What use is WiFi on a Costco Viso TV?

What use is WiFi on a TV screen?

A relative of mine called, who was told "something" by Costco, that their
Visio TVs have WiFi and therefore she wouldn't need the "box" whatever
that is.

I don't have cable, nor even a TV, but I suspect that "box" is something
that was added when they switched from Analog to Digital (or maybe it's a
descrambler).

They said they have to pay the cable company for a second box (the first
one is free), so, it's not a modem (because you'd only need one modem).

Anyway, my basic question, for you, is "what use is WiFi in a TV"?

Note that I can easily see that bluetooth is useful, since you can then
use that TV with a keyboard; but what good is WiFi in a TV screen at home?

 

On Thu, 03 Sep 2015 04:47:02 -0700, taxed and spent wrote:

> so you can connect to the internet and watch Youtube, netflix, etc.

Maybe I don't understand. Actually, I don't understand.

To watch youtube, you need a browser, which is usually a program compiled
for a certain computer, which runs a certain operating system, and which
has a certain byte order and memory structure and a whole bunch of other
things associated with a "computer".

Is the TV acting as a "computer"?
If so, what operating system is the TV?

What browser does it use?
What architecture is that TV browser compiled for?

 

[taxed and spent]

"Ewald Böhm" <ewvesb@gilltaylor.ca> wrote in message
news:ms9a6k$4ho$1@news.mixmin.net...

What use is WiFi on a TV screen?

A relative of mine called, who was told "something" by Costco, that their
Visio TVs have WiFi and therefore she wouldn't need the "box" whatever
that is.

I don't have cable, nor even a TV, but I suspect that "box" is something
that was added when they switched from Analog to Digital (or maybe it's a
descrambler).

They said they have to pay the cable company for a second box (the first
one is free), so, it's not a modem (because you'd only need one modem).

Anyway, my basic question, for you, is "what use is WiFi in a TV"?

Note that I can easily see that bluetooth is useful, since you can then
use that TV with a keyboard; but what good is WiFi in a TV screen at home?

so you can connect to the internet and watch Youtube, netflix, etc.

 

[Ralph Mowery]

"Ewald Böhm" <ewvesb@gilltaylor.ca> wrote in message
news:ms9k8e$dk$1@news.mixmin.net...

On Thu, 03 Sep 2015 04:47:02 -0700, taxed and spent wrote:

so you can connect to the internet and watch Youtube, netflix, etc.

Maybe I don't understand. Actually, I don't understand.

To watch youtube, you need a browser, which is usually a program compiled
for a certain computer, which runs a certain operating system, and which
has a certain byte order and memory structure and a whole bunch of other
things associated with a "computer".

Is the TV acting as a "computer"?
If so, what operating system is the TV?

What browser does it use?
What architecture is that TV browser compiled for?

The newer smart TVs have their own built in inerface . Maybe you have heard
of the devices like ROKU or the one from Amazon. Anyway it lets the TV
connect to the internet so if you have say Direct TV you can get movies and
other shows on demand bystreaming off the internet. I don't know what
system they use,but my TV lets me surf the web. It is awful slow to do with
the remote,but I think I could hook up a mouse and keyboard to it if I
wanted to.

 

[Edmund J. Burke, Ph.D]

"EwaldBöhm" wrote in message news:ms9a6k$4ho$1@news.mixmin.net...


Ewald?
LOL

 

[Nil]

On 03 Sep 2015, Ewald Böhm <ewvesb@gilltaylor.ca> wrote in
alt.home.repair:

> To watch youtube, you need a browser,

No, you don't. You just need an interface that will display Youtube
content. It's included with a smart TV.

which is usually a program
compiled for a certain computer, which runs a certain operating
system, and which has a certain byte order and memory structure
and a whole bunch of other things associated with a "computer".

That's all included in your smart TV.

> Is the TV acting as a "computer"?

Yes.

> If so, what operating system is the TV?

I assume it's some customized version of Linux, but it doesn't matter
unless you're planning to hack it. Normally you're given a user
interface that will allow you access to the features built into the
smart TV, which will include apps to access Internet content providers
like Youtube, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and others. It may also include
some games and other miscellaneous stuff. It may even include a web
browser (mine does, but it works poorly.)

 

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 03 Sep 2015 17:33:08 -0400, Nil
<rednoise9@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote:

I assume it's some customized version of Linux, but it doesn't matter
unless you're planning to hack it. Normally you're given a user
interface that will allow you access to the features built into the
smart TV, which will include apps to access Internet content providers
like Youtube, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and others. It may also include
some games and other miscellaneous stuff. It may even include a web
browser (mine does, but it works poorly.)

So what do you have that works poorl?. I was particularly interested in
having a browser (more than having Netflix.) so I want to avoid what
you have, if any other browser works better, that is.

