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submitted 2 months ago by dudenas@slrpnk.net to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

My parents are getting a new tv, and are asking for recommendation. I think all I can influence is the brand/model (not realistic to propose rpi and more complex systems). I instinctively avoid google/android and lean towards anything else open source, so probably LG WebOS.. But I had bad luck searching for more detailed comparisons. Maybe you have experience or opinions?

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[-] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 92 points 2 months ago

Just don’t connect it to the internet.

[-] friek@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 months ago

This is the way. I have an LG and bought one for my parents. Do the initial sign up/registration, then turn off Internet access. I actually thought mine was broken when I got it, but it was just my pihole blocking it. Temporary whitelist for setup, smooth sailing since.

[-] kbal@fedia.io 25 points 2 months ago

That's generous of you. If I'd mistakenly bought one that wouldn't work without ever having a network connection, I'd be returning it and demanding my money back. Hasn't happened yet, though.

[-] 0x0@programming.dev 8 points 2 months ago
[-] friek@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

It was required for setup, and the latest update shoves ads at you.

[-] jjlinux@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 months ago

I used to be a fan of LG TVs (we have 3 of them, last model is a 2021 Nanocell). Because of this alone LG will never see my money again. Thanks for the warning.

[-] Analog@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

I have recent LG TVs. They did start showing ads, but if you dig around in the menus you can disable them.

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[-] Xatolos@reddthat.com 4 points 2 months ago

This is why I buy my TVs from Costco. If it needs internet at any point, return. It's a TV, it shouldn't need internet at any point.

[-] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

But you can just block all the ads on the home screen with pihole. Then you can still use the native TV apps. It's a win-win.

If you turn off Internet access then your parents can't stream.

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[-] bokherif@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

My TCL Roku TV kept flashing its indicator light in a very annoying fashion after disconnecting it from my network. Guess which TV does not have an indicator light anymore…

[-] jlow@beehaw.org 4 points 2 months ago

Yeah, but is that an option realistically, if the parents want Netflix and Iplayer or whatever?

I think just with electric cars all the options are a complete privacy nightmare ...

[-] niucllos@lemm.ee 10 points 2 months ago

*all new cars

[-] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 months ago

Ya, because it’s a TV. You connect those things to the inputs and drive the content from other things (game console, firetv, htpc, etc.

I’m baffled by people negatively reacting to my post. It’s how tvs have worked for 50+ years. Just because they recently got the ability to execute programs, doesn’t mean you have to use it. Just air gap it and the issue is 100% solved as far as the tv is concerned.

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[-] iamjackflack@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago

Sure is. Block the tv from the internet. Get a Chromecast, use that instead

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[-] meyotch@slrpnk.net 56 points 2 months ago

You don’t have to get a smart tv at all. TVs do not need to be smart. If you search ‘business monitor’, you will find large quality displays such as used for corporate signage. The one issue is they often have only a few inputs, but that is easily addressed and worth it to avoid the completely unnecessary hassle of a TV too smart for your own good.

My two cents

[-] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 14 points 2 months ago

Plug it into a HTPC, install Firefox and ublock Origin. Now you can watch YT without ads on a big screen in the living room. You’re welcome.

[-] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

that is exactly what the parents will not accept, as stated by OP

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[-] Weirdfish@lemmy.world 37 points 2 months ago

My advice is never use a smart tv of any kind.

Use a third party device like an apple tv or roku, hell even a bluray player with apps on it.

Then get what ever TV you like and never let it see the internet.

I personally like Visio, but any mid grade display is fine.

[-] circuitfarmer 24 points 2 months ago

It is getting harder and harder to find a dumb TV though.

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[-] Hello_there@fedia.io 11 points 2 months ago

Isnt Roku just as bad as the web TV systems? Amazon fire is bad too.

[-] Weirdfish@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Yes and no. This is for parents, so ease of use is a huge factor.

The processors in smart TVs are often crap, plus who know what updates and monitoring they are pushing on you.

With a dedicated media device you only have one company to deal with. Personally, I use my playstation for everything, but for my mom a Sony bluray with the apps works fine.

At the end of the day, they'll want netflix, amazon, youtube, hbo max, etc, and you get a way better experience with a media player vs smart tv. Sony is a known evil as it were, their hardware is good, and they generally don't fuck up firmware updates.

[-] oldfart@lemm.ee 5 points 2 months ago

I got a cheapest Android smart TV and never connected it to the internet. On HDMI1 there is Amazon Firestick for the occasional Netflix use. On HDMI2 there is Kodi for every day watching. Because of how modern TVs work, both these extra boxes can be steered with the TV remote.

