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Here’s one for the LTT team. Finding and testing affordable 4k dumb panels or dumb hospitality TVs

Imagine spending 2500$ on a TV just get a bunch of ads shown to you. Truly the best timelime.

All I want is a "dumb mode" so that it boots to HDMI while the OS loads in the background, instead of making me wait for the TV to boot its OS so I can select HDMI from a menu.

We still have our dumb 1080p Sony TV that we're keeping unti it fully dies.

Funnily several people I know used to buy whole new printers every time they ran out of ink, because there was a period of time, when a whole printer here was cheaper than a refill, which is ridiculous.

If they review the best practically available dumb tv, I'll probably go out and buy one

Even computer monitors aren’t safe anymore. My 34” QD-OLED Samsung monitor is also a “smart tv”. Thankfully, if you press skip enough times you can keep internet connection and whatnot turned off.

Even my G9 came with "smart features" and forced a EULA down my throat to "help" serve better adverts. Now windows gives me ads, Google give me ads, KZfaq gives me ads, content creators give me ads, and my monitor want to give me ads 😭

I don't understand why advertising works anymore. In 2024, isn't everyone terrible jaded with the onslaught? I don't pay attention to 99.99% of ads. Do they get their revenue from the 0.01%?

Here in Germany, there still is a brand that mainly sells "dumb TVs". They're called Metz. I did an internship at a small electronic business and a lot of older people just wanted to watch regular television, some Blu rays or DVDs. Also their remote still features a lot of buttons compared to newer ones. The blokes in the business always sad, pay the extra for them, because they don't break and people are used to the controls. Also they have the advantage of being made in Germany and are premium overall, they don't have cheap, bad sounding speakers, but rather a decent integrated soundbar. If you want a really good TV, I can always recommend them, even if you need a smart TV, they have them too.

I watch all my content through the web browser on my laptop hooked up to my TV as a monitor. I haven't seen an ad for over a year. Absolute bliss.

This is why the first thing I did when I got gifted a smart TV was remove the wifi module. If it broke the TV, I didn’t care, having the ability to connect to the internet or even so much as try to survey for networks was already broken as far as I was concerned. Am I paranoid? Maybe. Do these manufacturers have the financial incentive to do shady shit just to make ridiculous profits on something I already paid for? Also yes.

What I wonder is why haven't we started jailbreaking/rooting these things yet, I cant imagine it'd be much harder to install a cracked os on a tv than it is on a phone.

My Hisense U8K upon turning it on the first time, gives me the option of using the OS or being a dumb TV. More companies need to do this.

You'd think there was a marked for someone to make actual dumb products like before. "Use our printer, and it will just print your stuff, even if you lack a color you're not going to use".

(1) Buy whichever TV most closely serves your purposes. (2) Never connect it to the Internet. On way to fool a smart TV is to connect it to your WiFi, and then "pause" the Internet connection to the TV using your WiFi router's control software. My two smart TV's (Roku and Samsung) have not seen the Internet since Roku pulled their little "click to agree or buy a new TV" stunt. They will never see the Internet again.

"buy a really large computer monitor" **has to physically get up to power monitor on and off like it's the 50's**

Remember when things were made to last lifetime ? Personally i always thought that was nostalgia from parents or something else. But when i was taking courses for engineering, there was a particular subject in statistics, where a in text book a problem was "given the information above, calculate the approximate life time of the product, and verify its just a couple of days after the warranty period is over"

I'd pay extra for a dumb TV. And I know PLENTY of people who would do the same.

I bought a TCL 55 inch Q75 TV, updated the firmware, turned off all Wifi AP service on it, and refused to add any accounts to it. If they aren't going to make a 4K dumb TV for me, then I will make it as dumb as possible.

To summarize, you can’t easily find “dumb” TVs because of corporate greed. It’s also this level of greed that is leading companies to now monitor what you’re doing when you’re just using HDMI to start injecting ads there too. Because how dare you deny them money on something you already paid for by not using features you didn’t want but were forced to get.

I hate smart TVs. Mine is running android tv and it's lagging a lot, even when not connected to the internet... It's sometimes even lagging out while adjusting volume.

I would watch the heck out of an LTT video that highlighted some of the best “Dumb TVs” out there. I promise to click your affiliate links if I see something I like!

give it a couple of years before your toilet seat won't open up without a monthly subscription or you can opt for the ad supported tier.

