Hi there!

So I am looking to buy a new TV, but the latest smart-TVs all seem to be very bloated with ads and other ridiculous and unnecessary features. I know very little about TVs, and therefore wondering if anyone has any tips on some good TVs that include as little bloat as possible.

Thanks for any recommendations or tips!

  • not_a_dog@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    You can make any smart TV dumb. Just disable the network on it and use your own streaming device (Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, etc.).

    • starman2112@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yup. My family bought me a new TV to replace the one I’ve been using for 15 years, and they keep telling me how great it is that I can get movies and TV shows for free, and I can sign in to all the streaming services right from my TV!

      I don’t have the heart to tell them that I’ll die before this TV connects to anything other than an HDMI cord

    • fuzzyfirefox@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Do research on smart devices before you decide to use one. Fire TV is filled with ads. Roku that’s built into TVs have ads; not sure about standalone boxes.

      • odbol@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        My Roku stick doesn’t seem to have ads. But I recently switched to a Google Chromecast TV and like it the most. Better interface and more features than Roku (e.g. Bluetooth). The one thing that’s worse is the remote.

      • micka190@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Also, some smart TVs have ads downloaded locally so they can be played if they don’t have an online connection (they usually rotate them when you update the TV). Make sure they don’t have those before buying one!

      • not_a_dog@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        Meh, I eventually switched from Roku (which has ads on the home screen) to Fire TV because SmartTubeNext isn’t available on Roku, plus the 4k version of the Fire TV was on sale dirt cheap. The Fire TV also has ads on the home screen, but I’m only ever on the home screen for however long it takes (1 or 2 seconds) to open one of my streaming apps, none of which have ads.

  • varzaman@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Don’t bother using the TV, get a separate box. Even Google TV shoves recommendations down your throat.

    Hate to say it, but the Apple TV is probably the most debloated system out there. It is more or less the easiest way to get just a grid of apps.

    • tomdude@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I have to agree. Every time I’m at someone’s house I’m reminded of how bad the ads are on every other service/platform and it makes me glad to have that Apple TV. We’ve had it for a long time and it still chugs along just as well as it did on day one!

      Pricey but worth it!

      • InvaderDJ@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The Apple TV’s only real competition is the nVidia Shield which is actually more expensive.

        Unfortunately the majority of these devices are subsidized by ads and data gathering and most people care more about price than experience.

          • InvaderDJ@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Considering how much it costs, that sucks. You might be able to replace the launcher, I did that with the built in Google TV interface on my Sony TV for a while. The only problem is that it wasn’t reliable and somehow ran slower, even though it had no ads.

            The Apple TV has ads in the TV app, but I never use it since so many services don’t integrate with it. I also just don’t find the concept that useful. I don’t need all my services available in one app. I’m fine with just having a grid of apps I jump between.

    • AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Are there any decent TV Boxes out there? Nvidia shield is what I use now, but I had to switch to a 3rd party launcher to avoid recommendations. I have a feeling I may end up with a PC hooked up to my TV at some point in the future.

      • varzaman@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Well, you have one of my recommendations of a Shield with a 3rd party launcher lol. My other would be an Apple TV.

      • billygoat@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Maybe it is because I have a pihole but I never notice the recommendations. I remapped the Netflix button to plex and barley spend any time on the launcher

      • phar@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You can get an On box at Walmart for like $25 and it doesn’t have ads. It has recommendations for services you have (ie watch this next on Netflix) but you can turn them off.

    • smallaubergine@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Totally agree. Though typically commercial displays aren’t really built for home use so they may take some tweaking to get them to look good at home. The good news is if you get something like a NEC commercial display they usually have easy to access and very detailed calibration menus. Also they’ll have tons of ports and even legacy ports like VGA so they’ll be super flexible. But above 50" the prices go up a lot.

