LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps – Krebs on Security

Just an FYI to anyone looking, you can still actually buy mostly-dumb TVs.

I was looking for a TV to buy for my parents last year and it seemed like the only options available were “smart TVs,” and I begrudgingly ended up buying a Philips ambilight unit. I was pleasantly surprised by how dumb the Titan OS on it was. Sure, it had WiFi, and the usual Netflix and other streaming apps, but I just didn’t connect it to the WiFi, and from then on it was just a souped up version of their 15 year old TV. It did ask to be connected to WiFi, but stopped after being told no a few times.

I’m sure other manufacturers have similar “smart on paper, but dumb in reality” OSes, as it seems to mostly be a cost cutting exercise. The hardware in the TV would need to be more expensive to run an actual smart platform. So the manufacturers just make a low end thing that ticks the right boxes to be able to call it smart for marketing, thinking that’s what people want.

Pro tip: Look for a hospitality TV, they come in smart and non-smart versions. Generally they’re made tougher also. You do pay more vs a Walmart pos though.

Pro tip 2: Avoid the Samsung ones, their quality control is shit.

Deeper protip:

Commercial Display

Best protip:

Don’t buy a TV

Be careful with commercial displays, the refresh rate might be ridiculously low.