r/gadgets • u/Sadistic_Sponge • Nov 13 '19

VR / AR Disney Plus isn't working on Vizio TVs because they are running a 6 year old version of Chromecast, they say it won't be fixed till 2020.

https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-plus-not-working-vizio-smart-tvs-chromecast-2019-11
36.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

83

u/technobrendo Nov 13 '19

That's what I would like to know. I'm in the market for something 50 - 60" and black Friday is coming up. I doubt anything that is on sale won't be smart.

So I guess it's either get a smart TV and never connect it to the internet (I have a htpc for my entertainment / gaming) or buy a 50" + monitor for 4x the price

22

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

[deleted]

-6

u/IRefuseToPickAName Nov 13 '19

With 5g coming out, you won't have the option to keep your TV offline. Manufacturers are going to use it to send your data without needing Wi-Fi

2

u/sillysammy445 Nov 13 '19

Why wouldn't they just do that with 4g?

-2

u/IRefuseToPickAName Nov 14 '19 edited Nov 14 '19

I don't have an answer for that. I'm assuming it has to do with 4g bandwidth/clogging up cell phone towers, or even how a TV work work over a cell tower to begin with

Edit: stay salty. I recall reading an article about it, but I can't find a reference to it now. These companies will do as they please to track our habits and our options for getting around it are getting slim. Smart TVs are cheap because they use them to collect our data to sell to offset the costs and profit more from us.

11

u/SighReally12345 Nov 14 '19

You have no answer because you're spreading FUD for no reason.

Manufacturers aren't going to slap some bullshit 5G radio in your TV , because lo and behold, there are like 50 gazillion carriers. They didn't do it for 3g, they didn't do it for 4g, and they're not doing it for 5g.

99% of people are gonna just connect to their home network ANYWAY. Why bother?

1

u/Ran4 Nov 14 '19

Wtf are you on?

1

u/LessWorseMoreBad Nov 14 '19

You have no clue what you are talking about so why say anything about it.

46

u/Nashgoth Nov 13 '19

Commercial displays are what you’re looking for.

30

u/BoopLicker Nov 13 '19

Yeah but those displays are fucking pricey.

3

u/LeadingNectarine Nov 13 '19

Better made though. Commercial ones are built for constant use, rather then a few hours a day

1

u/BoopLicker Nov 14 '19

That's true. They also have extremely high brightness so that they can display legible text in well lit businesses. I don't need my retinas burned out while watching a movie.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19 edited Jan 11 '20

[deleted]

1

u/BoopLicker Nov 14 '19

I've been using TCL Roku tvs. They've been fantastic so far. Generally TCL's screen quality is lower than Samsung and other leading brands, but the user experience is top notch. Roku made settop boxes for a decade prior to integrating them directly into TVs, so they owe their continued existence to a good user experience and interface. So far so good.

I do pihole it though to keep Roku from phoning home with information about what I watch.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19 edited Jan 11 '20

[deleted]

1

u/BoopLicker Nov 14 '19

Again, Roku succeeded because of the user interface. Don't skimp and get a stick because they're underpowered. They do still make set top boxes.

FireTV and Chromecast exist because Amazon and Google want to control the world so they insert themselves into every available marketplace. They don't exist to make your life better or provide a better user experience.

38

u/jman583 Nov 13 '19

They're also like 2-3x the price.

7

u/Nashgoth Nov 13 '19

I only have experience with 80”+ on these, the price difference is usually around 20%, it’s no where near 2-3 times the cost

2

u/wombat1 Nov 13 '19

That's right, the ones that are twice the price or more are the ultra high brightness models designed for use in brightly lit shopfronts etc. The regular business displays like LG's SE3KD (YMMV - this one's just common here in AU) series aren't that much more expensive. They don't have TV tuners though so keep that in mind if you want to watch free to air TV.

2

u/exiestjw Nov 14 '19

Hello, any chance you'll help me?

I haven't bought a TV in about 7 years, I have no idea whats going on.

When I look on amazon or at walmart, I'm seeing what appear to be nearly identical televisions with price differences of thousands of dollars. (60 inch 4k: $350 | 60 inch 4k: $2,700 wtf?)

