update to add all the cancerous smart TV features. I've never accepted the terms of service, so it still kinda works like it used to.
The funniest part is when the ToS beg window comes up every time I turn it on, I get to enjoy the incredibly condescending language telling me that I bought a smart tv and that smart tvs have certain data collection requirements. Did I buy a smart tv, vizio?
The problem is probably due to it being a Vizio, they are not quality TVs.
Yeah, I have one of their soundbars, and it has similar weird issues that lead to me having to unplug the power every couple days...
Switch has a pretty aggressive handshake over the HDMI if I am describing that correctly. When I turn it on it takes over the TV input and forces the switch to display instead. I think you can turn that feature off though. Maybe that will solve your issue.
Yeah it's the CEC, though I think the Switch calls it something else. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the issue as I have tried it on and off. Thing is it has worked flawlessly until just recently, so clearly Vizio broke something with an update.
I have a Series X plugged into a different HDMI port with CEC on and it works just fine.
They also spy on you and know what you watch, even if it's not played from their apps and is just a raw display input. https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/electronics/televisions-streaming-media/4151762767001/your-smart-tv-may-track-what-you-watch-and-say/
Fuck. It might be time to disconnect my TV from my wifi.
If I ever buy a smart TV, this'll be step one.
Yick.
In my country you are charged a license fee for the privilege of owning a tv. That's why I always only had a PC attached to a monitor instead.
Nowadays that is replaced with a dirt cheap orange pi running libreelec (Kodi) which also runs pi-hole in the background for all of the other devices on the network.
The setup is a bit of a hassle but it's a vast improvement on the interface and functionality of friends "Smart TV" experiences in my opinion. I even set it up to work with an old TV remote as the pi has IR built in, although there are phone apps to do remote control also.
Where is that? We have a TV license in the UK but if you don't use it to watch live TV you don't have to pay it. You just fill out a form on their website to exempt yourself.
It's in South Africa. You can't legally buy a TV without showing your TV license here.
Luckily this does not apply to computer monitors although there are some in our government who want it to be an obligatory national tax instead - due to widespread non-compliance. The fees support a bloated and corrupt nationalised public broadcaster.
In Slovakia you had to pay fee for RTVS (national radio and television) if you had electricity at home. As of 06/30/2023, this fee is no more.
I don't know much about it, but I've heard of the infamous NHK tv guys in Japan. They apparently go around knocking doors asking for the tv fee.
Here's me about to fill out that form.
I swear half the time I go to my parents house they're trying to get the damn thing you reconnect to Wi-Fi.
Translate: I don't like Smart TV.
But seriously... there must be something wrong with manufacturers if they think these "features" are even adding value to their products
They don't. This is about them getting more profit from you.
TVs have gotten stupid cheap lately because the TV isn't the product. YOU are the product. People buy tvs because of the screen, size, and if it has built in Netflix/prime/Hulu. Everything else is a blank check for them.
As an aside, isn’t the whole point of the Fediverse that we should be able to move content around? It’s sad that the only way to upvote a Mastodon post on Lemmy is through a screenshot or a link. Why can’t it just be a post that we can upvote?
Technically, it could. You can access Lemmy posts from Mastodon, and see that it's basically a comment boosted by the community at Lemmy.
Just one of the 1001+ features possible, but still missing on Lemmy.
You can do that from kbin. No need for screenshots.
No! Must post screenshots of text for maximum engagement!
Firstly here is the original for you! https://aus.social/@burgerdrome/111045551054809770
Secondly, yes I agree, sort of. Images are a common format to take posts from multiple microblog sources for this community, so tumblr posts and Mastodon toots and tweets from X all come in a consistent format. This also makes it easy to share onwards too.
Someone else mentioned kbin, and someone else mentioned posting to Lemmy from Mastodon, which is possible... but images are just easiest right now.
No Vizio or Samsung.
I got a Sony and I'm glad I did. It seems to do what a smart TV should do. The apps I use are first, the shows I'm watching are suggested. It works seamlessly over HDMI with all my other hardware (sound bar, Blu-ray, consoles). They took the beautiful LG OLED display and made it look even better. It has a super minimalistic style, the android OS is unobtrusive, and the remote feels nice in the hand.
