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Is it? I’m still holding onto my TV from 2014 because it doesn’t have “smart” functionality. Every time I look at new ones I can’t find good dumb ones.
by mojo982 6y ago
Is it? I’m still holding onto my TV from 2014 because it doesn’t have “smart” functionality. Every time I look at new ones I can’t find good dumb ones.
- tga 6y agoAren’t all smart TVs dumb if you don’t connect them to the internet? I wouldn’t be surprised if manufacturers start selling TVs that need to be activated online before first use, but I don’t know of any that do that already.
- dspillett 6y agoMine quite happily works as a dumb TV without a connection, and I know many others who do the same. Though I hear stories of TVs being annoying to use without a connection (timing out waiting for a server response that can never come, before falling back to an ad free menu, or just constantly nagging, even while content is playing, about the lack of connectivity).
- comprev 6y agoMy 'smart' TV has no internet connection configured as I use a Chromecast for streaming services and beaming local content.
- Dahoon 6y agoThat you know of.. Alexa auto-connects to other Alexa networks (like your neighbors). Some TVs have Alexa built-in. Bingo, telemetry.
- Yeri 6y agoThat’s Alexa hardware using something like LORAWAN or zigbee or something. Bandwidth is low. I doubt that (at this stage) TVs have something similar builtin. When they come with Alexa/GHome/... it’s usually the software and not an actual Alexa device built in.
- wasmitnetzen 6y agoAmazon just announced Sidewalk, where their Echo/Ring devices share their internet connection. If it's not happening yet, it will be soon.
- jasomill 6y agoLikewise (s/Chromecast/Mac Pro/), but mine (LG) has no apparent means to disable Wi-Fi Direct, so it's still potentially vulnerable to local wireless exploits.
- hanklazard 6y agoYeah I worry about this sort of “annoy the customer into connecting” behavior becoming more common as integrating ads becomes more a part of the business model. Also could connect to open wifi networks in more densely populated areas The real problem will be integrated cellular connectivity with no option to disable.
- mojomark 6y agoI hate my Samsung. All of our TV content comes through our Xfinity internet (no digital antenna, no cable box). However, when you turn the TV on the Samsung defaults to "Samsung TV" set of stations that look like local TV and have commercials. They hijack your internet, bandwidth that you pay for, to feed you commercials that they get paid for. How the hell is this legal???
- hanklazard 6y agoI have a Samsung but use an Apple TV, I'd recommend disconnecting it and going this route. I was paranoid to give this TV any access to a network, and actually kind of freaked out on my poor wife when she connected it one time when I wasn't home.
- Sunspark 6y agoIf it comes with an unlimited data plan, I'd happily buy that TV just to open it up to take the SIM out of it and use it in another device.
- hanklazard 6y agoYeah, but if/when that situation comes about, they're not going to let you do that. They'll brick your TV when you pry it out after forcing you to void your warranty by burying it in some difficult-to-access electronic guts. I'm waiting on some high quality "dumb" TV. I'll happily pay more for not having to worry about all this nonsense and my sense is that I'm not alone (though most people will happily continue to buy non-privacy respecting brands for a lower price).
- 6y ago
- dspillett 6y agoDepends where you are looking. They are not often carried by big name stores because of a mix of lack of demand and manufacturer kick-backs for selling the smart ones. Any they are relatively expensive, for the same reasons. Another option is to buy a monitor not a TV, but again because of market scale you'll pay a lot more for a monitor that large. They don't sell enough to consumers for volume savings to kick in, and they are aimed at commercial use so there is at least a little more "make it good rather than cheap" incentive than there is in other markets.
- therealx 6y agoDisplays - TVs without the tuner, are very pssibly to buy if you don't mind it beint shipped to you. The sector is a live and well, just not targeted to consumers.
- overscore 6y agoIf you don't need any "TV" features such as a tuner or speakers, you might consider using a monitor. I use a 32" 4k monitor as my "TV". In my case, anything with a TV tuner requires an expensive license, so that's another motivating factor, but whenever I use someone else's "smart TV", I'm always relieved that I don't have to deal with glacial UIs and injected ads.
- rzzzt 6y agoThe ubiquitous display control boards with HDMI/VGA on one side and a FFC connector on the other sold... just about everywhere also don't have ads. (Yet.) So get a working panel, pair it with such a thing and you are off to the races! User friendliness does fall behind a bit, I'll give that.
