Submitted 8 months ago by ReginaPhalange@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
I’m mostly sailing the high seas, using the tv as a giant monitor for the always-on laptop connected to it. I’m afraid of the 1984-esque “You must connect to the internet to continue using this TV” that might come after some time.
should I unplug my smart _______ from the internet?
fill in the blank, it should always be yes.
Some brands have been confirmed to send periodic screenshots of your content, no matter if it’s through “smart apps” or HDMI.
I don’t see how they could, the laptop isn’t going to know what to do with them, they’d have to also get you to install something on the laptop which you’d obviously not do.
Signal goes the other way around. Laptop -> TV -> router -> somebody else’s computer
The TV takes screenshots of whatever is displayed on the TV screen, and sends the screenshots to TV HQ via the Internet connection of the TV
For the next TV look at commercial and industrial panels. You can usually find the display you want with none of the smart tv junk.
Search for ‘commercial display + brand name’
A smart TV is primarily a surveillance device that also happens to display video.
Um yeah, definitely. My TV has never had Internet connectivity, not should it.
Unequivocally yes. The less surveillance, the better.
I’m going to be the voice of dissent here: nah.
It’s on me. I came on pretty strong.
You could buy that will make it sad. Do you want your tv to be sad?
Do you?
Yes.
Get a dumb TV, I’ve had great luck with the Specter brand, and hook up a set top box for your smart functionality.
Smart TVs spyon you, report on you, eat bandwidth even when off, and become out dated quickly.
I also bought a Sceptre “dumb TV” within the last year or so and highly recommend it. I had been recommending it over and over, but recently I found that the model I bought was no longer offered. I hope Sceptre didn’t abandon them.
TVs don’t seem to be a core business for them, I get the impression that they are a monitor focused business. Of course it’s not hard to upgrade a monitor to a TV so why not?
They do list all their products on their website so maybe check there?
Yes
You should’ve never connected it in the first place. Never even set up any functions that a piece of hardware prompts you to. Most of those are enforced only because the company behind them gains something from you having them set up. Unless you actually need something that depends on that function, disable the function.
Lol, my favourite thing about my smart TV is that the wifi was already broken when I bought it
Its silly how many people are proposing dumb TVs as something better ore something you need to hold on to at all costs. Get a TV with a screen that suits you and connect some playback device via HDMI or such. Kodi, custom entertainment PC, android TV, whatever. The tips about pihole are not good either. Its not a firewall with DPI, just a dns blocker. If the TV uses hardcoded IP then you are shit out of luck. And it bet they do.
It’s not that a dumb tv offers better viewing quality, it’s that it needs to start an OS and an interface to navigate, injecting ads and whatnot, while a dumb tv will start in an instant and only outputs what is connected to its physical inputs.
My LG TV (not connected to the internet) lets you disable all startup icons and sounds. It goes from off to on in about 2 seconds.
I wish dumb TVs were more available. I have a Samsung and I mainly use their interface to swap HDMI inputs - though the built in Spotify app has a better screensaver.
My main issue is that good screens in large formats, like the latest OLEDs aren’t really available in dumb TVs.
Aren’t smart TVs basically dumb TVs when they’re offline?
Shit out of luck…. unless you run your own router and know how outbound firewall rules work. Granted the general public does not do either of those, but this is Lemmy.
I feel I must clarify. I value my privacy, and my money. I prefer to disconnect it from the internet immediately, but if the vendor put a piece of code that measures offline time and then disables critical HDMI input functionality - it is a different story entirely.
What if after X months of offline functionality - I have to connect it again because of “You must connect to the internet to continue using this TV”
What if being offline for a very long duration of time - means that when connecting it again - the firmware update bricks my TV?
I know the instabilities that occurr when updating after a very long time of being offline.
I’m unsure about my specific model - but it is an LG WebOS OLED 48"
What if being offline for a very long duration of time - means that when connecting it again - the firmware update bricks my TV?
We don’t see many updates that outright brick your product (yet). What we do see is updates that just happen to make your product run much slower than it used to. There’s always excuses why it is necessary, but in the end those updates tend to lead to sales of new devices.
Keeping the device fully offline is a defense against such an update.
Myself, I don’t see any reason for my TV to ever be online, so I take some comfort that it will not receive such an update.
No one eos obligated to have internet, and there are actually people who don’t have it. The TV isn’t sold as an “online only” product, they cannot block you from using something that works offline because you’re offline.
If they disable stuff, call the manufacturer and tell them you have moved in a family member with sensitive medical equipment that needs to have no wifi in the area. Will they give you a code to disable internet or do you need to sue them for reckless endangerment?
Never threaten legal action to a callcenter. If they take it seriously (or just don’t want to talk to you) they’ll hang up immediately and demand all further communication goes through lawyers.
I think we all know the answer to this.
I have a box that connects to the internet for video things. The TV has and will never connect.
Yes.
As someone in a similar situation, entertainment PC connected, I’ve never connected my smart TV to the internet. There is no need.
Is your loss of privacy worth it to you?
Who makes your tv?
You can do quite a bit of tweaks to mitigate the phone home stuff and ads with projectivy and ADB TV.
