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.
If Android is okay, I’d recommend the ONN 4K Pro player from Walmart (if located in the U.S.) with some privacy caveats:
Do as little with Google: Make a throwaway login if Google requires one to get the device started up. Try to avoid Google Play Store as much as possible. If privacy from Google isn’t a concern, feel free to use your Google account to download apps from the Google Play Store.
Learn how to sideload apps: There are multiple ways to do this, like a USB drive or FTP server.
Pick an alternate launcher: This will replace the default Android TV OS UI with one that has much more flexability and no ads. FLauncher and Projectivity are ones that I recommend to friends.
The final product is a modern streaming device with much more flexability than any other store-bought device. Building a HTPC with Linux is probably the true self hosted option. Personally, I’m able to afford some privacy sacrifices with Google for something that “just works.”
The old software versions support Lineage OS. If you can find one that was unlocked before they broke unlocking you are in luck. If not Google is bad for privacy.
I got one of these recently and it works well. Much smoother than whatever my Smart TV is natively running and it doesn’t crash constantly.
If it were just me I’d have set up a small HTPC with Kodi, but my family needs something that works without ever needing my intervention, and it needs to run the 100 streaming services we hemorrhage money to. These boxes are super cheap and let me run Jellyfin too.
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
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.
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.
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
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?
Thanks for reminding about this project! Had a look a year back and it looked quite green at the time. Any first hand experience, how did you install it?
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.
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.
I also think Android has the best apps… SmartTube, Tivimate, and S0undTV can’t be beat and have no good alternatives on other platforms. I run 4k firesticks that I blocked from updates long ago so I could have my own launcher/home screen instead of the ad riddled default one, but want to upgrade eventually. Been wondering lately how well AndroidTV on x86 runs… couldn’t find anything on YouTube.
Kodi ui is great! No different menu every single week with them Shoving ads down your throat and stuff. Every interface for every add-on looks exactly the same. Easy to find what you need.
There’s probably a Plex add-on for Kodi. At least, there is for Jellyfin and Emby. If you don’t like the UI, try changing it. I prefer the one called “Arctic: Zephyr - Reloaded”. You’ll need to customize the homescreen a bit to get the most out of it. That way you can make it show widgets of your content, e.g. the latest content added, continue watching, specific libraries, etc. That, at least, works very well with Jellyfin through the Jellycon add-on.
As others are saying, OSMC might work. Most difficult part is making it so that the TV turns on when you turn on the computer since ARC isn’t a thing for most computers.
I ended up giving up on OSMC and bought an Apple TV since nothing else got the “wife approval” factor. It’s better than Google getting my data, has a Plex client, and let’s me stream my Steam library.
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.
Yeah, I have a mini pc that I use when I travel as most places have issues with Plex unless you use a VPN. But it’s just Ubuntu desktop. I want to try this out and see if I would recommend it to less than techno wizard friends as I don’t want to be their IT support at all hours.
I have the previous model. It does a great job of playing videos from my server in the other room. It technically can do YouTube, but that’s a pretty horrible experience. It can’t do any other paid streaming services.
But it does do an amazing job of local streaming. It handles most all of the audio and video codecs, and can direct stream just about any video file without too much playing around. I like mine, and definitely recommend it for anyone who also wants a trustworthy local media player.
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?
I mean, someday I’ll get a new TV, and I’d just been assuming I’d leave it disconnected… but I hadn’t thought about the nagware, and that would definitely be an issue.
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.
Except the UI is not designed for that. I want a TV interface that is controllable via a remote either physical or virtual. I’m not going to try and deal a full desktop. If it takes me more than a few seconds to do something that’s way to long.
KDE Connect has a remote feature for presentations. Maybe one can create a small interface/ WM for it?
For example, Niri WM, configured with just left, right, and laserpointer as confirmation button. Based on uBlue, so it updates itself. Does that sound practical?
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:
Fwiw - I have both an LG C2 and a newer Samsung QLED. Neither have ever been connected to the internet, never pester me to connect, and the both turn on right to to my Apple TV
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If Android is okay, I’d recommend the ONN 4K Pro player from Walmart (if located in the U.S.) with some privacy caveats:
The final product is a modern streaming device with much more flexability than any other store-bought device. Building a HTPC with Linux is probably the true self hosted option. Personally, I’m able to afford some privacy sacrifices with Google for something that “just works.”
The old software versions support Lineage OS. If you can find one that was unlocked before they broke unlocking you are in luck. If not Google is bad for privacy.
I got one of these recently and it works well. Much smoother than whatever my Smart TV is natively running and it doesn’t crash constantly.
If it were just me I’d have set up a small HTPC with Kodi, but my family needs something that works without ever needing my intervention, and it needs to run the 100 streaming services we hemorrhage money to. These boxes are super cheap and let me run Jellyfin too.