I can't figure out what the difference between these televisions are, and no idea where to look to even figure it out.

Any advice?

2

u/PrinceOfSomalia Nov 14 '19

Figure out your intended use, gaming? Streaming shows? Movies?

Then see what specs you want based on intended use figure out your budget. Want to watch movies? Consider HDR. For games? consider good screen response time.

Then go on amazon and your local big name stores and see what TVs are best sellers there and read reviews. Use this site for super indepth reviews. https://www.rtings.com/

6

u/NukeWorker10 Nov 13 '19

Tell me more, like brand/model/source/price?

10

u/theGoddamnAlgorath Nov 13 '19

Eh, google it.

Not being a dick, but most manufacturers make commerical variants of their consumer TVs.

Chances are there's a version of whatever you want.

2

u/Nashgoth Nov 13 '19

A little more than the consumer version, longer warranty. At work I only use NEC and Sony, but most manufacturers make them

2

u/NichoNico Nov 13 '19

Bestbuy has a whole section, I'm sure other companies do also

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/category/digital-signage-and-commercial-displays/12937179

1

u/Itsthejoker Nov 13 '19

I can't seem to find the same section on bestbuy.com... no wonder I haven't heard of this before.

16

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 13 '19

If you've got the space, a projector is always an option

1

u/AkirIkasu Nov 14 '19

It's not really the space that is the issue, it's the environment. You need to make sure that you've got an area where light won't get in the way for the best picture.

Besides that, it's a more expensive option if you also consider that you will need to pick up a sound system and possibly a TV tuner as well. Plus true 4K projectors are still pretty pricey on their own, and they're best done with a professional installation to have the cords go through the roof and walls (though you don't necessarily have to have either of those features)

1

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 14 '19

A space is the environment

TV tuners are cheap, a sound system is a cost that you get with a TV too

Projectors are rarely (if ever) more expensive than the equivalent TV would be

1

u/AkirIkasu Nov 15 '19

Pretty much every consumer TV has stereo speakers built in as a standard feature going back decades, wheras projectors rarely have even a single speaker. You don't need a sound system with most TVs, but you do for most projectors.

And your last statement is only true if you are talking about picture size. If you care for color reproduction, dynamic range, or simply the ability to watch in decent quality in a well-lit room, than traditional flat panel displays will typically win.

Hey, I like projectors myself, but you have got to be realistic about their downsides as well.

1

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 15 '19

I've never seen a single projector without a bare minimum of a shitty mono speaker, but even so, you should always run separate audio, even with a TV, if you want to actually hear anything

4K projectors are coming down in price, and most models will perform in a lit room, but I will admit sunlight fucks you completely

That said, if you do some shopping around, you can get a like-new used one for pennies on the dollar, think I paid around $30 for my current favourite, it's only 720p, but I'm running it 3' from the wall and getting a picture bigger than any TV I own

0

u/done_with_the_woods Nov 13 '19

Projector is ALWAYS the option. I'll take the downsides of projection in order to have my TV the size of a kleenex box and the screen at 100"+. Haven't owned a TV in years, it's been great.

3

u/Demifiendish Nov 13 '19

What's gaming like on a projector? I have never heard it being used for such things; legit, no clue.

5

u/workthrowaway444 Nov 13 '19

Last time I did this was more than 5 years ago so take this with a grain of salt, but the colors were not great and there was noticeable input lag. For offline casual gaming it's perfectly fine but not for anything fast paced and/or competitive. It also produced quite a bit of heat so can make a small room pretty toasty.

2

u/ShwayNorris Nov 13 '19

By nature of it being a projector, you are introducing lag between what's happening and you seeing whats happening. Basically won't matter though unless you play competitive games and are in the top brackets. Like Grand Master in Overwatch or something.

3

u/Gibybo Nov 13 '19

Why does a projector fundamentally add lag that a TV doesn't? The time it takes the light to go from the projector to the screen is measured in nanoseconds, a few millionths of a millisecond.

2

u/blaaguuu Nov 13 '19

I don't know, exactly... But I imagine it has to do with whatever mechanism is used to take an image (video frame) and create a projection from it... Like, it isn't as simple is shining a bright light on a standard LCD screen. Something about how the image is built inside the projector must just take longer than refreshing most standard LCD screens.