How I miss the world of the 2000s- cable channels aplenty, most still fulfilling the mandate implied by their names, new content being produced, yes we had to pay but the increase in value over free over the air was huge, and the technical complexity was low. A magical time. All those things have declined in quality, but remain. When I am at last forced to give it up, I might give up on TV. Too much work, too many separate services with overlapping content, too much content appearing and disappearing at whim. It's like paying for a dvd library and having people come and take it away weekly.

You're forgetting that TVs designed to receive HDTV signals already need some pretty heavy compute to decode the mpeg stream, that they're increasingly relying on simple microprocessors instead of specialized hardware to decode those signals, and that adding smart TV functionality is a matter of a bit more RAM and PROM, some software and some extra buttons on the remote. So it's a really easy add-in.

The problem is that those dumb TVs lasted too long. I still have a 30 inch “dumb” Vizio in my room after 16 years still works as good as day 1. At work we have Samsung and Sony smart TVs and I swear they always break after just 3-4 years. having a computer inside the TV gives the manufacturer a lot more control over how long they last. And there’s no doubt that the manufactures don’t want them to last long.

I genuinely want a “dumb TV” so I can just plug in an Apple TV. (Edit) *googles biggest computer monitor*

seriously, like what happed to a volume knob, or an on/off button, they were handy :()

I am dumb enough for the both of us

You guys should make a review/comparation of a couple of dumb TVs on LTT. I can guarantee there will be plenty of viewers.

I have a dumb TV but I just use a Raspberry Pi anyway for KZfaq and Spotify

never connect the TV to the internet. just use a playstation or google tv box

I have a 720p PLASMA TV from 2007 and it still works. It has HDMI and will never 'upgrade' to the latest TV.

Bloatware has always been a profitable business. Looking at you Samsung.

They make refrigerators that have wifi connectivity now. Fucking refrigerators.

My TV has never been connected to the internet. I use a computer and the tv is my screen. The remote is right next to the mouse, takes less that 2 secs to turn on the tv, less time than it takes the puter to wake up... The puter is usually just put to sleep, not shut down. Easy peasy. Also my 65" crystal UHD was cheaper than a 27" monitor.

It's even worse when you want to use the manufacturer's app (on your smartphone), as a controller for the TV. I have never been so enraged by the amount of bullshit they do with the app, by limiting functionality (usually behind paywall) and showing super invasive ADs on it. People pay a premium for a TV and get mostly shit from manufacturers. Wake up, people!

I basically just want a huge monitor with a few HDMI and DP inputs and none of those TV Antenna and USB slots, terrible build in speakers or TV OS that gets replaced with an external device anyway.

We gotta bring 'em back.

Yup, buy a computer monitor. Responsive and none of the bloat.

Before smart TVs were a thing, my TV was smart because I had a PC connected to it. These days, I have 2 Samsung TVs, but I never use the installed apps. I like the Roku OS, so I have one for each of them, but I also have a PC connected to each. I think the best way to watch KZfaq is on a PC. But having it connected to my 82" TV means I can relax on my couch while watching KZfaq and type comments with my wireless keyboard in my lap. I don't use the PC in my bedroom all that much. That PC has a Blu-ray drive installed, so I do use it to watch DVDs or Blu-rays. I have a 4K Blu-ray player for my living room. As for buttons to launch different streaming services on either my TV or Roku remotes, I'd prefer remotes without them. That's because I only press them when I do it by accident. Maybe someday, a manufacturer will sell a high-end TV without such buttons on the remote or, at the very least, make those buttons programmable. That would be nice. I'd pay (a little) extra for that.

Louis Rossman on one of his videos was stating his $3000 USD still had all the data collection options checked by default. There really needs to be a dumb TV option.

I hope my old "can't do anything TV" will stay with me for a looooooooooooooong time 🤞

Corporations: "Why can't we kill piracy?" Also corporations: *does this stupid shit* (hint, it's because pirated media is a better experience than paying $2k for a TV that shows you in-OS ads, then paying $20/mo for Netflix to show you more ads)

You can't run ads through a dumb tv. Roku recently filed a patent for tech that would allow them to push ads through the HDMI port whenever you pause your content like a game or DVD.

