Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

146•xrd•4d ago

I want to get a second TV which will more or less be a second monitor for my System76 laptop which is plugged into a bunch of music equipment, like a korg midi keyboard, and a novation drum pad, all of which work great with linux.

I want to buy this TV used. I'm seeing a bunch of Samsung, LG, RCA, Sony, etc on Facebook Marketplace. What a cesspool Facebook has become, right?

Any suggestions on the best brand or even model for that kind of thing? I don't really want to battle with a bunch of shit that tries to coerce me to install another app from a streaming provider slash gambling entrypoint.

I imagine mostly it will just need HDMI to work, and all the TVs will support that. But, I thought maybe there would be a fun brand that offers interesting other options.

Comments

jqpabc123•3d ago

I bought a Hisense model from Costco and set it to "store mode".

For all practical purposes, it is just a dumb HDMI display attached to my computer.

mongol•4h ago

What does store mode do?

elmean•4h ago

It lobotomizes the TV

hamdingers•4h ago

It disables smart features and many of the settings making it more like a dumb HDMI screen.

This may seem like a good thing, but it also usually enables a "vibrant" postprocessing picture mode, motion smoothing, and maximum brightness so the display looks good in a well lit big box store. Unless your viewing environment is similar (or you don't care so much) that's probably not what you want.

twostorytower•4h ago

Motion smoothing is awful.

cheschire•2h ago

I've always thought this feature might have more potential if more modern deep-learning tech was baked into the video and not just dumb frame interpolation.

I can imagine that there would be a potential to generate interpolated frames that intelligently make fast-moving scenes more understandable while leaving slow-moving scenes more or less at their intended 24 FPS.

Many action movies, especially with close hand-to-hand combat in tight spaces, are difficult to understand visually because 24 FPS just doesn't quite catch the movements.

somat•23m ago

It will happen, look at the results they are getting out of the framegen stuff on pc graphics cards. DLSS and friends.

I sort of don't like it(Old man shakes fist at sky "I want my frames to be real") but they are getting amazing results.

gwbas1c•1h ago

Depends on the TV. I prefer it off, but on my fancy OLED TV, there is too much "judder" without it on.

fragmede•22m ago

It also, in my case, puts up a giant info banner on the screen across the content, about the screen's capabilities, so YMMV.

jimt1234•1h ago

This is interesting to me. I never heard of "store mode". Is that common for "smart TVs" these days? My interest here is for my elderly mother who tries to watch TV, but her current LG is constantly bombarding her with notifications for software updates, recommendations and ads. It's very frustrating for her; it's to the point where she's afraid to turn on the TV.

I want a TV for her that will power-on directly to YouTube-TV, and that's it, nothing else, no notifications, nothing.

otterley•3h ago

Are you able to adjust its picture settings when it's in store mode?

RajT88•4h ago

Craigslist an older 1080p TV. People are getting rid of old "dumb" TV's, and sometimes you can get them free. I see seemingly undamaged LCD TV's out by garbage bins all the time. I sourced one such a TV for my wife for $100 a few years ago to use as a monitor - works great. No apps or anything - dumb as they come.

gruez•4h ago

You're missing out on resolution (4K) and picture quality (HDR, contrast ratios, color gamut) improvements by doing this.

PenguinCoder•4h ago

Good. Some of us don't need or want those things.

MyOutfitIsVague•3h ago

My experience with HDR has been pretty abysmal on a $500 4K TV. Badly tuned HDR is way worse than no HDR at all.

I have 20/20 vision, and I really can't tell the difference between 1080p and 4K for video games and movies. I will never do below 4k again on a desktop, but 1080p is more than fine for a TV. Higher framerate makes a far bigger difference than higher resolution for video games too.

addandsubtract•2h ago

You can see the difference in 4K when the bitrate is there, but most streaming platforms compress their videos too much for it to be worth it. It's definitely not the jump that 720p to 1080p is, though. I agree with everything else you said.

yesb•1h ago

Whether 4k is worth it depends a lot on the size of the TV vs how far away you sit. For a 65" TV, I don't see much difference between 4k/1080p above ~8ft away.

