The link has a ton of information.
Now, It is obvious that putting it completely offline is more safe. But, some people often use the TV’s to watch Netflix or something like that. Then they might forget that it is still connected to the internet when they are done watching.
Under Privacy Settings, there are options for Device Usage Data, Collect App and Over-the-Air Usage, and Interest-Based Ads. All are enabled by default, but you can disable them.
Rootmy.tv + a good firewall like opensense can help
My 6yo was falling down into youtube rabbit holes of total brainrot. And then netflix started offering similar content.
I cancelled all my subscriptions, run jellyfin, ytdl-sub, and other required stuff[tm], my TVs don’t have internet access any more. Just jellyfin access. Reading this validates my decision for me.
That is a huge issue too, and even evil people make fucked up videos on YouTube kids.
The difficulty I have with my Samsung TV’ is that the content from netflix looks much better on the netflix app on the TV than say using netflix on a fire stick or anything else
I think it comes down to the hdr10+ stuff, but it is noticeably different
It could be picture settings. Make sure the Fire stick’s HDR is set to adaptive (it defaults to always on which looks horrible), and on the TV itself the power saving is turned off.
Ah I was using an example, the device I have from my TV provider doesn’t do hdr10+
I can’t watch live sport without the device so effectively I use that for live TV stuff and the TV itself for app based stuff (netflix, Disney, apple etc etc)
Everybody in this thread: “Instead of that, just do this incredibly complex techy thing and build up your own library with multiple PBs of stolen media”
I’d love to ditch my Roku stick (already unplugged LG tv from internet). I use plex for some stuff…
I probably will set up a raspberry pi but most people cannot do this
EDIT: just set up LibreELEC and tried a few streams … this sucks lol.
STOP FUCKING BUYING THEM. YOU DONT NEED A GODDAMN TV.
And if you’re really that addicted, look up industrial/ commercial monitors instead.
Y’all are too fucking addicted to media.
Dude I just go with what would maybe be considered “old school” at this point. I never connect WiFi to my tv and just use an hdmi to my laptop running Linux if I want to watch tv (using a piracy streaming site with uBlock and a vpn)
The correct answer is VLAN/MAC jail or no connection.
Even DNS blocks won’t stop persistent tracking which often has fallback IPs.
Isolate it and only allow the domains you need.
Don’t connect them to the Internet.
Done.
Not done, they have shown to jump on unsecured networks to phone home. That coulr be a neighbour or a guests hotspot.
Edit: I was correctly asked to source this and couldnt, it was a few reddit posts without back up. I should have checked before posting
I mean, even if this was true and common, I dont really have an unsecured network anywhere close to my home and I imagine the same goes for most, like MOST other people as well. Thats while living in a city too, suburbs are probably even “better”.
Who has shown it? Never seen anyinebprove that.
Got any sources for this? This seems unlikely to be true at any scale
they have shown to jump on unsecured networks to phone home.
Source?
Not the person that commented, but this fear does stem from a real thing years ago related to, I believe, Amazon Fire TVs that were using some sort of mesh functionality to get data out. It was not wide spread, and now I can’t find any links about it, but I did at the time when I was worried about it and I was trying to find more information. If I am not mistaken, this was a feature that Amazon actually patented, so I don’t think it would have become common anyway. I know that without a good link this is just heresay, and that’s fine to leave it that way since I don’t think it is still happening anyway. If anyone else can manage to find a link, please share it hear as it is interesting and can show that it isn’t likely a major concern.
Welk then at least they’re monitoring the neighbors, not you, and if you still have an unsecured hotspot in 2026 you’re just asking for trouble
Don’t reward shitty practices with your money. Just don’t buy them.
Where can you buy a non-smart TV ? I searched a lot, there is nowhere to buy such TV for private consumers. I could find some Hotel or Hospital TVs on eBay, they are all expensive and shit specs.
Get a smart TV which lets you go through set-up without Wi-Fi. Google TV (which is suprising for GOOGLE) models support that.
Look up Monitors instead
Have you seen a 55" monitor for sell ? How much was it ?
Sceptre was still offering some non-smart TVs that were quite cheap and work fine. They aren’t going to be super impressive in technical specs, but they work just fine. It might be worth considering a soundbar or speakers though, as that is one place you can feel the quality difference.
Most importantly, they aren’t available where I live.
This is the reason I have a 20+ year old plasma TV. Absolutely nothing smart and still somewhat thin. Also the picture is sometimes better for movies because of how it handles blacks and contrast.
Burns more electricity I guess. But most plasmas should be around the time of the flat TV crazy started before LED took off. Before they started making them cheaper by stuffing them full of spy software.
You can get a smart TV and set ut up without Wi-Fi. You can do that on Google TV, Tizen and WebOS. You will have to turn off the eco mode and motion smoothing so it is not dim and blurry.