I got a NEC "monitor" which was a used menu display for a Wendy's. 55" 1080p. Super bright backlight if you want it cranked up. HDMI, displayport, composite and more. I got it for free I just had to buy a $25 remote. Pixel response is not bad. Definitely better than your average budget Walmart TV including being a dumb TV.

Big PC monitor is literally my plan . . . . but my 2011 1080p Samsung TV is still doing an admirable job. When it dies, PC monitor.

Got a 55 inch 1080 Vizio that still kicks around. It works fast and doesn't require me to wade through annoying menus and a minute of startup

Yea, I completely gave up on TVs about 15 years ago when I found streaming sites, so I've never even used a smart TV. Especially since a TV licence is €160 per year here in Ireland.

still rocking my $1500 Samsung 40" LCD from 2006. Had to open it up to resolder some capacitors during the pandemic but i ain't replacing this until i have to.

Honestly I’ve found that setting up a Roku TV without internet leads to a relatively close emulation of a dumb TV. Nevertheless, we are, in fact, living in a dystopian hellscape. Panasonic Viera plasma TVs from 10-15 years ago will always be my favorite. I never needed 4k anyway!

so . . you jailbreak the smart tvs, hit em over the head per say, and get a dumb tv.

It's frustrating to see how TV manufacturers are heavily monetizing smart features. The smart TV overload was already driving me crazy and now it makes sense.

I just never connect my TV to the internet. No wifi, no privacy concerns.

One issue with using a monitor as a TV is that you would also have to buy a separate TV tuner for local channels if you weren't also getting those through a cable service.

It's another example of a technology push. Companies and other organisations assume that putting "smart" features in a TV is what everybody wants, just as car companies, until recently, assumed that everybody wants an EV or where everybody is assumed to be computer savvy to some degree without actually checking the market itself. For example, my mother is nearly 90 years old and has no clue about computers, nor does she want to, so you can imagine her frustration when the local council wants her to go to a website about something or other and does not offer a phone number as an alternative. Same for her doctor. Same when it comes to her TV - she's old enough to remember when the BBC came on air after the second world war! (She's just old enough to have been around for the original first BBC transmissions but I doubt she ever saw it) And she isn't alone! I'm different in that respect, having grown up around computers and still working around them to this day but I can still appreciate that technology isn't a right nor an obligation.

Bought a 24" dumb TV recently. It is so nice. Virtually instant startup (boots in about the same time that a tube took to warm up) And no pointless, slow, outdated interface to navigate to get to the inputs I want. And, as a bonus, no security concerns.

This is why it's a really good idea to get a used business PC to connect to your TV, even a used mac is an option.

For over the air TV, you may be better off with a tuner/DVR box and a monitor. The tuners output HDMI. For many, no network connection is needed. You just hook the antenna to the box and the box to the monitor and do a scan. Using a system like that, I get over 120 channels of which about 5 are worth watching. Because of the lower compression used by the over the air signals, the picture quality is better.

I haven't watched any TV in nearly 20 years. I don't even know whether my current TV, which I bought for 200 bucks from a relative 10 years ago, has any "smart features", because I never even tried watching TV on it. I just use it as a second PC monitor in my bedroom and I get all my entertainment through my desktop PC internet browser.

My Changhong from 2015 came with none of this smart tv crap and you can just stick a chrome cast on it but now all the tvs are “smart”

I took my old 32 inch 1080p monitor and out it in my room with a roku box. Pluged in a sound bar and boom. Much better than any 32 inch TV on the market as far as how fast it can go between screens.

OK, now hear me out, DONT CONNECT YOUR TV TO THE INTERNET

Wait but a dumb TV is just a PC monitor but larger.

I haven't used any smart functions on a TV since... ever.

You can always disconnect from Wifi network, and they practically almost dumb TV.

Because the costs of multiple SKUs (for both the producer and retailers) are more than the cost of just integrating the basic computer into all of them?

Use PC monitors, with any spare piece of hardware such as an old computer with LibreELEC -TV, torrent server and all local movies/series/music/etc. If you want something bigger, go for a projector. They are not that expensive.

All I want is a T.V. with the buttons on the front again...

I work in a small holiday business, and trying to find dumb TVs so customers can't try to install apps or leave themselves signed into their Amazon account when they go home is a constant battle. It's really tricky, especially in the UK, to find commercial-grade sets that aren't astronomically expensive or far too big.

