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Comment by PopeDotNinja | Hacker News Reader

My approach to a smart TV was just to buy a PlayStation. Anything I've wanted to do on my TV was available as an app in the PlayStation store, with the exception being Google Play Music. I had previously tried using a Google Chrome, but eventually got sick of its lack of local storage & native remote.

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Unfortunately, the options for non-smart TVs keep getting narrower. Manufacturers want to inject app access into every device they can. You can't even buy a UHD disc player without an app platform coming with it.

My Sony has the ability to be connected to the internet, but have never been connected to the internet.

Do other manufacturers force a connection in some way?

I'm pretty sure my Samsung smart TV has accessed the internet through the hdmi cable connected to a roku device. I never use the built in smart functionality but it definitely tries to insert itself whenever possible. It's very frustrating.

I knew HDMI over ethernet was possible, but didn't know you could do TCP over HDMI?

Yes, ethernet over HDMI is a thing:

https://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/hec.aspx

It is, but it's pretty much a 0% chance that Roku's video output supports Ethernet passthrough.

Only my purist sensibilities prefer the idea of a TV that doesn't even have apps. But I know I can simply abstain from connecting the TV to the network. Seems like a non-issue.

An entry-level 32" Samsung is $200. I wouldn't be surprised if having "smart" capabilities subsidized the cost because Samsung gets kickbacks from, say, new Netflix subscriptions made from the TV itself, or some services pay for inclusion. In other words I don't even think you'd be avoiding any serious $premium by finding a dumb TV.

The costs are being subsidized by audience measurement tools such as those provided by folks like Inscape and Samba TV which quantify viewing habits by tracking what you watch.

https://www.inscape.tv/ https://samba.tv/

> lack of local storage

Ironic, given the subject of this thread. Though obviously the point stands that there's no need for execute permissions on an area being used for config settings and media storage.

You would need an OS and hardware that understands such protections, of course.

These things run full Linux distros.

Do their processors support memory protection?

Yep, at least an MPU is a requirement for full Linux.

I try to use PS4 Pro as my "smart TV", but I end up having to use the TV itself (which runs Roku) sometimes because of its larger app base. You can't watch Starz through PS4. You can watch Amazon Prime, but not in 4k.

My needs are pretty modest. I mostly just want to stream video, and play media files.

The problem with using a console is that the energy usage is pretty high compared to ARM devices.

You realize your gaming console is doing exactly the same tracking as a smart TV right?

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