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Why does anyone use a TV anymore? What does a "Smart TV" offer that you can't do better in a different way? For years now, actually more than a decade, we just

Why does anyone use a TV anymore? What does a "Smart TV" offer that you can't do better in a different way? For years now, actually more than a decade, we just use a home-theater projector (Epson, fwiw). Audio goes into our stereo system. Set up a media center to feed the projector. If you still have cable (or equivalent), hook up the box from your cable company.

maipen 3y ago
> Why doesn't everyone do everything like I do? What are you even talking about???
traverseda 3y ago
My apartment is a bit too bright for a projector, and I don't want to always watch stuff only in the dark with all the curtains drawn. I'm not ritualizing it. Sometimes I'll leave a podcast or old episodes of the Simpsons on while I cook (open concept living-room/kitchen).
dasloop 3y ago
Size against everything else?. image quality will be better in a TV with similar price. Also convenience.
ns407 3y ago
Why doesn't everyone have a room with perfect lighting, use special paint or buy a screen to project onto, buy external audio equipment, manage cables and mount the projector all for what is worse image quality than modern oleds. Gee guy, I really don't know. What a hot take you've got here.
- whamlastxmas 3y ago
  The same point can be made without snark
WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
> Why does anyone use a TV anymore? What does a "Smart TV" offer that you can't do better in a different way? For years now, actually more than a decade, we just use a home-theater projector It's a bit of a squeeze for a smallish bedroom. Or an 1000 sqft home w/ 3+ kids, a single wide, a 5th wheel, a shotgun home. Ya know. Places people live.
pquki4 3y ago
Depending on your environment, a projector could very likely be more expensive but leads to worse experience than a half decent 4k TV. Most of people don't do what you are describing because they are spending their money well, not because they are stupid.
nunez 3y ago
We have a Sony A95K; the 55" model. I don't watch TV unless I'm with my wife, but when we do, we get stunningly accurate 4K HDR video at any time of day, faithful color reproduction because the panel is QD-OLED (I had to tune it a little beforehand; I still need to color calibrate it), and the ability to tilt the display based on where we're sitting. You can get those with a projector, but you need space, a good panel to project against, and, most importantly, a REALLY GOOD projector (Epsons that can do this are $2k+, which is how much our TV was). That said, a projector can't be beat for watching stuff outside (though, again, you need a really good projector to watch anything during the day)
sys_64738 3y ago
Not everybody wants to spend $$$ on a projector. A 30" LCD can be had for 80 bucks to receive OTA signals.
Retr0id 3y ago
Price. Smart TVs are cheaper, whether you care about the "smarts" or not. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1283880/global-television-price-per-unit https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1283880/global-television... The average TV costs $333. Put another way, the average consumer is spending $333 on their TV (I think that's a correct inference?). At that price you can get a pretty large 4K LCD panel supporting HDR. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a competitor at that price point, and I'm guessing you spent significantly more than that on your setup. I'm sure that choice made sense for you, but you're not the average consumer.

maipen 3y ago

> Why doesn't everyone do everything like I do? What are you even talking about???

traverseda 3y ago

My apartment is a bit too bright for a projector, and I don't want to always watch stuff only in the dark with all the curtains drawn. I'm not ritualizing it. Sometimes I'll leave a podcast or old episodes of the Simpsons on while I cook (open concept living-room/kitchen).

dasloop 3y ago

Size against everything else?. image quality will be better in a TV with similar price. Also convenience.

ns407 3y ago

Why doesn't everyone have a room with perfect lighting, use special paint or buy a screen to project onto, buy external audio equipment, manage cables and mount the projector all for what is worse image quality than modern oleds. Gee guy, I really don't know. What a hot take you've got here.

whamlastxmas 3y ago
The same point can be made without snark

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago

> Why does anyone use a TV anymore? What does a "Smart TV" offer that you can't do better in a different way? For years now, actually more than a decade, we just use a home-theater projector It's a bit of a squeeze for a smallish bedroom. Or an 1000 sqft home w/ 3+ kids, a single wide, a 5th wheel, a shotgun home. Ya know. Places people live.

pquki4 3y ago

Depending on your environment, a projector could very likely be more expensive but leads to worse experience than a half decent 4k TV. Most of people don't do what you are describing because they are spending their money well, not because they are stupid.

nunez 3y ago

We have a Sony A95K; the 55" model. I don't watch TV unless I'm with my wife, but when we do, we get stunningly accurate 4K HDR video at any time of day, faithful color reproduction because the panel is QD-OLED (I had to tune it a little beforehand; I still need to color calibrate it), and the ability to tilt the display based on where we're sitting. You can get those with a projector, but you need space, a good panel to project against, and, most importantly, a REALLY GOOD projector (Epsons that can do this are $2k+, which is how much our TV was). That said, a projector can't be beat for watching stuff outside (though, again, you need a really good projector to watch anything during the day)

sys_64738 3y ago

Not everybody wants to spend $$$ on a projector. A 30" LCD can be had for 80 bucks to receive OTA signals.

Retr0id 3y ago

Price. Smart TVs are cheaper, whether you care about the "smarts" or not. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1283880/global-television-price-per-unit https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1283880/global-television... The average TV costs $333. Put another way, the average consumer is spending $333 on their TV (I think that's a correct inference?). At that price you can get a pretty large 4K LCD panel supporting HDR. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a competitor at that price point, and I'm guessing you spent significantly more than that on your setup. I'm sure that choice made sense for you, but you're not the average consumer.