Samsung TV planned obsolescence

[lauraxsynthesis]

This expensive TV bought 9 years ago now only supports the iplayer app ffs. Also the aerial on my building has stopped working so I think I need Freeview to get live telly back? Is there some kind of box I can get for this thing that gets me live TV, a guide and all the channel apps, youtube etc?

My husband would have known what to do so pls help a widow out folks.

[Mr_Simnock]

9 years isn't bad for a TV to be honest, you can probably pick up a Hisense TV now for not much that will support every app going and be just as good image wise. I'm wondering if your ariel has just been nudge out of place, or has it rotted or fallen off? What's you internet connection like? Just asking as the better the connection the better the streaming experience

[lauraxsynthesis]

9 years isn't bad for a TV to be honest, you can probably pick up a Hisense TV now for not much that will support every app going and be just as good image wise. I'm wondering if your ariel has just been nudge out of place, or has it rotted or fallen off? What's you internet connection like? Just asking as the better the connection the better the streaming experience

I've asked the Council to check the aerial. At my end I've looked for chewing by rats but that doesn't seem to be it.

[buzby]

For the on-demand stuff an Amazon Firestick or cheapo Android TV box that plugs into an HDMI port on your telly would probably work, but AFAIK there's no easy way to install the Freeview Play app (to get Freeview over your broadband instead of via an aerial) to get live TV on a Firestick.

You can get still get external Freeview boxes (some of which have support to run the on-demand apps over your broadband) but you would need some form of indoor aerial if your communal aerial (I assume you are in a flat) has conked out.

The 'all in one' option would be a streaming box that supports Freeview Play like the Manhattan T3-R, but they generally aren't cheap.

[Sebastian Cobb]

BT Vision or whatever they're calling it has IPTV fallback for most of the freeview channels.

https://newsroom.bt.com/bt-tv-now-available-aerial-free/

[Huxleys Babkins]

You can get yourself a Chromecast, which effectively turns your old smart telly into a new one, for £22.99:

https://store.google.com/gb/config/chromecast_google_tv?hl=en-GB

I'd insist on the council having a look at your aerial as well though, because if you want a proper EPG and seamless live TV, you ideally want to use the aerial signal. The Chromecast will have all the apps, but they don't play with each other, so BBC is sandboxed from ITV, ITV is sandboxed from Channel 4, etc, and there's no TV guide.

Freeview are doing a proper IPTV service, called Freely, but it's not due to launch 'til next year and you'd almost certainly need a new box or TV for that.

[oustropique]

I wrote out something longer but Buzby and Huxleys Babkins pretty much have it down in terms of apps and services. A basic streaming box/stick (Fire Stick, Nvidia Shield, Google Chromecast) will get around your TV obsolescence - no good trashing a perfectly functional television just because the OS support has been dropped.

I can't speak for IPTV fallback on certain boxes: the convenience of that would depend on what you have already.

[Dex Sawash]

IPTV  Freely

Someone's taking the piss here

[lauraxsynthesis]

Thanks all :D

[Glebe]

This is a concern I have about Android TVs. When updates are no longer available for certain models are they obsolete/a security risk?

[Milo]

I wish you could still buy non-smart tvs. The smart stuff goes shite after a bit and has to be replaced by whatever the current Roku is.

I've attempted to dodge this by buying a Roku TV but it'll go crap eventually and then I'll just buy a new Roku stick/box for it.

[Sebastian Cobb]

This is a concern I have about Android TVs. When updates are no longer available for certain models are they obsolete/a security risk?

Minorly but there's not much sensitive stuff stored on a TV so probably not much a bad actor could do unless they're using it as a vector to other stuff on your network. Of course the TV should still work if you boot it off the network.

As Milo says app bloat consuming more resources and running slower is the main thing.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I wish you could still buy non-smart tvs. The smart stuff goes shite after a bit and has to be replaced by whatever the current Roku is.

I've attempted to dodge this by buying a Roku TV but it'll go crap eventually and then I'll just buy a new Roku stick/box for it.

Roku's seem very snappy. They use a proprietary scripting language called brightscript and I get the impression it's more limited than, say, android where you can do anything java/cotlin/etc will let you, I think this results in the apps being a bit leaner.