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 mean… just don’t connect it.
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.
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?
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!
They have a handful of dumb screens, like you’re describing, at Best Buy. Somehow they’re thousands of dollars for a normal sized TV.
Isn’t most digital signage “SMART” too?
They usually have a dedicated compute unit which is sold separately (or by a different company)
Nice, I might have to get one. Also, your name reminds me I have to buy more Borax.
:)
Look into commercial displays. They’re dumb TV’s.
Do you need 4k oled?
yes, and next one should be 65"
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 hands
My 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.
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.
Dumb TV’s are the same they go to sleep. You need power for the remote to work.
https://www.sceptre.com/TV/4K-UHD-TV-category1category73.html
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 also tried finding a dumb 4K TV some time ago and, yeah, they don’t exist. 4K TVs were a good tech that came out at the wrong time.
I guess there’s just not big enough of a market there to have a decent selection or reasonable prices.
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
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?
Thanks for reminding about this project! Had a look a year back and it looked quite green at the time. Any first hand experience, how did you install it?
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.
Agreed, I would love this.
@Fisch
Unlikely but check doc.e.foundation/what-s-e
@SuperSaiyanSwag
I also think Android has the best apps… SmartTube, Tivimate, and S0undTV can’t be beat and have no good alternatives on other platforms. I run 4k firesticks that I blocked from updates long ago so I could have my own launcher/home screen instead of the ad riddled default one, but want to upgrade eventually. Been wondering lately how well AndroidTV on x86 runs… couldn’t find anything on YouTube.
have a look at OSMC, you write it to the Pi SD card and it gives you Kodi all setup and ready use. you can even use your TV remote to control it
Could it do Plex instead of Kodi? Always found the Kodi UI pretty amateur dev.
no, its based on kodi. but there are themes you could try
Kodi ui is great! No different menu every single week with them Shoving ads down your throat and stuff. Every interface for every add-on looks exactly the same. Easy to find what you need.
There’s probably a Plex add-on for Kodi. At least, there is for Jellyfin and Emby. If you don’t like the UI, try changing it. I prefer the one called “Arctic: Zephyr - Reloaded”. You’ll need to customize the homescreen a bit to get the most out of it. That way you can make it show widgets of your content, e.g. the latest content added, continue watching, specific libraries, etc. That, at least, works very well with Jellyfin through the Jellycon add-on.
As others are saying, OSMC might work. Most difficult part is making it so that the TV turns on when you turn on the computer since ARC isn’t a thing for most computers.
I ended up giving up on OSMC and bought an Apple TV since nothing else got the “wife approval” factor. It’s better than Google getting my data, has a Plex client, and let’s me stream my Steam library.
The RPI has CEC support
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.
Not OP but it looks good. I wanted an alternative to my Apple TV to watch movies from the NAS and it seems to do the trick for a slightly lower price.
Yeah, I have a mini pc that I use when I travel as most places have issues with Plex unless you use a VPN. But it’s just Ubuntu desktop. I want to try this out and see if I would recommend it to less than techno wizard friends as I don’t want to be their IT support at all hours.
I have the previous model. It does a great job of playing videos from my server in the other room. It technically can do YouTube, but that’s a pretty horrible experience. It can’t do any other paid streaming services.
But it does do an amazing job of local streaming. It handles most all of the audio and video codecs, and can direct stream just about any video file without too much playing around. I like mine, and definitely recommend it for anyone who also wants a trustworthy local media player.
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?
I used to do that but it would constantly nag until I connected it
Mines connected for home automation but can’t connect to the internet. Blocking the Mac address from going out.
Hmm. Just curious: did you try creating a tar pit subnet for it, which it could connect to but not escape from?
Definitely curious as well, but so far haven’t gotten around to trying
I mean, someday I’ll get a new TV, and I’d just been assuming I’d leave it disconnected… but I hadn’t thought about the nagware, and that would definitely be an issue.
They TV companies make lots of money from selling ad space and preinstalled apps. (They likely sell at a loss initially)
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 is not coach friendly
I’m using it for years now to control the laptop from my couch? And it works great.
Except the UI is not designed for that. I want a TV interface that is controllable via a remote either physical or virtual. I’m not going to try and deal a full desktop. If it takes me more than a few seconds to do something that’s way to long.
KDE Connect has a remote feature for presentations. Maybe one can create a small interface/ WM for it?
For example, Niri WM, configured with just left, right, and laserpointer as confirmation button. Based on uBlue, so it updates itself. Does that sound practical?
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
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.
Fwiw - I have both an LG C2 and a newer Samsung QLED. Neither have ever been connected to the internet, never pester me to connect, and the both turn on right to to my Apple TV
LibreELEC
My alternative is OSMC running on a RPI 3
It isn’t going to win any awards but it does work nicely with a Bluetooth remote
A laptop running linux mint.