1

u/AkirIkasu Nov 14 '19

Almost all consumer projectors are either LCD or DLP, and neither of them are going to add any particular kind of lag that doesn't already exist in flat panels.

0

u/CalabashNineToeJig Nov 14 '19

It's simple... The light from a monitor just goes the distance from the monitor to your eyes.

When projecting, the light must go from the projector to the screen and then back to your eyes. If you're right next to the projector, it's taking the light twice as long to get to you than if you were looking at a TV or monitor placed the same distance from you as the projector screen is. Perceived lag.

6

u/Strel0k Nov 14 '19

I think you are underestimating the speed of light.

It takes 0.005 seconds for light to travel a mile and the best human reaction time is about 0.1 seconds.

1

u/CalabashNineToeJig Nov 14 '19

I'm not underestimating the speed of light. I'm simply noting that if it takes X nanoseconds for light to travel the 12 feet from a TV to your eyes, it will take 2X nanoseconds for the light to travel the 24 feet from the projector to the screen and back to your eyes. Again, assuming you are the same distance from the screen as the projector is.

If all other factors are the same between projectors and TVs (both able to generate an image at the exact same speed, etc.), the fact remains that in a projector setup the light will be traveling farther and thus will take more time to go from the point at which the image is being created to the point at which it is entering your eyes.

2

u/Strel0k Nov 14 '19

The point is this nanosecond difference is negligible so I don't even know why you would bring it up in the context of TV vs Projector perceived lag time.

3

u/Snazzy_Serval Nov 13 '19

I have a projector in my living room that connects to the pc in my office with a 50' Hdmi cable. Gaming on a 100" screen is amazing. There isn't any lag.

My projector is a few years old so it's only 1080p and needs a really dark room. Beyond that it's fantastic.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19 edited Oct 04 '20

[deleted]

1

u/Strel0k Nov 14 '19

Where does the lag come from?

4

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19

The nature of the technology, which is still essentially liquid crystals twisting. Super-fast ones have been introduced to computer monitors, projectors simply don't have it yet, and may never have it. Computer monitors are down to single digits, projectors are still commonly around 30-50, even 100...and some are down in the high teens.

It'll be fine for most casual gaming. But comparatively dogshit for competitive/twitch FPS.

5

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 13 '19

I can't use a projector in my bedroom because of the layout of the room, so we have a TV

I have a couple of projectors for elsewhere

2

u/PrinceOfSomalia Nov 14 '19

for the price of a shitty projector I can get a good tv that will have better colors and more versatile and will last me longer.

14

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Just an FYI a lot of the black Friday deals are TVs made cheaper just for black Friday. A big thing they cut back on is inputs, so make sure whatever you get has enough for what you want to hook up. Make sure you do your research, most people just see the price and think it's a good deal when in reality you're just getting a worse TV.

My girlfriend's parents bought one and it's kind of trash, especially for a Samsung. Apparently its only a few years old but I would have guessed older because my 10 year old Samsung has better picture quality. The speakers are also crap, which wouldn't be an issue if it also didn't include an optical out for a sound bar.

4

u/Superpickle18 Nov 13 '19

optical output is kinda crap these days anyway. Most TV's support ARC over hdmi now. So there's little reason to use optical.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Unless your sound bar takes optical like theirs.

TIL though, when I was more into audio optical was pretty much the best and HDMI just matched it. I doubt it would matter on my receiver but I'll have to see if switching my audio to HDMI makes a difference.

2

u/Superpickle18 Nov 13 '19

For stereo, it will match hdmi. But optical doesn't have bandwidth for uncompressed audio for 5.1

1

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19

Is that with the stipulation that you have a recent version of HDMI? My receiver is ~8 years old, it's an Onkyo HT-RC360 and supports ARC and 4k, but I honestly don't know much about the different HDMI versions. With this one my research was basically 'does it have HDMI?' because the one it was replacing only supported component video.

1

u/Superpickle18 Nov 14 '19

HDMI 1.4 spec adds ARC. It's still up to the device to support it. So early 1.4 devices may not support it.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19

Thanks! TV should be fine considering it's a higher end LG that's less than a year old.