--

Stumpy Strumpet
the bimbus
for dogcatcher

 

[Nil]

On 03 Sep 2015, micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> wrote in
alt.home.repair:

So what do you have that works poorl?. I was particularly
interested in having a browser (more than having Netflix.) so I
want to avoid what you have, if any other browser works better,
that is.

I don't know what it's called, it's just whatever was included with my
Samsung TV. It's deadly slow slow slow, and navigation with the TV
remote is painful. I tried hooking up a USB keyboard, but it didn't
work and I haven't bothered to try to troubleshoot it, since it's
nothing I'm interested in using. If I want to browse the web I'll just
use one of the several other computer devices in the house.

 

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:36:31 -0400, Nil
<rednoise9@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote:

On 03 Sep 2015, micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> wrote in
alt.home.repair:

So what do you have that works poorl?. I was particularly
interested in having a browser (more than having Netflix.) so I
want to avoid what you have, if any other browser works better,
that is.

I don't know what it's called, it's just whatever was included with my
Samsung TV. It's deadly slow slow slow, and navigation with the TV

Okay, I can remember Samsung. Thanks.

remote is painful. I tried hooking up a USB keyboard, but it didn't
work and I haven't bothered to try to troubleshoot it, since it's
nothing I'm interested in using. If I want to browse the web I'll just
use one of the several other computer devices in the house.

--

Stumpy Strumpet
the bimbus
for dogcatcher

 

On Thu, 03 Sep 2015 17:33:08 -0400, Nil wrote:

Normally you're given a user interface that will allow you access to the
features built into the smart TV, which will include apps to access
Internet content providers like Youtube, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and
others.

Is this correct yet?

1. You hook up this "smart TV" to the power but to no other wires.
2. The WiFi connects to your router, so the TV is "on the net".
3. The TV has built-in apps to get movies on Youtube, Hulu, Netflix.
4. Some TVs have a web browser - but they're so slow as to be useless.
5. Some have a DirectTV (coax wired?) input in the back of the TV?
6. Some TVs have built-in games.
7. You can't *add* anything; it's all built in to the TV OS.

Is that the sum total of the advantages of WiFi on a TV?

 

[Roger Blake]

On 2015-09-04, Ewald BĂśhm <ewvesb@gilltaylor.ca> wrote:
> Is that the sum total of the advantages of WiFi on a TV?

A disadvantage to Smart TVs is that they quite literally spy on you. At
least one manufacturer has issued a warning about it:

https://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2015/02/09/samsung-gives-warning-about-talking-in-front-of-the-smart-tv.html

I really don't understand why anyone would even consider the purchase
of such a device. I suppose for many that convenience and entertainment
trump all other considerations these days.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Blake (Change "invalid" to "com" for email. Google Groups killfiled.)

NSA sedition and treason -- http://www.DeathToNSAthugs.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[amdx]

On 9/3/2015 10:38 AM, Michael Black wrote:

On Thu, 3 Sep 2015, Ewald Böhm wrote:

On Thu, 03 Sep 2015 04:47:02 -0700, taxed and spent wrote:

so you can connect to the internet and watch Youtube, netflix, etc.

Maybe I don't understand. Actually, I don't understand.

To watch youtube, you need a browser, which is usually a program compiled
for a certain computer, which runs a certain operating system, and which
has a certain byte order and memory structure and a whole bunch of other
things associated with a "computer".

Is the TV acting as a "computer"?
If so, what operating system is the TV?

What browser does it use?
What architecture is that TV browser compiled for?


And a tv set has become a computer. They needed a CPU to handle the
data conversion, so they might as well allow it to be used as a more
general purpose computer.

Ya, so now you get to wait for it to boot up every time you turn it on.



Mikek

 

[amdx]

On 9/3/2015 7:01 PM, micky wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:36:31 -0400, Nil
rednoise9@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote:

On 03 Sep 2015, micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> wrote in
alt.home.repair:

So what do you have that works poorl?. I was particularly
interested in having a browser (more than having Netflix.) so I
want to avoid what you have, if any other browser works better,
that is.

I don't know what it's called, it's just whatever was included with my
Samsung TV. It's deadly slow slow slow, and navigation with the TV

Okay, I can remember Samsung. Thanks.

I have a Sony, and it's slow too!

remote is painful. I tried hooking up a USB keyboard, but it didn't
work and I haven't bothered to try to troubleshoot it, since it's
nothing I'm interested in using. If I want to browse the web I'll just
use one of the several other computer devices in the house.

 

[Vic Smith]

On Fri, 4 Sep 2015 07:45:51 -0500, amdx <nojunk@knology.net> wrote:

Ya, so now you get to wait for it to boot up every time you turn it on.

If I turn on my TV and computer at the same time, the TV barely beats
the computer at booting.
It takes 17.86 seconds for the picture/sound to show up for the TV.

