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Roku TV bricked until agreeing to new terms of service (programming.dev)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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See title - very frustrating. There is no way to continue to use the TV without agreeing to the terms. I couldn't use different inputs, or even go to settings from the home screen and disconnect from the internet to disable their services. If I don't agree to their terms, then I don't get access to their new products. That sucks, but fine - I don't use their services except for the TV itself, and honestly, I'd rather by a dumb TV with a streaming box anyway, but I can't find those anymore.

Anyway, the new terms are about waiving your right to a class action lawsuit. It's weird to me because I'd never considered filing a class action lawsuit against Roku until this. They shouldn't be able to hold my physical device hostage until I agree to new terms that I didn't agree at the time of purchase or initial setup.

I wish Roku TVs weren't cheap walmart brand sh*t. Someone with some actual money might sue them and sort this out...

EDIT: Shout out to @[email protected] for recommending the brand "Sceptre" when buying my next (dumb) TV.

EDIT2: Shout out to @[email protected] for recommending LG smart TVs as a dumb-TV stand in. They apparently do require an agreement at startup, which is certainly NOT ideal, but the setup can be completed without an internet connection and it remembers input selection on powerup. So, once you have it setup, you're good to rock and roll.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, computer monitors are manufactured to a different spec than television displays at the pixel level. This is usually called chroma subsampling.

Computer monitors typically are 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 which gives nice crisp and legible fonts. Anything less than 4:4:2 gives me a headache (also Windows....).

Television displays are usually 4:2:0. That's fine for rendering large text that is visible across the room. But trying to edit a word document would be a terrible experience.

I believe they manufacture the television panels with fewer pixel address lines and that reduces the cost. Also, smart TVs sell ads and your usage patterns which are used to subsidize the cost of the tv.

That's why computer monitors are so much more expensive than televisions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

There are plenty of cheap TVs that don't do chroma subsampling. You can't just ignore it, but you can absolutely get a 4K 40" TV that works perfectly fine as a monitor significantly cheaper than one branded a monitor. If you pay attention and use PC mode or game mode with all the processing turned off, you're going to be fine. I do exactly that.

The price difference is way more about economies of scale allowing lower margins and the fact that they subsidize TVs with the bloat. Most people aren't buying 40 inch monitors.