Samsung TV buyers furious after software update leaves sets unusable
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
I want a nice screen of decent size and performance that I can turn on and off, that's it.
I don't want to pay extra for crappy software that erodes my privacy, provides horribly performing media applications that rot and eventually stop working but there's almost no option whatsoever on the market, even at (or especially at) the high end range.
I refuse buying a TV that comes with a mic or camera embedded, I almost bought a Philips Ambilight but backed off when a friend's one got stuck in an update loop and now don't accept input from the remote anymore when I was visiting, we were stuck watching it with a big black box covering 1/8 of the screen telling us there was an update to be performed.
I just want a nice screen, I have an Apple TV, a Nintendo Switch and a Chromecast for whatever else I might need...
I ended up getting a TV that is not from a major brand, but has ended up looking just fine to me. I would love if more manufacturers continued / resumed selling dumb TVs of high quality.
This assumes that you've got a small computer handy for delivering content, but a chromecast or a roku or all kinds of other things could probably do the trick for that.
That's funny because I've been planning to but a TV for use as a monitor. Looking for 4K UHD curved 55" with 4:4:4 of course. This would be like having 4 (2x2) 27" 1080p monitors, including having them angled inward. I figure my desktop would be partitioned into 3 columns each 1280 wide, so playing 720p video would be 1/9 of the screen space.
A 46 inch monitor costs a fortune compared to a 46 inch tv, and it usually doesn't have features like HDR. Most of them are orientated towards "public display" type uses rather than being used as tvs.
I've often wondered what kind of brain dead software failure is responsible for this. The sound+video come from my Humax box via HDMI into the TV. The TV decodes both, shows the video and plays the audio out of the analogue jack on the back. I plug that into my sound bar (because the TV doesn't support Audio Return Channel, despite being quite new). Rebooting the Humax box and the soundbar doesn't help the sync.
My guess is that the thing decoding the HDMI signal feeds sound into the DAC buffer for the audio jack but never checks to see how full that DAC buffer gets. I suspect the DACs reference clock isn't synced to the HDMI data, so clock skew gradually builds. After 2 hours, there is about 1 seconds worth of audio buffered there.
It's the kind of thing that gets overlooked when the software team are forced to write a load of crap smart TV stuff when they should be focusing on the basics.
After, I disabled every "Smart" feature I could and disabled its network entirely. Had to resist the urge to throw it out the window first.
I just bought a dumb TV last year, and the shop still has them on sale.
Also, what size? At the smaller sizes, monitors are competitive with TVs and avoid the smart stuff, but at the larger sizes (40"+) monitors tend to be extremely expensive compared to "smart" tvs.
Do you have any store/other brand recommendations?
I have a Roku and a Chromecast connected to it and that's about it.
I was looking at smart TVs but decided against that, i have a Roku anyway and for the most part it will be easier to upgrade the device in the future than the TV.
Plus a non-smart TV is much cheaper anyway.
The only smart stuff the TV has built in is Chromecast functionality.
Their "SmartCast" TVs: https://www.vizio.com/tvs.html?technology=839
The one I had you could not setup the things I cared about with the small remote.
The bigger issue is the size limitations.
I got your point - why not buy a smart TV and never connect it online? You wouldn't care what is inside if you aren't using it anyway. I have a 55" Samsung 4k and couldn't care less about SW inside. All I do is to route HDMI through A/V receiver and use it as a 4k monitor for my main computer, TV for Kodi NUC and gaming screen for Zotac NEN Steambox...
I also care because I don't want to encourage more of that crap.
Only reason I'm not buying a monitor instead of a TV is size.
You can find them if you look; Newegg, for instance, has quite a few, but most (even those identified as TVs rather than monitors or digital signage in the item description) are in the Monitors category under computer systems, and not the LCD/LED TV sections under electronics.