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[-] ninjaturtle@lemmy.today 29 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I would avoid anything built into the TV.

  1. Its starting to be used for spying on you
  2. The chip they come with are usually not that good unless it's a high end TV.
  3. They are building ads right into the TV themselves.

I would not connect the TV to the internet and use a external media player. Either a Nvidia shield or an Apple TV is your best bet.

You can also try building a media player yourself using a small computer.

Note - The self made media player will be more limited in terms of apps available, unfortunately, as well as streaming quality from some of the streaming services.

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 months ago

We need this info added to an FAQ. This question comes up frequently.

[-] Vitaly@feddit.uk 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
[-] ninjaturtle@lemmy.today 5 points 2 months ago

Its good if everything you need can run from Kodi. It uses its own Linux distribution in the background, so you won't really be able to install anything else unless you build it.

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[-] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 3 points 2 months ago

Absolutely this. Depending on how you use it though, make sure you have a VPN and private DNS setup on your router

[-] Vitaly@feddit.uk 4 points 2 months ago

Why do you need private dns for?

[-] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 5 points 2 months ago

If Kodi is used to watch movies and TV shows for free then you'd want to protect your internet traffic from unwanted eyes

[-] Vitaly@feddit.uk 4 points 2 months ago

Isn't a dns included in most vpns?

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[-] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago

To control what can be accessed.

Having your own DNS enables you to block ads on every device in your network.

PiHole makes my smart TV more responsive, because it can't get crap to load into the home screen.

[-] RmDebArc_5@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 months ago

I have a WebOS tv and the answer is: just don’t. It’s open source in a similar way Android is, spy’s on you, has way less apps available and can’t/is really bad at basic shit

[-] ozoned@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

None. Don't connect it to the internet. Get a PC and use the TV as a glorified monitor.

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[-] LodeMike@lemmy.today 16 points 2 months ago

Home theater PC

[-] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 11 points 2 months ago

Real world, it's a royal pain in the butt trying to get a not-smart TV. There's a couple of companies that sell them at consumer-accessible prices and they aren't as frequently on the kinds of deep discounts bigger brands go for. You might just have to steer your parents towards using an Apple TV (the only ads are for Apple's own services plus nice integration with iPhones if your parents happen to be iPhone users) then set it up to boot straight to the Apple TV so they never see the Smart TV OS, and of course never connect the Smart TV to the Internet so whatever data harvesting it does do is useless

[-] shadycomposer@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

I would be careful of anything ‘smart’.

[-] some_guy 8 points 2 months ago

Buy a retail display screen. Totally dumb.

[-] Deckweiss@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago
[-] philpo@feddit.org 7 points 2 months ago

LG is currently even worse than Android - it autoinstalls (gambling!) Apps(yes,we made sure there was no hack/malware), tries really hard to get into the network, etc. But I might be biased as I am very unhappy with their support as well - their display showed a faulty line exactly 10d after the guarantee/warranty ran out, they quoted more than the current retail value for the repair and 80% of the original retail value. For a problem that is very likely not even the display itself but a faulty cable. Fuck them.

Personally, if a Pi is out of the scope (which I totally understand) I would go with a Android box and any TV you like displaywise- while Android is as bad privacy wise as any other TV OS nowadays, it is usually far easier to lock it down at least partially so at least the worst problems can be avoided/most of them can be rooted or get linage OS installed. Just make sure the box you use can do that.

Because in the end it's also an usability problem - your parents will call you if Netflix, Disney+ or something like that refuses to play because they now require widevine in a newer version than LibreELEC offers,etc. If you want to support that, go for a Pi. If you don't, find a middle ground.

[-] WreckingBANG@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago

Everything is really bad. But sadly it is nearly impossible to buy a normal TV these days. Just buy any SmartTV, and get yourself a MiniPC with the Linux Distro of your liking.

[-] kitnaht@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

LG WebOS doesn't have good support for things like Jellyfin. If you want to ever build a library of media and let them have easy access to it, then WebOS is gonna suck, so will Samsung's Tizen. But all the Android TVs have access.

Don't know if you're interested in that kind of thing, but figured I'd share it in case it was a factor.

The only other alternative is a commercial display.

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[-] Vivendi@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 months ago

I have an older Samsung Tizen device -- you don't have to worry about privacy because the piece of shit has basically 0 servers to connect to and most of the time if you set a DNS server manually it will completely fail to connect to the internet anyway

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this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
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