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Comment by _coveredInBees | Hacker News Reader

The "problem" with the LG OLEDs (I own the 77C9) is that webOS is actually quite good, the interface + processor snappy, and the magic remote quite good for effortlessly switching between your favorite streaming services or Plex. Even with a Harmony remote, it takes 1-2 button clicks to get wherever I need to be.

By contrast, the cheaper Fire and Chromecast devices have always felt much more sluggish. I really want an nVidia Shield but I'm not dropping $200 on outdated hardware when I already have a fantastic HTPC hooked up to my TV.

Fwiw, I've managed to not accept a bunch of license agreements on my C9 and have avoided anything too egregious. It is a glorious panel though and I hope they don't monetize it to the point that you can't use it without an active internet connection.

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> The "problem" with the LG OLEDs is that webOS is actually quite good

You might change your mind once you see what LG have done with webOS 6.0. [1]

[1] https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/11/22223767/lg-webos-6-tv-so...

> LG says "the new home screen provides faster access to the most frequently used apps and streamlines content discovery with the ability to receive recommendations based on the user’s preferences and viewing history". You can see a big "sponsored" slot in the top left there, so yes, you can expect some ads and paid placement recommendations on the home screen of your future LG TV.

Ouch, yeah that does look horrible. Fortunately my C9 won't be getting that upgrade. I'd still buy an OLED TV if I had to buy a TV now, and it would likely be LG, but I'd just budget spending the extra dollars on a Shield or some other streaming box that is ad free and as privacy friendly as possible.

“

As a user

I want to see relevant partner content on the home screen

So that my content is more targeted to my needs

”

Hear hear. As a quite satisfied owner of 2 LG OLEDs, I agree with your assessment. It's a shame that no other company makes OLEDs. Panasonic just started making then using LG frames, but I don't know if they are any better in the privacy department.

I own a Panasonic OLED. Never seen an ad on it. It does ping some analytics hostname regularly even with data collection disabled but I’ve klined this in the firewall and it doesn’t try anything else. I didn’t try to see what’s the payload to that data collection domain so maybe it was empty to begin with.

Samsung are switching over to QD-OLED in the near future (next year?)

It's a combination of the Quantum Dot technology from QLED and OLED.

Sony? Vizio?

They use LG.

Yes but they don’t have the same software stack, which is what the concerns are about.

Samsung makes OEDs no?

Samsung doesn't, actually. They now only make "QLED" TV's and LED TV's.

However, a lot of other brands sell OLED TV sets including Sony, Vizio, TCL, etc. Maybe they're referring to manufacturing the physical OLED screen? I don't know what impact that would have on privacy concerns, though.

A Roku is a much much better experience than Fire or Chromecast

I definitely would support Roku over Google/Amazon. I like having another player in the market that has a "neutral" platform and large support across different streaming apps due to the size of their userbase.

I am just skeptical of something like the Stick+ being snappier or as snappy as the C9 processor. And if I'm looking at dropping $100 on the Roku Ultra, again, I'd rather wait on a Shield update to HDMI 2.1 and then pick that up for $200 in a year or so.

I preferred roku when the Amazon vs google fight meant I couldn't use Youtube TV. I stocked up on rokus in the house figuring they were the safe bet. And then for months there was this stalemate between WB and Roku where I couldn't access HBO Max. Seems like I can't win. I bought an Apple TV and I've been pretty happy with it so far.

Don’t forget — for a while you couldn’t get Amazon Prime video on an Apple TV. I too went all in on Apple TV and I’ve been able to largely avoid the ad issues in the article. But it isn’t like it was completely immune to these shenanigans, especially in the beginning.

And far worse in privacy.

I’m still seeing loading screens on my Streambar and newer Roku equipment. Not a major problem but it’d be nice if they were snappier.

Roku lost me when it couldn't watch HBO. How can I trust the service now?

Roku always had HBO, but didn't have HBOMax in the beginning of the service.

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