Easy solution. Don’t plug the tv into the internet.
Use it basically as a monitor. 🖕To the tv makers
Run Jellyfin instead. I don’t know how Plex has stayed as popular as it has.
Easy, Plex can pass the spouse test. Jellyfin has yet to pass the spouse test…it’s getting there though
I tried Jellyfin and the performance for me was sooo much worse than Plex on the same system. Videos took forever to play. Also Plex is way easier for me to share with family than Jellyfin.
I’m not seeing any replies that are super helpful for your question - so here’s what I do: throw a Linux desktop on a Raspberry Pi, or NUC and use the TV like monitor. Get a wireless keyboard/mouse combo and watch Plex through the appimage or just Firefox. Bonus, now any website that does video can be viewed on your big screen tv without dealing with any casting apps.
I have no cable and my TV isn’t hooked to anything except a Chromecast so I can stream to it. Can TVs send stuff out over Chromecast? I feel like it’s no but?
No.
HDMI does have a feature called Ethernet over HDMI that in theory could allow that.
Thing is though it’s literally never been implemented in anything. It died because cheap WiFi became common.
For it to work you’d need both the TV and Chromecast and HDMI cable all to support it. It’s not uncommon on cables and a surprising amount of them include it in features list (probably to trick low info people).
But I believe that’s a hardware design thing so not something even a software update could enable. It costs extra money and they’re already paying for a WiFi chip so why bother?
I’m not looking forward to replacing my dumb tv when it finally dies.
Just get another dumb one. Sceptre still sells good dumb TVs.
Even though those show up on their website, none of the 4K models are available on Amazon/Walmart or at best have very limited/erratic stock. I only see the 75” one in stock, and only on Walmart. Furthermore, they are just simply worse quality than a comparably priced smart TV. For the same price as their 55” 4K HDR TV you can get a TCL that’s also QLED and has local dimming, plus HDMI 2.1 and google TV do you can put it in a dumb mode anyways. So really there isn’t a great reason to get one of these.
Don’t sweat it. Just get what’s on sale.
They’re all the same.
There’s only one reason I’d opt for a high priced name brand. And that’s the ability to apply filters to everything you’re watching.
Imagine watching Ace Ventura but every character has the Chad Face filter on.
A few ideas to consider in this kind of situation:
If you watch broadcast TV, consider stopping. Is it really of any use? Could your time have better uses? Maybe you’ll never need that ad stream.
If all you need is a display for console/computer/media box, get a display instead. No tuner, no networking, no ads.
At that point, just get a projector. You can have whatever size you can fit and the picture is still decent as long as you’re not in direct sunlight
I have a google tv, and the “Basic Mode” when you set it up or the “Apps only mode” both are a lot better than the overstimulation nightmare that is most smart TVs (and a google TV with normal settings)
Still might want to monitor how many packets the tv sends back to Google and block them.
This is the inevitable path for nearly all proprietary smart devices. There’s a handful of manufacturers that will see privacy as a marketable feature, but most won’t be able to resist the sweet taste of data.
It’s a shame there are no “dumb” TVs left, except for expensive industrial options.
Apple TV is a bit pricey, but at least it’s ad-free. Connect it to a modern TV without internet access, stream your Jellyfin (or Plex) media via Infuse and you are good to go.
