Post #2014832

OK, internet. Time for me to admit something and then solicit your advice. Admission: I have not purchased a TV in well over 20 years now. I haven't owned a TV for at least 15 years. 📺 While - yes - I have lived with folk way back in Philly who had one every so often, the last TV that I *purchased* was literally a CRT with a tube. Tarah and I didn't have a TV at all for the near-decade that we were married. Your Advice: Is there a decent resource that you folk trust when it comes to evaluating privacy concerns about modern TVs? The only thing I know is that, if I acquire a new set, it'll be a "frame" TV (thin bezel, matte finish) since 99% of the time it will serve as art on the wall. I do not have any streaming subscriptions and would likely just play media from my Synology or watch YouTube. Are modern smart TVs all universally horrible from a privacy perspective, like modern cars? Are any TVs decent about not phoning home out-of-the box? Are some frame TVs able to be modded for privacy or are some able to be wrangled into behaving if I block a lot of well-known stuff at my firewall? Right now the only thing I have done is walk past the Samsung frame TVs at Costco and say, "Yeah, those seem nice. Sure." If anyone wants to point me at a resource or list of the best vs the worst that are out there when it comes to finding one that isn't a 1984 Telescreen, I'd eagerly read said research. UPDATE: So some things I've learned already... 1. Samsung is the most reviled and hated frame TV and for good reason. Their privacy is a mess and they're full of ads, not to mention this software and tech seems to suck. So I may be looking at a Hisense or TCL model (which they call "Art" TVs) 2. Even then, it might be better for me to drive the whole thing with a separate box. Since I'm not an Apple person, I'm a bit more interested in Nvidia's Shield products. They seem neat and even apparently support retro gaming emulators. That's fun! 3. A few folk suggested some very adventurous plans like me sourcing display panels myself and making a whole project out of it. That's appealing if I had more free time and if I could find a matte display panel, but seems like it might be a steep climb at the moment for me.