Ask HN: What's the best hackable smart TV?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

What “hackable” means in the thread

  • People use “hackable” in several ways:
    • Rootable TVs where you can get a shell, install homebrew apps, or change firmware (LG webOS, some Sony Bravia).
    • TVs that can be neutered into dumb panels (store mode, never online).
    • Setups where all “smarts” live on an external, controllable device (SBC, mini‑PC, Shield, Apple TV, Fire Stick).

Strong preference for “dumb display + external box”

  • Many argue the best solution is any decent panel used purely as an HDMI display.
  • Common pattern: never connect TV to the internet, use Shield/Apple TV/Roku/mini‑PC/RPi, often behind Pi‑hole/AdGuard/VPN.
  • Benefits cited: better performance, easier app management, avoids ad‑ridden, sluggish vendor OSes, and sidesteps short support lifecycles.
  • Some use cheap or older 1080p TVs or digital signage displays for this purpose.

Store mode and “dumbing down” smart TVs

  • “Store mode” on some models (e.g., Hisense) disables most smart features and turns TV into a near‑dumb display.
  • Downsides: often locks picture controls, maxes brightness/contrast, enables heavy post‑processing and motion smoothing, and can show giant info banners.
  • Attractive for people wanting a simple UI for non‑technical users, but not always tunable enough.

Specific ecosystems and rooting

  • LG webOS:
    • Praised for rootability on older models (rootmy.tv, homebrew channel, custom screensavers, Ambilight clones, game ports).
    • Also criticized: spying if online, annoying remote design, and removal of physical pause buttons on newer remotes.
    • Latest webOS versions have patched many known root exploits.
  • Sony Android/Google TV:
    • Favored by an ex–TV app developer: relatively less junk, Android dev tools, sideloading, custom launchers, HTML5 apps from USB.
    • Integrates with Home Assistant and has some REST APIs, but reliability is mixed.
  • Samsung Tizen:
    • Frequently panned: sluggish, ad‑heavy, aggressive home screen behavior, auto‑starting Samsung TV channels.
    • Some mitigate with network blocking; others attach external devices and never use the built‑in OS.
  • Other mentions:
    • Vizio (usable as dumb HDMI if you never accept TOS).
    • Sceptre/Insignia/NEC signage screens as reliably dumb options.

Resolution, HDR, and TV vs monitor

  • Debate over 1080p vs 4K:
    • Some see little benefit beyond a certain distance or given streaming bitrates; others find 4K essential for desktop/text and gaming.
    • HDR is described as great when well‑implemented, but often a “marketing gimmick” or worse than SDR on cheap sets.
  • TV vs monitor:
    • TVs are cheaper per inch but tuned for video, not text; chroma 4:4:4 and viewing distance matter.
    • A few people run large 4K/8K TVs as primary monitors and love the productivity benefits; others note sleep/“no signal” behavior differences.

Gaming, latency, and motion processing

  • For low‑latency video, many recommend either a proper monitor or a TV with “game mode” enabled; input lag then approaches monitors.
  • Motion smoothing is widely disliked but sometimes needed to reduce judder, especially on OLEDs.
  • Some speculate that future deep‑learning frame generation (like PC GPU “framegen”) could make interpolation more acceptable.
  • Remote game streaming via Moonlight gets enthusiastic praise when the network chain is carefully optimized; latency can still be a concern for twitch games.

Privacy, ads, and network blocking

  • Multiple reports of TVs phoning home even when “off”; distrust of vendor telemetry is widespread.
  • Pi‑hole/AdGuard/VPN DNS blocking can remove many ads on LG/Samsung, but people remain skeptical about fully stopping tracking, especially post‑DNS (DoH/DoT etc.).
  • Some want whitelist‑only “firewall” behavior on the TV itself but note this doesn’t exist in a polished form.

Live TV, tuners, and UX

  • Live TV is considered the hardest part to decouple from vendor OS without UX pain.
  • Solutions mentioned:
    • OTA tuners like HDHomeRun, often integrated via Plex/Jellyfin; works but channel‑change latency is high.
    • TV tuners on PCs feeding monitors.
  • Families often still prefer the integrated “TV” UX for live channels despite the ads and dark patterns.

Home automation and integration wishes

  • Some users integrate TVs with Home Assistant via serial/WebSocket (LG) or Harmony hubs (IR blasting).
  • There’s demand for a “Framework‑like” modular TV: high‑quality panel plus swappable, open compute module.
  • KDE Bigscreen and AOSP‑based TV distributions are cited as promising directions for open, hackable “ten‑foot” UIs on generic hardware.