Technology

When you get a new TV, make sure it supports CEC so you can bypass all this bullshit.

CEC allows your input devices to change inputs, control power, control volume, etc.

My current setup is a Samsung QLED, Xbox, and Apple TV. All support CEC and I never touch the Samsung remote and have no idea what’s in the Samsung menus anymore.

If I turn on the streaming box, the tv turns on, the input changes, and all I see is the streaming box UI. Same for the game console. CEC is fucking incredible and an underrated thing that doesn’t get the flowers it deserves. It just works.

Edit: imagine your TV is dumb monitor with a KVM. That’s what CEC feels like when it’s setup correctly.

We need a custom replacement ROMs like Lineage or Graphene for smart TVs.

Smart tv's are awful, doubly so since you cant get "dumb" tv's anymore. I just dont give my tv wifi access and that seems to pretty much mitigate all the bullshit.

All I want is a DisplayPort and maybe some os with freedom of Linux why is that too much to ask for. The fact I can’t have vrr with my $600 GPU is absolute bullshit

I will need to replace my TV next year and I'm really not looking forward to it.

I will be hooking my two consoles (Series X and PS5), then all I need is something that I can put Emby and SmartTube on.

Are the Onn sticks still a good option?

I am still using a 2011 TV, but when it goes out it seems I'll have to switch to a big PC monitor to dodge all that bullshit.

I don't want a smart TV. I want a stupid screen, with just enough color settings to properly calibrate it. That's it.

This crap is why my LG TV lost its internet privileges last year and built a htpc to do all my media needs.

The problem is, you can never trust companies whose products can update over the air. (like "smart TVs"). The company can promise all kinds of things they won't do and then sneak something awful into a future update. I will spend a little more on "non-smart / no WiFi" TVs in the future.

We don't need/want a huge TV, so we just use a monitor with an external speaker and dedicated media box.

Smart TVs these days are just too invasive to even consider in my home.

My webos keeps wanting to update to add AI shit and I keep saying no but it won't take that as a permanent answer, so every time it turns on it's required (and if I turn it on with my one and only button on the thing, it takes a while before the prompt goes away and requires remote input).

I'm looking into ways to jailbreak it or something, just family won't exactly let me do that randomly.

Next time I get a new TV, that sucker is getting opened and the wifi antennas and microphones desoldered.

Every article like this makes me want to hug my 13-year-old Costco Sharp (is that brand still a thing?) TV that barely has apps and doesn't get butthurt when I don't do anything with them

Copilot is trash

I've never owned a smart TV. I still don't see a point in owning one. Why in the world would someone need copilot on their TV?

I would be so happy if I could just disable the "magic mouse" (IIRC that's what it's called). I once talked to support for an unrelated reason and asked how to do that; they said the only way was to enable on screen narration.

Any time throughout the conversation I asked why those two things were connected, they dodged or outright ignored the question.

As far as I'm concerned LG is a shithole company. I've gone through a TV, dishwasher, and fridge from them and all three had issues just outside warranty. That's not bad luck thats intentional shitty engineering. Fuck them.

I am genuinely curious, this whole thing is most likely an effort to sell more TVs, but does that actually work? Is there a significant segment of customers which buys TVs based on whether or not it has a (link to a) chatbot in it? Or did some exec just decide “our products need to have AI now” with 0 research done.

I would really like to see data on this.

Wait... While this is horrible... How did LG say anything in a January announcement when it's still December?

I already barely watch the TV I have, and it never goes online.

The Internet sucks now, and I've got shit to do. Gimme a reason to stop looking at screens. I fucking dare you.