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Comment by throwaway123x2 | Hacker News Reader

Can you even buy those any more? I looked into it and there's nothing of quality available.

I don't know exactly what you mean by "quality" but there are certainly still a few non-smart models around, i.e. Sceptre U515CV-U for a $200 50" 4K model.

Or there are a couple of very large displays available that are advertised as monitors rather than TVs. i.e. the 43" Asus PG43UQ or 65" HP OMEN X Emperium.

Then there's the whole world of commercial displays, examples include the NEC E657Q or Samsung QB65R.

I think the only truly dumb screens that you might be able to buy are designed for commercial use. But yeah, consumer oriented TVs all have their own smart features.

Is there a way to hack a smart TV into a dumb one?

Yup. Don’t connect it to the internet.

I can't back this up, but I've read stories on Reddit of smart TVs actively scanning for open access points and connecting anyway.

There seem to be a lot of dark patterns in this product space.

I think that connecting it and locking it down with Pihole or router rules might get better behaviour.

If that even works today (open wifi? Xfinity, AT&T, etc. hotspots?), it surely won't work in a few more years when cellular radios get cheap enough to just stick them in every TV.

What happens if you simply don't connect it to the internet? Can't you just use it as a dumb TV? I don't have experience with a smart TV so I cannot say.

I have heard that some TVs will simply look for open WiFi. Barring that, how long will it be before they just throw a cell modem in there, a la Kindle?

So TVs technically work today without wifi? That should be doable for most privacy-conscious people. Sick some literal tinfoil on the back of the TV where the antenna is to weaken the range, or block the TV requests on the network level for the more technically inclined using pi-hole. (Even as I type this, I am realising how insane it is that buying a TV is so hostile to the end customer!!) Hopefully my old dumb TV and dumb projector lasts for many more years...

I have an older Kindle, you can simply turn on airplane mode permanently and sync only using Calibre on your PC. So it's not as user-hostile as newer TVs.

I have a Samsung smart TV for work that has never been connected to a network. It insists on an identification check whenever a new device is connected to an input. It doesn't have access to the Samsung database so it just spins its wheels until you clear the overlay.

It does that even with network access (I didn't see any additional traffic when it happens in a packet capture). I have to use a programmable HDMI splitter that presents an EDID when the real input is off just to get rid of that behavior. My computer resuming from sleep triggers it.

Our hardware has valid EDIDs. Just nothing that Samsung would know about.

Part of the problem is that they'll have a lot of the smart features still enabled and have horribly slow interfaces for everything to switch inputs or bug you for a wifi password every time they're turned on. It's not a fun experience sometimes.

> Can you even buy those any more? I looked into it and there's nothing of quality available.

Yes, you can buy large monitors or commercial displays. They might not be “TVs” because they don't have built-in tuners, but if you are getting content through an external network-connected device on an HDMI port, who cares about a built-in tuner?

Any thoughts on the sound options with those suggestions? Just get a cec sound bar?

I hate remotes and will tolerate one maximum. I don’t want an Apple TV, amplifier and some other one.

Roku TVs are a one remote solution with a minimally invasive OS. They have an interest in not killing their user base with dark patterns. It also won't be treated as abandonware two years later.

what about "monitors"? i'm not sure if the specs are the same league - i'm guessing monitors are priced at sizes vastly different than TVs - but surely they don't come with android TV

The closest thing to absurdly big monitors would probably be digital signage, since you can get 55+ inch screens that have proper DVI inputs.

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