4 ms·

Yup. Works great. All things equal I'd prefer just not buying a damn Smart TV to begin with, but absent that as a realistic option (every 4K TV I've ever seen i

Yup. Works great. All things equal I'd prefer just not buying a damn Smart TV to begin with, but absent that as a realistic option (every 4K TV I've ever seen is smart) I'll happily settle with them never seeing one byte of Internet.

eightnoneone 11mo ago
I’m in the same camp. The next escalation is defending against a TV scanning for, and joining unprotected neighbor networks to “phone home.” It’s a thing.
- jonnrb 11mo ago
  I mean yeah or they include a 5G modem because the ads are so lucrative. But then we can start discussing how to cut the red wire to disarm your spy rectangle.
  - kotaKat 11mo ago
    That one I’m starting to lean on getting closer to happening because we now have 5G RedCap out there for the ‘cheaper’ moderate-speed IoT data market. https://about.att.com/blogs/2025/5g-redcap.html https://about.att.com/blogs/2025/5g-redcap.html https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5g-redcap-powering-smart-devices-with-smarter-5g https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5g-redcap-powering-sma... Wouldn’t surprise me to see modems and eSIMs and embedded PCB antennas some day down the line.
    - ToucanLoucan 11mo ago
      Imagine if we could put this kind of innovation to work to solve actual problems and not find ways to bypass people attempting to not have capitalism screaming at them 24/7 to buy things.
- anonym29 11mo ago
  Bet this is easy to fool with a fake/honeypot open network with a high rssi that blocks all traffic except the initial captive portal / connectivity check.
dr_coffee 11mo ago
The article lists several manufacturers of 4k dumb tv’s
- ToucanLoucan 11mo ago
  The article also says why they suck: > Dumb TVs sold today have serious image and sound quality tradeoffs, simply because companies don’t make dumb versions of their high-end models. On the image side, you can expect lower resolutions, sizes, and brightness levels and poorer viewing angles. You also won’t find premium panel technologies like OLED. If you want premium image quality or sound, you’re better off using a smart TV offline. Dumb TVs also usually have shorter (one-year) warranties.
  - cgh 11mo ago
    Yeah, Sceptre's site shows a bunch of dumb TVs that max out at HDMI 2.0, 4K/60Hz. Basically, they are ten years out of date.
- imp0cat 11mo ago
  Some of the advice is a bit weird though. Get a 4k HDR TV and then connect it to an antenna? I mean, why do you even need a 4k HDR TV in that case? Not to mention disabling the smart/ad features is an option on some smart tvs (ie. Sony).

eightnoneone 11mo ago

I’m in the same camp. The next escalation is defending against a TV scanning for, and joining unprotected neighbor networks to “phone home.” It’s a thing.

jonnrb 11mo ago
I mean yeah or they include a 5G modem because the ads are so lucrative. But then we can start discussing how to cut the red wire to disarm your spy rectangle.
- kotaKat 11mo ago
  That one I’m starting to lean on getting closer to happening because we now have 5G RedCap out there for the ‘cheaper’ moderate-speed IoT data market. https://about.att.com/blogs/2025/5g-redcap.html https://about.att.com/blogs/2025/5g-redcap.html https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5g-redcap-powering-smart-devices-with-smarter-5g https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5g-redcap-powering-sma... Wouldn’t surprise me to see modems and eSIMs and embedded PCB antennas some day down the line.
  - ToucanLoucan 11mo ago
    Imagine if we could put this kind of innovation to work to solve actual problems and not find ways to bypass people attempting to not have capitalism screaming at them 24/7 to buy things.
anonym29 11mo ago
Bet this is easy to fool with a fake/honeypot open network with a high rssi that blocks all traffic except the initial captive portal / connectivity check.

dr_coffee 11mo ago

The article lists several manufacturers of 4k dumb tv’s

ToucanLoucan 11mo ago
The article also says why they suck: > Dumb TVs sold today have serious image and sound quality tradeoffs, simply because companies don’t make dumb versions of their high-end models. On the image side, you can expect lower resolutions, sizes, and brightness levels and poorer viewing angles. You also won’t find premium panel technologies like OLED. If you want premium image quality or sound, you’re better off using a smart TV offline. Dumb TVs also usually have shorter (one-year) warranties.
- cgh 11mo ago
  Yeah, Sceptre's site shows a bunch of dumb TVs that max out at HDMI 2.0, 4K/60Hz. Basically, they are ten years out of date.
imp0cat 11mo ago
Some of the advice is a bit weird though. Get a 4k HDR TV and then connect it to an antenna? I mean, why do you even need a 4k HDR TV in that case? Not to mention disabling the smart/ad features is an option on some smart tvs (ie. Sony).