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Anon buys a TV without researching (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 days ago by Early_To_Risa@sh.itjust.works to c/greentext@sh.itjust.works
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[-] archomrade@midwest.social 20 points 19 hours ago

I'm getting from context that this is a smart tv displaying an advertisement, but what the fuck is it even advertising here? A baseball game? Why is the countdown to-the-hour? Why does the player look like a drawing instead of a photo? Why is it specifically that player and not just 'dodgers game tomorrow!"..? It almost looks as if it's an in-game notification for an MLB-Manager game.

If it were a burger-king commercial I'd be upset, but the inscrutability of this as an ad at all actually infuriates me.

[-] 1ns1p1d@lemm.ee 16 points 19 hours ago

Is there an open-source version of Google TV and similar smart TV software? I feel like i read about one quite recently.

[-] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 9 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Connecting a Raspberry pi or a Linux computer into the HDMI port. And not connecting the TV to WiFi.

Smart TV's can be used as dumb TV's by not connecting them to the internet. Likewise the HDMI port can connect your own device for the smart functionality.

[-] Anti_Face_Weapon@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago

Depends on the TV. Some can't be used unless internet connected. Roku TVs are especially bad about this

[-] ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

My two TCL Roku TVs work without an Internet connection. This isn't in defense of Roku TVs to be clear- I regret my purchase, but at least for now they do work offline.

[-] Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 2 points 12 hours ago

Yeah but is there an OS or a Linux distro specifically geared for use with a "surrogate SmartTV"?

It could also be used by connecting the device to a large monitor, as those are cheaper than SmartTVs. No point paying a premium for features you don't intend to use.

On a related point, what would you do for a remote control in such a setup?

[-] plenipotentprotogod@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I've been trying to solve this problem for a while. I've not yet found a really good solution, but I can summarize what I've learned, partly for your information but mostly in the hope that Cunningham's law will finally put me out of my misery. Here are suggestions I've seen, organized roughly along some axis of easiest/most popular to hardest/least popular:

  1. Get an NVIDIA Shield TV. This isn't really what you asked for. It's just a commercial smart TV box, but it's generally considered the least annoying and highest quality of the lot. The unfortunate fact is that when dealing with DRM controlled media, having a big company like NVIDIA behind the product goes a long towards simplifying things.
  2. Install Kodi. Kodi (formerly XBMC) is the elder statesman of the FOSS smart TV world. You can run it on just about any hardware, including a SBC like a Raspberry Pi. You can even get it pre-bundled with a Linux OS like LibreELEC. It's got a clean interface and good community support, BUT it's primarily oriented towards viewing media from your own collection. If you're a person who consumes content via streaming services then you're gonna have a rough time. Apps (mostly unofficial / community made) do exist for many popular services, but installing them can be a pain, and you may have trouble streaming in high quality (DRM issues).
  3. KDE Plasma Bigscreen. Great concept, not maintained any more. See my comment here for all the gory details.
  4. Clean build of Android TV. I'm not aware of any major independent android distributions (Lineage, Graphene) providing official builds of the android TV operating system, but this site seems to provide relatively consistent lineage OS based releases. You can run them on a Raspberry Pi. I haven't done this yet, but it will probably be the next thing I try.
  5. EarlGrey TV. This one is a deep cut. EarlGrey TV mad a very small splash in the FOSS news cycle a couple of months ago. The concept is simple: install your favorite Linux distro and configure it to boot directly into a browser displaying a static webpage with links to your favorite streaming services and/or local media folders. The implementation is extremely basic, but the upside is that it's easy to tinker with if you're so-inclined.

As for remotes, there are some decent options on Amazon that connect via bluetooth or a USB dongle and basically act like a mouse and/or keyboard packaged in a remote control form factor. I bought this one a while ago and it's been fine. Nothing special, but fine. The play/pause/volume buttons on the front read on the receiving end like the media buttons on a keyboard. The air-mouse functionality isn't for everyone, but this model is one of the few with a little track pad on the back if you prefer using that. Honestly just get anything with a full keyboard. So much easier than using the arrow keys to click-click-click your way through an onscreen keyboard.

[-] kieron115@startrek.website 1 points 9 hours ago

LineageOS Android TV looks like an interesting solution but having SELinux in permissive mode is a bit scary. Maybe someone with more in-depth Linux knowledge can chime in here but my understanding is that would mean that the Android kernel's security system would basically be turned off. Permissive Mode logs security access violations within the OS but does nothing to prevent them so I would be wary of connecting it to the internet.

