Question 1: Are there any current 4K TV’s available WITHOUT AnthraxOS?
Question 2: In case the answer is depressingly No, to which degree can the AnthraxOS be disabled in TV’s from the various manufacturers?
Question 3: Could a monitor—e.g. the LG 5K from the store—double as a TV?
My personal use of a TV is exclusively to watch movies and streaming from an TV.
next: initiate Kickstarter project: 4K TV sans AnthraxOS! It should be an immediate success 👀
There absolutely are. LG runs on WebOS, Vizio runs on SmartCast. Personally, I’ve had a lot of issues testing Vizio TVs and would not recommend. LG and WebOS is just OK but I’d put the Sony TVs with AndroidOS above them. AndroidOS really is just running the streaming apps and the App Store. If you have an Apple TV (like I do), you will largely never have to interface with it.
I am no expert in TVs but please do compare the specs of 2020 LG 65NANO90UNA with other similar mid-tier TVs. Samsung QN65Q80TAFXZA is also good but don't have Dolby vision, no BT 5,etc. Visio not recognized name but lately making it's name.
Don't feel bad. I don't think Apple Insider is an expert at reviewing TVs either. Kind of like reading a beauty makeup review in Car and Driver magazine. Seeing a full-blow TV review here was a bit odd, to say the least.
We definitely branch out and touch on ancillary products. HomeKit TVs have been quite popular lately so expect to see more. We don’t go into as much depth as dedicated TV review teams that can measure color accuracy with precise instruments and measure sound output, but we do know what we’re talking about and have a lot of experience with TV reviews.
Since this is AppleInsider, we do focus on the smart capabilities. This is a HomeKit product and we do review any and all HomeKit products that come to market. A lot of others will focus on the panel quality where we can only offer well-educated results and not detailed measurements or tests. But we do cover things like HomeKit and AirPlay 2 in much more depth than any other site. Some people, specifically look for a HomeKit TV and want that to work as well as possible while still having great video quality. We can fill that void.
Question 1: Are there any current 4K TV’s available WITHOUT AnthraxOS?
Question 2: In case the answer is depressingly No, to which degree can the AnthraxOS be disabled in TV’s from the various manufacturers?
Question 3: Could a monitor—e.g. the LG 5K from the store—double as a TV?
My personal use of a TV is exclusively to watch movies and streaming from an TV.
next: initiate Kickstarter project: 4K TV sans AnthraxOS! It should be an immediate success 👀
There absolutely are. LG runs on WebOS, Vizio runs on SmartCast. Personally, I’ve had a lot of issues testing Vizio TVs and would not recommend. LG and WebOS is just OK but I’d put the Sony TVs with AndroidOS above them. AndroidOS really is just running the streaming apps and the App Store. If you have an Apple TV (like I do), you will largely never have to interface with it.
Thanks, though I was hoping that WebOS had a better recommendation.
The TV’s interface—regardless of the manufacturer—will probably never evolve to something that approaches a pleasurable experience (but I very much hope I am mistaken). My reason for avoiding AnthraxOS is to eliminate the feeling that “something” is going on behind the scene—that the damn OS is constantly analyzing what I’m doing or not doing and reporting all of it back to the Borg 👀
Sounds like a very good TV for the price. If you're smart, however, you'll disable the TV from being able to connect to the internet AT ALL and instead let your Apple TV handle the internet/streaming/HomeKit/AirPlay 2 aspect. The amount of data smart TV makers collect and share among all their partners is absolutely staggering (but don't take my word for it, actually read the agreements you just click "agree all" on normally), and that's before we get to the information Google collects!
Maybe once a year, connect the TV directly to Wi-Fi or Ethernet in order to do firmware updates, but then disable it again.
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There absolutely are. LG runs on WebOS, Vizio runs on SmartCast. Personally, I’ve had a lot of issues testing Vizio TVs and would not recommend. LG and WebOS is just OK but I’d put the Sony TVs with AndroidOS above them. AndroidOS really is just running the streaming apps and the App Store. If you have an Apple TV (like I do), you will largely never have to interface with it.
We definitely branch out and touch on ancillary products. HomeKit TVs have been quite popular lately so expect to see more. We don’t go into as much depth as dedicated TV review teams that can measure color accuracy with precise instruments and measure sound output, but we do know what we’re talking about and have a lot of experience with TV reviews.
Since this is AppleInsider, we do focus on the smart capabilities. This is a HomeKit product and we do review any and all HomeKit products that come to market. A lot of others will focus on the panel quality where we can only offer well-educated results and not detailed measurements or tests. But we do cover things like HomeKit and AirPlay 2 in much more depth than any other site. Some people, specifically look for a HomeKit TV and want that to work as well as possible while still having great video quality. We can fill that void.
The TV’s interface—regardless of the manufacturer—will probably never evolve to something that approaches a pleasurable experience (but I very much hope I am mistaken). My reason for avoiding AnthraxOS is to eliminate the feeling that “something” is going on behind the scene—that the damn OS is constantly analyzing what I’m doing or not doing and reporting all of it back to the Borg 👀