Hey guys, so I moved recently and started tipping my toes in self-hosting, currently managed to set up Pihole and Jellyfin.

I’m thinking of buying a TV to start enjoying all these cool services over my living room. The thing is, I’m pretty much an absolute beginner, and I’m not sure if there is something I should be aware of when buying a TV.

Since it is a fairly big spend, I would really hate to be locked out of it because of some greedy corporate garbage or something, especially since I would use it only for self-hosting, and I am aware TVs are particularly messy when it comes to this (never have bought one in my life). Could you guys help this lost kid?

  • glad_cat@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    363·
    1 year ago

    Avoid smart TVs, prefer large screen. IIRC the LG brand was less bad than the others. Samsung is the worst since they put ads on top of your own videos. Anyway, never plug it to the internet, never put the wifi password.

    • Dax87@forum.stellarcastle.netEnglish
      29·
      1 year ago

      It seems impossible to buy a dumb TV now adays. The second best thing is to just opt out of the smart TV features of your TV, then buy yourself a reputable android TV box.

      • yiliu@informis.landEnglish
        7·
        1 year ago

        I saw a tip a while back that you could search for “commercial display panel” or something and buy high-quality dumb TVs with a few HDMI inputs and that’s about it. They’re designed for restaurants or shops, so they’re reliable and good looking, but dead simple.

        I don’t honestly remember if that was the right phrase, though.

      • CoffeeBot@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        All the most recent OLEDs are smart TVs, the only thing I could think of that isn’t are basically things classified as digital signage but these panels aren’t really tuned for watching at home.

        But your best bet is to use the TV as a display for whatever you have and switching inputs old school style. Connect it once to do software updates. Unplug from wall and don’t give it your wifi password or vlan it off the internet. Otherwise they’re all sending data back about you, and your consumption habits.

      • cwagner@lemmy.cwagner.meEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        What’s the difference between a smart tv, and only using the box? I have a MI tv, and a mi box. I don’t really see the difference between them, they both run Android.

        • thejevans@lemmy.mlEnglish
          71·
          1 year ago

          The difference is you can get an nvidia shield, sideload whatever apps you want (SmartTubeNext for youtube, a new home screen that doesn’t have ads, moonlight for local game streaming, etc), and then block your tv from the internet. The nvidia shield has a better cpu than any other android tv setup, and it can do 4k, hdr, and dolby vision. It can handle a usb dac for a much better audio setup, usb controllers, and bluetooth controllers for gaming.

          EDIT: Additionally, it’s a smart idea to separate devices that have different life cycles. If a new TV comes out that you want to upgrade to, you can do so without replacing your smart interface. If a new nvidia shield replacement comes out, you can switch to that without replacing the TV

          • cwagner@lemmy.cwagner.meEnglish
            3·
            1 year ago

            So you’d be saying it’s not at all about getting an Android stick, but about getting a very specific one.

            Sideloading is not just a shield feature, my tv apparently supports it as well (according to some googling), not that I mind my ad-free launcher …

            4k also works on the TV. Overall the benefits you listed seem to be minor (for me, I don’t need anything but jellyfin and amazon). Reinstalling jellyfin on a new TV also wouldn’t be much of a bother.

            • thejevans@lemmy.mlEnglish
              21·
              1 year ago

              yeah, any android tv device will have access to some subset of the features of the nvidia shield, but I don’t know of any others that can handle 4k60 with hdr and dolby vision, and none have the same codec support (so you’ll never need to transcode on jellyfin). not to mention the fact that the nvidia shield will be way snappier than any other device out there, which I know I appreciate.

              If you have an android tv right now, then the benefits come from getting a much more performant external android tv box. If you have a non-android smart tv, then there are many more benefits.

      • taladar@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        12·
        1 year ago

        There is a certain pattern. Cautious people tell others something like “don’t buy a voice assisstant”/“don’t spend money on crypto-currency”/“don’t get a Facebook account”/“don’t buy a smart TV” for very good reasons, others don’t listen, then the vendors get even shittier or more obviously shitty and hurt the people who didn’t listen.

        • anytimesoon@lemmy.mlEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          I’ve heard the others but this is the first time I’ve heard not to spend crypto. What’s the reasoning behind that?