Open operating systems can receive security updates by the community long after the manufacturer has lost their interest in the device.
Should it even be called a "Smart TV" if its hard to recover?
Up until now I haven't really cared, since I ignore all the smart TV junk and use my device anyway. But if it's going to start getting ransomwared no matter what I do... just let me buy a dumb TV.
In the future this may change - at this point some Samsungs already overlay their ads on volume change UI (and some other parts) to get additional revenue. With such incentives, I'm worried just how long you'll be able to buy a TV that can function offline.
If you look at low end TVs you'll find the "useful life" limited more by the hardware than by the software. If the hardware can't do it, for instance, no H.265 decoding for you.
H.265 is generally only used for 4K content and 4K TVs carry decoders with them mostly.
It's not that it's hard, it's that it wasn't in the manual.
https://wiki.samygo.tv/index.php5?title=Main_Page
http://openlgtv.org.ru/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
But they support AFAIK only a limited number of devices and also only some firmware versions (it seems like both Samsung and LG are attempting to close the doors).
Yes
> Open operating systems can receive security updates by the community long after the manufacturer has lost their interest in the device.
Yes
> Should it even be called a "Smart TV" if its hard to recover?
...? Yes.