Good day! I am trying to find a good alternative as not to use the"smart" functions or using an Xbox to consume our media. I found a few options ie like plasma big screen but it’s no longer in development. Essentially I would line love to have it running on an rpi4 and just hooked up to the TV.
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The main issue for me is not finding a device to play content, but a dumb screen that is not a potatoe. A 4k HDR OLED Screen without any smart features is basically nowhere to be found
i got a good 55in LG oled screen, connected it to wifi and added a firewall rule to block its access to the internet because i hate how lg forces ads
i negated some of the privacy gains by having my “OS” be an apple TV that has internet access but im willing to live with it, since it allows easy remote access to my home assistant through HomeKit, plus the interface is nice and I have RetroArch installed on it, so yeah
You can replicate the same thing but switch the apple TV for a more private and adequate device for your needs
You could maybe get an advertisement screen. You know, those you find at train stations and stores.
Maybe, you could even get something like those touch panels McDonald’s uses, that would be nice!
I mean… just don’t connect it.
Some devices will prompt you to upgrade the firmware and won’t let you do it without internet access, AFTER you’re logged in to their platform.
You can’t connect it temporarily?
Then I still have to deal with the screen not respecting my input choice and having to manually switch to my streaming box
My TV stays on the same input.
Look into commercial displays. They’re dumb TV’s.
A TV that isn’t connected to a network is a dumb screen.
not entirely,
dumb tv turns on in maybe up to 3s
while “smart” tv still needs more than 30s
so now you have crapiest dumb tv on your handsMy LG C2 which has never been connected to wifi starts up in maybe 3s. Boots right into my Applw TV and I never have to see LGs software
What kind of shitty TV takes 30s to turn on? Ive never seen one take that long. Smart functions have literally nothing to do with how fast they turn on. In fact a lot of smart TVs, especially with Roku built in, don’t even really ever power down completely, and when you press power the screen is on and ready almost instantly.
You answered your own question. As you said, most smart TVs go into a sleep mode, so they appear to turn on in a near instant. But if you ever actually power it down, most take up to a minute to boot up.
Dumb TV’s are the same they go to sleep. You need power for the remote to work.
I just got an LG C3 and don’t have it connected to the network. I also turned off the fast input and power on and takes maybe 10 seconds to boot into the input. Not much longer than my blu ray player and receiver.
Do you need 4k oled?
yes, and next one should be 65"
I won’t go back from OLED, but a good source none the less. Thanks
Yeah there’s no going back after OLED.
That was honestly a way bigger improvement than going 4k.
I find having the full OS is useful, and this KDE environment proves great https://plasma-bigscreen.org/
This looks cool but having the shell feel good on a TV is one thing, having apps is another. If I open Firefox on theat thing, am I going to see the same app as I do on desktop… only 10 feet away? I immediately asked this after I saw VS Code in the screenshot there because what is the point in having an accessible 10 foot UI to use it to launch an app where I won’t be able to read the menus and navigate around in an accustomed fashion?
As of right now, Plasma Bigscreen isn’t available for public use yet.
Currently I’m working on a Plasma Bigscreen build that still gives some privacy and 1080p Netflix/Disney+/Crunchyroll etc by using extensions/WebApps and getting S-Tube and other android apps (including tv web browser) via Waydroid + Flauncher, all controllable through a simple IR controller.
If you pm me I’ll set it as a reminder for when I finish to share the package. It’s designed for an Odroid C4.
As for dumb tvs or more privacy friendly tvs, you can find them if you know where to look. Here’s some options from LG:
https://www.lg.com/us/business/digital-signage
They had a dumb 65" 4k OLED too but it’s currently out of stock.
The option(s) other commenters gave are great! But just to give you more options, I’ll give you a few additional ideas.
- KDE Connect: You can still use a normal desktop (preferably KDE or Gnome), set your display scale to 150+%, and then use your phone remotely to control the cursor, media playback, and more.
- Bazzite: often used to replace SteamOS, it also boots into Steam big picture mode by default, where you can set applications in the start menu. It has a nice console-like interface, and you don’t have to maintain anything, e.g. updating. It also supports Waydroid and webapps by default.
- An old laptop or mini-PC with Bluefin or Aurora. They are basically like Bazzite, but without gaming stuff. You can set the display scale to 200% and enjoy a worry-free experience. Optionally, you can install Phosh or Plasma Mobile on top, which is made for mobile devices.
Is bazzite couch friendly? I’m expecting to need a mouse and that isnt my ideal setup
In big picture mode it’s couch/ controller friendly. In desktop mode you’ll need a mouse. Either way you’ll need a peripheral device for any platform.
I would like a controller. I’ll give bazzite a better look when I get to a home theater PC. Thanks for the input
Bazzite is my daily driver and I really like it
I literally have a rpi4 and just put libreELEC on it
Kodi is a great choice regardless of distro, whether that’s libreelec, osmc, or just regular Raspbian.
I installed Kodi on my RetroPie setup, and it works well.
I have been meaning to give this a try. https://osmc.tv/store/
Found my way to that from other mentions of OSMC and gonna order one of those in the coming weeks. Been looking for an alternative to my Roku Ultra for a while.
Edit: searching more I see Vero V forum posts from this year about things like Netflix and Amazon limiting streaming to 1080p or lower, and YouTube being a lethargic experience. Will save it and probably go the Nvidia shield route for now.
Damn, thanks for the info. I was hoping someone would make something new to replace the shield l.
As others have suggested, OSMC is OK, but personally I prefer having Android so that I can use SmarttubeNext and access native apps for stuff like Jellyfin, Dropout, Nebula, etc. For years I played with various Linux options, but in the end I ditched it all for an Nvidia Shield and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
Is there an android box more powerful than Shield? I love my shield TV, but I wonder if it needs an upgrade in a year or two.
My parents bought Xiaomi TV box (could search for the exact name if anyone’s interested), which runs GoogleTV (Which is just AndroidTV, they renamed for some reason) and comes with a remote. It even has hardware acceleration for AV1 playback. Downside is of course that it has all the Google spying shit and ads in the home menu but at least it works well and you can use all the apps you want without issue. Idk if there’s something like LineageOS for AndroidTV, that would be great.
@Fisch
Unlikely but check doc.e.foundation/what-s-e
@SuperSaiyanSwag
You could install android on something, and run one of the open source TV launchers
Is it any good?
I’ve done that and as long as you don’t need one of the mainstream streaming apps, it seemed to work well . Just give it a try. It’s not a lot of work.
Edit: As far as I remember it, it didn’t have (the needed?) DRM support
Edit2: Tested on RPi5
I don’t need or want DRM so I can’t comment on that.
What I can say is that the RPI5 is way overkill. I originally ran Kodi on a RPI4 but it was constantly running hot so I switched to a RPI3 and it is much better.
Yea, I only mentioned that because I did only test on that PI, it was more of a disclaimer. For me, DRM is also not important.
It’s been years since I’ve shopped for a TV, but… can’t you just not connect it to the internet? I have a little microPC running Linux connected to our TV; it’s smarter than any other TV I’ve seen, but the TV itself is stupid.
Why can’t someone just get a smart TV and just never let it get online?
I mean, sure, if I had my 'druthers, I wouldn’t be paying for features I don’t use, but if it’s literally impossible to buy dumb TVs, what’s the issue?