I've got a TCL smart TV from like 5 years ago. It's absolutely great. Never had any issues with overbearing ads or anything.
Thank fuck.
Cheap as shit, too. We picked up a 42” 4K for about $300.
Yep! Our 55" was $500
Getting a dumb TV with an Apple TV box has been amazing.
No ads, just turn on, and play.
Of course you'd think "ew Apple". I did but the Apple TV box is simply the best streaming device available right now. The only thing it can't do easily is sideloading and VPNs, for those the Shield is still king.
I got most of my friends and family using AppleTVs. Every one of them loves it. Even the more hardcore Apple haters admit it’s a solid device.
It’s funny watching people complain all the problems they have with their TVs and here I am thinking “this has been solved problem for over 8 years”.
No UI ads. No tracking. Fluid UI. Dolby Vision. Great remote. Apps for playing back any file you want. Never going back. Get an AppleTV and enjoy using your TV again.
The only thing it can’t do easily is sideloading and VPNs
Arguably the most important things for most people. This is why I switched to Android in general, because sideloading has brought back apps that have updated and broke, or just simply stopped existing.
Sure, that makes sense for mobile devices but streaming boxes I highly recommend the Apple TV. You're generally not gonna have the best experience trying to VPN to watch one single show on one single app compared to using other methods to watch that show instead.
I buy TVs with Android TV built in because the freedom is great. I love I can install APKs, and generally they have every app that Android has. Whereas Roku doesn't even have an official Twitch app.
Despite that, my fucking GOD they're slow. Both my $2000 and $650 Android TVs are such a fucking lag fest. Even trying to pause a YouTube video is such shit.
They both run Android TV 9, despite Android TV 12 being out, and 14 in beta.
My CCwGTV is a lot better, but I only use that on my non smart TV because I hate juggling remotes.
Still wont stop buying Android TVs, though. Roku is so empty, those TVs with their own built in OS have even less apps. My sisters $5500 OLED TV only has Plex, no Emby. Which is insane. I think her TVs app store has a total of like 20 apps?
Twitch updated in January with a shitty UI that lags. I just disabled updates and installed an older version of the app via APK. That's the benefit of Android TV.
EDIT: also can we please get some people on the Android TV custom ROM scene? It's weird to me that NO TVs have any sort of custom ROM or rooting. You'd think they would?
My 2013 Highest End Samsung was pretty much E-Waste three years later. 80% of the Apps broken, no new Apps for new services.
UTTER BULLSHIT.
I plugged in a FireTV 4k which was on Sale for €25. Perfectly supported since many years. TONS of software, channels and so on. Best buy ever.
When I had to buy a new TV for my bed room I bought a "dump" monitor and plugged a FireTV in.
I have two TVs. Both are max 1080p. I am absolutely fine with that. One is not a "smart" TV. The other I only turn on when I'm using Airflow, which the TV boots directly into with its built-in Chromecast, skipping the "smart" bullshit. I will use these TVs until they break or there is some major change where they become totally obsolete like CRT TVs.
I have one of the first gen smart TVs from Samsung and it's absolute cheeks now. Changing the volume, no joke, can take multiple minutes to register from the remote. When I click the volume up button, you can see the red light on the ir sensor of the TV flash, registering that it got the signal, but for it to actually change the volume, that can take multiple minutes to do. Just buy a regular tv and get an nvida shield or something similar.
Image Transcription:
Comment by user timb @[email protected] reading:
"I love my smart TV. I love the way it takes a long time to boot up because it's trying to refresh the advertisements on the home screen. I delight in the way it randomly restarts because it's downloaded an update without asking me, each of which makes the TV slower and slower with every subsequent install. I adore the way it buries the apps that I want to use, and that I use without fail every single time, below the apps that it's being paid to promote and which I have never touched in my life and would never use without the cold metal of a glock pressed hard against my sweating temple. I am infinitely thrilled by the way the interface lags constantly, due to the need to have one thousand unnecessary animations rendered on hardware ripped wholesale from a ten year old phone. I feel myself borne aloft on wings of pure joy when I am notified that my data will be collected and analysed to determine my usage patterns. Even now I am writing this from a field of beautiful flowers and soft luscious grass as I lie and look up happily at the bright blue sky, smiling happily to know that this is the future of technology."
