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This is one of the many reasons I haven't owned a TV for the last 5 years. I just watch stuff on the computer, or not at all. It's actually nice not having it l

by sdcfgy 25d ago

This is one of the many reasons I haven't owned a TV for the last 5 years. I just watch stuff on the computer, or not at all. It's actually nice not having it looming over me.

Grombobulous 25d ago
I love my friend’s house that has no TV and that’s exactly what they do. The room aesthetically looks so nice without the screen in it. However, the laptop solution tends to only work if you’re single or have no family. The TV is unfortunately a very useful device.
- no_wizard 25d ago
  Projectors are still valid, and often superior, alternatives to TVs. They’re definitely more work to get right though
  - kuboble 25d ago
    Welp... I bought recently a projector. It wouldn't start in a dumb mode without first establishing internet connection and a Google account.
  - Grombobulous 25d ago
    Interesting idea I never thought of, though for my purposes my room gets way too much natural light for a projector to be viable.
    - cobbzilla 25d ago
      blackout shades go a long way, but if you’ve got huge bay windows that’s probably too much. If it’s close to good, and you need a little more brightness, there are newer screens that reflect much more light. more reflective = pricier, but there’s a decent value/sweet spot.
      - Grombobulous 25d ago
        Huge floor to ceiling windows is exactly what I have. Of course I also don’t want to make my room pitch black just to watch TV. It’s good to know that there are solutions designed for high-light situations, though.
    - d3Xt3r 25d ago
      There are ambient light rejection (ALR) screens available now that make projectors viable even under bright lights. Problem is, the decent ones are quite pricey, sometimes costing almost as much as the projector themselves. You could easily buy two OLED TVs for the price of a decent short throw laser projector + ALR. The other issue issue is that most, if not all, modern projectors are also "smart", so you may run into the same privacy issues as TVs... Maybe the best option is to just buy a PC monitor and pair it up with decent speakers, the only issue being you can't get larger screens like TVs.
      - Grombobulous 25d ago
        Yeah the projector doesn’t quite save on room aesthetics if I need whole screen setup, unless I spend even more to make it super hidden and seamless in the room. I’ve just found that disabling network connectivity and going with an external streaming box is the best compromise of the moment. On LG it’s important to never agree to the terms and conditions. I’m not sure if they still allow you to do that on new TV sets. It’s very disturbing to find out that the TV is queueing up data to send home even while offline. The Apple TV streaming box seems to be the least privacy-invasive, mostly ad-free, mainstream easy to use option on the market, but it’s certainly not perfect in that regard.
  - anvuong 25d ago
    How is projector superior? More often than not, with the same amount of money spent, projector produces worse image quality, consumes more power, and don't last as long.
  - account42 25d ago
    Projectors can never come even remotely close to the contrast of an OLED. That's an inherent limitation of requiring a reflective display surface and not something that can be fixed with better technology.
deltoidmaximus 25d ago
LG recently was in the news for loading Microsoft's utility/driver update mechanism with crapware that auto installs (by default) when you hitch one of their monitors to a Windows PC. I fear they just haven't gotten around to fully abusing monitor users yet.
- account42 25d ago
  That's just your computer having the same who-is-the-owner issue as a smart TV.
miguel-muniz 23d ago
The awful part is that streaming has pretty much ruined TV. There's hardly any new good shows on TV, and many channels have just become the same show on 24/7. It would be one thing if we maintained the same quality of service that TV had and had streaming as an alternative, but streaming has pretty much replaced TV. Every channel always has ads for their streaming service. It's bleak.

by sdcfgy 25d ago

This is one of the many reasons I haven't owned a TV for the last 5 years. I just watch stuff on the computer, or not at all. It's actually nice not having it looming over me.

Grombobulous 25d ago

I love my friend’s house that has no TV and that’s exactly what they do. The room aesthetically looks so nice without the screen in it. However, the laptop solution tends to only work if you’re single or have no family. The TV is unfortunately a very useful device.

no_wizard 25d ago
Projectors are still valid, and often superior, alternatives to TVs. They’re definitely more work to get right though
- kuboble 25d ago
  Welp... I bought recently a projector. It wouldn't start in a dumb mode without first establishing internet connection and a Google account.
- Grombobulous 25d ago
  Interesting idea I never thought of, though for my purposes my room gets way too much natural light for a projector to be viable.
  - cobbzilla 25d ago
    blackout shades go a long way, but if you’ve got huge bay windows that’s probably too much. If it’s close to good, and you need a little more brightness, there are newer screens that reflect much more light. more reflective = pricier, but there’s a decent value/sweet spot.
    - Grombobulous 25d ago
      Huge floor to ceiling windows is exactly what I have. Of course I also don’t want to make my room pitch black just to watch TV. It’s good to know that there are solutions designed for high-light situations, though.
  - d3Xt3r 25d ago
    There are ambient light rejection (ALR) screens available now that make projectors viable even under bright lights. Problem is, the decent ones are quite pricey, sometimes costing almost as much as the projector themselves. You could easily buy two OLED TVs for the price of a decent short throw laser projector + ALR. The other issue issue is that most, if not all, modern projectors are also "smart", so you may run into the same privacy issues as TVs... Maybe the best option is to just buy a PC monitor and pair it up with decent speakers, the only issue being you can't get larger screens like TVs.
    - Grombobulous 25d ago
      Yeah the projector doesn’t quite save on room aesthetics if I need whole screen setup, unless I spend even more to make it super hidden and seamless in the room. I’ve just found that disabling network connectivity and going with an external streaming box is the best compromise of the moment. On LG it’s important to never agree to the terms and conditions. I’m not sure if they still allow you to do that on new TV sets. It’s very disturbing to find out that the TV is queueing up data to send home even while offline. The Apple TV streaming box seems to be the least privacy-invasive, mostly ad-free, mainstream easy to use option on the market, but it’s certainly not perfect in that regard.
- anvuong 25d ago
  How is projector superior? More often than not, with the same amount of money spent, projector produces worse image quality, consumes more power, and don't last as long.
- account42 25d ago
  Projectors can never come even remotely close to the contrast of an OLED. That's an inherent limitation of requiring a reflective display surface and not something that can be fixed with better technology.

deltoidmaximus 25d ago

LG recently was in the news for loading Microsoft's utility/driver update mechanism with crapware that auto installs (by default) when you hitch one of their monitors to a Windows PC. I fear they just haven't gotten around to fully abusing monitor users yet.

account42 25d ago
That's just your computer having the same who-is-the-owner issue as a smart TV.

miguel-muniz 23d ago

The awful part is that streaming has pretty much ruined TV. There's hardly any new good shows on TV, and many channels have just become the same show on 24/7. It would be one thing if we maintained the same quality of service that TV had and had streaming as an alternative, but streaming has pretty much replaced TV. Every channel always has ads for their streaming service. It's bleak.