[-] 1ns1p1d@lemm.ee 1 points 11 hours ago

Yes, im aware of those ways. I remember reading that there was a replacement that was specifically emulating the look and feel of Google TV, but simpler and better. You could install it on Chromecast etc.

[-] yournamehere@lemm.ee 8 points 19 hours ago

when i order a screen in asia to germany i pay a lot less taxes than when ordering a tv or smarttv. so buying a smartTV is kinda dumb anyways.

[-] Dupree878@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

Yeah; it’s always better to buy a display instead of a TV

[-] Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 3 points 14 hours ago

SmartTV, dumb owner.

[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago

If that's real, then it's full refund or terrorism upon both the vendor and manufacturer.

[-] Rin@lemm.ee 11 points 22 hours ago

~~or~~ and

[-] glitchdx@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago

I just bought this dumb tv. Couldn't be happier.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJV6722?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

It's not a good tv, but it's the biggest one I could fit on my desk and it has absolutely no "smart" features.

[-] hardaysknight@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

Just don’t connect smart TVs to the internet. That’s all you have to (not) do

[-] SolaceFiend@lemmy.world 7 points 13 hours ago

Many smart TVs have firmware that interfere with your ability to switch sources using the remote for your cable service provider, or causes it to default to a specific source menu or app, or auto-switch between sources when it thinks it's "detecting" them, even if you were actually using the other one.

And older people don't know how to navigate the new user interfaces that come pre-installed on these smart TVs, especially if they have several connected devices on different ports. Have you had to walk a customer over the phone through using the Video Input button on their cable service remote, only to discover the TV software doesn't allow 3rd party remotes to access the video input menu; because only the TV remote they lost is able to access that menu?

Or had to look up an article on a customer's brand of smart TV, and walk them through disabling specific tv settings buried in their menu that prevent the TV from properly detecting and switching between sources, or having to mess with the TV closed captions, because they're somehow interfering with the closed captions settings on their cable box.

I have. SmartTV software is occasionally a nightmare to negotiate with when trying to get it to work with a customer's STB or their wifi, or what have you.

[-] a_baby_duck@lemmy.world 12 points 15 hours ago

My TCL TV flashes a little ring light constantly if it doesn't have an internet connection. The best part is the LED is part of the IR receiver, so if you cover it up your remote stops working. I've dimmed it as much as possible through the hidden service menus, but the option to remove it was apparently removed in a firmware update at some point.

[-] FuryMaker@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago

Jesus fucking christ. This is by design; they knew what they were doing.

Rtings needs a category/filter for design and "smart" features that cause issue.

[-] ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 14 hours ago

Open it up and replace it with a resistor, can't blink if it doesn't exist.

[-] Acters@lemmy.world 5 points 18 hours ago

I think I saw a review of the Amazon fire TV and they literally lock controls and tell you some basic af features are locked behind an Amazon account registration or login

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[-] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 day ago

Too much of a gamble. What if someone already did once and it uses the cached ads? What if they have some preloaded?

Better financially support products that never have ads and that way demonstrate demand.

[-] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 2 points 19 hours ago

They put barely functional processors in these things. A new smart tv that isn’t connected to the internet is not going to come cached with ads.

[-] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

From what I have heard, this is not true for all brands. Some won't work without being connected. Shouldn't be legal, but here we are.

[-] MacAttak8@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago

Yes. I’ve heard some brands will search for nearby devices of the same brands that are already connected to the internet so that even if YOU didn’t connect the TV to WiFi, it still calls home/gets ads.

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[-] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 2 points 19 hours ago

from what I have heard

Where?

[-] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago

In a different thread here on lemmy.

[-] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 2 points 15 hours ago

Is the thread in here with you now?

[-] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

I don't know what you're going through in your life, but I wish you all the best. Just wanted to pass on some information I thought was relevant.

[-] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 5 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

I appreciate the kind words. You’re right, I’m being a dick. It was unnecessary and I’m sorry.

[-] Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 2 points 14 hours ago

Someone admitting they were a dick on the Internet? Holy shit, congratulations. We need more people like you around and I mean this 100% sincerely.

[-] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Apology accepted, friend!

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this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
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