[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]
What brand of TV to you recommend that still sticks to the 'old ways'?
My neither of my smart tv’s has never been given the WiFi password. After a week or so they quit asking and defaulted back to being of with on/off, volume change, input source change as the only actions it’s ever asked to do
My engineer had me buy 43" TVs instead of monitors for the lab. I bought Samsungs and they're just annoying. With only one thing plugged into them and no internet connection at all, they still require you to select "PC" to see anything.
I mean, yeah, they were less than half the price of 43" Dells, but still.
Simply don't let your TV onto the network. If you must have streaming services, I use an Nvidia Shield. It's DLSS capabilities are a good loophole for not paying extra for 4k on streaming services.
Any one of ‘em in the “Commercial Monitors” section of your preferred electronics vendor. I have a Samsung BE43T-H from B&H. Has smart features but I never gave it my wifi password or connected it to an Ethernet jack (I was amused when I saw it had one), and it has never once nagged me. Have had a Chromecast, Apple TV, U-Verse box, and PC connected to it without issue. HDR works. External soundbar works. I don’t have to worry about the interface slowing down or shoving ads in my face, it displays the content I ask it to and that’s it.
Literally no brand. A monitor plugged into a computer running whatever you want like Plex. DRM generally won’t work so… get over streaming services. An Apple TV is kinda OK but they advertise themselves.
I mean, this is an answer to an entirely different question. It doesn't answer their question at all.
It very well could be a good answer to some question, but not this one.
And to answer their question, any TV is generally ok as long as you don't connect it to the internet.
And come on, a monitor? Some of us like large screens. Sometimes your solution isn't the best for someone else.
we must destroy DRM
I recently bought a 75" Samsung PRO commercial tv, non smart. Plugged a firestick in, it's miles better than our TV with built in Roku that always restarts, freezes and is slow. I told the wife this tv will only be replaced when it breaks.
This is why I buy second hand old TVs.
right? I'm always looking at old flat screen CRTs on ebay.
I use them for monitors and have a cheap surround screen system! They're fantastic. I also protect my eyes with timed filters using f.lux (Windows) and "night lights" for Linux. Call me old-fashioned, but they are way handier, especially if you are a maker and fiddle with electronics and repairing things, eg. rpis. More inputs, simpler, more intuitive. That, and Linux use made me really hate how newer tech often tries to decide what I want rather than letting me choose. The more I make my own systems, the more I wonder how harmful that loss of agency is. I love making old tablets and things useful again.
I bought a little antenna DVR box and it's absolutely delightful. it has the interface of a 2000s VCR, doesn't connect to the internet, doesn't have little ads and promo screens anywhere, has a simple plug and play DVR that records drm free mp4s to any USB device I plug in, and just stays on doing what it's doing, no shitty little
we noticed you haven't hit a button in 2 hours!screen. i feel like I'm in a nursing home. it's beautifulIs it one of those devices that gives you like a little tv guide for the antenna channels and allows recording stuff from them? I've kinda thought about getting one of those, but then I remember I don't watch that much regular tv anymore. 😅
Probably a controversial thing to say but I think a TV could be pretty good by connecting to Internet and run a Internet browser ideally Firefox but no that would hurt the ad revenue on a product I payed full price for it's like buying a car and finding mc Donald's ad in the glove compartment and that's putting it quite lightly
I choose to use a mini PC with arch Linux to connect to me TV. Most of media services I have can be access through the web browser.
I just purchased a new Samsung TV. it required an Internet connection when I first set it up, but once I got through that initial data dump / update, I reset the network configuration and turned it back into a dumb(er) TV.
I use a piholed Roku 4k for my main streaming device. I will admit it is also trying its damnedest to track what I consume and serve ads to me too, but what am I going to do? Read a book?
Are there any dumb TVs with good panels and HDMI CEC for sale? That would be perfect to use with an Nvidia shield or apple TV or equivalent..
