My parents are getting a new tv, and are asking for recommendation. I think all I can influence is the brand/model (not realistic to propose rpi and more complex systems). I instinctively avoid google/android and lean towards anything else open source, so probably LG WebOS… But I had bad luck searching for more detailed comparisons. Maybe you have experience or opinions?
I would avoid anything built into the TV.
- Its starting to be used for spying on you
- The chip they come with are usually not that good unless it’s a high end TV.
- They are building ads right into the TV themselves.
I would not connect the TV to the internet and use a external media player. Either a Nvidia shield or an Apple TV is your best bet.
You can also try building a media player yourself using a small computer.
Note - The self made media player will be more limited in terms of apps available, unfortunately, as well as streaming quality from some of the streaming services.