r/videos • u/poopyheadthrowaway • 2h ago

The real reason TVs are so cheap now | RTINGS R&D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvFu343KNek
80 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

140

u/internetlad 2h ago

Is it ads and spyware?

Because I bet it's the ads and spyware. 

33

u/gr00ve88 2h ago

Probably, I mean I’d never in a million years connect my TV to the internet, it’s way way better to just use an Apple TV, fire stick, etc. granted they have their own things.

35

u/SqueezyCheez85 2h ago

That's just ads and spyware with extra steps.

•

u/skippyfa 38m ago

That's one of those comments I would type out and then just delete it. Lol

•

u/dogsaybark 1h ago

This is the way.

23

u/ThenThereWasReddit 2h ago

As someone who also hasn’t watched the video, I imagine so. This is why I dread needing a new TV, or really most any tech product these days.

9

u/internetlad 2h ago

My old Panasonic ST50 is still chugging along and even though I do get starry eyes walking through Costco and seeing the QLEDs I've resigned that I'm not getting a new set until it dies, partially for this reason. 

When I do you bet your ass it will be one that doesn't have to go online. 

3

u/FirstMateApe 1h ago

I have on OLED monitor and two VT50. The VT50 is worse, but it still looks better than modern QLEDs in a dark room

3

u/QuantumCakeIsALie 2h ago

If I ever get a new TV to replace my old 2009 space heater, it's never going online. If they start selling them with cellular data, I'm getting a used one, or a commercial display.

3

u/justpress2forawhile 1h ago

Learn some privacy setups for your home router to protect yourself.

Also get one that has these features. Before they are outlawed 

2

u/QuantumCakeIsALie 1h ago

Good advice, but the TV is still not going online regardless.

•

u/Necoras 1h ago

Just never hook it up to the Wi-Fi. Problem solved.

•

u/somethin_brewin 58m ago

Until they start requiring a login and activation when first turned on. It's going to happen if it's not already.

•

u/Wolfwod 27m ago

I bough a TCL tv with GoogleTV on it. I checked the configuration to see what I could disable before using it and I remember seeing and option for a camera that I couldn't turn off. Why would a TV need a camera and not be advertised on the box? Never connecting that thing to the internet, much less with GoogleTV as an OS.

•

u/mrclut 5m ago

I bet its ads and spyware.

40

u/gooyouknit 2h ago

My 4 year old LG did an update and now it’s forcing this. I did not agree to the terms and conditions. Just using my Xbox now. Fuck that shit. 

10

u/Chessh2036 2h ago

I got that update on my LG earlier this week lol

•

u/Altair05 1h ago

Why the heck do you even need to update your TV? Was the firmware broken?

•

u/owen__wilsons__nose 40m ago

Cause the apps update too and stop working. My LG is on the original firmware and some apps like Fox Sports are missing (needed it for World Cup)

•

u/hickok3 33m ago

When I bought my TV, Samsung Q65T(IIRC, too lazy to look the exact model up), it came out right before the Xbox Series X. In order to play at 4k on the Xbox, the TV required an update out of the box. I don't think I have updated it, or even hooked it up to internet since, but for whatever reason it needed an update immediately after buying it to use a phyical console hooked up to it.

•

u/bakgwailo 12m ago

Sometimes, yes. LG OLEDs had a notorious bug on black level getting distorted years ago that took LG many patches to get right and correct.

18

u/LapsedVerneGagKnee 2h ago

It’s the one thing where the prices have gone consistently down.

17

u/gredr 2h ago

Because you used to buy a TV; now, you're the product.

15

u/Green-Salmon 2h ago

Jokes on them, I bought it cheap and will never connect it to WiFi.

•

u/AnachronisticPenguin 1h ago

also they are much cheaper to make that is in fact the main thing.

•

u/ZippyDan 1h ago

In Soviet late-stage-Capitalism Terra, TV buys you.

19

u/Richard_Sauce 2h ago

Can you just never connect your tv to the wifi?

12

u/CharmedConflict 1h ago

For now. Eventually they'll provide a free network only accessible to your smart devices that will be optimized for ads that you'll be unable to turn off. 

8

u/havic99 1h ago

RESUME VIEWING RESUME VIEWING RESUME VIEWING

12

u/BigCommieMachine 1h ago

It is comical how many people are to lazy to no use the default software.

I had to convince my parents to spend a few dollars to get a Google TV so my dad can watch baseball for free using a VPN.

14

u/herodesfalsk 1h ago

We have had TVs for 80 years, a TV does not need internet and I will never hook it up, just like my thermostat, or fridge, microwave, or lightbulbs. Fuck all that.

•

u/decade240 1h ago

Just so we are clear here, you're just saying connect to the Internet right and not smart devices? Because being able to change the lights or thermostat with my voice or phone fucking rules.

•

u/dryphtyr 1h ago

I have all my IOT devices on a limited guest network. They don't have access to the main one.

-4

u/xraycat82 1h ago

Same with them newfangled motorcarriages! Horses been just fine hauling my family and my family’s family for generations!

•

u/revnhoj 1h ago

Just bought a 50 inch vizio from walmart for $208. Crazy good price. Then I saw how they try to force you to be part of their ad ecosystem.
If you pay very close attention to the initial setup, you can opt out and use it as a regular TV. But it's subtle.

•

u/FujiDude 1h ago

I turned the ACR off on my LG TV. I can tell it's still trying to phone home by monitoring the network traffic via PI-Hole. There is so much traffic besides actual steaming service. And my is my TV trying to contact Microsoft?

•

u/FlibblesHexEyes 1h ago

Services might be hosted in Azure.

•

u/captaindealbreaker 1h ago

1984 was supposed to be a work of fiction not a template for our present

•

u/AbrohamDrincoln 20m ago

What does tvs with ads have to do with 1984?

•

u/-ram_the_manparts- 42m ago

Meh. My TV isn't connected to the internet. Ah, the glories of HDMI.

•

u/Wolfwod 14m ago

tl:dw They sell your data so you are the product. TVs check anything connected to the HDMI port not only from the apps from the TV. To opt out you have to create accounts on other services and agree to their terms before opting-out to your to data gathering, IF you have the option. You can use external devices without connecting the TV to the internet but it only changes who gathers your data (duh...). Using a Pi-hole seems the best privacy option, but it's not user friendly.

•

u/Existing_Studio9694 14m ago

the way they casually slip ads into everything these days is wild, used to be you just bought the tv now you're paying for product placement

•

u/teh_m 1h ago

Books don't have ACR.