we live in hell
I don’t even understand the pitch? you have the disc playing, in your hands, your ownership, no buffering, no subscription required. and they’re saying…hey do you want a worse experience?
Protip: Do not connect your TV to the Internet.
I ended up giving up and just putting a Linux PC attached to my TV as a media center. I host plex on it.
This is the way (Jellyfin here)
It’s called “Post-Purchase Monetization”, and it’s why your 65” OLED tv is so cheap. They capture and sell your viewing data - but only if you hook it up to an internet connection. So don’t hook them up to an internet connection.
The SMART thing to do is to buy a DUMB TV. Pay a little more and get a real TV- you know. A display, with speakers and HDMI inputs. Nothing else.
If possible, get an industrial monitor rated for 24/7 operation at high brightness. They will last decades in home use. Many have RS-232, which means you can easily add an ESP32 and integrate them into cloud-free home automation!
Is this a samsung tv? If it is one of the cheap tv’s like Vizio and such they have this live advertising which is awful. I always buy non-smart TV’s but now they actually cost more then the smart ones if you are going for a big 65-85" TV.
You can save the cash and just never let it connect to the internet.
This. It’s a simple as a really good router or a pihole at home or similar. Just block their domains they ring home to.
Yes, and now an option for the 99% of population that has no IT background lol
Serious question: How much of a brick risk is opening up one of these smart tvs and ripping out the wifi card? Can’t connect to the internet if you don’t have the hardware to do so.
(Obviously pretty high if legit caveman-style ripping out. Could also be really hard, I have no idea).
I haven’t checked, but most TVs probably don’t have a removable Wifi card and use the SoC’s built-in WiFi interface. It might be possible to remove the antennas, but they could also be traces on the PCB that you’d have to cut without damaging anything else.
Dumb tv with the latest panel tech is too much to ask for these days too.
Almost every TV is a perfectly good dumb TV when it doesn’t know your wifi password.
Smart TVs start up slow, the processor is underpowered for displaying the HD menus and unlike industrial displays, there is no RS-232 to use with an Arduino/ESP32 home automation. My Sony Bravia has bad image quality and CCFL backlight but the menus are extremely responsive, <0.2 s to show the Sources menu as opposed to >3 s on my grandma’s LG with some backlight LEDs also fading into blue.
Don’t look for TVs, look for PC monitors or industrial displays
Absolutely this. I’m lucky enough to have access to commercial & hospitality displays. Great picture quality and longevity with none of the forced online nonsense.
is there a retailer I can buy gently used ones you know of?
Gently used? Most get 24 hours of use every day, often with images so static even LCDs suffer some level of burn-in after months…
