I absolutely hate “smart” TVs! You can’t even buy a quality “dumb” panel anymore. I can’t convince the rest of my family and friends that the only things those smarts bring are built-in obsolescence, ads, and privacy issues.

I make it a point to NEVER connect my new 2022 LG C2 to the Internet, as any possible improvements from firmware updates will be overshadowed by garbage like ads in the UI, removal of existing features (warning: reddit link), privacy violations, possible attack vectors, non-existent security, and constant data breaches of the manufacturers that threaten to expose every bit of personal data that they suck up. Not to mention increased sluggishness after tons of unwanted “improvements” are stuffed into it over the years, as the chipset ages and can no longer cope.

I’d much rather spend a tenth of the price of my TV on a streaming box (Roku, Shield TV, etc.) and replace those after similar things happen to them in a few years. For example, the display of my OG 32-inch Sony Google TV from 2010 ($500) still works fine, but the OS has long been abandoned by both Sony and Google, and since 2015-16 even the basic things like YouTube and Chrome apps don’t work anymore. Thank goodness I can set the HDMI port as default start-up, so I don’t ever need to see the TV’s native UI, and a new Roku Streaming Stick ($45) does just fine on this 720p panel. Plus, I’m not locked into the Roku ecosystem. If they begin (continue?) enshitifying their products, there are tons of other options available at similar price.

Most people don’t replace their TVs every couple of years. Hell, my decade old 60-inch Sharp Aquos 1080p LCD TV that I bought for $2200 back in 2011 still works fine, and I only had to replace the streamer that’s been driving it twice during all this time. Sony Google TV Box -> Nvidia Shield TV 2015 -> Nvidia Shield TV 2019. I plan to keep it in my basement until it dies completely before replacing it. The Shield TV goes to the LG C2 so that I never have to see LG’s craptastic UI.

Sorry, just felt the need to vent. Would be very interested in reading community’s opinions on this topic.

  • T (they/she)@beehaw.org
    1·
    10 months ago

    Well, considering that even the Shield got ads after some updates, I don’t think there’s escape.

  • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
    27·
    10 months ago

    Back in 2019 I wanted a nice LED screen with high resistance to screen burn but the only economic option was a Samsung Smart TV.

    I actually ended up getting it, ordering a custom mount for the ARM Chip, and using an input method on the chip that makes it run Java natively so that I could make the Smart TV drop it’s firmware onto a USB and from there I could modify it, since it was just running a version of Linux.

    So that’s the story of how I un-smarted my TV. Get fucked, Samsung.

    • Grippler@feddit.dk
      20·
      10 months ago

      What a fucking ridiculous workaround that’s completely unavailable to the regular consumer…fuck Samsung (and the industry in general) for this approach.

      • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
        2·
        10 months ago

        Well, now that the community has had a few years to reverse engineer it I assume there are a lot of better and easier ways to replace the firmware with an open source quick fix. So, it’s not like my way is the only way. It was just necessary at the time. In fact, the community worked very fast to find a way to hack these “System on a Chip” architectures since the ARM chips were first released. They’re used in Macs, phones, TVs etc and have a very high power efficiency, but it is a very clear design choice to make them extremely difficult for the user to access and customize.

        • Grippler@feddit.dk
          12·
          10 months ago

          Unless it’s “load this file on a USB stick and plug in in your TV”-easy, it’s still out if reach to most consumers.

          But my point is, it shouldn’t be necessary to do these things in the first place. Fucking drop the “smart” element from them completely, they always suck ass anyway and are laggy as hell to navigate.

  • SpaceExplorer@feddit.de
    1·
    10 months ago

    I am using a Sony TV that is not connected to the Internet and i stream stuff using a PS4. TV does not complain. Does anyone know if PlayStation is analyzing the data the same way Samsung does for example? So far there is no adds in PlayStation.

  • Papamousse@beehaw.orgEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    As a lot of people here, I did the same, bought the smart TV, it needed internet for firmware upgrade, and once it had started and did not ask for my inputs or whatever, I selected the HDMI1 as startup, plugged a Chromecast. Then went into the TV menu to forget the network settings on the TV. It’s just a monitor used to cast Netflix, Disney, Plex, Prime, etc.

    • pbjamm@beehaw.orgEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      How is plugging in a Chromecast any different than using the same software built into a Google TV?

  • Aetherion@feddit.deEnglish
    11·
    10 months ago

    Pro Tip: Buy a Computer Monitor e.g. 4k 34 inch

    they don’t have any smart tv shit, but you need to buy some extra for the audio

  • 🐝bownage [they/he]@beehaw.org
    6·
    10 months ago

    I’m looking to buy a new TV soon ish and I’m really afraid of ending up with something with a ton of pre installed bloatware, simply because that’s the industry standard nowadays. If anyone has any tips for “dumb” TVs in the ~€600/$650 price range I’d love to hear them. I have a chromecast for streaming and it works fine, so I’m really just looking to buy a large screen without bloatware, no Internet connection required, etc. That’s what my current ~10 year old TV does and tbh I just want the same thing but better picture quality.

    • Mike D.@lemm.ee
      1·
      10 months ago

      I commented above but this part may help:

      Thinking more about it using eBay’s boolean search options may have helped drill down to good choices.

    • NaibofTabr@infosec.pubEnglish
      6·
      10 months ago

      What you want to look for is a “digital signage display” or “commercial display” like this one. These are basically just large monitors. They generally have really good display quality because they’re intended to make products look good, and near-bulletproof electronics because they’re intended to be on all day. Because of this and not being subsidized by bloatware they tend to cost more than smart TVs of the same size.