Above about 46” it looks like it's all super expensive monitors and digital signage (but some refurbished units that aren't too expensive), below that they seem to have some actual TVs with reasonable prices and other units in a similar price range.
having used tcl, sony, leeco, lg, vizio, and amazon software somewhat extensively in the last year, I do now prefer the basic apps to just work right from the tv. its one less thing to troubleshoot. i didnt fully come to believe i liked smart tvs more until i started to notice how little bit worse the roku+vizio experience was than the roku/tcl experince. one phone app to control the device vs two. never having a cec problem. random hdcp failures are nonexistant.
I will say, it is telling my favorite smart tvs all run software made by other software companies, and not tv companies (Roku, Google, Amazon, Apple.)
I think I'm going to disconnect it from the net after reading this article. I guess the one a few months ago bout the NSA turning it into a microphone didn't concern me as much as losing access to netflix.
The first was a Galaxy S4 I bought in 2013. It had only a decent camera but it got the job done. An update was pushed in summer of 2015 that caused the phone to lock down every time I tried to open my wifi ''more settings'' option. Because I purchased it from Amazon, I could not get any technical support outside of the vendor (who wanted me to hard reset the phone...okay, great, until I get to the configuration screen on first new boot and it locks down because, guess what, it opens wifi more settings to let you select a network).
The second was an HTC One M9 that I bought shortly after that debacle. This phone was very snappy and had a stellar camera on board. It was also surprisingly rugged given that I dropped it at least 8 times on concrete with never more than a few scuffs on the meta. Early this summer I got an OTA update on the phone that broke GPS and MMS. Oh and did I mention one of the updates the prior year made it so you cannot stop the updates from installing--that the phone will restart 24 hours after first receiving the new update, regardless of what you do or who you're on the phone with?
So, I settled for a dumb phone. A $30 flip phone. And when I go on vacation I take a professional camera with me instead.
There is a systemic issue that we are serfs on the lands of tech giants (I think I read that great phrasing from Naval Ravikant). We pay up front for the pleasure of hardware, but are held hostage of usability of the device by the software that actually runs it--just as the land you buy upfront is still at the mercy of governmental bodies allowing you to keep it.
Family and friends look at me funny when I tell them I try to build whatever electronic I want when I am able to. I won't let my music player, fitness tracker, or smart home features be held hostage to 1) the longevity of these companies and 2) their mercy for not bricking my device. And unfortunately many consumers just don't care enough so it will be difficult for us to reach a critical mass of complaints.
I wonder if the ads will make up for the lifetime loss of the people the piss off.
I replaced a $60 board and it was as good as new.
Also, got a 55" Sony for free, similar situation. All it needed was a firmware flash via USB (was very specific as to USB size/format), and it works fine.
None of these TVs are connected to any network, nor will they be ever again (as long as I own them).
Also, I see Amazon has a 43" Viewsonic "commercial" 1080p display for ~$450: http://amzn.to/2iu2cCB. I know, they have a TCL 55" 4K w/ built-in Roku for $50 less.
Me months later when crap like this happens: "To prevent situations like this."
More seriously, I wouldn't buy a TV if I didn't expect it to work, literally, out of the box. Hence I don't need to upgrade it either.
I don't want new features. I don't want to connect it to my Wi-Fi. I don't want to use any built-in UI for watching Netflix. I just want a dumb video output device that works regardless of what I plug into it.
Luckily, there is finally leaks that Apple (0) may be making its own TV Set (1), instead of STB. And even Benedict Evans changes his tone on the subject. (2)
I never buy the argument that Apple should not enter the TV market because it is low margin, slow replacement cycle, and small unit volume. Because that would means Apple stop making its Magic Keyboard, Mouse, Router.
Xiaomi 60" 4K TV Set using LG Panel are sold for ~$750 USD in China. If we assume TV Sets in China, due to fierce competition are all selling at Zero net profits, there is no reason why Apple cant sell the "same" TV set with its tvOS for $1K. And it would still sell well.
[0]Apple may not be the best Software company, but software update for their Appliance, AirPod, AirPort etc has been very decent so far in their History.
[1]https://twitter.com/VenyaGeskin1/status/897741302573535232
[2]https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/status/899715811278966784
Since all these TV's are - more or less - Linux boxes, it should be no issue to have a kind of dual boot, or a "reset" button with a "basic firmware".