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> “Any TV worth buying is very likely going to ask to connect to your Wi-Fi, and that’s been the case for many years now,” he says. “If you can find one manufac

> “Any TV worth buying is very likely going to ask to connect to your Wi-Fi, and that’s been the case for many years now,” he says. “If you can find one manufactured recently that isn’t smart, I don’t know that I would trust it to be worth what you’re paying for it, because it’ll likely be missing several other salient features that you may actually want, like Bluetooth compatibility, HDR functionality, built-in channel scanning, or the ability to auto-label and optimize devices by HDMI input.” I literally need zero of these things: 1: BT, auto-labeling HDMI inputs: My receiver does these 2: built-in channel scanning: I live in a valley and can reliably pull in 0 channels 3: HDR functionality: This would be nice for future-proofing, but I don't own any HDR content.

emodendroket 4y ago
You are obviously not the target audience for this article. They also are not going to put high-quality panels in any "dumb" TVs they do deign to manufacture.
- xp84 4y ago
  Agree on the last part. Some of these bells and whistles are silly, but the common thread in "dumb" TVs is basically that they will be using the cheesiest possible hardware across the board. Which is really saying something since they need to be worse than the entry-level Smart TVs -- which are already cost-reduced to a comical degree. Some of my other "favorite" things about the dumb TV i bought for the kids room: * Only a single button - you have to hold it down to turn it off, I think? Single press cycles inputs. * Stand made of two flimsy pieces of plastic at the sides so you need a super wide table for it. On the other hand, at least it doesn't need to "boot up." :D
- mastazi 4y ago
  Many digital signage TVs have high quality panels and they are dumb TVs.
- aidenn0 4y ago
  > You are obviously not the target audience for this article That's a bit of a cop-out. If someone else wrote a letter into the wire-cutter asking about the best skim-milk, and the response was that skim milk is nutritionally inferior to whole-milk, so you should at least buy 2% milk if you aren't going to buy whole, and I actually want skim-milk, am I "not the target audience" for the article? > The also are not going to put high-quality panels in any "dumb" TVs they do deign to manufacture I don't know how it currently is, but it used to be that there were far fewer panel manufacturers than companies selling TVs, so anyone with enough volume could make a TV, so this is only true if "they" encompasses all possible TV manufacturers.
xp84 4y ago
I actually turned off HDR as soon as I got an HDR-capable TV, because it's apparently code for "eye-searingly-bright whites, including in the Apple TV interface itself." I don't understand who wants this. Maybe I'm a vampire?
- bombcar 4y ago
  I have a similar response and I think it’s because it needs a lot to get setup correctly across everything. It’s like having the bass turned up but for video.
- maccard 4y ago
  I do. I remember when HD TV's came out and it was mind blowing the difference between an old and a new TV. We had 3D TV, 4k TV's come out during that time period and they were fine, but viewing content in HDR was the first time in a decade I realised "wow there has been another shift". My partner would struggle to call the difference between our 4k TV and our older 1080 TV, but she absolutely adores the HDR on the newer LG.
- cultureswitch 4y ago
  Same boat as you. To me HDR is ok if I use the TV in a dark room but otherwise I lose most of the detail as the extremes.
  - garbagewoman 4y ago
    Doesn’t sound like actual HDR, to be fair, check your system with an outside body
- garbagewoman 4y ago
  Have you seen an optometrist?
  - xp84 4y ago
    Can't find one, it's too bright outside...
- 4y ago
nabilhat 4y ago
That's where it became clear that the article was taking advantage of the question to frame the source as an out-of-touch weirdo. "If you can find one manufactured recently that isn’t smart" implies they didn't try to find one and made up this content to avoid doing so. The assumed "missing salient features" are smart features; this statement framing the article's thesis is tautological. It's a disingenuous response to an honest question introduced as "by far the most-asked among Ask Wirecutter readers", and a disrespectful, misleading way to treat their audience. ---edit--- I trusted consistent Google and DDG searches for the rest of this comment, and I shouldn't have. The following is not correct. ---/edit--- Not just readers. Is this how Wirecutter treats brands who don't treat with them? "We suspect it stems from an FTC complaint and a class-action lawsuit that Vizio..."? Why throw Vizio under the bus so explicitly? Is it because Vizio has never played ball with Wirecutter? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anytimes.com%2Fwirecutter%2F+"vizio" https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anytimes.com%2Fwirecutter%2F...
- stinkytaco 4y ago
  Do that search with Google and you will see that Wirecutter recommends a number of Vizio TVs. I've personally bought and been happy with a Vizio TV they recommended. I do not connect it to the Internet and it works fine. EDIT: here is one article in which they recommend a vizio model: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-lcd-led-tv/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-lcd-led-tv/
  - nabilhat 4y ago
    Yikes! Thank you, I regret the error. I know it varies by user but I got nothing back from Google. I posted the DDG link assuming it would be a little less variably tailored for others. That's the first time I've seen DDG overfilter rather than overselect. That's disappointing. On to Startpage I guess? https://www.startpage.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=site%3Anytimes.com%2Fwirecutter%2F%20%22vizio%22 https://www.startpage.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=site%3Anyti...
- aidenn0 4y ago
  TBF HDR is not a smart feature, and I would love to have it someday. But most projectors lack some or all of these features as well, and they have no trouble recommending a projector...