  • agedbeef@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I was in the same boat as you. It doesn’t sit right with me having all the smart stuff enabled even if I’m not using it. There’s plenty of concerns there. I ended up getting a smart tv, using an Apple TV plugged into it, and turning off the WiFi on the tv itself. When I want to update it, I can. Otherwise, you can look for TVs marketed towards businesses. Like the ones that get hung up to display menus and stuff. That was the only avenue I found where the smart stuff wasn’t baked in. They’re expensive though.

  • InvaderDJ@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Not really. TVs are subsidized by ads and data collection, so they all have this crap. The more reputable brands do have better UX and may let you opt out of some of it, but not all.

    My recommendation is to buy the TV with the best hardware features that you want. Once you get it, connect it once via Ethernet and update it to get all the most up to date features and fixes. Then disconnect it from Ethernet and connect a smart TV box like Apple TV or the nVidia Shield and use that.

    Your experience will be better, the UI will be simpler, and you don’t have to worry about all the ads and spyware.

    • starman2112@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      all the most up to date features and fixes

      Genuinely, what features and fixes could a TV possibly get from the internet besides applications that require an internet connection? If you’re using an external device to watch your stuff, why would you need to update your TV?

      • InvaderDJ@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        For my Sony TV, updates have improved performance if I bothered to use the built in Android TV interface and it enabled 4K variable refresh rate support for things like the PS5.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Just speculating, but firmware updates might be useful. Some display resolutions, refresh rates, VRR, etc might not have been programmed correctly and later fixed. They could add new features like offsetting pixels slightly differently over time to reduce colour burn in or something that might reduce warranty claims (I don’t really expect them to add more value to the TV through new features unless it would help them financially).

        That said, I’ve never connected my current TV to the internet and it’s been fine. I’d suggest trying an update if your TV does something annoying or isn’t working as well as you’d like. You can also read about your model online to see if there are any updates available and what they do to determine if you want them.

  • hypna@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I went on that journey a couple years ago. What I ended up buying is technically considered “digital signage” rather than a TV. Basically zero bloat. You may have to pay a little extra but I don’t recall it being that much. Pretty sure I got it here.

    • cuttlefishcarl@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yep, a commercial display is what OP is looking for. You won’t get fancy stuff like high framerates or digital audio processing, and they cost a bit more as many of them are meant to be on 24/7/365, but there are no apps installed. They’ll have network connectivity, but only so you can manage them.

      Be careful when buying commercial displays for digital signage, some do not have speakers built in, though they should still have a 3.5mm and/or optical out and you can always strip the audio from an hdmi cable.

      • hypna@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Quite right. I did get one with speakers, but they were even worse than I expected. I bought a sound bar to go with it. There are also a few quirks that remind me it’s a commercial display. Like there’s no power button on the unit. I have to use the remote. I suppose one wouldn’t want their signage turned off by randos.

        • cuttlefishcarl@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          They have robust command documentation as well, so controlling them over a network is pretty easy. Lots of possibilities there.

  • M-Reimer@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Get one with a good panel and ignore the “Smart” part. Better use something like a Fire TV Stick.

    • ayaya@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Firesticks are also full of ads and tracking. It’d be more ideal to use something like a Raspberry Pi or building an Android TV box instead as a media client.

      • EeeDawg101@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I can recommend the Apple TV. Even the android TV ones have ads now (looking at you shield tv!).

        • ayaya@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I more meant along the lines of building an HTPC then putting Android on it, so that wouldn’t have ads. But yeah an Apple TV is definitely an easier plug-and-play solution. I am more of a DIY type of person.

  • iluminae@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    There is a “apps mode” on Google Chromecast with Google tv - that takes out all the recommendations and stuff and just shows you the apps, fwiw.

  • prince of space@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    My newish Sony has a basic mode where it just functions as a tv. No smart bs. Picked that at setup and never looked back.