HDR is indeed effectively a marketing gimmick on many cheap TVs. They are getting better though

MBCook•1h ago

Also the content being viewed. High bandwidth 1080p can look sharper than over-compressed 4k.

It’s why even non-4k BluRays sometimes look better than streaming.

reaperducer•3h ago

You're missing out on resolution (4K) and picture quality (HDR, contrast ratios, color gamut) improvements by doing this.

Not everyone suffers from FOMO.

I've only seen one movie that was worth the bother and expense of seeing it in 4K (Rear Window).

The rest of the things you mention are mostly for a very small slice of theoretical people with perfect vision in perfectly lit rooms at the perfect height and viewing angle.

Beyond icons on a sticker checklist, they mean nothing to the 99% of people who just want to watch sportsball or eat popcorn while watching Disney films with their kids.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but most people are still watching pigs.

addandsubtract•2h ago

Rear Window? A movie from 1954? Can you explain how that was better in 4K when the footage isn't even 4K?

diggan•2h ago

If it was shot on film, isn't it possible to get 4K from it? Thought that was old news already.

hank808•2h ago

It was on film, probably 35mm. That film contains more information than 4k video. Resolution is between 4K and 6K.

MBCook•1h ago

Plus it’s a black & white movie, and b&w film has a higher “resolution” than color too right? Because you’re dealing with silver particles instead of physically larger color grains.

Or something like that. Someone more in the know please check my math.

meatmanek•2h ago

Obligatory Technology Connections video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVpABCxiDaU

dghlsakjg•1h ago

The footage is analog (on film). It was shot with 0 pixels, so 4k pixels on an edge doesn't matter. Side note, footage itself is a term derived from film (how many feet of film).

You can scan film into whatever digital resolution you want. You could do an 8k scan if you felt like it. You might run into issues where the resolving power of the film is less than the scan, but 4k is not an unreasonable resolution to pull out of well lit studio shot movie stock.

Larrikin•2h ago

Pretty sure I read this same comment when the transition from DVD to 1080p/Blu-ray occurred and people were updating their TVs.

Blackthorn•2h ago

The difference is the 4k content isn't available like the 1080p content was then. Streaming "4k" is a bad joke with its bitrates.

carlosjobim•2h ago

The OP is not asking for a TV to watch TV on, he's asking for a TV to use as a second monitor for his laptop. When it comes to computer interfaces, the difference between 4K and HD is enormous. Especially for text.

cheschire•2h ago

HDR is a mixed bag on PCs, and 4K comes at a system performance cost. OP said this was intended to be a monitor.

Atomic_Torrfisk•6m ago

Yes, but I think you are missing out on the part where it is close to free. I have a nice monitor for photos and other crap, but most of the shit I do is text. I do not need 4k.

gdulli•4h ago

What does hackable mean in this context, and what's the downside of any old smart TV not connected to the internet and the input left on your laptop, where you'd never see anything having to with the manufacturer's app OS?

MisterTea•4h ago

Most TV's today are actually giant Android computers. I opened a friends TV a few years back to try and examine a back light issue and to my surprise there were just 3 small PCB's in the TV: Power supply, LCD driver/interface, and the video input board that contains an Arm SoC. The PSU had a small harness that ran to the other two boards and the SoC board had a ribbon cable to the LCD panel.

The Arm SoC is the real interesting part here as it also has WiFi and Blue Tooth interface, Ethernet, and USB port(s). They're like a giant black box Raspberry Pi. If we could get our hands on the SoC datasheet then its possible we could flash that SoC to run whatever OS we want and actually have a Smart TV instead of a spyware and malware vector. Though I am sure no TV maker would ever let the plebs disable their money making spying and data exfiltration schemes.

gruez•4h ago

>If we could get our hands on the SoC datasheet then its possible we could flash that SoC to run whatever OS we want and actually have a Smart TV instead of a spyware and malware vector

Surely it's more straightforward to buy a SBC yourself and plug that into your TV? Even if you could flash it, dealing with random SoC/hardware seems not worth the hassle compared to shelling out $50-200 for a SBC that you picked and can be carried between TVs? Flashing third party ROMs like lineageos makes sense because there's no real alternative for smartphone hardware, but the same isn't true for smart TVs.