emodendroket 4y ago

You are obviously not the target audience for this article. They also are not going to put high-quality panels in any "dumb" TVs they do deign to manufacture.

xp84 4y ago
Agree on the last part. Some of these bells and whistles are silly, but the common thread in "dumb" TVs is basically that they will be using the cheesiest possible hardware across the board. Which is really saying something since they need to be worse than the entry-level Smart TVs -- which are already cost-reduced to a comical degree. Some of my other "favorite" things about the dumb TV i bought for the kids room: * Only a single button - you have to hold it down to turn it off, I think? Single press cycles inputs. * Stand made of two flimsy pieces of plastic at the sides so you need a super wide table for it. On the other hand, at least it doesn't need to "boot up." :D
mastazi 4y ago
Many digital signage TVs have high quality panels and they are dumb TVs.
aidenn0 4y ago
> You are obviously not the target audience for this article That's a bit of a cop-out. If someone else wrote a letter into the wire-cutter asking about the best skim-milk, and the response was that skim milk is nutritionally inferior to whole-milk, so you should at least buy 2% milk if you aren't going to buy whole, and I actually want skim-milk, am I "not the target audience" for the article? > The also are not going to put high-quality panels in any "dumb" TVs they do deign to manufacture I don't know how it currently is, but it used to be that there were far fewer panel manufacturers than companies selling TVs, so anyone with enough volume could make a TV, so this is only true if "they" encompasses all possible TV manufacturers.

xp84 4y ago

I actually turned off HDR as soon as I got an HDR-capable TV, because it's apparently code for "eye-searingly-bright whites, including in the Apple TV interface itself." I don't understand who wants this. Maybe I'm a vampire?

bombcar 4y ago
I have a similar response and I think it’s because it needs a lot to get setup correctly across everything. It’s like having the bass turned up but for video.
maccard 4y ago
I do. I remember when HD TV's came out and it was mind blowing the difference between an old and a new TV. We had 3D TV, 4k TV's come out during that time period and they were fine, but viewing content in HDR was the first time in a decade I realised "wow there has been another shift". My partner would struggle to call the difference between our 4k TV and our older 1080 TV, but she absolutely adores the HDR on the newer LG.
cultureswitch 4y ago
Same boat as you. To me HDR is ok if I use the TV in a dark room but otherwise I lose most of the detail as the extremes.
- garbagewoman 4y ago
  Doesn’t sound like actual HDR, to be fair, check your system with an outside body
garbagewoman 4y ago
Have you seen an optometrist?
- xp84 4y ago
  Can't find one, it's too bright outside...
4y ago

nabilhat 4y ago

That's where it became clear that the article was taking advantage of the question to frame the source as an out-of-touch weirdo. "If you can find one manufactured recently that isn’t smart" implies they didn't try to find one and made up this content to avoid doing so. The assumed "missing salient features" are smart features; this statement framing the article's thesis is tautological. It's a disingenuous response to an honest question introduced as "by far the most-asked among Ask Wirecutter readers", and a disrespectful, misleading way to treat their audience. ---edit--- I trusted consistent Google and DDG searches for the rest of this comment, and I shouldn't have. The following is not correct. ---/edit--- Not just readers. Is this how Wirecutter treats brands who don't treat with them? "We suspect it stems from an FTC complaint and a class-action lawsuit that Vizio..."? Why throw Vizio under the bus so explicitly? Is it because Vizio has never played ball with Wirecutter? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anytimes.com%2Fwirecutter%2F+"vizio" https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anytimes.com%2Fwirecutter%2F...

stinkytaco 4y ago
Do that search with Google and you will see that Wirecutter recommends a number of Vizio TVs. I've personally bought and been happy with a Vizio TV they recommended. I do not connect it to the Internet and it works fine. EDIT: here is one article in which they recommend a vizio model: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-lcd-led-tv/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-lcd-led-tv/
- nabilhat 4y ago
  Yikes! Thank you, I regret the error. I know it varies by user but I got nothing back from Google. I posted the DDG link assuming it would be a little less variably tailored for others. That's the first time I've seen DDG overfilter rather than overselect. That's disappointing. On to Startpage I guess? https://www.startpage.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=site%3Anytimes.com%2Fwirecutter%2F%20%22vizio%22 https://www.startpage.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=site%3Anyti...
aidenn0 4y ago
TBF HDR is not a smart feature, and I would love to have it someday. But most projectors lack some or all of these features as well, and they have no trouble recommending a projector...