Now if I could just a “dumb” TV that doesn’t have a bunch of built in apps, which apparently is now a huge ask. I just want my TV to display whatever HDMI port is currently selected. Not nag me about connecting it to WiFi every time I turn it on.
I think there are expensive models that come without any software shit. However I simply “gave up” and don’t connect the TV to any network. It doesn’t see a network cable and won’t get my wifi credentials. Therefore it neither needs nor receives updates. Everything “smart” is done by an attached Kodi box and a FireTV stick, which I both can exchange when their time is up.
Look into commercial displays. They are meant for store fronts and guest areas. These screens are typically built a bit more robust than consumer TVs. They may only have one of each input ports, may lack soundboard and built-in tuners, but they have sleeker designs and lack smartTV bloatware. You may need more peripheral equipment for the screen to function as a home use TV. Just do a little research and see if this works for your setup.
I personally use a 28 inch monitor, although I’m hoping to upgrade to a 32-35 inch ultrawide soon.
I don’t really watch TV in a living room. Instead I have my monitor sitting on my desk, so I don’t share the screen with anyone else. Thus, my situation might be different than yours. Hope that helps
I just disabled the “smart” features on my Samsung S95B and set it to run the last used “app.” Which is just the last used input.
It’s not perfect, but combined with HDMI CEC I almost never need to go into the ugly menu. I don’t mind the smart menus of the older TVs when it was a separate part of the TV you could ignore. But the integration in these new TVs where inputs are treated like another smart app and you have to go past apps to get to picture settings is just bad design.
Not to mention serving ads for each manufacturer’s own streaming apps on a device someone spent a lot of money on us completely unethical. But at least disabling the Internet features took care of that issue.
Now if I could just a “dumb” TV that doesn’t have a bunch of built in apps, which apparently is now a huge ask. I just want my TV to display whatever HDMI port is currently selected. Not nag me about connecting it to WiFi every time I turn it on.
But then how would they get that sweet sweet metric data they can resell? Think of the megacorps!
and not spy on me
I think there are expensive models that come without any software shit. However I simply “gave up” and don’t connect the TV to any network. It doesn’t see a network cable and won’t get my wifi credentials. Therefore it neither needs nor receives updates. Everything “smart” is done by an attached Kodi box and a FireTV stick, which I both can exchange when their time is up.
Look into commercial displays. They are meant for store fronts and guest areas. These screens are typically built a bit more robust than consumer TVs. They may only have one of each input ports, may lack soundboard and built-in tuners, but they have sleeker designs and lack smartTV bloatware. You may need more peripheral equipment for the screen to function as a home use TV. Just do a little research and see if this works for your setup.
This might not be a solution that fits your needs, but personally this is why I buy computer monitors instead of TVs now
What size of computer monitor do you use as a TV?
I personally use a 28 inch monitor, although I’m hoping to upgrade to a 32-35 inch ultrawide soon.
I don’t really watch TV in a living room. Instead I have my monitor sitting on my desk, so I don’t share the screen with anyone else. Thus, my situation might be different than yours. Hope that helps
Edit: bad grammar
I just disabled the “smart” features on my Samsung S95B and set it to run the last used “app.” Which is just the last used input.
It’s not perfect, but combined with HDMI CEC I almost never need to go into the ugly menu. I don’t mind the smart menus of the older TVs when it was a separate part of the TV you could ignore. But the integration in these new TVs where inputs are treated like another smart app and you have to go past apps to get to picture settings is just bad design.
Not to mention serving ads for each manufacturer’s own streaming apps on a device someone spent a lot of money on us completely unethical. But at least disabling the Internet features took care of that issue.
Yikes! So you mean you just can’t switch inputs without the smart TV side anymore? Time to avoid the Samsungs then…