MisterTea•3h ago

> Surely it's more straightforward to buy a SBC yourself and plug that into your TV?

Of course it is. Though my point is we already have the hardware in the TV and it would be awesome to actually use it the way we want to use it. Also, I have two dumb TV's, each with a small PC hooked to it and they haven't moved in years.

trenchpilgrim•4h ago

You probably want a computer monitor rather than a TV; monitors will prioritize latency which is important for music production.

wintermutestwin•1h ago

Huh? You are confusing video refresh rate with audio latency.

IlikeKitties•4h ago

What you are looking for is a digital signage display and some android tv box

hmokiguess•3h ago

this should be more upvoted, could even bundle them in a grid-like view and have multiple streams

gosub100•4h ago

I think Tizen lets you write your own apps. I know I installed Emby on one of the very cheap smart tvs recently and had to install it via developer mode and pull in the package by typing the IP of my laptop into the TV (maybe vice versa).

I didn't write the code but it seemed like you can get a development account from Tizen and write your own apps.

To be clear, Tizen is not a brand of TV, it's the name of the OS. It's fairly common on various no-name hardware brand, check it out.

colangelod•4h ago

If you just want it for the HDMI input to use as an aux screen for what ever computer your running than anything with an HDMI input in the size range you want should work. I run all the TV's in my house like this; connected to mac mini's instead of futzing with the onboard software mostly because I despise typing one letter at a time with a tv remote.

Honestly all the onboard TV OS stuff I have interacted with in the last decade has been more or less terrible and I wouldn't even consider it when buying a TV especially one that is just going to be a screen. All of the recent installs Ive dealt with (family and friend support) has revealed a ton of pay-to-play features (Samsung frame tv's cough cough). I applaud you for wanting something neat but I cant say Ive come across anything Ive ever actually wanted to use beyond "select input -> HDMI1"...

patrickk•4h ago

This, this, this.

Just never, ever connect the TV to the internet. Connect up an Nvidia shield, or a mini-PC/raspberry pi configured with whatever apps you desire, hidden behind a pi-hole. Connect a steam deck if gaming/linux desktop usage is your thing. I only touch the TV remote to switch on the TV, and even that could be automatable with home assistant+CEC if that's of interest.

dn3500•3h ago

I had a TV once, can't remember the brand, that refused to stream from my dlna server unless it could contact its own corporate servers over the internet first.

foobarian•3h ago

Unfortunately the family likes live TV, and that is very hard to get without compromising the UX.

horsawlarway•3h ago

OTA TV Tuners fill this niche.

It's been a bit since I've done this (I'm not watching live TV anymore), but something like HDHomeRun worked fine.

It basically pairs an antenna with a small computer to convert to network traffic, then gives you an app on your streaming device to play it back.

You do need to be able to run the vendor's app, and you'll get stuck with that UI for live tv (So yeah - totally agree that you're compromising the UX). But still no reliance on the "smarts" built into the tv.

horsawlarway•3h ago

Yup.

You generally don't want a smart tv you can hack. You want a decent computer you own sending signal through the external inputs.

The SBC in the TV is, hands down across basically every "smart" TV I've interacted with, a cheap piece of crap (even well into the "expensive" brands and models).

Manufacturers stick the absolute cheapest garbage in there that can output the advertised resolution during playback without stuttering.

So you can spend hours/days/week wrestling this cheap, underpowered board back from the manufacturer... or you can just side-step it entirely and spend much less time and effort sticking a decent computer you own behind the tv.

joshstrange•28m ago

This!

All my TVs have an Apple TV on them and that's all that is used (aside from a game console here and there). I pretty much never need to interact with the TV OS. Is there a Netflix app on my TV? Probably, I'll never know, I've never even launched the app store.

Xelbair•4h ago

Any that you can put in store mode, and run all smart features off separate device.