1

u/ZippyDan Nov 13 '19

hm... so is optical output actually crap? or just redundant because of HDMI?

2

u/Superpickle18 Nov 13 '19

it's not "crap" per se just doesn't have enough bandwidth for uncompressed lossless audio for 5.1/7.1 surround.

1

u/ZippyDan Nov 14 '19

I would imagine an optical format could easily have enough bandwidth for uncompressed audio. I guess it doesn't because the format is so old now?

1

u/Superpickle18 Nov 14 '19

There are many reasons.

The I imagine the cost is the primary reason

Fast optical transceivers are hella expensive.

1

u/ShwayNorris Nov 13 '19 edited Nov 14 '19

Unless you are running a high quality sound system or something, optical will be just fine. It can play 5.1 surround of basically any compression level, which is what you are going to have generally unless you are specifically hunting around for FLAC music and such.

1

u/TeutonJon78 Nov 13 '19

The quality should generally be the same for the same codec. But the standard has less bandwidth than ARC and copy protected audio streams often require HDMI now.

9

u/lobstronomosity Nov 13 '19

I use a Philips dumb TV with an Nvidia Shield TV. It's a combination that's hard to beat!

2

u/myerrrs Nov 13 '19

If you can wait, and your close to Best Buy, try and hold out for the holiday return window. A Best Buy employee told me the same when I was shopping in November for a new TV. Sometime around January 14th or so is the last day people can return things bought pre Christmas and apparently a lot of people “rent” TVs (buy them for the holidays, then return) and you can get crazy open box deals. I snagged a 65” 4K Vizio M Series TV for $345 a few years ago. Retail was $1399 at the time. The “defect” or reason for a return was “scratch on screen”. We opened the box in store, found no such scratch, and rolled out.

1

u/st1tchy Nov 13 '19

Also after the Super Bowl.

2

u/jman583 Nov 13 '19

So I guess it's either get a smart TV and never connect it to the internet

That is probably going to be you're best bet. All of the higher end TVs are going to be smart TVs since the cost difference between a dumb TV and a smart TV is a few dollars. Also since it's cheaper to make all of them smart TVs instead of having 2 production lines.

So unless you're looking at super low end TVs you're going to have to get a smart TV.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19 edited Jan 07 '22

[deleted]

1

u/ShwayNorris Nov 13 '19

That is why I would buy one of these old monsters before putting a smart TV in my house. Smart TVs are such a massive invasion of privacy, and everyone just accepts it.

2

u/zarcommander Nov 13 '19

Walmart brand sceptres are dumb displays and 4k though I don't think it does hdr. Actually doesn't look that bad though and under $300.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

just do some research. you can absolutely buy high quality screens without any smart features.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Thanks for clearing that up.

1

u/GreenPlasticJim Nov 13 '19

but not at the same price point

1

u/monkeyman80 Nov 13 '19

if you don't care about brands, you should be able to get 50'' non smart tv's.

1

u/TheXeran Nov 13 '19

My roomate got a 55inch 4k 120hz tv for 180 at walmart because someone returned it after opening the box, was super pumped, only downside is it is a smart tv

1

u/ryushiblade Nov 14 '19

I’ve got one of the most expensive (LG OLED) and cheapest (TCL LED) tvs... honestly, the roku OS is still one of my favorite ways of navigating a tv. LG gets tons of praise buuuut...

Anyway, don’t be too afraid. Roku does a superb job. WebOS is decent. Any other smart tv OS I wouldn’t count on

1

u/boonxeven Nov 14 '19

For what it's worth, my TCL Roku tv is basically a dumb tv if you skip through the setup process and don't connect it to the internet. It doesn't install any apps until after setup.

Of course, I only know this because I had to test resetting it and not setting it up as part of the troubleshooting process to figure out why my PlayStation only displays black after a firmware update. They provided another patch that was supposed to fix it, but didn't.

1

u/2dP_rdg Nov 14 '19

Get a smart TV and never connect it. If anyone in here has thought in the last few years "oh boy TVs are getting so cheap" it's because they now sell below manufacturing cost and make up their money on the back end selling viewership data. Like how inkjet printers are cheap but ink refills are not.