You can make any smart TV dumb. Just disable the network on it and use your own streaming device (Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, etc.).
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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Yup. My family bought me a new TV to replace the one I've been using for 15 years, and they keep telling me how great it is that I can get movies and TV shows for free, and I can sign in to all the streaming services right from my TV!
I don't have the heart to tell them that I'll die before this TV connects to anything other than an HDMI cord
Do research on smart devices before you decide to use one. Fire TV is filled with ads. Roku that’s built into TVs have ads; not sure about standalone boxes.
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Don't bother using the TV, get a separate box. Even Google TV shoves recommendations down your throat.
Hate to say it, but the Apple TV is probably the most debloated system out there. It is more or less the easiest way to get just a grid of apps.
I have to agree. Every time I’m at someone’s house I’m reminded of how bad the ads are on every other service/platform and it makes me glad to have that Apple TV. We’ve had it for a long time and it still chugs along just as well as it did on day one!
Pricey but worth it!
The Apple TV’s only real competition is the nVidia Shield which is actually more expensive.
Unfortunately the majority of these devices are subsidized by ads and data gathering and most people care more about price than experience.
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Get a commercial display instead of a "smart" tv and then hook your smart device of choice in
Totally agree. Though typically commercial displays aren't really built for home use so they may take some tweaking to get them to look good at home. The good news is if you get something like a NEC commercial display they usually have easy to access and very detailed calibration menus. Also they'll have tons of ports and even legacy ports like VGA so they'll be super flexible. But above 50" the prices go up a lot.
I was in the same boat as you. It doesn’t sit right with me having all the smart stuff enabled even if I’m not using it. There’s plenty of concerns there. I ended up getting a smart tv, using an Apple TV plugged into it, and turning off the WiFi on the tv itself. When I want to update it, I can. Otherwise, you can look for TVs marketed towards businesses. Like the ones that get hung up to display menus and stuff. That was the only avenue I found where the smart stuff wasn’t baked in. They’re expensive though.
I went on that journey a couple years ago. What I ended up buying is technically considered "digital signage" rather than a TV. Basically zero bloat. You may have to pay a little extra but I don't recall it being that much. Pretty sure I got it here.
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Not really. TVs are subsidized by ads and data collection, so they all have this crap. The more reputable brands do have better UX and may let you opt out of some of it, but not all.
My recommendation is to buy the TV with the best hardware features that you want. Once you get it, connect it once via Ethernet and update it to get all the most up to date features and fixes. Then disconnect it from Ethernet and connect a smart TV box like Apple TV or the nVidia Shield and use that.
Your experience will be better, the UI will be simpler, and you don't have to worry about all the ads and spyware.
all the most up to date features and fixes
Genuinely, what features and fixes could a TV possibly get from the internet besides applications that require an internet connection? If you're using an external device to watch your stuff, why would you need to update your TV?
Just speculating, but firmware updates might be useful. Some display resolutions, refresh rates, VRR, etc might not have been programmed correctly and later fixed. They could add new features like offsetting pixels slightly differently over time to reduce colour burn in or something that might reduce warranty claims (I don't really expect them to add more value to the TV through new features unless it would help them financially).
That said, I've never connected my current TV to the internet and it's been fine. I'd suggest trying an update if your TV does something annoying or isn't working as well as you'd like. You can also read about your model online to see if there are any updates available and what they do to determine if you want them.
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Get one with a good panel and ignore the "Smart" part. Better use something like a Fire TV Stick.
Firesticks are also full of ads and tracking. It'd be more ideal to use something like a Raspberry Pi or building an Android TV box instead as a media client.
I can recommend the Apple TV. Even the android TV ones have ads now (looking at you shield tv!).
I more meant along the lines of building an HTPC then putting Android on it, so that wouldn't have ads. But yeah an Apple TV is definitely an easier plug-and-play solution. I am more of a DIY type of person.
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There is a "apps mode" on Google Chromecast with Google tv - that takes out all the recommendations and stuff and just shows you the apps, fwiw.
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My newish Sony has a basic mode where it just functions as a tv. No smart bs. Picked that at setup and never looked back.
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Walmart sells a brand called Sceptre that I've been using for years now. Cheap dumb TV and use a Chromecast for all my streaming needs, works like a charm. And, I can always plug a real computer into it if I need it to be "smart"
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Sony Bravia running Android TV (Google TV, whatever they're calling it these days). I refuse to buy any other kind of TV based on how clean, ad free, and easy to use I've found my Bravia to be. They have a variety of LED options and sizes
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Recently LinusTechTips posted a video vouching for Roku TVs. It seems they have a really snappy UI with no ads.
Roku TV owner here: Yes, mostly.
The main screen does show one "banner ad" (which you can briefly see in the LTT video), usually for some show that is streaming on some platform.
But that's the only one, and I appreciate that it's microphone is built into the remote and only activated when pressing a button on said remote.
Otherwise it stays out of your way, and the app selection is quite good, if you need them - otherwise just a really solid, budget friendly TV.
My 5 year old Roku which I used to block it from internet a access as it is so chatting talking to Roku all the time, even when itin use suddenly would not work at all unless I gave it access to the internet. So be wary of Roku tvs if you plan to not let them use the internet. In fact is is the second most block domain on my network.
If I could figure out how to post an image I could show the almost 11k requests it blocked over the last 7 days. And I don’t use any of its smart features as I have an Apple TV connected to it that I use.
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I don't know if it's in your budget, but my wife and I went with an ultra short throw projector and ALR screen. No smart features at all, and a better and larger picture in our living room. We'll never go back to TVs again.
I'm inherently skeptical that any kind of projector can match a modern OLED. What are your thoughts?
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I couldn't avoid a smart TV without overpaying or compromising on features. I bought an LG but I blocked it from communicating over the WAN when it was clear there was no way to disable occasional 'notifications' advertising features or content I had no interest in.
Now I just turn it on/off with wake on LAN and get all my content through external hardware hooked up to an AVR.
I have a Samsung smart tv and I block most of the bullshit ads using a pi-hole. It’s not that hard to setup really and it also provides ad blocking for anything else on the network.
The one tiny issue is if I want to update an app on the tv I have to disable the pi-hole for a few minutes and restart the tv so it can hit the servers for app updates. And let me tell ya, that tv sucks without the ad blocking
Bought a cheap smart tv that works good. Then I put a Pi-Hole on my home lan. Wow that was a nescessary step! 10/10 better than using a dumb tv / appletv or firestick combo since it blocks the telemetry of all the machines on my network. Can recommend.
Maybe you can consider using a computer monitor as a tv if you can find one large enough.
I got an LG TV but it will never be connected to the internet. I use an Apple TV for content because Apple is the most privacy focused platform available for this, and even then, I still use NextDNS to disable any possible tracking/telemetry that has.
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Pretty hard to come by, imo just disconnect the TV from internet entirely and don't use its garbage smart TV functions.
I have an older smart TV but I am just using an old Steam Link to stream a desktop with adblockers.
A few years ago I got a Sceptre UTV 55" U558CV-UMC on Amazon. It was about $250 and has been pretty good! Probably out of stock now but there may be a similar one available.
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