I never connect my smart TVs to the network, I just plug in my Apple TV and move on. It's frustrating because it takes longer to turn these devices on than it should because of all the additional overhead I don't want or need. I wish someone would make a painless gadget to flash the software with dumber software that loads instantly.
They're also cheaper because they're subsidized. I did the same thing with a FireTV but understood the extra crap they want to boot and use is part of why they're so cheap, they're hoping for information to sell or puchases they can monetize.
The most insane thing which I wouldn't believe if I hadn't experienced it myself, but Samsung will periodically just install random apps and games on your phone. You delete them, then a month later, new apps show up. It's one of the most aggressive anti-consumer thing I've seen and it's coming from such a large player.
I'd guess it's happening during silent updates to your android OS. Those can come packaged with anything Samsung wants. I had a similar fight lately with HP's printer software which insists on waking your computer up for a printer health check and reenables the scheduled task randomly even without updates. Finally excised it from my PC.
We just bought a vizio to replace one that broke. Once you skip the setup process, all you need to do is remove the solder from the 'home' button on the remote or whatever it is and you'll never see their pop up crap again.
I get why people like this, though. It takes all of your accounts and puts them in one place. Honestly, if I could run Plex and my own media through it, it would be tempting to just block it from dialing out and get rid of my Nvidia shield.
I have a chromecast with google tv plugged into mine. Not sure what it's called these days. Chromecast Home?
It comes with a super minimalist remote that does volume and a d-pad and on/off and a remappable netflix button. My tv's original remote is... Somewhere. It's been more than a year since I've needed it.
Both the chromecast and my xbox uses hdmi-cec to instruct the tv to "switch your input to me". The chromecast remote controls the tv volume directly.
I have an Emby media server on the network, and I use the emby app on the chromecast to play content. I'm also a sellout so we have the standard streaming apps on there as well.
Yeah, the current Chromecast on an HDMI port is far superior than anything the TV vendors offer. I think you pretty much get access to every service you might want except Apple TV (no surprise, Apple gonna Apple).
Yeah, I don't connect my TV to WiFi at all; as long as TVs have HDMI ports I'll just use an Nvidia Shield TV (or something similar). If I do that I have access to more apps, a snappier interface, and it's easier to upgrade if I need to later.
I've looked into flashing it to use a dumber firmware, but it got into technical documentation that I don't really understand really quickly. I haven't looked into it since I got a Claude Code membership though, so it might be worth revisiting with AI assistance.
I've got a Sony TV with Google TV (not connected to internet) that turns on pretty quickly.
If it's going from a cold boot e.g. where it was unplugged or if it's doing a full reboot it takes a bit longer and shows a splash screen, but if it's turning on from a regular "off" state it takes about the same amount of time as the rest of my dumb screens and goes directly to the last used input.
My google dongle got progressively worse and worse. Frequent disconnects, I found out you had to like orientate it a special way, youtube kept having issues. Dumped it and switched to my built in LG OS (WebOS based I think). Works fine, does basically the same thing as my Google dongle did without the slow degradation march
Same here! none of my home Tvs, most LG and Samsung, have ever seen w Wifi password. Always putting firestick on it and call it a day. At least firestick I can unplug throw away, God only knows what updates TV does that I obviously cannot revert.
Is there any kind of “hook up” on wholesale large dumb displays?
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I just want a giant dumb display from my Apple TV. I vaguely remember someone posting a link to tvs restaurants use but I don’t remember exactly what or if it was what I’m looking for.
This is why you never connected a "smart TV" to the internet.
If you disagree, do it and then run a Wireshark analysis.
The best option I have found, after trying them all is Apple TV.
Least about of telemetry, best picture quality, and very secure.
A lot of people do their grocery shopping at Walmart (even if you don't). This positions Walmart as being able to offer discounts for food and other daily necessities to people right on their TV. People are going to like this-especially the cohort that would buy a cheap TV at Walmart. They're going to really like saving a few dollars on groceries or gas. Not to mention Walmart can now offer perks through the TV to its millions of employees. They're going to like it too.
Walmart is one of the most litigated companies ever, and probably has 10+ active lawsuits against it at any given time. So if they're getting into this, they're fairly sure it will work legally now and in the future.