I doubt you'll get a dumb TV anymore but just don't connect it to the internet and set it to an hdmi input
Honestly I never watch TV aside from anime and I live alone so a simple PC monitor works fine even if I'm just playing console games ultimately the only time I see myself needing a monitor the size of a TV is when I'm sharing a screen with 4 or more people otherwise PC monitors are high definition and don't have any of this bloatware and even if you don't play videogames a simple laptop that can run a Internet browser can get you everything you want to watch and have addblock on top of that quite frankly I'm sure if someone started selling something that can make your phone output a HDMI output will instantly kill the smart TV market
That's the longest run in sentence I've seen in awhile. Now reformatted with punctuation and discrete sentences!
Honestly, I never watch TV aside from anime and I live alone so a simple PC monitor works fine, even if I'm just playing console games. Ultimately, the only time I see myself needing a monitor the size of a TV is when I'm sharing a screen with 4 or more people; otherwise, PC monitors are high definition and don't have any of this bloatware. Even if you don't play videogames, a simple laptop that can run an Internet browser can get you everything you want to watch and have adblock on top of that. Quite frankly, I'm sure if someone started selling something that can make your phone output an HDMI output, it will instantly kill the smart TV market.
Anyhow, HDMI output from phones has existed for years and it's not an uncommon feature. I can connect my Samsung S22 to my TV both wired and wirelessly.
I actually have no problems using my Samsung Q90 or the Samsung I had prior in conjunction with my Apple TV. Not sure if it’s a brand thing or I’ve gotten lucky but I’ve never had any issues like described in this thread pretending it’sa dumb tv and using it that way.
I’d still prefer a true dumb tv though.
I'm going to be in the market for a new tv in a few months.
Professionally, I have worked in the home electronics / automation industry for over 25 years. I haven't sold or installed a new TV in over five years. I am dreading the selection of a new TV. I was just thinking about this last night - I'm going to have to go to a store and have a sales person show me all the features I don't want on the TV to make a decision.
My understanding is that you can simply not connect the TV to the internet and this may prevent any issues. I strictly use an Apple TV so, if this is the case, are there any TVs that this is sure to be avoided? Are there some that prevent you from using it without a network connection?
The fact that I have to have this consideration over the purchase of a television is absolutely bonkers to me.
Just don't connect the TV to the internet at all. Get a device that plugs into the HDMI port and connect that.
Business TVs exist, but theyre way more expensive, have less features you want (colors, refresh rate, etc) and are hard to find and sort based on quality. I looked up TVs on rtings and grabbed the cheapest one that fit my feature needs. It has never been connected to the internet, and i even found a setting to skip the home screen entirely and open up the last used input instead. Most of the time my last input is a tiny linux box i got from vero.
It's absolutely possible. I have a 2021 Sony TV, a 2016 TCL and a 2021 TCL all hooked up to Apple TVs. I basically never see the actual TV interface on either one and none of them are connected to the Internet.
LibreELEC is the solution
The cold steel of a glock barrel against my temple applies to the whole "Smart" part of my TVs. Everything has a Kodi rPi attached to an HDMI input.
https://labzilla.io/blog/force-dns-pihole
I've been meaning to do this for a while as I noticed that the TVs in our house are slyly avoiding PiHole for DNS
Someone should start a brand like Nothing Phone / other niche phone manufacturers, but for TVs. Many of us have an attachment to iOS that makes the phone space really difficult, but I'd jump on a beefed up nerdy niche smart TV in a heartbeat.
Modern day poetry
I just spent an hour trying to figure out why my smart tv is not routing audio to my external speakers, why there's an audio lag on ALL videos and apps, why the fire cube tv is non-responsive, when all I had to do was unplug and plug the TV back in.
Modern TVs are great, but please just make this a more polished product FFS
I love my Shield. Except that the remote is a ridiculous shape, it is a fantastic way to stream to a TV.
