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I don't get the hate for smart TVs. I don't have strong feelings either way. I activate my Apple TV and my Sony TV automatically turns on, switched to the corre

by beala 2y ago

I don't get the hate for smart TVs. I don't have strong feelings either way. I activate my Apple TV and my Sony TV automatically turns on, switched to the correct input. Same for my Nintendo Switch. The only time I ever interact with the TV's UI is when I accidentally sit on the remote and mash the buttons. The TV isn't even connected to my WiFi, so I don't worry about it spying on me or getting hacked.

saxonww 2y ago
For me it's a few things. First, most/all new Smart TVs are doing automated content recognition, collecting and sharing details about what you watch with the manufacturer, which they sell and/or use to show you ads. My understanding is that most new Smart TVs are showing you ads regardless. I'm opposed to this on principle. Second, at least the Smart TVs I've personally used (a couple of Vizio sets, a late-00s FHD Samsung, a mid-10s 4k LG) all have really slow and unpleasant UIs. The Vizio in particular was glacial, and I couldn't understand why the set owner even bought it (they were only streaming through built-in apps). I'm guessing newer and higher-end sets are fast, but I haven't used one myself. And finally, I don't want an integrated device like this anyway, I would prefer to pair a really nice panel with a separate smart device (roku, apple tv, linux, whatever) so I can upgrade those independently. If I am buying a Smart TV with no intention of using the smarts, I feel like I'm either paying too much, or not getting as nice a panel as I otherwise could.
- imp0cat 2y ago
  Sony let's you either opt-out of content recognition (yeah, it's hidden in the menu) or you can disable the smart features altogether and just use it as a dumb tv.
- goosedragons 2y ago
  Just don't connect it to the network and that solves most of the problems. Really the only one left is slow and unpleasant UI and most of that evaporates when all you're ever doing is swapping inputs. At this point the ads and other crap are subsidizing the panels.
- timrichard 2y ago
  I quite like the Sony Bravia UI. I did intend to just use a connected Raspberry Pi 4B running LibreElec to play my own content, but I ended up using the Kodi app from the Google Play store, which was superior at the time (h264 and h265 hardware decoding, plus working HDR. The Pi4 firmware was lagging behind). I have used my Pihole for DNS to stop calls to tracking services like Samba. A fairly recent firmware update meant I could attach a cheap gigabit Ethernet adapter to the USB3.0 port, so happy camper here.
deleted 2y ago
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layla5alive 2y ago
That's CEC working for you, nothing to do with a Smart TV. And you likely avoided the worst attributes by not connecting it to the internet.
cptskippy 2y ago
My Apple TV always steals the input focus back from the Switch constantly. There is a specific order of turning things on that must be adhered in order to not accidentally disturb the Apple TV and awake it from it's slumber. And there's key combinations on both Apple TV and Roku (rot in hell) that will occasionally trigger the LG WebOS UI to take over requiring fetching the LG remote from the bowels of the console to deactivate it. God forbid someone slam a door while you're watching TV and it triggers the gyroscopic TV remote to wake up and put a hot pink mouse cursor on screen.
agency 2y ago
When I think of smart TVs it's less about the kind of quality -of-life improvements you're describing and more about pushing users towards the in-TV apps and software to more effectively capture and sell usage data. Though I do have a funny interaction with the former kind of "smart features" with my (otherwise wonderful) LG C1 and PS5 where if I start the PS5 first it takes too long to trigger the TV to turn on and gets confused and puts the PS5 back to sleep as soon as the TV wakes up and switches to the input. But honestly I think I get more amusement than frustration watching the two smart devices outsmart each other constantly.

by beala 2y ago

saxonww 2y ago

For me it's a few things. First, most/all new Smart TVs are doing automated content recognition, collecting and sharing details about what you watch with the manufacturer, which they sell and/or use to show you ads. My understanding is that most new Smart TVs are showing you ads regardless. I'm opposed to this on principle. Second, at least the Smart TVs I've personally used (a couple of Vizio sets, a late-00s FHD Samsung, a mid-10s 4k LG) all have really slow and unpleasant UIs. The Vizio in particular was glacial, and I couldn't understand why the set owner even bought it (they were only streaming through built-in apps). I'm guessing newer and higher-end sets are fast, but I haven't used one myself. And finally, I don't want an integrated device like this anyway, I would prefer to pair a really nice panel with a separate smart device (roku, apple tv, linux, whatever) so I can upgrade those independently. If I am buying a Smart TV with no intention of using the smarts, I feel like I'm either paying too much, or not getting as nice a panel as I otherwise could.

imp0cat 2y ago
Sony let's you either opt-out of content recognition (yeah, it's hidden in the menu) or you can disable the smart features altogether and just use it as a dumb tv.
goosedragons 2y ago
Just don't connect it to the network and that solves most of the problems. Really the only one left is slow and unpleasant UI and most of that evaporates when all you're ever doing is swapping inputs. At this point the ads and other crap are subsidizing the panels.
timrichard 2y ago
I quite like the Sony Bravia UI. I did intend to just use a connected Raspberry Pi 4B running LibreElec to play my own content, but I ended up using the Kodi app from the Google Play store, which was superior at the time (h264 and h265 hardware decoding, plus working HDR. The Pi4 firmware was lagging behind). I have used my Pihole for DNS to stop calls to tracking services like Samba. A fairly recent firmware update meant I could attach a cheap gigabit Ethernet adapter to the USB3.0 port, so happy camper here.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

layla5alive 2y ago

That's CEC working for you, nothing to do with a Smart TV. And you likely avoided the worst attributes by not connecting it to the internet.

cptskippy 2y ago

My Apple TV always steals the input focus back from the Switch constantly. There is a specific order of turning things on that must be adhered in order to not accidentally disturb the Apple TV and awake it from it's slumber. And there's key combinations on both Apple TV and Roku (rot in hell) that will occasionally trigger the LG WebOS UI to take over requiring fetching the LG remote from the bowels of the console to deactivate it. God forbid someone slam a door while you're watching TV and it triggers the gyroscopic TV remote to wake up and put a hot pink mouse cursor on screen.

agency 2y ago

When I think of smart TVs it's less about the kind of quality -of-life improvements you're describing and more about pushing users towards the in-TV apps and software to more effectively capture and sell usage data. Though I do have a funny interaction with the former kind of "smart features" with my (otherwise wonderful) LG C1 and PS5 where if I start the PS5 first it takes too long to trigger the TV to turn on and gets confused and puts the PS5 back to sleep as soon as the TV wakes up and switches to the input. But honestly I think I get more amusement than frustration watching the two smart devices outsmart each other constantly.