 

[Vic Smith]

On Fri, 04 Sep 2015 08:00:11 -0500, Vic Smith
<thismailautodeleted@comcast.net> wrote:

On Fri, 4 Sep 2015 07:45:51 -0500, amdx <nojunk@knology.net> wrote:



Ya, so now you get to wait for it to boot up every time you turn it on.


If I turn on my TV and computer at the same time, the TV barely beats
the computer at booting.
It takes 17.86 seconds for the picture/sound to show up for the TV.

BTW, that's a hard-wired HD TV attached to a basic cable box not
providing HD.

 

In alt.internet.wireless Ewald BC6hm <ewvesb@gilltaylor.ca> wrote:
> Is that the sum total of the advantages of WiFi on a TV?

That's about it. I think my Sharp TV is Android.
Slow, clunky. Even the apps that work are inferior to what you would have
on a phone/tablet/PC.

I use the "MiraCast" option to cast my Android tablet to the scrren quite
often, so I can see my cat videos from YouTube in better quality.

--
Clarence A Dold - Santa Rosa, CA, USA GPS: 38.47,-122.65

 

[Nil]

On 04 Sep 2015, Ewald Böhm <ewvesb@gilltaylor.ca> wrote in
alt.home.repair:

Is this correct yet?

1. You hook up this "smart TV" to the power but to no other wires.

Not necessarily. If you have a TV feed from an antenna or cable
service, you hook that up, too. The "Smart" features are internet only,
so you need an internet connection to use them. You could hook that
part of the TV to your home router with a cable or wirelessly.

> 2. The WiFi connects to your router, so the TV is "on the net".

Yes.

3. The TV has built-in apps to get movies on Youtube, Hulu,
Netflix.

Yes.

4. Some TVs have a web browser - but they're so slow as
to be useless.

Well, mine is. It displays content slowly (I think that there isn't
much memory or storage in the TV for buffering, plus the browser itself
may be a Java app, which is inherently slow to start up) but the worst
thing about it is that you have to navigate using your TV remote. You
may be able to hook up a computer keyboard, which would help.

> 5. Some have a DirectTV (coax wired?) input in the back of the TV?

There's a coax input on mine, but I don't know anything about DirectTV.

> 6. Some TVs have built-in games.

Yes. There are "apps" included with the Smart TV software, analogous to
the apps on your smart phone. The apps on my Samsung TV can be updated
from them. You can purchase others, I think.

> 7. You can't *add* anything; it's all built in to the TV OS.

The OS and apps may be updateable from the manufacturer.

> Is that the sum total of the advantages of WiFi on a TV?

There may be others. Actually, if I knew then what I know now, I'd get
a dumb TV and add one of those add-on boxes like Chromecast or whatever
to get the content I use. Most of the apps on my Samsung suck royally.
I only use a couple of them.

 

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 4 Sep 2015 07:47:23 -0500, amdx
<nojunk@knology.net> wrote:

On 9/3/2015 7:01 PM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:36:31 -0400, Nil
rednoise9@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote:

On 03 Sep 2015, micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> wrote in
alt.home.repair:

So what do you have that works poorl?. I was particularly
interested in having a browser (more than having Netflix.) so I
want to avoid what you have, if any other browser works better,
that is.

I don't know what it's called, it's just whatever was included with my
Samsung TV. It's deadly slow slow slow, and navigation with the TV

Okay, I can remember Samsung. Thanks.


I have a Sony, and it's slow too!

Okay. I can remember that too. But I'm getting discouraged.

I think I should follow Mark Lloyd's advice in next thread about using
wires when one can.

So I think I'll just get a USB active extension cord and a
keyboard/mouse to plug into it;, and an AV balun with cat6 to connect
the computer to the DVDR

remote is painful. I tried hooking up a USB keyboard, but it didn't
work and I haven't bothered to try to troubleshoot it, since it's
nothing I'm interested in using. If I want to browse the web I'll just
use one of the several other computer devices in the house.

--

Stumpy Strumpet
the bimbus
for dogcatcher

 

On Fri, 04 Sep 2015 18:03:13 -0400, micky wrote:

So I think I'll just get a USB active extension cord and a
keyboard/mouse to plug into it

Do I understand the situation correctly that the WiFi enabled TVs are dog
slow, for example, at browsing, because of two fundamental flaws?

1. The CPUs are slow, and,
2. Using a remote to type URLs is slow.

You can't fix the CPU processing power.
But, can you simply add a standard bluetooth keyboard?

 

On Fri, 04 Sep 2015 14:44:21 -0400, Nil wrote:

Well, mine is. It displays content slowly (I think that there isn't much
memory or storage in the TV for buffering, plus the browser itself may
be a Java app, which is inherently slow to start up) but the worst thing
about it is that you have to navigate using your TV remote. You may be
able to hook up a computer keyboard, which would help.

Can't you just connect any old bluetooth keyboard to solve that problem?