KDE-bigscreen shall be our savoiur
Here's a handy guide for anyone deciding how get content on their TV:
Gaming Console > Nvidia Shield > Streaming device (roku) > Cable/Satellite TV > TV Antenna > Smart TV Software
Kodi
Jellyfin
I like your guide, but I'd add a step or two:
Gaming Console > Nvidia Shield > Streaming device (roku) > Cable/Satellite TV > TV Antenna > forget it, go outside and take a walk instead > punch yourself in the face instead > Smart TV Software
Mmmm, I love that my tv's remote constantly listens to my conversations and sends recordings back to the maker all under the guise of "improving voice control".
I have my TV offline, connected to my Xbox, with HDMI-CEC enabled.
When I turn on the Xbox, it automatically turns the TV on, which goes to my last used input (the Xbox). From there I can launch whatever streaming apps I want.
I know I have to deal with Microsoft's nonsense too, but at least the performance is good and it shows the most recent app at the top of my home page.
Buy a sceptre 4K screen .. no smart features at all. Hook up whatever device you want, computer, Roku, Apple TV, pi running Kodi ..
I love my pihole...
I never experience any of this..
The webOS on my LG isn’t bad per se, but it’s worse than using the Apple TV hooked up to it. I’ve personally found that a box of some sort plugged into the TV well slays offer a better experience.
I just occasionally plug my TV into Ethernet overnight to slow it to pull updates. No WiFi.
Yeah, I had a webOS TV for four or so years and it was fine, the apps could all be moved around so the most commonly used were at the start of the menu, it didn't slow down after updates, there wasn't that much advertising on the UI. Have a Samsung one now and it's much the same.
Yeah my only issue with WebOS is that it feels like it should have Chromecast built in but doesn't.
I have a Chromecast in my LG and it gets used 2 times a year. I can just sling streams to the tv itself 99% of time but normally just use the remote
I have a smart TV.
It's hooked up to my computer, remote operated with the Unified Remote app.
thats why i got a regular flat screen that was on sale. sound system isnt too great, but it looks good! and its fucking enormous
eh, TV default speakers are never that good anyways. A separate sound system is an easy upgrade if you are looking for quality sound, it will outlast multiple tv's as well
Now that I think about it, advertisers go against themselves when they both push useless shit and collect usage data.
Like, if I keep accidentally clicking on an ad app, and the telemetry shows that I keep clicking on it, then the conclusion might be that I love that particular app?
Well, and the separate app telemetry shows that it always runs for 3 seconds before being closed, so the conclusion is that it needs to be pushed and advertised more?
Looking at you, Sony Bravia. Shouldve bought something different.
My experience has been different. So far, been really enjoying Google TV on my Sony.
This. Google TV on my Bravia allowed me to not spend another $$ on a Firestick, unlike with LG and Samsung.
Interesting. I have a Sony Google TV and my experience mirrors OPs. It doesn't take that long to load, but I constantly have to go into additional Apps to find one of the three apps I regularly load. Pisses me off I can't customize.
No clue what you're on about, apart from not being able to Turn off ambient mode, it's BY FAR one of the cleanest, smoothest experiences i've had (google tv)
Apple TV ftw
Much as I hate Apple. The Apple TV UI and setup are great. If there was an open source solution that was as polished as Apple TV is, it would be perfect.
Apple haters will downvote but the aTV is a great streaming box, even in backwards countries like the Netherlands where there are few streaming apps for it. Solid video, audio support, plenty of power to do 4K well and the next OS update will support VPN (fucking finally).
Edit: look it that - 40 minutes and already negative. Way to prove me right.
I've only had stuttering issues with my 7 y/o Samsung. The $150 Roku TV I bought a year ago has no issues.
Stop buying Samsung or those cheap Chinese brands.
I have a Samsung smart TV and none of this post rings true to my experience.
I have a Samsung smart TV that can't get any updates because the internal memory is full with apps, that I don't use and can't uninstall. Oh and I can't install any other apps except when I plug in an external USB flash drive.
Except from that and it being sluggish sometimes it's a breeze to use.
Guys, I think this is missing a "/s" . Not sure though...
I feel like most of you just buy shitty TVs. My c1 works just fine even though I don't use most of it.