    • itsyourmom@artemis.camp
      1·
      10 months ago

      I too am in the market for a new tv. I’ve had my 60 inch plasma tv from Samsung for going on 12 years. I dropped a pretty penny on it from Best Buy at the time and haven’t had any problems with it at all for over a decade!

      Only in the last year or so I’ve started having issues with turning it on if it was just turned off. Like it’s plasma so I’ve always been super careful of burn in of images. So I press pause on whatever I’m watching on the Roku streamer connected by HDMI. Then I turn off the tv itself. If say I’m running to the bathroom, when I get back and attempt to turn on the tv it’ll make the red power light blink randomly several times over and over… but it won’t initiate the start up of the screen…

      I’ve tried lots of things… unplugged the tv and waited about 10-15 seconds and plugged it back in then pressed the power on the remote and it’ll usually come back on with the volume all the way back to “1” which stinks… but it still “works”…

      I’m willing to pay a good amount for a plasma adjacent/similar tv just because of the luck I’ve had with this current tv. It makes more sense to me to invest in a really great tv now, as opposed to replacing several less great tv’s when they inevitably break down…

      I’ve been looking around, and obviously they’ve stopped producing Plasma tvs now… so I’m still searching for a plasma like tv that I want…

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
      4·
      10 months ago

      I prefer Roku because it’s pretty trivial to block their ads and tracking, and I can add and remove channels and features pretty easily. Now if they started forcing me to have certain channels that would change. Plus you can use it as a dumb TV without connecting it to the Internet, and even set it to use an HDMI in by default so you never see the OS.

      • Chahk@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        set it to use an HDMI in by default so you never see the OS

        How long do you figure we have before manufacturers remove this functionality?

        • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
          3·
          10 months ago

          There’s lots of places like sports bars that send TV signals from a central location and need the TVs to stay on the selected input, so I don’t think we’ll see it go away entirely. It may move to displays that cater specifically to that use case, however.

  • theodewere@kbin.social
    20·
    10 months ago

    all cars are headed there too… so very soon you won’t be able to get news or transportation without someone else’s permission…

    • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
      10·
      10 months ago

      Please drink a confirmation mountain dew to activate your air conditioner. Sorry, we didn’t hear the sound of the can opening, please open another where the microphone can hear it. Sorry, our servers are down, we apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing. Sorry, getting your family out of the vehicle is an optional feature which you have not subscribed to, please say “Do the Dew” to get temporary access to the friends and family doors. Sorry, I didn’t get that, please say “Do the Dew”. Sorry, I still didn’t get that, please call customer service at 1800-luv-cars to give your ad consumer confirmation phrase to a customer service representative.

    • Hot Saucerman@lemmy.mlEnglish
      7·
      10 months ago

      I mean you have technically always needed a drivers license to drive which I would classify as “needing someone else’s permission.”

      The bus on the other hand?

      • FfaerieOxide@kbin.social
        3·
        10 months ago

        I mean you have technically always needed a drivers license to drive

        No you don’t. They still work even if you don’t have one.

        Hell, the keys turn in the ignition even if you’re drunk.

      • theodewere@kbin.social
        2·
        10 months ago

        it sounds like you’ve already surrendered your right to transportation… that license is something that i hold myself to and others… that’s the way citizenship works… i don’t ask for permission… i agree to abide by minimum functional requirements because i expect others to as well, and carry proof… you are confused…

        if you think getting your driver’s license is “asking the government for permission” you are already a slave

  • norske@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    I made the mistake of using the LG smart tv features for like 2 years. I set up a pihole to block ads and eventually WebOS just quit working because ads and trackers did t work anymore. I factory reset the tv and switched over to a Roku stick. That worked well for nearly 4 years. Now I’m on a $19 ONN 4k streaming stick from Walmart. It’s actually kinda beef for what it is. Made by Asus and flashed LineageOS on it. Audio drops out and requires a reboot every few days. I want to move to a Nvidia shield but haven’t had the funds for it because I’m in a kitchen remodel.

    • WigglingWalrus@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I’ve got an nvidia shield but if you’re looking for cheap and good, google chromecasts are good these days. I managed to get one for free with an offer too.

      • norske@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Ive never used a chromecast. Can they be flashed and de-googled?

        I like Android overall, but I try and avoid as much google as I possibly can.

      • norske@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Flash a stripped down rom like LineageOS with minimal google services. De-crappify it. They are well supported and documented on XDA.

  • Skimmer@lemmy.zip
    9·
    10 months ago

    Yep, they’re horrible. I always disable internet on them, uninstall any apps I can, and generally do what I can to avoid using the built-in smart TV, but I shouldn’t have to do this, its unfortunate and sucks to deal with. They just take advantage of consumers who don’t know better, wish the TV market wasn’t like this. :/

  • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
    5·
    10 months ago

    Actually I think a lot of people do upgrade their TVs somewhat often, as stupid as that is. I will be clinging to my dumb TV for dear life as long as possible, but I feel like people are very consumerist these days. TVs have gotten cheap enough that they feel able to.

    It goes without saying that no one should have to buy a new TV because there is a bunch of trashy software on it, but I’m sure it’s already happened enough to incentivise these assholes’ bad behavior

  • Sdnimm543@slrpnk.net
    1·
    10 months ago

    I finally looked in the settings and found I can set my roku tv to not start in the smart menu and it is immediately better for me.

  • shiveyarbles@beehaw.org
    5·
    10 months ago

    Smart devices are basically data sniffers scooping up any info about you and your family, your habits,. They watch network traffic, listen to your conversations, and record video,. I’ll stick to dumb devices thanks.