Comment by mchristen
5 days ago
You can buy what are called digital signage displays which are mostly just that. A quick search shows a 65" Samsung model available in US retail for $1400.
5 days ago
You can buy what are called digital signage displays which are mostly just that. A quick search shows a 65" Samsung model available in US retail for $1400.
A quick search shows…
I’ve noticed that very few people recommending signage displays as a substitute for a traditional TV ever say, “here’s the one I bought…”
That’s because one will quickly discover that signage displays aren’t very good TVs.
I have a 55" LG Wallpaper signage display on my living room wall right now, with just an Apple TV plugged in, and it's fantastic. Cost $5000, 3.65mm thick, no smart features at all.
And at only 10x the price!
Digital signage displays are not TVs though. They are much more expensive and frequently don't have features that dumb TVs had 40 years ago such as speakers, TV tuners, and multiple inputs.
Perfect.
That matches exactly how I've used every television I've owned for 20-ish years: I don't have the outside antenna I'd need for ATSC reception here so a tuner is useless, and I don't ever wish to hear the slightest utterance from a television speaker so speakers are useless, and I don't need it to have multiple inputs (but the digital signage displays usually seem to have a few, anyway, just as PC monitors do).
Go buy an AVR and get yourself a proper 5.1.2 home theater (even in a living room); and then the TV will be just a dumb display with the AVR acting as multiplexer.
TV speakers have been been absolute crap ever since TVs have been flat, good riddance.
Part of the reason they're more expensive is that they're not subsided by ad revenue.
Neither were dumb TVs in the 90s, but they were still somehow affordable.
13 replies →
Ok, but in this context it's EXACTLY what the user wants for a TV. Everything can go to an HDMI switch, including external tuners, and you'll have a soundbar because TV speakers are GARBAGE today.
But I think that's the point? One thing I find silly is seeing all these smart TVs with "fancy" speakers sitting behind a sound bar that has a Roku/fire TV/Chromecast plugged in. Paying twice for devices with a large overlap in features...
I already don't use the speakers, TV tuner, or multiple inputs of my TV. That's what I have a sound system and streaming box for.