Linux @lemmy.ml max641 @lemmy.world 1 yr. ago

Linux TVs

thomsonhome.in Thomson Alpha 100 cm (40 inch) Full HD LED Smart Linux TV with 30 W Sound Output & Bezel-Less Design (40Alpha009BL) - Thomson India

MODEL : 40Alpha009BL You can get the Thomson Alpha 100 cm (40) Full HD TV and enjoy a cinema-like experience in the comfort of your home. This HD-resolution TV delivers a variety of colour tones and life-like images to improve your viewing experience. Also, it has an attractive bezel-less scree...

Which Linux distro is running in Thomson TVs. What are the capabilties.

61 comments

Unless you have the ability to root it, does it matter? It's likely a completely custom, stripped down distro anyway.
- Just want to stay away from Android TV crapps and ads. ( Also, dont need root as of now - Based on forum posts, root access is not allowed )
  
  Dumb TV+(mini)PC is the way
  
  Android TVs are also Linux TVs, in fact I have a good degree of certainty that most smart TVs are Linux, developing a whole OS from scratch is hard, much easier to use one that already exists.
  
  IMO LG TVs with WebOS are the best user experience right now.
"Honey! Our TV isn't showing up channels!"

"Gee, fine. Hold on."

ssh gnu.linux@1.2.3.69 cd /sys/devices/tv/channels cat channels_list [none]

Ah, *beep.
- "Honey the remote stopped working"
  
  God damn it the last update installed libir 2.1.5 which pymote 4.7.0 isn't yet compatible with.
  
  babe hold on i need to flash nix-os on this thing*
  
  *and figure out how the fuck to use nix-os
i just want a dumb tv with the latest panel tech and no planned obsolescence. I have so many computers that can provide "smarts" already
"Smart" TVs are such a waste when they lock all the hardware and firmware into a device that'll either be unsupported in a few years or too slow to work with new apps.

I'd much rather a dumb TV and stick a Roku/Raspberry Pi. via HDMI. You get all the same control but none of the bullshit
More importantly, can we get root access.
- [This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
- Sudo apt remove Chinese-spyware
  
  Problem solved
  
  The chinese-spyware repo has been deprecated, the new spyware is under tiktok-py-systemd. Be sure to update so you're protected against the latest anti-spyware being developed.
I’m really happy with my android TV, but it makes me feel bad to know that my computer is free from GAFAMs but my TV keeps telling them what I’m watching and doing.

About the mini PC on the side, the ecological impact of having a second device turned on is preventing me from doing that.
- Something like a ASRock 4x4 with a 5800U should draw about 10W in idle, but you can certainly shut it off when you're not watching. I use a small tower because it also holds some storage for my home NAS and jellyfin server.
- A small secondary device is not going to hurt your power consumption just for video playback. ARM chips are capable of 1080p playback just fine and have really decent power consumption numbers to boot.
I'm against Android but I admit it's getting harder and harder to get "connected" (not to say "smart") device without it on. Anyway I did give up on my 55" Samsung TV for a video projector from Nebula. It's so compact it sits under the former TV stand. I installed VLC on it and connect to my RPi4 with a DNLA server on it and watch content I downloaded before. Not a perfect setup but quite happy with it. Until then I was using LibreElec on the RPi to drive the TV.
- Using LibreElec, were you able to get any streaming services running like Netflix or YouTube?
  
  I would like a UI I could use with a remote but the wife still needs Netflix so Kodi wouldn't cut it.
  
  Try Flex Launcher: https://complexlogic.github.io/flex-launcher/
  
  I specifically do not use streaming services. I don't have the discipline to avoid binge watching and I trust dark patterns to be too good to keep me hooked. I only rely on files I download. I believe, maybe naively, that the extra step keeps me in check.
  
  IMHO VLC as a UI is sufficient and it works well with the remote of the Nebula video projector. I don't need Kodi anymore. Sure sometimes you don't have nice covers but if your filesystem hierarchy is clear, directories are sufficient. It does look less "sexy" but again in my context of being mindful of screen time that's a feature.
- That's a nice idea.. ( even though, I want to avoid Android )
  
  Ps: I guess your samsung is Android TV and not Tizen
  
  Whenever I'll hit a limit with Nebula I might tinker to see if I could replace Android with Linux proper. It might be all supported hardware but I truly don't know.
  
  PS: iirc the Samsung TV was Tizen, it was a relatively old model but now it's gathering dust so I don't know.
That's a terrible device and a bad deal. Don't buy it
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/m5/ buy a banana pi or whatever and install lineageOS
I basically don't use TV. I have a simple, old wide screen 16:9 monitor that was gifted to me. Good enough.
- I'm doing it the other way round. I'm using a 50" TV as a monitor for 4 years now.
probably stripped down embedded thing compiled in buildroot
I just want a display. No "smart" crap

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