this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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Spin up pihole and just look at the data coming to your “smart” TV’s even when you are not using them. Then consider the data they must be sending home, the only thing “smart” TVs are good at is watching you watch them (or not watching them). I would highly recommend getting a pi or media computer for your TV’s.
I do not think I can stress this enough smart TV’s are not smart for you they are smart for whoever made the TV. Manufactures sell TV’s at a loss now because they get more by selling you.
I have an Nvidia Shield stick that's android based and one day Google started pushing live Taco Bell ads to it on the ambient Home Screen. That was the last day pi-hole ever let it phone home.
Agreed. Watching the queries on the pi-hole dashboard has been eye-opening.
Been looking at this for years, Fam is absolutely refusing to use a keyboard in the living room. They'll watch on their phones first. I can't find a clear, easy solution to run a quality remote on a SFF pc. It's like the decades old mediacenter hole that never gets filled.
I had a pi 5 that I was going to use as my set top box and install the media centre OS on it, Jeff Geerling shows how you can do it with a pi 5, but it got damaged when my place flooded and insurance does its thing to screw you over and I never got around to testing it.
Thanks for that, flirc might be worth my time to look.
I need some of those codecs to perform better, but I can probably stand up a more agile box than a Pi.
They do not sell TVs at a loss lol.
Retailers don't, but those $300 60" TVs cost manufacturers more than that in parts and shipping. They are 100% making up for it in LTV from your data, that's why some are trying to make it impossible not to use them when not connected to the internet.
They don't.
nice argument you place there. meet my blocklist
Wait, you're that same guy just shilling for plex aren't you?
Oh my, go check that post history people, they're either a PR plant or just trolling
lol someone saw my profile bio and got upset because it describes them XD
Look at an major TV manufactures books and the TV part is a loss, the income they get from the TV is selling you to advertisers.
I'd love to see your source for this. I won't hold my breathe because it's simply not true.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/01/16/people-think-roku-makes-money-selling-streaming-st/
https://www.lg.com/global/newsroom/news/media-entertainment-solution/lg-smart-tvs-get-a-new-acr-solution-legacy-technology-replaced-by-lg-ads-solutions/
https://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/tech-smart-tv-screenshots-acr-tracking-privacy-lg-samsung
https://jamestown.org/connected-smart-tv-security-risks/
https://taurusx.com/resource/480275.html
For a peer-reviewed (means scientific) article here is https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565251327885
I guess Sony does not, but they allow Amazon and/or Google onto the TV and if you think they are not getting money from you that way I have some nice ocean side property to sell you here in Saskatchewan.
None of these links even remotely say they sell their TVs at a loss.
Roku shouldn’t even be anywhere near this conversation if you were serious. They probably sell a dozen TVs a year. They’re all about streaming boxes which is a different story altogether.
You said to look at their books, yet didn’t provide anything to back that up.
I am waiting on your apology or rebuttal!
I am still waiting for you to provide evidence. Your last attempt was woeful and nothing of the sort.