“Just buy a really big computer monitor!” Monitor manufacturers watching this: “…Maybe we should make smart monitors. 👀”

shouts to my ten year old dumb TV.

My parents still use a TV from 2006, and its great! Its a Panasonic 1080p plasma TV, and its perfect. Still no burn-in (somehow), still very bright despite its age. We have a Roku box hooked up to one of the 2 HDMI ports. It still amazes me how they bought a 1080p screen in 2006

My older "smart" TV isn't connected to the internet. Thus making it blissfully dumb.

I still have my 2 1080p Panasonic "half-smart tv's". "Half-smart tv's" are dumb tv's with smart tv features only when you press a specific button and connect to the internet. Don't press the "smart tv button" and you have a nice dumb tv. Also no agreeing to anything unless you actually use these features. If the button wasn't working, you wouldn't even know it's a smart tv.

What about smart TVs that can be dumbed down?

Worth mentioning that some smart TV operating systems can be functionally disabled, such as Sony’s Android TV’s. Or with others (like LG) you can refuse to accept the terms and not connect them to the network. This makes them a good third option for getting a “dumb tv”. Way cheaper than an actual dumb tv and with more features than a computer monitor

It is crazy that these 70 inch $200 TVs are everywhere.

Hilariously, My TV has an Always on microphone that can't understand me because I don't always speak English lmao

You can't uninstall the recommended apps and they have so many it takes up the full memory of the Smart TV You can't even use the thing.

"Just buy yourself a really big computer monitor!" Yup, that's what I did. LG 48" OLED. It's four 1080p screens in a 2x2 grid with no bezel when I want to be productive. >D My "smart" TV gets to communicate with my computer so a separate program can set it to suspend mode when I'm not using my computer and wake it from suspension when I sit down again. It doesn't get internet access.

Buy what ever TV you want, never connect it to the internet and use whatever service you would with a dumb TV.

Simple solution….set the tv to hdmi 1 and never use the “smart” bullshit, and never connect it to WiFi. Easy, done. I tried once to use “smart” features and could tell it was all trash. Did a factory reset and never used any of the shit again.

Isn't a monitor a dumb TV? Aren't projectors dumb too? Just hook up an old computer to one of these and boom, a tv that is faster and easier to keep free of advertisements and bloat and that you can do so much more with, like have an actual keyboard on so you don't have to take 5 minutes to look up a certain KZfaq video. Why are TVs even a thing at all anymore?

You can just never hook it up to your wifi and most tvs basically becomes a dumb tv.

Probably the biggest reason i still use my cheap, basic 2013 1080p Toshiba TV. Pretty good refresh rate and even has Component hookups so older consoles can still look pretty good with the right cables.

Create DHCP reservation for TV Block all traffic to or from that IP TV is now dumb.

All this and no one thought of the most obvious solution? Don't connect it to the internet! Bam, dumb TV.

One of the most annoying things for me... I have a small tv setup as a camera monitor in a theater, it is for the cast to be able to see the stage from backstage. Someone, at some point in time, was stupid enough to connect it to the wifi... there is absolutely no option to disconnect from wifi without resetting the wifi network, and the rest of the company while you are at it. No one uses this tv for anything other than viewing the stage camera, which is directly fed to it via RCA cable.... but thanks to that idiot... it now has ads.

After the 20 second ad you can access the fridge. Mark my words.

Why won't you mention the worst way smart TV's make money? Selling your data. That's a huge subsidy for the likes of TCL and Hisense. It's relevant to the discussion yet you completely omit it.

With my Shield TV I glued the NETFLIX button so I can't even "accidently" bump it and turn on that WOKE Netflix crap

Way back when people were transitioning to smart TV, I wanted the most high-end TV with no OS (I like changing inputs and not scrolling through apps) but then I found out about Roku, and now I’m in love with them even though they are budget tv’s because they have the best OS in my opinion compared to the built-in OS’s

One slight nitpick: you need more than just a big monitor to pickup broadcast tv...

I manually set all my tvs network gateways to 0.0.0.0 so they can still access my local media server without being able to talk to skynet.

Team #NeverHookThemUpToTheInternet

It's pretty dumb if you never hook it up to the internet.

A big computer monitor is almost certainly going to be a lot more than an equivalent TV.