Do you get analog fuzz or a blank screen when not tuned in?
“They’rrrrrrre heeeeerrrree…”
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Some television models have a USB-A port for firmware updates via sneakernet. My household has a fairly old HDTV in the family room equipped with one that has long since had any manufacturer updates, and the Samsung SlimFit TX-T2793H CRT mentioned earlier also has a USB-A service port as well.
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It’s analog fuzz for the non digital channels!!! Of course I have constant tinnitus so I don’t even need to have the TV on an empty channel for the Poltergeist reruns.
Who knew that old TV’s would make a comeback for privacy reasons? My (adult) children are tired of my repeated “you guys are so lucky” stories about my family only having a 13" black and white TV throughout my childhood/high-school and having a “party line” (3 other families) hardwired rotary telephone.
That seems more accurate than my googled estimate of 106lbs. Either way, it’s awkwardly heavy.
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Here are a few relevant articles:
There is also an updated list of recommendations for current products on the consumer market:
Related:
Yep, good point, provided that you don’t need some crappy blackbox Windows software in order to get the firmware update.
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Usually the firmware files are provided from the manufacturer’s website in a .bin file, or at most a .zip file that requires archive extraction.
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I didn’t cable cut, but I did flip from Cox to T-Mobile. In the past whenever I wanted to cancel service, I got whining from the ISP, Dish Network made sales pitches to keep me on board, Verizon also made sales pitches with offers for more stuff.
When I asked Cox to cut service this week, the chat guy said “effective immediately” and lo and behold, (I was still running them on one of my devices), it stopped within 5 minutes.
Good thing I was running both services in parallel.
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Now that my Cox email address is tied to Yahoo instead of Cox, I might consider getting rid of Cox also and trying a different internet provider. I just got rid of Dish because we hadn’t watched it in over a year.
We stream everything over Roku. Even our local TV channels come in over Roku, via Tablo now. We rarely watch local TV channels either. But with no recurring fees for Tablo, there were enough benefits of streaming local TV instead of stringing wires or cannabalizing the cable TV lines to the TVs. I feel like we should keep local TV capability, even if we rarely use it.
All you do for Tablo is plug the Tablo box in to your rooftop antenna and to power. Connect the tablo to your WIFI network using your phone and a Tablo configuration app, and your tablo is then installed. Then you install the Tablo channel to Roku on each TV. Then when you go in to the Tablo channel on Roku, you get a local channel guide and the ability to record local TV channels, plus around fifty additional streaming channels. The Tablo boxes come in 2 tuner and 4 tuner versions. Unless you live alone and rarely watch local TV, you’ll probably want the 4 tuner version. If you watch one channel while recording another TV channel, that alone takes two tuners.
I haven’t considered the security issues too deeply yet. But it is convienent.
Maybe Purism should build a secure media server like Roku except no spying.
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Be sure to review this thread: Data collected on me by ROKU
Note that Roku has been openly increasing its affinity for tracking lately. (Pick any recent article about streaming devices on arstechnica.com.) That’s in addition to any tracking that the third-party apps you use are doing.
If you haven’t already, set up Pi-hole on your network, and load the tracker-blocking filters you find appropriate.
They provide some data exploitation opt-out links in their privacy policy: Privacy - Tablo TV I would take advantage of them.
Personally, I’ve ceased to use Roku (for reasons of privacy abuse, infuriating/dark-pattern-manipulative UI, and low streaming quality), and now instead use a mini-PC connected to my TV. It runs Linux Mint, and I stream the one video service I use via LibreWolf with added privacy-protecting extensions, in glorious HD, behind a VPN connection that also incorporates DNS filtering like the Pi-hole application on my network. (I prefer to allow the VPN to bypass Pi-hole in favor of the VPN’s own DNS lookup, filtering, and randomization.)
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I also switched to a Roku device. But that was because I left Cox and their provided TV device to T-Mobile (who does not provide a TV device) with the package. Two popular choices that were available were an Amazon Fire stick and a Roku, I didn’t feel like talking to Alexa and its inherent “always listening issue”, so I chose the Roku device. (Although Roku also has voice activation also if desired, dependent on model no.)
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Better add Pi-hole, then, to control tracking/exploitation.
Although I’m not sure how to achieve that when using the provider’s device instead of your own router. Maybe there are settings in the device that allow you to designate the machine that runs Pi-hole as your DNS server…? (That would be the normal way, if using your own router.)
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When I get a business account next month perhaps I can double park a 3rd party router behind the router?
I got a consumber account on T-Mobile in October which means I’m on 90 day hold before I can switch to a business account. (I should have started with a business account.)
A business account means I can have port forwarding on port 80 (and other ports) and put my 30 year old mainframe back on as a web site.
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Um, @ Purism, I guess now we officially need a Librem 55-inch (Librem 139.7cm): Buying a TV in 2025? Expect lower prices, more ads, and an OS war. - Ars Technica
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I doubt it would be a viable business idea:
Based on the article and previous information from this topic, people are willing to justify ad-infested televisions for a lower financial cost, even if it comes at the cost of privacy or peace of mind.
No doubt Purism would be able to make it profitable, with a Linux TV OS, and respect for privacy. 
I’d settle for a large Purism wall-mounted monitor, even without the standard television functionality, though.
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It doesn’t even need that much developing. I’ve got one of those (still) at that size. Just re-manufacture an older classic that doesn’t have OS or net connectivity. And if someone wants or needs “smarter”, then add a dongle (also by the same manufacturer - hopefully one that easily interacts with a Librem router and streams to Librem phone).
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If you are confident that Purism can do it (easily), contact them:
Something that equally applies to an Android phone and other things. It’s a proven business model i.e. pay for some of the cost with your privacy. The selling proposition then for a private TV is clear - you will pay more up front and your privacy will be respected.
I’m not as gung-ho about this as @amarok is i.e. have the expertise to do it and can make it profitable. How much more would that up front cost be? There could come a time though when it at least should be investigated for feasibility.
Or even with net connectivity, it is easy enough to prevent all connectivity e.g. don’t configure in WiFi details and don’t plug in ethernet port. The trade-off is that you won’t get firmware updates.
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My stupid-TV was getting updates via USB-dongle transferred files, so direct net connectivity is not needed for firmware either.
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