  • kungfu4@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Walmart sells a brand called Sceptre that I’ve been using for years now. Cheap dumb TV and use a Chromecast for all my streaming needs, works like a charm. And, I can always plug a real computer into it if I need it to be “smart”

    • crackrocksloppy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yup, bought an 80in one and it’s pretty decent. Little cheaper than smart TVs of the same size and I run everything off a PC hooked up to it.

          • kungfu4@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Agreed, always need an external speaker, the sound bars are fine, but I prefer the amp speaker Way. I have an old school 90’s Harmon Kardon amp with two Cerwin Vega tower speakers and a sub just for kicks that sounds just so nice.🤌

  • Chetzemoka@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Sony Bravia running Android TV (Google TV, whatever they’re calling it these days). I refuse to buy any other kind of TV based on how clean, ad free, and easy to use I’ve found my Bravia to be. They have a variety of LED options and sizes

    • deadcream@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Are they still trash in terms of performance (I know that all smart tvs have weak hardware but my experience with Sony was even worse than average)?

  • Toribor@corndog.uk
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    1 year ago

    I couldn’t avoid a smart TV without overpaying or compromising on features. I bought an LG but I blocked it from communicating over the WAN when it was clear there was no way to disable occasional ‘notifications’ advertising features or content I had no interest in.

    Now I just turn it on/off with wake on LAN and get all my content through external hardware hooked up to an AVR.

  • Apalacrypto@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I don’t know if it’s in your budget, but my wife and I went with an ultra short throw projector and ALR screen. No smart features at all, and a better and larger picture in our living room. We’ll never go back to TVs again.

    • mikeyBoy14@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m inherently skeptical that any kind of projector can match a modern OLED. What are your thoughts?

      • Shurimal@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Depends on the projector. Good ones can get close, but of course not exactly as good as OLED. Haven’t got much experience with UST-s; a Xiaomi one I have tested was OK, except for HDR content which had some problems. But the conventional JVC D-ILA ones are jaw-droppingly good, not too far off from OLED.

      • Apalacrypto@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The ALR screen (which was admittedly a bit of a shock at $600 for the 134" we bought) makes a WORLD of difference, even with our cheap wall mount laser projector. Yes, OLED technically is better, but we can control lighting in our living room with blackout curtains, so we can’t really tell. When we upgraded to the UST4K, we both said never again to TV’s. Other bonus was if we need to move them around, much less risk of accidental damage as compared to a heavy TV panel.

    • CMahaff@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Roku TV owner here: Yes, mostly.

      The main screen does show one “banner ad” (which you can briefly see in the LTT video), usually for some show that is streaming on some platform.

      But that’s the only one, and I appreciate that it’s microphone is built into the remote and only activated when pressing a button on said remote.

      Otherwise it stays out of your way, and the app selection is quite good, if you need them - otherwise just a really solid, budget friendly TV.

      • gdbjr@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        My 5 year old Roku which I used to block it from internet a access as it is so chatting talking to Roku all the time, even when itin use suddenly would not work at all unless I gave it access to the internet. So be wary of Roku tvs if you plan to not let them use the internet. In fact is is the second most block domain on my network.

        If I could figure out how to post an image I could show the almost 11k requests it blocked over the last 7 days. And I don’t use any of its smart features as I have an Apple TV connected to it that I use.

    • Pateecakes@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Roku does have ads but they are pretty minimal and not invasive. I’ve had roku since almost the start and have had a roku tv for several years and love it

  • Steve Anonymous@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I have a Samsung smart tv and I block most of the bullshit ads using a pi-hole. It’s not that hard to setup really and it also provides ad blocking for anything else on the network.

    The one tiny issue is if I want to update an app on the tv I have to disable the pi-hole for a few minutes and restart the tv so it can hit the servers for app updates. And let me tell ya, that tv sucks without the ad blocking

    • SL3wvmnas@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      Bought a cheap smart tv that works good. Then I put a Pi-Hole on my home lan. Wow that was a nescessary step! 10/10 better than using a dumb tv / appletv or firestick combo since it blocks the telemetry of all the machines on my network. Can recommend.