Do you have some TV box connected to it? Like Nvidia Shield, Apple TV 4K, Chromecast Ultra, Roku, Fire TV or some Linux box?
Oof, I haven’t had to shop for a tv in over a decade, so I assume it will be worse when it’s my time.
I got rid of my old TV that was developing purple spots when I moved to another apartment. I ended up going for a smart LG OLED tv with the specs I was looking for. Available at a good price. It’s not connected to the network and boot straight to my Nvidia shield.
I’ve had nothing but good experiences with LG tvs
They have been up to pretty shady stuff as of lately, like blocking your TV if you don’t accept the new terms of the user agreement which mandates sending your data to 500 and some partners. As long as it never ever gets an internet connection, it should be fine.
That sounds fucked
Very large computer monitors.
I wish. 55" computer screens are hard to come by.
Every person does not do this. They will still use it for the apps on the TV.
Disable those non connected options
You don’t really believe that companies actually stop monitoring the shot out of you, right?
Just don’t connect your smart TV to the Internet. Instead get some opens source TV stick, dump jellyfin on it, make your own little library and go nuts
Open-source
Already too techy for the average nincompoop. Just get a laptop, an HDMI cord, and a wireless keyboard/mouse
Which open source TV stick do you recommend?
Depends on what hardware you put it on, but probably not a “stick”. (Stick compute performance sucks anyway) https://libreelec.tv/
This is always the question, and there is never an answer.
A bit of a party foul on my end as I already knew none exist. Although there is at least an open streaming box OS in the works, but you’d have to bring your own hardware.
I didn’t say it stops all of it, it reduces it.
Source that it actually reduces it and the companies aren’t lying out of their asses?
korea ? why ?
Never connect it to your wifi and use an open source Linux or android media box instead. If you can buy a tv or projector without any smart device baked in.
A docked Steam Deck works for this. It even has HDMI-CEC
Most definitely, it’s essentially a full Linux PC. You could do a lot of things with it.
Genuinely zero idea how people use TVs on their own, with wi-fi connected, and no HTPC. Not only is it mostly spyware, it’s a horrendous experience too.
Just get a tiny pc with a wireless keyboard + touchpad combo, and use that instead of a Smart TV’s built-in OS. More secure, more private, more feature-rich, more convenient. If you watch TV (I can’t see why anyone would), then you can even watch that online.
I can’t stand “smart” TVs. I’d choose a Raspberry Pi and huge monitor over one any day
Except maybe the Nvidia Shield; it’s genuinely pretty good. I have Retroarch installed on it, but I don’t use it much (no monitor for it lol).
I’ve been rocking a 46 inch Sony xbr 1080p tv for like 22 years. It just broke last week :(
That thing was awesome. It had nine types of inputs, DisplayPort, hdmi, super video, dvi, rca. It even had optical audio in and out. It was a $10,000 tv when it came out and I watched it for a while until it was something like $3300 and I bought it.
I replaced it with a 55inch Samsung for $300. The picture is 22years better :) but the rest of it is throw away junk. It will never get connected to the internet and it will never get a software update. I think this is the logical conclusion to cheap tvs, they just become 100% enshittified.
You can make the Samsung even better by turning off the energy saving to make it brighter and turning off the motion smoothing so it doesn’t hallucinate extra frames in 24/25/30 fps video.
You should maybe connect it once for update. At least check firmware update changelogs to see if anything is relevant.
I have an LG and experienced a weird picture problem for over a year… it was infuriating. Firmware update fixed it.
You should have just returned it. If it doesn’t work out of the box, you don’t need it.
Well then i would need to make sure the new screen has the latest firmware.
I dont think connecting my tv to the internet for 5mins is the end of the world. I’m not THAT paranoid
Although i noticed that the tv made 100 dns requests the moment it connected
Do projectors do the same kind of shenanigans? I’ve seen many that got bad ratings because of “lackluster smart functions”.
If you use the built in smart apps, then 100% YES. However if you leave the Wi-Fi disconnected then plug your own box in then they’re fine. The same applies to most smart TVs, except Roku and Fire models.
Manage your own DNS. Problem solved.
Oh yea? Tell that over the phone to the old granny that lives alone to do that. People like that have no idea how to. Not everybody is that tech savvy.
Step 1) Host your own DNS resolver(s).
Step 2) Open port :53
Step 3) Visit granny and login to her router
Step 4) ???
Step 5) Granny Profit
Visit a random granny 1000 miles away for a $100 job lol, sure. Much easier to explain how to reduce data being sent back.
Alternate thing-your-comment-fits-as-a-reply-to: Quentin’s character in Pulp Fiction
This advice feels like “Have you moved to the surface of the sun? Make sure to drink lots of water.” It’s not wrong, but also not particularly helpful. The only solution is to stop buying these things. Ideally take them back and get a refund if it isn’t too late.
Most will keep using smart TV’s on the internet. It is helpful in reducing the data sent back.