The battle against personal-data-collection by default on TVs is probably lost at this point. It's over. Non-smart TVs will probably become specialized, super-expensive corporate-class expenses out of reach of most people before too long.
Projectors are capable of creating a big image on a wall like a TV, and while it's not as bright, it comes with much less privacy invasion, and is also portable. That's where I'm likely spending my future TV dollars until those gets caught up in this as well.
My solution to this problem has been to stop using TVs.
The last TV I actually enjoyed more than a PC/Mac display was a monster Panasonic plasma that had some serious practicality issues. I'd use it maybe 2-3 hours per week.
None of the other display technologies are that interesting to me. OLED gets close sometimes, but nothing matches the visceral urgency of a plasma panel clocked at 600hz. The noises it would make in bright scenes was crazy. You had to have a powerful sound system to cover up the semiconductor switching. And, that's kind of the entire point for me with a television. Go big or go home. Exhibition. If I just want to consume content without pissing off the neighbors, my MacBook/PC tends to provide a much better experience.
At my last job we bought a lot of Vizio tvs. We used them for conference rooms, hallway displays, etc. They were reasonably priced and had a good feature set needed.
They have been on a decline for years and this is a nail in the coffin.
Kinda a wild idea I had never really considered, but absolutely a possibility: using a TV as a loss leader to sell ads.
Not sure if that's they're intent here, but I could easily see that becoming a thing (if it isn't already). And what better way to collect useful ad data on people than forcing them to create an account and then tracking their usage of the device.
This actually seems better than before when a vizio account was required. At least now its a walmart account. If forced to choose, Id prefer a walmart account.
Of course, I would never buy this tv because of the requirement. I just buy dumb tvs and then stick an apple tv in front if the hdmi input.
At the moment, my strategy is only to own older TVs that have no smart features. Eventually this strategy won't work. When that happens I'll either use a computer monitor or forgo TV altogether.
"A Walmart spokesperson confirmed to Ars Technica that Walmart accounts will be mandatory on “select new Vizio OS TVs” for owners to complete onboarding and to use smart TV features."
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Some questions prospective buyers should ask:
1. Is "onboarding" necessary for this "Smart TV" to function as a "dumb screen"? i.e. Would a user need to get a Walmart account just to access video settings?
2. Does it inject ads or phone home to share screen captures from HDMI input?
3. Is not giving it access to WiFi sufficient, or does this thing have alternative ways of getting "updates"?
Vizio and every other major brand has been, for years, harvesting data from your smart TV. It's a lot easier to track what you are doing if you have to be logged in.
At this point, it can actually be easier to piece parts together instead of paying for a TV with Tizen OS on a tv that may have a camera to watch you sit on the couch with your fingers all orange from the cheeto binge screaming at the TV because that seems to happen a lot now.
1984 has been here for 10 years, now it's just grown big enough to be noticable.
Recently I sourced two TVs for my elderly mom, who is never going to stream or use an app. I only looked at TVs which had their manuals online for review. I found two LGs which I could disable the app splash screen, and set to "select last input on power-up", which in her case is a cable box on HDMI-1. Don't know how long choices such as this will be available.
Reminds me of the insta go 360 3s cam I bought recently, have to install a mobile app on your phone to activate it. At least you can uninstall the app after.
The hardware is amazing, the software could improve in terms of how it deals with motion blur and surfaces like gravel.
I have a Hisense Roku TV with on a network with a pihole. It can't reach any of it's ad networks so the interface is always the default. The default isn't great, mind you, but it is ad-free.
For the data harvesting, TVs should be free. Consumer value will revert when your humanoid can project shows on any home surface and retailers will rejoice that freed up flatscreen floorspace.
I just got a LG G5 and I bought a $499 Mac Mini and a light up bluetooth keyboard with built in track pad. I never see the OS on my TV. Works fantastic.
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(Yes, and options to adjust the image a bit, but I'll turn on "filmmaker mode" anyway, so even those can be cropped by 90% vs regular TVs)
I get why people like this, though. It takes all of your accounts and puts them in one place. Honestly, if I could run Plex and my own media through it, it would be tempting to just block it from dialing out and get rid of my Nvidia shield.
