Hacker News Reader

Comment by bluejekyll | Hacker News Reader

I got a new LG C2, hooked an AppleTV up to it, the AppleTV turns on the TV and it goes straight to the AppleTV Home Screen, when you turn off the AppleTV, the TV turns off (with a slightly annoying “LG: Life is good message”), and no, I’ve never connected it to the internet.

Using it basically as a dumb screen seems fine so far.

View on HN

Yes, this. Never connect a TV to the internet. Apple TV (or whatever you prefer) and the TV as HDMI monitor only. Firmware updates with USB stick. If it won't work like that, take it back.

Exactly this! I have the same lg oled and I love it. I don't think I've ever even seen the native ui (maybe when I first unboxed it?). I've never connected it to the internet, and don't ever plan on updating anything. What would a firmware update for a dumb monitor even do?

My VISIO had what I believe was a memory leak. After a few weeks it would start getting random white streaks on the screen. After unplugging and restarting, the problem disappears for a few weeks. Firmware update eventually fixed it. So, yeah, sometimes a dumb monitor needs a firmware update. I would think a robot as smart as Daneel would have known that... :-)

That sounds like a great way to encourage users to connect it to Internet. Increasingly degrade the video and audio quality slowly (and randomly) over time while no internet connection is available. Part of the support script should be to advise the user to connect to Internet so that updates can be downloaded to "fix" the issue.

Then your TV is faulty and you should have returned it. A TV should not need firmware upgrades for its basic functionality.

We are enabling hardware vendors shipping half assed products if we accept things like that.

hahaha, yes I should have I suppose! But that is honestly the first actual case of an update for a dumb screen doing something, so hey, learn something new every day.

the problem is that not every one of these streaming devices supports all services, so you end up having a few of them. plus, the free LG channels that come with the TV are great. you get 24x7 channels of some good shows.

Same here. To disable the logo, press mute 3 times to bring up a secret menu.

Need to look at that. Any other options on the “secret” menu?

IIRC, the only other useful one is whether the light on the front should be off all the time. There are a few other options, but they felt more diagnostic

If the menu doesn’t pop up, try switching to an input source without a signal and then pressing mute 3 times. That worked for me.

Amazing. Thanks so much.

I do the same on my Sony TV and it's great. Unfortunately there will probably be a day in the not-so-distant future where that AppleTV has ads. It's probably the same day I start a collection of Blu-Rays.

Apple tv already has ads, but they're at least relevant and not in your face trash that the other companies use. Really it's more like a showcase.

We bought a C2. We went with DirecTV Stream, which oddly there is (or was) no app for on the LG, but there is on the cheaper Samsung in my office. (both Android based) Got DirecTV's streaming box, which boots directly into their service (so no bouncing around in apps for our everyday watching) but also supports the usual third-party apps as well. It's also uses a simpler remote which is nice.

The LG OS is not Android-based. LG bought WebOS from HP many moons ago and adapted it for televisions.

Actually I think I'm wrong on both accounts, as my Samsung TV runs Tizen, not Android. I believe I was thinking about the old FireTV that I put on the C2 at first, as well as the DirecTV Stream device, which both run variations of Android.

I had no idea this was an issue, tv ads? I'm about to buy a new tv for new home. So go-to is buy any new tv but just use Apple TV box instead, and this box is worthwhile?

Yep. Your options are to buy a dumb TV or just make sure whatever TV you do buy doesn't ever connect to the internet, and use an external device to get the content to the screen. There are ads everywhere now.

Roku is just as effective as an Apple TV (and cheaper). Both devices connect to the Internet and feed HDMI to the TV.

Hit the mute button three times and get a useful little menu; turn off the logo if you don't like it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com