this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2024
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[–] 0x0 31 points 6 months ago (7 children)

The real question is whether or not you can still buy a dumb TV in 2024.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm one of the crazy people who spent 4 grand on a 85 inch dumb display meant for stores to use as digital signage. Honestly a great decision. It's no home theater display but damn if it isn't just as good as any smart tv I've seen. I just have it hooked to a raspberry pi running librelec.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I just don’t hook mine up to the Internet and disable all the ad and tracking stuff on my LG, but at least yours will probably last 10+ years.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago

Unfortunately some modern TVs do stuff like constantly pester you to connect to the internet, or have offline ads. There have even been trials of Amazon-powered TVs connecting to nearby Echo devices and gaining internet connectivity that way.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That was kinda the idea. We just moved and I wanted to get something set up that I wouldn't have to worry about for at least a decade.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

My parents’ Sharp has lasted more than 10 years and it’s even a smart tv, but it’s probably way more dumb than the current ones since it could only do Netflix.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Rooting an Android TV gets you there, plus you get a TV that you actually own. It's super niche and difficult to do, though. Hard to find info on which TVs can be rooted.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Is any of that information centralised anywhere? I still have and love my old dumb TV, but I want to be prepared for when I am inevitably dragged in to the "smart" era.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I personally just had to figure it out for myself.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

business opportunity, Smart TV lobotomies.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Wouldn't that basically just be the same as "deleting the wifi password from the TV"?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

Hopefully they won't start standardizing TV's that have to phone home periodically and if they are denied this for long enough, refuse to work until they've established a connection to their servers. I'm not aware of anything that does this but it's definitely what will start happening if enough people disable network connectivity to circumvent smart features. This wouldn't worry me too much since I'd likely want to use the device as just a display anyway and plug something useful in to the HDMI but if the whole machine is somehow tied up in these sophisticated operating systems, what if they just disable HDMI until they get their way?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

My TV has never been near any Internet connection. The source button on the remote has been clicked once, the color settings has been changed once. The only button in regular use is the on/off button. This is the way.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I use video projectors. Many of them, typically the better ones do not have any built-in smarts requiring an Internet connection.

In general, smart devices are a major security risk, and need to be firewalled off.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

There really needs to be laws requiring any smart device to have, like, 20 years of security patches, customer support and liability if anything goes wrong. If they want to place a device, that they insist needs internet access, in my home, they need to, at the very least, pay their way.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

You can, but now it's called "a big monitor and your own server with a personal media library".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Bought an LG A2 OLED, I have never hooked it up to the Internet and I love it. I don't use any smart functionality just a PC

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

We managed to pick up some off newegg.ca as recently as a couple of years ago (RCA branded). Only 32-inch panels, though, so if you're looking for a living room centerpiece, you're better off going the digital signage route.