It comes with a super minimalist remote that does volume and a d-pad and on/off and a remappable netflix button. My tv's original remote is... Somewhere. It's been more than a year since I've needed it.
Both the chromecast and my xbox uses hdmi-cec to instruct the tv to "switch your input to me". The chromecast remote controls the tv volume directly.
I have an Emby media server on the network, and I use the emby app on the chromecast to play content. I'm also a sellout so we have the standard streaming apps on there as well.
It's a truly god-tier setup and it works so well.
I've looked into flashing it to use a dumber firmware, but it got into technical documentation that I don't really understand really quickly. I haven't looked into it since I got a Claude Code membership though, so it might be worth revisiting with AI assistance.
If it's going from a cold boot e.g. where it was unplugged or if it's doing a full reboot it takes a bit longer and shows a splash screen, but if it's turning on from a regular "off" state it takes about the same amount of time as the rest of my dumb screens and goes directly to the last used input.
> I never connect my smart TVs to the network, I just plug in my Apple TV and move on.
You're not alone.
TV is just a screen. That is how I've used mine for the last 5+ years.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I just want a giant dumb display from my Apple TV. I vaguely remember someone posting a link to tvs restaurants use but I don’t remember exactly what or if it was what I’m looking for.
(Sorry, being lazy here)
2042: a $20 budget neural version hits the market but requires the user to watch a 15s ad every 5 minutes.
Walmart is one of the most litigated companies ever, and probably has 10+ active lawsuits against it at any given time. So if they're getting into this, they're fairly sure it will work legally now and in the future.
The battle against personal-data-collection by default on TVs is probably lost at this point. It's over. Non-smart TVs will probably become specialized, super-expensive corporate-class expenses out of reach of most people before too long.
Projectors are capable of creating a big image on a wall like a TV, and while it's not as bright, it comes with much less privacy invasion, and is also portable. That's where I'm likely spending my future TV dollars until those gets caught up in this as well.
The last TV I actually enjoyed more than a PC/Mac display was a monster Panasonic plasma that had some serious practicality issues. I'd use it maybe 2-3 hours per week.
None of the other display technologies are that interesting to me. OLED gets close sometimes, but nothing matches the visceral urgency of a plasma panel clocked at 600hz. The noises it would make in bright scenes was crazy. You had to have a powerful sound system to cover up the semiconductor switching. And, that's kind of the entire point for me with a television. Go big or go home. Exhibition. If I just want to consume content without pissing off the neighbors, my MacBook/PC tends to provide a much better experience.
They have been on a decline for years and this is a nail in the coffin.
I have a $1700 Samsung TV. It's quite nice, but I struggle with changing the HDMI input of all things.
Not sure if that's they're intent here, but I could easily see that becoming a thing (if it isn't already). And what better way to collect useful ad data on people than forcing them to create an account and then tracking their usage of the device.
Of course, I would never buy this tv because of the requirement. I just buy dumb tvs and then stick an apple tv in front if the hdmi input.
------
Some questions prospective buyers should ask:
1. Is "onboarding" necessary for this "Smart TV" to function as a "dumb screen"? i.e. Would a user need to get a Walmart account just to access video settings?
2. Does it inject ads or phone home to share screen captures from HDMI input?
3. Is not giving it access to WiFi sufficient, or does this thing have alternative ways of getting "updates"?
At this point, it can actually be easier to piece parts together instead of paying for a TV with Tizen OS on a tv that may have a camera to watch you sit on the couch with your fingers all orange from the cheeto binge screaming at the TV because that seems to happen a lot now.
1984 has been here for 10 years, now it's just grown big enough to be noticable.
If one wanted arguably less/different spyware, there's the Fire TV Stick 4K Max* $35, Apple TV 4K* $149, or Nvidia Shield TV Pro** for $199.
* Shows ads
** Shows ads that can be disabled by stopping Google/Android services
The hardware is amazing, the software could improve in terms of how it deals with motion blur and surfaces like gravel.
It’s obvious that the TV manufacturers have no motivation to provide updates and now they are moving to steal your data.