Even the C1 has its issues. I keep mine locked down to LAN only at the router and it works great, but it runs like shit and has ad notifications on startup if it can reach the internet.
🤷♂️ mine doesn't. Starts up quick, switches immediately over to whatever console starts it up. The built in Netflix and peacock with just fine.The most annoying thing is the update notifications for apps I'm not using.
When you click translate, here's what it says:
h a l p
I bought a signage TV to avoid all the smart TV garbage. Mostly I hated that they take so long to hit and are laggy af. Mine boots up quick (no OS) and does not lag because it is hooked up to a Chromecast. My only complaint is that there are only two inputs.
This is why I want to piece together a oled from components, so I can have the screen but use monitor parts and it will never be smart
Do you know electronic, and how to use digital analyzer to capture digital signals?, i don't know what interface current gen TV screen panel uses but in laptops they use LVDS or eDP and in smartphones and tablets they use mipi dsi. You have to reverse engineer the interface to know what each pins does and then buy or make a custom board to control the display panel and don't forget you also have to write firmware and if you are making a custom board you have to use a FPGA to convert digital signal from HDMI to what that panel support and also you have to program that FPGA, for that you have to learn digital electronic and verilog/VHDL language. It's a quite a lot of work and direct resource(like this project) on internet are low, but it still will be a fun project
I was just going to try and put it together like lego and hope for the best, like buy a cheap 4k monitor and buy the repair parts for just a screen of the same resolution and see what happens if I plug them together
Screw TVs, digital signage is the way. With every new smart TV I am more convinced that I'm just going to buy this display from this Jeff Geerling video
Took a while but I found a decent dumb tv to buy. It’s working well for me but some folks have said the lifespan isn’t super long since it’s an off brand with a four star build quality. But the damn thing turns on in under five seconds and the picture quality is great.
Tell us the name!!!
It's not that hard to find some https://www.makeuseof.com/best-dumb-tvs/
I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Both of my older dumb TV's bought the big one within weeks of each other. So I searched and found 2 new dumb TV's.
We rarely use them for anything other than casting from the unofficial streaming sites. When my inlaws visit they watch broadcast TV on them.
My teens use their phones or computers.
get and root an android tv box, if you want a cheap one, get a xiaomi mi box, don't get cheap-ass chinese crap (like the X... ones) from AliExpress.
Amen, brotha.
Ahh, capitalism. Serving up the greatest innovations of our time! ... Innovations protecting capital...
I seriously don't know how morons think it's the source of the good parts when the internet was invented by and is managed by the principles of Communism. Government-made but NOT charged for, managed largely by the engineers who have the talent and knowhow (all of the bodies working on specifications like HTTP, TLS, HTML, JavaScript, etc)...
If all of the tech worked off of the principles of Capitalism, every single person who's contributed would want to charge for their work and the licensimg just to launch a static website would require a fcking army of beurocrats to sort.
Then there'd be "innovation" from accounting firms to make it a one-stop "solution" to the problem by charging everyone to deal with it. Then the lobbyists would petition Congress to make you HAVE to use those services, and suddenly, the politicians think they've solved the problem when all they've done is institutionalize the cost.
and that's the power of Capitalism mixed in with the government!
I would honestly love to try switching to an alternative than continue using Fire OS on my Insignia TV, but I don't know of any good alternatives. Maybe I just haven't dug deep enough, but most "3rd party" (not Amazon or Google) Android implementations seem to only support phones, not TVs.
Fortunately, Fire TV can still install apps from outside their app store (like SmartTubeNext), but that can only do so much.
What kind of shitty brand are people buying that have this issue?
None of what he's complaining about has ever happened to me. And the few things that are real, are options that you can disable in two seconds.
It reminds me of when someone posted an article about how Sony has an "ad bar" at the bottom of the screen...
To get the screenshot the author had pressed the input button so that all the installed apps showed up on the bottom, and they acted like it was always there and couldn't be removed
My Samsung TV started showing ads in the app/source select menu. No way to disable it. I had to pi-hole my network to get rid of that crap. It wouldn't surprise me if many of the commenters here saying that they never have a problem have a pi-hole or similar network blocking installed.