Otherwise it will run out of updates fast, services will stop working and only way to fix that is to buy.. a separate device.

This also let's you make search easier as you can just look at the panel itself when comparing.

bestouff•4h ago

Any smart TV where some hacker could install its own build of the OS ? Kinda like LineageOS for smart TV ?

yjftsjthsd-h•1h ago

Not per se a TV, but it is worth pointing out that LineageOS literally has builds for some set top boxes; if I go to https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ and filter to device type > set top box, then it lists 7 options.

th0rine•4h ago

Older LG sets (tested on C9 OLED) had security vulnerabilities you could use to root your TV and then do "??????" you wanted with them. WebOS as a platform causes a lot of unproductive discussion surrounding it's ecosystem and such but if you want to "hack" or actually have a shell on your TV it's great for that to do anything else you want. Personal favorites include changing the default screensaver behavior to the bouncing DVD logo, running Chocolate Doom, and a port of Space Cadet pinball natively. More info here - https://rootmy.tv/

tamimio•4h ago

I ditched the whole smart TV years ago. I was never a fan of the slow, ad-ridden software, and later found that enormous packets were being sent when I monitored the DNS at the network level despite the TV being 'turned off'. Instead, I got a non-smart TV (you can find old Sony TVs) and attached a TV box or direct hdmi to an old laptop instead, far smoother and better at all levels.

hamdingers•4h ago

For "fun and interesting" consider an LG WebOS TV. Many can be rooted[1] which allows installing a homebrew channel[2] of unauthorized apps or writing your own.

I initially did it for Jellyfin before they made it into the official app store, but the Moonlight game streaming app has unlocked many hours of entertainment.

1. https://cani.rootmy.tv

2. https://www.webosbrew.org/

postexitus•3h ago

Only older models that have not been upgraded to latest webos.

A4ET8a8uTh0_v2•3h ago

Can confirm and will add that depending on what model you get, webos UI is a breath of fresh air compared to other heavyweights ( like samsung ).

stavros•3h ago

Moonlight is really fantastic. It's worked better than Geforce Now for me. Amazon's thing worked best, but they don't have as many games as my Steam does.

diggan•2h ago

Are you using it over Ethernet or WiFi? I remember I tried Moonlight to a local computer two or three years ago over Ethernet and the latency was still too bad, any ideas if that's better today?

stavros•2h ago

It goes gaming desktop PC -> ethernet -> fiber -> 5g -> wifi -> Amazon Fire stick at a flat 100km away from the PC, and I still finished Expedition 33 on it with no problems.

I'd say definitely give it another go.

doublerabbit•2h ago

Moonlight works flawlessly for me and I use FreeBSD as a daily driver. Of all OSes to play games.

UnRaid + KVM VM + GPU Passthrough with Moonlight has meant I no longer have to dual boot to game.

60FPS at 1080p on a 4k screen. 4k struggles but I think that's more my GPU then anything else. I do have 2x of them.

VoidWhisperer•1h ago

I'm assuming you don't play many games with anticheat though since they'd flag it running in a VM

mrandish•43m ago

If you were using a TV streaming stick, many have slow Ethernet due to slow port (Micro-USB), slow PHY hardware (100 mbps) or slow network stack. For the popular streaming apps they only need 25 mbps max, so most stick makers put no effort into design or validation testing beyond that minimal use case. And they don't care about latency.

I use Moonlight via direct 1 gbps Ethernet from a high-end gaming PC in the same house through a Google Chromecast 4K HDMI dongle with a powered USB-C hub for the RJ-45 input and it works flawlessly at 60 fps 4K 10-bit HDR with around 12 ms video latency. Some USB 3 hubs and USB Ethernet dongles won't reach full speeds on some streaming devices USB ports. The second one I tried worked at full 1 gbps.

