Rooting an Android TV gets you there, plus you get a TV that you actually own. It’s super niche and difficult to do, though. Hard to find info on which TVs can be rooted.
Is any of that information centralised anywhere? I still have and love my old dumb TV, but I want to be prepared for when I am inevitably dragged in to the “smart” era.
I’m one of the crazy people who spent 4 grand on a 85 inch dumb display meant for stores to use as digital signage. Honestly a great decision. It’s no home theater display but damn if it isn’t just as good as any smart tv I’ve seen. I just have it hooked to a raspberry pi running librelec.
There really needs to be laws requiring any smart device to have, like, 20 years of security patches, customer support and liability if anything goes wrong. If they want to place a device, that they insist needs internet access, in my home, they need to, at the very least, pay their way.
We managed to pick up some off newegg.ca as recently as a couple of years ago (RCA branded). Only 32-inch panels, though, so if you’re looking for a living room centerpiece, you’re better off going the digital signage route.
The real question is whether or not you can still buy a dumb TV in 2024.
Rooting an Android TV gets you there, plus you get a TV that you actually own. It’s super niche and difficult to do, though. Hard to find info on which TVs can be rooted.
Is any of that information centralised anywhere? I still have and love my old dumb TV, but I want to be prepared for when I am inevitably dragged in to the “smart” era.
I personally just had to figure it out for myself.
I’m one of the crazy people who spent 4 grand on a 85 inch dumb display meant for stores to use as digital signage. Honestly a great decision. It’s no home theater display but damn if it isn’t just as good as any smart tv I’ve seen. I just have it hooked to a raspberry pi running librelec.
You can, but now it’s called “a big monitor and your own server with a personal media library”.
Bought an LG A2 OLED, I have never hooked it up to the Internet and I love it. I don’t use any smart functionality just a PC
I use video projectors. Many of them, typically the better ones do not have any built-in smarts requiring an Internet connection.
In general, smart devices are a major security risk, and need to be firewalled off.
There really needs to be laws requiring any smart device to have, like, 20 years of security patches, customer support and liability if anything goes wrong. If they want to place a device, that they insist needs internet access, in my home, they need to, at the very least, pay their way.
We managed to pick up some off newegg.ca as recently as a couple of years ago (RCA branded). Only 32-inch panels, though, so if you’re looking for a living room centerpiece, you’re better off going the digital signage route.
business opportunity, Smart TV lobotomies.