- therealx 6y agoTo make matters worse, the SmartTV sold someone in my family just had the SmartTV apps (netflix, etc) taken forcefully off the device because they no longer wished to keep it up to date.
- jasomill 6y agoAnd I use a 55" 4K TV as my "monitor", because sub-$1,000 >>30" monitors with internal 3D LUT-based color calibration aren't a thing. And, while I don't use the speakers, the TV's S/PDIF output is nevertheless handy for routing the audio output of whichever of the four HDMI inputs is active to the single S/PDIF input on my audio interface. Finally, the TV has an RS-232 port that allows control of essentially all of the basic "TV" functionality, which was handy for setting up keyboard shortcuts for input switching, power, and brightness control; IME, monitor controls for such things that don't involve diddling with buttons on the side of the device itself are few and far between.
- unnouinceput 6y agoWhat is said TV response time? If it's bigger than 2 ms then that's a no go for me.
- alecco 6y agoTry something like Samsung Signage Displays. Or look for "dumb-tv" category in Amazon and other sites.
- joking 6y agothose have different panels tunned for more ambient lighting and doesn’t have the same color and black reproduction of a good tv panel. just buy a tv and use an external player without connecting the tv to internet and you are set.
- therealx 6y agoThe sales world you are looking for is a "panel", think something that goes on the wall at a convention center, or as a menu. They very muxh exist, and the stats are no B.S>
- sbarre 6y agoYeah as others have said, the TV can't get online by itself, so you simply don't configure the "Smart" features and it should work just fine (although perhaps that is something to confirm before purchase).
- zinekeller 6y agoEh, some do nag about not setting it up, and if this Chinese model is representative of the future [1], the ads may be built-in anyways. 1: https://youtu.be/4eSADWuZskk?t=231 https://youtu.be/4eSADWuZskk?t=231
- Bjartr 6y agoIIRC, some will attempt to get online by themselves by connecting to open access points, but I don't have a source for that.
- sbarre 6y agoYes someone else linked to a story where TVs were hopping onto open Wifi, but honestly if a TV I owned ever did that, I would probably toss it and boycott that manufacturer forever.
- mlacks 6y agoThe term you are looking for is “professional display”. NEC/sharp, Sony, and Samsung off the top of my head have a division for this. I work in a classified military space where the security of our equipment has been verified; our 80 inchers are all NEC and work wonderfully
- JMTQp8lwXL 6y agoI'm not an expert in this space, but professional displays (e.g., screens mounted in airports, and the like) do not seem notable for their cinematic visual quality-- usually they have a washed out appearance. They're reliable screens, but not made for watching movies.
- pwg 6y agoCan you be so sure it is the screens that are at fault. When mounted in airports and the like, they are also mounted in environments where the lighting is usually such (i.e., much too bright) that nearly any screen (LCD or old CRT's) would generally appear "washed out". So the effect you see may not be the screens, but instead may be caused by the environments in which you generally see them operating.
- kps 6y agoLook for terms like “conference room display” rather than “smart signage”.
- vsskanth 6y agoThanks for the tip. Is there a trade off ? Do they support 4k HDR and/or 120 Hz ?
- Yeri 6y agoI have a side-business in digital signage. Professional displays are indeed usually dumb TVs and are made to witstand 24/7 operation and may have higher lumen, etc. They do come at 4k. They also usually come with better management software and more ports. They can be connected to the internet for some remote management but I’ve never used that. There’s of course a price difference between you $300 cheapo consumer stuff, and a $1000-2000 pro display. I used to have these pro displays at home with Chromecast, works fine.
- amelius 6y ago> connect that to a machine you own. This is also becoming increasingly problematic.
- meowster 6y agoWhat are your thoughts on the Sceptre brand?
- octoberfranklin 6y agoI loved their 40-inch screens. Unfortunately they no longer make them. The 43-inch Sceptres have a HUGE black space between the pixels, which you will totally notice if you try to use them as desktop monitors.
- octoberfranklin 6y agoSame here. Also, 40-inch 4k screens don't seem to exist anymore. The 43-inch and above have a MUCH larger inter-pixel gap which I can easily notice when using them as a monitor. 50-inch and above are too big for desktop monitor use. I think the panel manufacturers realized they torpedoed their high-end monitor market with the 40-inch 4k screens which is why they had to nuke them and make the 43-inch displays so crappy.