You have to verify every software and hardware component in the chain is working at high-speed/low latency in your environment with a local speed test hosted on your source machine. I used self-hosted OpenSpeedTest. Moonlight works great but none of the consumer streaming stick or USB hub/RJ-45 dongles test for high speed/low latency across dozens of different device port hardware/firmware combos - so you can't trust claimed specs. Assume it's slow until you verify it's not.

zdware•5m ago

Moonlight is great, but be careful about overestimating how fast video decoding is. I would get 10-40ms additional latency, jitter doing moonlight from tv, vs running it on Linux on my mini PC homelab hooked up to the TV, my decoding/network latency was like 1-2ms for a frame

andrepd•3h ago

Unfortunately it still spies on you if you connect to the web :S

I guess you can mitigate that if you use something like a pi-hole? I do wish there was a solution using root/devmode to block ads (or better yet, run in whitelist mode!).

hamdingers•2h ago

You're correct on all points.

However, if you do have an pihole/adguard home, this list does get rid of all the ads: https://gist.github.com/d4kine/b2458cc9d693d7d36193be0247094...

bryceacc•2h ago

This is also the coolest thing you can do for a rooted webOS tv:

https://github.com/satgit62/How-to-Install-and-set-up-Ambili...

doesn't need to go through another device to capture the HDMI, it's built right in!

Retr0id•47m ago

Second-coolest has got to be https://repo.webosbrew.org/apps/org.webosbrew.custom-screens... ("Bouncing DVD logo" screensaver)

jp191919•28m ago

Great..... another rabbit hole to go down. I have an LG CX and I never knew I could root it. Glad I never gave it internet access.

MisterTea•4h ago

I mentioned in another post here that I opened a friends TV and found just 3 PCB's: Power, LCD interface, and Video SoC. The video SoC is an Arm SoC for TVs that runs Android complete with video input switching matrix and processing. The SoC board had Wifi, bluetooth, Ethernet and USB. It's all there.

My dream is to hack that SoC to boot whatever OS. Though good luck getting the datasheets...

bombcar•4h ago

A Vizio without accepting the agreement is a fine hdmi TV.

alprado50•4h ago

Im using a 43 inch samsung tv as a monitor. It works fine as long as you never conect it to internet.

Rucadi•4h ago

I compiled/ported the mario64 port to the LG TV quite easily, so I would say that LGTV is the best for that.

bitwize•4h ago

A dumb TV with an x86 HTPC attached to the back via VESA bracket. Sceptre dumb TVs from the Wal-Mart web site are your cheat code.

AstroJetson•49m ago

Winner!! I have a pair of these that have multiple HDMI ports. So my "hacking" is hanging a raspberry pi or a x86 computer.

black_dog_irish•3h ago

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2022/tv-thats-not-necs-pi-...

newsclues•3h ago

I wish there were more modular tvs like this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-epPf7D8oMk

matt_heimer•3h ago

I have Sony Bravia TV that has Android TV so I went looking for the docs to confirm you can enable developer mode, access adb, and sideload apps. While looking at the docs I discovered I can load HTML5 apps from USB! I never knew that but I'm going to do some experimentation in the near future.

https://pro-bravia.sony.net/develop/app/getting-started/inde...

imp0cat•1h ago

There is also a Sony Bravia integration for Home Assistant (using the REST API that's in almost all Bravia TVs).

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/braviatv/

slipperybeluga•40m ago

YMMV. it's never worked well for me. works great for the first week, then it stops connecting or i suddenly have several zombie bravia devices, all of which aren't connected.

slipperybeluga•43m ago

best thing i ever did with my bravia was install a custom launcher via adb to finally rid myself of the endless ads, upsetting news, and terrible suggestions constantly shoved in my face without my consent. nice to be able to uninstall the misc bloat that you can't get to with the gui and just have a simple interface. all i want is to access jellyfin and maybe one or two other apps. much better all around experience now.

here's a nice reference for a lot of the stuff installed on bravia that you can elect to remove via adb:

https://github.com/therealhoodboy/skinny-bravia

paulgerhardt•3h ago

Do recommend the LG C series (C5 or C4 are new or the C1 series if you want a deal on classifieds - same hardware as the higher end models but needs a firmware bit flip). The OS is very rootable and it makes a great TV that doubles as a monitor. Supports free sync / g-sync. OLED is nice at this scale.

