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My decade old TV is starting to show its age with a couple of dead pixel columns.
I'm a bit stressed about trying to find a new one that has none of this kind of enshittification.
I just want something with a couple of HDMI inputs and an antenna connector.
I absolutely do not want any ad servers or mandatory account bullshit injecting itself where it isn't wanted.
Youll have to go with a monitor or business display. Its just a large screen with inputs but no tuner or speakers.
I use a Pi to drive my display.
Just wanted to add that you'll pay out the ass for them compared to consumer trash, but there's a reason for the higher price tag. They're often made for heavy usage environments where they're on like 24/7 for years showing slideshows and shit in office lobbies. Consequently, they often lag behind the feature set of modern TVs which may or may not be a problem (personally I hate all that image enhancement shit but everyone has their preference) and the higher refresh rate is not as big a selling point so not a huge comparison there if you're looking to use it for gaming or something. They also have a much more clear repair path though replacement parts can be fuckin stupid expensive. It's bullshit that the only way you can get around the enshittification of consumer electronics is by paying the enterprise tax but that's how it is.
I work in IT and about once a year or so I have to spec out that sort of stuff for clients, and they're always like "WTF?!" when they see the cost of some of that Enterprise/Professional grade stuff, but the difference is, the no-name crap they could get for $1499.99 from a big box is going to burn itself up within 18 months and be trash while the $5000 display will be humming along for as long as replacement parts are still available.
Its crazy how shitty they've gotten. I got one on black Friday probably 10 years ago and it didnt have and built in apps just casting from your phone. A few years later they updated it and suddenly it had apps and demanded you agree to their TOS and all that (possibly also download their Vizio app?). I didnt keep it for long after that (mostly because it was a budget ass TV with 4K but not HDR) and replaced it with an LG C3 AMOLED from Costco, which I couldn't be happier with. In our bedroom we have a TCL and I think that's where the sweet spot is with budget TVs
I have an extremely expensive smart TV that probably cost around £4,000 (I didn't buy it so I don't know what the actual price tag was) and it's UI is awful because of stuff like this and it's all stupid. It has an app, it's a TV, I already have a method of controlling it why do I need an app?
As a result it's purely a media streaming platform I don't use any of its smart features. It's just hoocked up to a mini PC and it's just been a display.
Required to use smart features? Thank you Walmart for encouraging people not to connect their TVs to the internet!
My "big" TV is a dumb 55" Toshiba I bought in 2012. It works just fine plugged into my computer to display VLC. I don't need anything else. I don't bother with Jellyfin anymore, because all I do is "acquire" the content, watch it immediately, and delete it. I don't keep anything apart from a few old movies, because I don't rewatch anything.
Tonight I'm watching the next episode of Survivors, a BBC series from 1975.
I think I prefer my 14 inch CRT
I used to prefer CRTs too... And then I got an OLED. Nothing else comes close, not even the best CRTs. Especially if it's got quantum dots in combination with OLED.
Given that input lag was already solved five years ago, really the only advantage CRTs still have left is their ability to look great at non-native resolutions. But upscaling filters like HQX/xBR for retro games, and DLSS/FSR for modern titles, have all but completely eliminated that last remaining advantage. These filters are really good at upscaling lower resolution content to fit your display's pixels. Hell, DLSS is so good that it looks better than native 4K.
This is why i don't like "smart" tv.
Does that mean it disables all Tue smart shit about f you don't connect an account? Nice.
Yeah I've been sitting here trying to figure out the downside.
It would not surprise me if the tv it's self will not work until you run through a setup process, and during this process you are required to create an account.
Buy commercial displays, not TVs
Main reason I want the steam machine to be a hit is just getting regular Linux boxes under people's TVs and that getting developer interest. KDE Plasma Big Screen too. Good TV interfaces for media software. Respond well to remotes and gamepads. Popular service apps like Netflix and Crunchyroll. It's jarring when I use other people's TVs and the default page screen is just a wall of advertisements. At least Android based TVs I can install projectivity launcher to get a clean interface