You could also do that “softly” with PiHole, if you intend to use some of the apps, but if you don’t, it’s only beneficial to disconnect it entirely from the internet.
I tried this for a while to appease the wife, and I just couldn’t. The amount of shit my pi hole blocked from just one TV was ridiculous. The thing is not connected to the internet anymore, and I use a different pi as a streaming PC
I set up a PiHole for my Hisense TV.
Thought maybe I didn’t do it right or their ad-delivery was too sneaky, cuz the home screen still defaults to full-screen promos for shows I’ve never watched. Oh well, leave it how it is.
Disabled the PiHole for a couple days to test something else.
Holy shit, banner ads everywhere on the TV.
This is what I do. It stops it from auto updating and from phoning home, but still lets the individual apps function. Some of the apps don't work, because they can't update either, but if we get desperate, we just punch the TV through the pihole just long enough to update the individual app. It's a reasonable middle ground.
My Samsung Frame tv tries to ping home twice every second.
Pihole says no.
Yes.
This is why I’m holding on to my “dumb” TV for as long as I can. Being able to pick and choose what streaming device I use is great, and if I have to build my own someday, that’s just fine.
My next tv is probably going to be a dumb tv. You can search for commercial business tvs online and find dumb tvs for displays and digital signage. Same screen, just no smarts, plays a network stream, off a usb, or hdmi input. Nothing else.
I’ve fixed a couple extras and have them stored. If you find a “dead” TV, shine a flashlight into the screen and see if you see the picture. If so, then there’s probably just a problem with the backlighting, which is why TVs get trashed most often. Order up a set of backlight strips, find a youtube vid on taking that model apart, and put new strips in. Takes about 30 minutes and baby, you got yourself a TV.
I have 4 tv’s , all dumb. One in the bedroom , one in the living room and two on ice. I’ve got a stack of dvd / blue ray players and a region free DVD player with a 3k+ dvd collection and an antenna I made myself. Fuck all that smart TV bullshit. I’ll fix them all if I have too, the info is all available on YT like you say and the parts are cheap.
I’ve had 4 or 5 opportunities to get free OLED (or what ever trash is out now) tv’s for free and I turn them all down. People that aren’t the least bit paranoid about all these connected devices bug me out. Facebook freaks and Amazombies
I still have a 720p dumb TV and I’m not getting rid of it. But my eyesight is terrible so 720p, 1080p, 4k don’t really make much difference to me.
I’ve got 20/10 vision and the difference is so negligible as to not really matter after 1080. Especially because all the smoothing and image effects new TVs have are so horrendously bad that they make me feel sick.
I still run an 8 year old LG TV that stopped getting updates 4 years ago and doesn’t even attempt to connect to the internet. It’s great because it just turns on and works.
Yes. I connected mine, checked for updates, then factory reset it and did not enter any network login.
This only works on certain brands I’m afraid…
Is there a ful list anywhere of brands and models that lock non-network features behind a network connection requirement?
I’ve heard people complaining about some that don’t let you select HDMI input without first connecting to the internet and “activating” the TV, but the model is usually not specified in those complaints.
So I know for sure is avoid Roku like the plague! You cannot use it as a TV at all without a connection and creating an account.
Why did you connect it at all? Was there specific functionality they detailed in patch notes or something that you felt you were missing out on?
Eh, I’ve always been paranoid about firmware patches and the like. Also, curiosity got the better of me; I had to see what the crap smart features were like.
You do make a very good point though!
Yes.
Even better, get rid of it entirely and get a dumb TV.
Where? Ive been looking everywhere and its like they dont exist anymore
Spectre makes a line of dumb TVs, but I don’t think any of them are 4k. I spent about $600 on a 75" 1080p model last year.
I’ve resigned myself to large monitors for the ‘small TV’ and projectors for the ‘big TV’
Qb series Samsung are commercial displays but no Netflix or smart features. However, they are about double the price of a standard tv. Will last forever though. I would rather buy a less expensive and not connect it to the network.
Given that you’re using this for a laptop, you’re looking for a monitor. Not a TV.
Anything suitable for office work should be good here.
They don’t really as the “smart” subsidies the cost of the TV. Some commerical grade TVs and large monitors won’t be smart or need Internet connectivity.
I got a “signage display”, which is basically just a large monitor connected via HDMI.
i like controlling the TV with the various IP methods, so i just blocked it from being able to reach WAN and vice versa
If I were you, I wouldn’t have let it have internet access in the first place. Try a factory reset and don’t let it online, and you’ll probably not even notice.
But think of all the wonderful ads you’re going to miss out on!
I think I can live without that particular piece of junk. :)
Yes.
Not only due to privacy concerns (my main concern), as the device will constantly ping home even when turned off. Other concern is it will download “updates”, that eventually may render your tv browsing experience laggish.
Some tv sets have not only mics incorporated, but cameras, so it may depend on your level of concern.
MissJinx@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I stoped using the smart function of tvs. I use one of that generic chinese things that you connect to the TV and it mirrors your phone. My TV is not connected it’s like I’m watching netflix in my phone