Text is very readable, refresh rate is good. It uses the same panels as the fancier G series in the larger sizes. One can root the firmware to make it go brighter. (Though this is screen works well in medium or dimly lit rooms. It does not shine in very bright rooms).

Plenty of YouTube videos singing the C series praises as a TV / Monitor.[1] LG webOS is also trivial/friendly to root in developer mode and network control of the tv is a nice to have.

Would avoid Samsung. I love the matte on the Frame and the design of the Serif but the OS is frustrating / impractical to root.

[1] https://youtu.be/Qtve0u3GJ9Y

xer0x•3h ago

Thanks that's great to know! I've got one to tinker with.

zeusk•2h ago

> same hardware as the higher end models but needs a firmware bit flip

Is this firmware bit flip known? couldn't find anything off google.

DavideNL•1h ago

https://cani.rootmy.tv/

conradev•17m ago

This is incredible. I had no idea that there is a Homebrew channel!

mmastrac•2h ago

I am curious if the Cx series has the same issue as my B2 where Dolby Vision (Atmos?) seems to kill the video processing circuitry and requires me to power-cycle it.

Apparently the only fix is to disable it in your source, but it works like 75% of the time and I'd hate to lose the excellent picture quality of Netflix and YouTube via Google TV.

tracker1•41m ago

Worth trying are a different cable, and maybe a different source depending on your setup... my previous AVR had pretty consistent issues against my TV that I constantly had to soft power off and on to work around, it only happened when using the ARC port. On another setup, it turned out to be an issue with the cable.

YMMV.

whalesalad•55m ago

I have a C2 OLED and it is a really nice TV. I've never connected it to the internet or tried to root it though. It behaves as a simple no-frills display.

michalf6•49m ago

I was looking for a 40-43in 4K TV for PC monitor use, considered the LG C series, but it wouldn't work in my bright room.

I went with Samsung QN90C instead and I'm super happy with it. It's very bright, fights glare well, and there's Jellyfin for it.

dsp_person•34m ago

all the methods to root have been patched in the latest webos version :(

kelthuzad•31m ago

I bought the Samsung Frame TV and I love it, but you're correct about Samsung's OS (it's sluggish, filled with ADs and by far the worst TV OS that I've used so far)

iguessthislldo•24m ago

I have one of them (don't remember which number) and OLED part is very nice. I haven't done anything with the TV itself, but I forked an old library (https://github.com/iguessthislldo/libLGTV_serial) to control it remotely through serial and Home Assistant without connecting it to my WiFi. I originally set this up for a much older 1080p LG TV, and was able to use it with a newer one with a few modifications.

edit: Apparently I specially have C3PUA according to the model data I added. Also if anyone is interested in this, I can update the README because I didn't change it after I forked it.

esperent•13m ago

[delayed]

kjkjadksj•10m ago

How much pause should oled burn in give you though? Both from the buying used perspective and using as a secondary monitor where there might be fixed ui elements?

zdware•8m ago

++ for the LG homebrew community. The homebrew store literally has an app now that will auto refresh your dev token so your TV doesn't go out of devmode and uninstall all of your home brew. Used to have to setup a cron job to renew/refresh dev mode.

WorldPeas•3h ago

I use a NEC OPS module tv I got on facebook marketplace as a digital signage monitor. Best purchase I've made yet, though I will admit the feet for it being 200 dollars was quite a shock (they're made out of steel and about 2 feet long each so it makes sense) completely dumb tv, takes all inputs from HDMI to component and has features like auto-sleep without any real smarts inside. I love it.

Gualdrapo•2h ago

I long for a Framework-like TV.

cheeze•2h ago

Can you expand here? What are you looking for in specific?

I think I have a framework-like TV. It's a high end TV set to store mode which has no smartOS annoyances. From there, I have expansion modules (they connect via HDMI) like a HDFury Vertex with CFW, Nvidia Shield, PS5, etc.

Decoupling the TV from the OS has helped a ton with longetivity

What more are you looking for?

chatmasta•2h ago

Why does it need to be a TV? Why not a monitor? I don’t know why we even differentiate between the two of them these days… basically the only difference is that a TV might have an IR receiver for a remote.

