In the case of the smart tv it's actually because you didn't really pay the full price of the tv. The manufacturer counts on the revenue from those ads to boost the tv profit margin to an acceptable level, otherwise they would have to charge you more for the tv initially.

If you don't believe me, look up the price of a "commercial display" comparable to your tv. And before anyone asks, the majority of customers would rather have a cheaper tv with ads in the menus than a more expensive one without.

>In the case of the smart tv it's actually because you didn't really pay the full price of the tv

How can the consumer know, if it is not disclosed?

And when every TV manufacturer is doing "ads in your smart TV", there is no incentive to not sell it at full price AND show you ads.

I think that a good step would be to require a sizeable disclaimer on the box/marketing material stating that it is ad-supported/tracking-supported. That way it is much easier for consumers to know why the price is as cheap as it is.

Commercial displays are not more expensive because they don't have ads - that's an absurd suggestion. They are more expensive because they have higher requirements. They need to be running for at least 8 hours per day without issues, but often 24/7, as opposed to the usual 4-6. That's the main difference.

They also have to deal with direct sunlight and a wider range of thermal conditions. Commercial displays are often placed in shop windows, the panel needs to stand up to that, and the electronics need active cooling for when the chassis warms up.

That might be true, but it's not an "absurd suggestion." Amazon will sell you a Kindle for nearly 20% cheaper if you let it show you ads.

In terms of actual dollars, those ads are worth about 20. The value isn't much different for a TV.

When many commercial displays are hundreds of dollars more, it's pretty absurd to suggest ads are a large factor.

Only hundreds of dollars? Where do you find those? I would by a dumb panel on a trustworthy device for mere hundreds more.

Iiyama? They sell great high-contrast LCDs in various ratings, typically starting at 8/5 and up to the obligatory 24/7.

I can recommend the Nvidia Shield [0] as an alternative to dealing with the Samsung firmware. I bought it after seeing it recommended here on HN. It's snappy, it has the apps that I care about (Plex, Youtube, and various Australian public on-demand channels). Also it pretty much just works. It turns on together with the tv and you basically don't have to deal with anything Samsung at all anymore. It has some gaming capabilities but I never tried those and don't care.

[0] https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/

This happened to me to. It now is not connected to the internet and never will be again. It's also the crappest TV I've ever owned. My old dumb TV is better.

You can set the DNS on the TV to NextDNS to block the ads and tracking, so you can use the internet again.

It turns out I am not the only one who does not want a smart TV. The benefit for me is practically zero. All I need is a dumb TV/monitor/projector and the ability to plug it into a chromecast type of device/laptop.

Good news is that projectors are still dumb. Just input selector and picture settings.

I use an AppleTV connected to a 43-inch 4k monitor [1]. No crappy TV-software and it's a proper screen, with proper response-time to use for the laptop as well.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Monitor-Bdm4350uc-42-5in-3840...

Does that monitor support 12-bit HDR though?

Unfortunately no HDR support.

This is some bullshit. I would blackhole whatever fucking API they are using... just limit the incoming, but allow outgoing so their ad networks begin counting it as a non-shown ad.

Problem is that there is at least one smart TV that gets stuck in a boot loop when it goes to update it's ads and can't. Support in that case tells them to connect to the internet and it'll work (which ofcourse will grab the new batch of ads). There are plenty of other cases with smart TVs losing actual functionality when the server that serves ads is blocked and because it's an updateable service you can't really tell which smart TV will sting you.

you should stop your tv from making outbound calls. Many "smart tvs" are mining details on what you're watching and sending it back to the mothership, including conversations it may hear in the room, if your TV has voice activation features

You should disconnect your TV from the internet and not let it connect. Run a barebones version of Firestick (ideally with piHole) as it is constantly phoning home to Amazon. Roku is a popular alternative, but it too is constantly phoning home.

Two random articles, which includes coverage on the Samsung & Smart TV problem

https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-rec...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/18/you-wat...

Yes... but years of working in ads has made me realize that fucking with unfilled rates will cause a lot of grief to the company fucking me over... so I'm tempted to just tarpit the incoming data, not the outgoing one.

You should black hole smart TVs in general anyway for security.

This relates to Vizio[1] but it seems most manufactures are snooping on their customers.

1. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2017/02/vizio...

My Panasonic smart TV used to have an app for Hulu. It doesn't anymore. Same for a bunch of other apps. The app list is full of holes now.

One of the apps on my roku, which also is one of the "quick launch" buttons on the remote, was removed. Now I have a button on my remote that will forever be useless.

Better to have a dumb TV with chromecast.

It is. But how? Where'd you buy a dumb TV?

Can you not just not connect it to the network?

I hear that some smart TVs will seek out open Wifi networks and connect to them to get updates. So now your neighbours can (probably unknowingly) connect your smart TV to the internet for you.

That must be the device equivalent of finding a house with an unlocked door and going inside to rummage around their fridge and eat their food.

Am I now legally liable for my TV stealing the neighbour's internet?

Find a cooperative neighbour and sue the manufacturer?

Is pirating media the same as shoplifting a DVD from Best Buy?

You hear that they do, or that they could?

I tried to do something similar. I didn't want to accept Google's terms of service because of all the data collection, but since I wanted to cast to my TV from my devices, I had no other choice - the TV's interface would just not let me continue

Best bet is probably to get a computer monitor.

A 65-inch computer monitor is expensive.

My 55" is much more reasonable.

I recently bought a very cheap 4K RCA tv that has zero smart features. No networking at all. There is an undocumented USB port but if you plug a USB drive into it, it can browse the file system but can't play anything. It was on the very low end of the price range for a tv of its size and resolution. Maybe that's where to look. Time will tell how well it holds up but it's lasted six months so far.