I really like mine as a jellyfin/Mubi/Netflix client, but still keep a firestick around for smarttube so I can watch youtube without ads and it also supports sponsorblock.

[Glebe]

Minorly but there's not much sensitive stuff stored on a TV so probably not much a bad actor could do unless they're using it as a vector to other stuff on your network. Of course the TV should still work if you boot it off the network.

As Milo says app bloat consuming more resources and running slower is the main thing.

Cheers for that Seb. So a TV should still run okay even if it's android updates are no longer available for it?

[Pranet]

As I said in another thread, it is stupid that watching the fucking tv has got so complicated.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Cheers for that Seb. So a TV should still run okay even if it's android updates are no longer available for it?

I'd have thought so, it's mostly the apps that might go to shit but I'd expect it to still work as a TV beyond that, and the online functionality can be supplementted with a stick. It seems smarter tvs skimp on hdmi ports but you can get an automatic switcher for cheap on ebay/aliexpress.

[Glebe]

Ah right cheers. Good to know!

[Milo]

It seems smarter tvs skimp on hdmi ports but you can get an automatic switcher for cheap on ebay/aliexpress.

I've tried a few of these but never found one that doesn't have a habit of failing when switching between picture modes - going from ps4 pro 4k hdr to Switch 1080p or similar. They seem to sometimes work but often just crap out. Have you found a reliable one?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Nah sorry, my telly is about 10 years old so has quite a few ports (including scart/component/composite).

If the cheap ones are a bit janky you might want to look at a 'hdmi matrix' which is a similar thing but what they use to split and switch sources in pubs and shop displays etc. I'd hope they're a bit more reliable.

That's another thing I find a little offputting about integrated smart tvs - not all of them will support automatically synchronising the frame rate of the screen to the rate of the video file so you get added judder as it tries to clock 24/25p to 60hz (although this is still less bad than motion interpolation some sets have, you might as well just rub dog shit and broken glass in your eyes). Both Roku and later model Fire Sticks support this.

[Milo]

HDMI matrix does sound like a high tech solution so I'll look into it.

My planned future solution is a proper AV receiver but it's not financially feasible at present.

[Sebastian Cobb]

My planned future solution is a proper AV receiver but it's not financially feasible at present.

If atmos isn't a dealbreakeer I think you can get a good Yamaha or Onkyo 5.1 or 7.1 box for quite reasonable money.

I've been quite tempted but haven't jumped in through a mixture of living in a tenement and not wanting to upset neighbours,and having a lovely 2 channel stereo that I'd still want to keep in action for music.

[Milo]

I've got my eyes on a very pretty Yamaha one somewhere down the line.

[checkoutgirl]

9 years isn't bad for a TV to be honest

My last Samsung smart got about 4 years. They cram in more features and better definition but the prices keep going down. Something has to give and it's life cycle.

My parents big cathode ray Brandt telly must have lasted 30 years.

[Hat FM]

My last Samsung smart got about 4 years. They cram in more features and better definition but the prices keep going down. Something has to give and it's life cycle.

My parents big cathode ray Brandt telly must have lasted 30 years.

what happpened? it just conked out or got worse over time? had my samsung for a bit over 5 years i think...

[Glebe]

My parents big cathode ray Brandt telly must have lasted 30 years.

[checkoutgirl]

what happpened? it just conked out or got worse over time? had my samsung for a bit over 5 years i think...

The screen goes squiffy and it's not like you can get a tech guy to fix it. Even if those people existed anymore they're hardly worth looking at. A new one is only €500.

[checkoutgirl]

Actually I did have it man and boy now that I think about it.

[gilbertharding]

We have an LG smart TV we bought in 2012, and it's still going great.

All the apps it used to have no longer work, of course, but the iPLayer still works, and we got a ChromeCast so we can watch catch up on all the other channels from a phone or tablet. For live TV we have Freeview.

[godber]

The apps my Samsung Smart TV got so slow as to become unusable after only a couple of years. Since plugged an Apple TV into it and and everything is super-speedy on that, plus the remote controls everything.

When I eventually do replace the TV I'll ignore all the smart features and apps as I've come to believe they're only any good for a short period of time.