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Comment by joeblau | Hacker News Reader

Next step. Get rid of all of the "Smart" TV features.

I just wanna 4k dumb TV.

You mean you don't like the unsupported Netflix and Hulu apps that have a half second lag between button pushes?

I think he meant he doesn't like the "unsupported apps that should exist for your favorite channel but Sony got an exclusive for that one and you bought an LG" out-of-luck shenanigans.

Only a half second lag? Look at the guy with a fancy smart TV!

Youtube on my roku has gotten so bad. I just timed it and it takes 26 seconds to start the channel. Each click on the menu takes 1 second to register, and 2 seconds to pause a playing video. I never even use rewind/fast-forward because they never work.

And that's on a relatively supported device. I can't imagine how bad smart tv's are.

I would prefer on screen instead of a mobile device, but Chromecast "just works" and the mobile apps are all leagues better than smart TVs and boxes like Roku.

Could you clarify what you mean by "on screen instead of a mobile device" ?

With Chromecast you have to choose what to watch on a phone/tablet and only the video is displayed on TV; there's no UI on the TV.

If only it were just half a second! My Panasonic from a couple of years ago has input lag up to 10 seconds or so when the Netflix app starts. It's AWFUL.

Just embrace it and try to hit the IoT home botnet high score.

:laughing: - My Samsung smart TV asked me if I wanted to turn on some network features for updates a few months ago and I said no. I also set up my network to ensure that the MAC address for both of my TV never has access to the internet ever. The teams in charge of software on smart TV's are so far behind current development practices that it's nothing short of embarrassing.

Except 4k was out before you could buy devices that supported HDCP 2.2. I still have no idea if I'll have to buy a new receiver if I ever decide to buy a 4k media player. The answer seems to be "yes, but no" which I think means today's 4k media does not require HDCP2.2 but at some point 4k media WILL require HDCP2.2 which means the receiver I bought in 2016 will not be able to show 4k content on the TV I bought in 2016.

OTOH, the apps built into my TV stream 4k all day every day.

These exist, Vizio do them. The vast majority of the market however wouldn't know how to use a "dumb" TV.

Huh? How did that vast majority of the market survive last 50 years with their TVs?!

The only worthwhile "Smart" TV feature is having Google cast built-in.

you could get away with a 4k monitor and a receiver for cable/sattelite/aerial. Way cheaper.

Who makes cheap 50+ inch 4k monitors?

This would be my follow up question as well, except I would want at least a 60 inch screen.

I think it's much more likely to go the other direction (using a TV as a monitor if you happen to need a huge screen).

This got me curious and there are a couple of options, most from a brand called Sceptre that I haven't heard of. Here's one with 4k, 65" and no smart features: http://amzn.to/2kpcIqy

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