I’d go with a basic monitor and factor out the “smart TV” into whatever device you prefer – Apple TV, Chromecast, Firestick, any SBC with Kodi loaded onto it… an Xbox… why couple the smart features to the display?

dreamcompiler•2h ago

TVs are much cheaper than monitors. They are produced in larger numbers and their lower price is enabled by spying and advertising.

atmanactive•2h ago

Agree, but also, much worse image quality. Put a, for example 32" TV and a monitor one next to each other, set native resolution, put up a screen with a lot of text, and you'll see - the difference is night and day.

andsoitis•1h ago

TV panels optimize for viewing video (including subtitles) NOT for text-intensive work.

So you find that TV panels are much larger at lower price points than computer monitors because they serve different purposes.

Kon5ole•1h ago

>Agree, but also, much worse image quality.

I managed to grab a 55" 8K LG before 8K went out of fashion. I run it at 4k120 for games and 8k60 with doubling for productivity.

I've never had a better monitor and if one should exist it's not available in any store I know about. Monitors costing 2-3x as much as this TV did back then are worse. When it dies I will have to downgrade. :-/

robertakarobin•2h ago

I had the same thought but found there are very few TV-size monitors on the market, and the ones there are cost an arm and a leg. There are also very few "dumb" TVs -- we finally got one by Insignia, Best Buy's store brand, which has been fine. If someone knows a better alternative please let me know!

Worth clarifying that when I was a kid "TV-size" meant anything above 13", but the times have changed considerably. :)

whitehexagon•1h ago

I bought a decent 4k monitor to go with my 4k media box, and the required 4k cable, but wouldnt play because 'for your safety, blocked because not a TV' or some such nonsense, think it was HDCP? Annoying enough for me to cancel 4k paid tv, plus they were busy agressively reducing the broadcast bitrate. Also ended up with a load of bluray 4k discs I cant use, and they wonder why people download stuff.

raffraffraff•1h ago

I got a nice Philips Evnia 43" OLED monitor. 12 years belt that, I bought a 42" 1080p LG monitor. Monitors all the way.

dec0dedab0de•11m ago

Because I need to be able to plug in an antenna to watch football

yetanother-1•1h ago

Side question: what TV is best for integration into home assistant from experienced HA users...

joshstrange•23m ago

I think Samsung TVs can be interacted with through HA's SmartThings integration but I don't use that at all. Instead I have my Harmony Hubs (yes, a dying breed, literally) connected and that's the only way I interact with my TVs via HA.

"Alexa, turn on Living Room TV" -> HA -> Harmony -> IR Blaster

I think through the Apple TV integration I can control them even further but I greatly prefer just using the Harmony remote. I'm not looking forward to the day when those stop working completely and I have to evaluate other options. Every year or so I look around but nothing beats my old Harmony remote (with a coin battery that lasts so long I've lost track, easily over a year) and the Harmony Hub (which actually sends out the signals).

j45•45m ago

I've generally heard LG is the place to start looking, only because they are the inheritors of the hidden jewel that was/is webOS.

finnlab•44m ago

I can recommend The LG B2, great panel, great price. The software sucks however but you won't find OLED much cheaper.

warmwaffles•26m ago

A dumb TV like a Sceptre with a smart hackable device.

puskavi•5m ago

You could score some insane screens from recycling centers, but at least in Finland, its fucking illegal to repurpose (steal) "electronic waste" However, depending where you're located, all that stuff might go to somewhere else than smasher and smelter, so please check such places around you! Good example is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbqOvBHVpbw ,he found old tobacco ad display (ips!) for cheap!

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Comments

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Google, Meta and Microsoft opts to stop showing political ads in EU

Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

Show HN: I invented a new generative model and got accepted to ICLR

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A story about bypassing air Canada's in-flight network restrictions

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Datastar: Lightweight hypermedia framework for building interactive web apps

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Show HN: A Digital Twin of my coffee roaster that runs in the browser

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