alt.hn

3/26/2026 at 2:34:58 PM

Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

 https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/newly-purchased-vizio-tvs-now-require-walmart-accounts-to-use-smart-features/

by vidyesh

3/26/2026 at 3:32:58 PM

I never connect my smart TVs to the network, I just plug in my Apple TV and move on. It's frustrating because it takes longer to turn these devices on than it should because of all the additional overhead I don't want or need. I wish someone would make a painless gadget to flash the software with dumber software that loads instantly.

by giancarlostoro

3/26/2026 at 3:57:13 PM

They're also cheaper because they're subsidized. I did the same thing with a FireTV but understood the extra crap they want to boot and use is part of why they're so cheap, they're hoping for information to sell or puchases they can monetize.

by rtkwe

3/26/2026 at 8:28:35 PM

The most insane thing which I wouldn't believe if I hadn't experienced it myself, but Samsung will periodically just install random apps and games on your phone. You delete them, then a month later, new apps show up. It's one of the most aggressive anti-consumer thing I've seen and it's coming from such a large player.

by bko

3/26/2026 at 5:12:51 PM

We just bought a vizio to replace one that broke. Once you skip the setup process, all you need to do is remove the solder from the 'home' button on the remote or whatever it is and you'll never see their pop up crap again.

I get why people like this, though. It takes all of your accounts and puts them in one place. Honestly, if I could run Plex and my own media through it, it would be tempting to just block it from dialing out and get rid of my Nvidia shield.

by Loughla

3/26/2026 at 6:05:45 PM

I have a chromecast with google tv plugged into mine. Not sure what it's called these days. Chromecast Home?

It comes with a super minimalist remote that does volume and a d-pad and on/off and a remappable netflix button. My tv's original remote is... Somewhere. It's been more than a year since I've needed it.

Both the chromecast and my xbox uses hdmi-cec to instruct the tv to "switch your input to me". The chromecast remote controls the tv volume directly.

I have an Emby media server on the network, and I use the emby app on the chromecast to play content. I'm also a sellout so we have the standard streaming apps on there as well.

It's a truly god-tier setup and it works so well.

by beAbU

3/26/2026 at 6:34:37 PM

Yeah, the current Chromecast on an HDMI port is far superior than anything the TV vendors offer. I think you pretty much get access to every service you might want except Apple TV (no surprise, Apple gonna Apple).

by ryandvm

3/26/2026 at 8:00:55 PM

Apple tv is available on my chromecast?

by beAbU

3/26/2026 at 6:56:48 PM

That's my main setup too. Sometimes still need to main TV remote but not often.

by rtkwe

3/26/2026 at 5:21:56 PM

The frustrating thing is the lack of options. If you buy a $300 TV or a $3000 TV it will still come loaded with bloat/ad/spyware built in.

by skillina

3/26/2026 at 3:47:15 PM

Yeah, I don't connect my TV to WiFi at all; as long as TVs have HDMI ports I'll just use an Nvidia Shield TV (or something similar). If I do that I have access to more apps, a snappier interface, and it's easier to upgrade if I need to later.

I've looked into flashing it to use a dumber firmware, but it got into technical documentation that I don't really understand really quickly. I haven't looked into it since I got a Claude Code membership though, so it might be worth revisiting with AI assistance.

by tombert

3/26/2026 at 4:21:33 PM

I've got a Sony TV with Google TV (not connected to internet) that turns on pretty quickly.

If it's going from a cold boot e.g. where it was unplugged or if it's doing a full reboot it takes a bit longer and shows a splash screen, but if it's turning on from a regular "off" state it takes about the same amount of time as the rest of my dumb screens and goes directly to the last used input.

by Marsymars

3/26/2026 at 4:30:26 PM

Some TVs have an “instant on” feature that uses some more watts but only ever turns the backlight/screen off.

by bombcar

3/26/2026 at 6:38:41 PM

> I never connect my smart TVs to the network, I just plug in my Apple TV and move on.

You're not alone.

by dickersnoodle

3/26/2026 at 5:27:53 PM

My google dongle got progressively worse and worse. Frequent disconnects, I found out you had to like orientate it a special way, youtube kept having issues. Dumped it and switched to my built in LG OS (WebOS based I think). Works fine, does basically the same thing as my Google dongle did without the slow degradation march

by 1234letshaveatw

3/26/2026 at 3:35:53 PM

Same here! none of my home Tvs, most LG and Samsung, have ever seen w Wifi password. Always putting firestick on it and call it a day. At least firestick I can unplug throw away, God only knows what updates TV does that I obviously cannot revert.

by joering2

3/26/2026 at 4:14:14 PM

> Always putting firestick on it and call it a day.

Aren't you just letting amazon collect and monetize your viewing habits while allowing them to push ads at you? Avoiding ads and data collection are the reasons I'd want to leave my TV offline in the first place.

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 4:18:58 PM

Option A: use Amazon Prime Video to watch shows. Share your viewing habits with Walmart/Vizio and Amazon.

Option B: use Amazon Prime Video to watch shows. Share your viewing habits with Amazon.

by tverbeure

3/26/2026 at 4:23:52 PM

Using a firestick means amazon collects data on what you watch regardless of the platform you view it on. Also ads.

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 5:33:27 PM

[dead]

by inquirerGeneral

3/26/2026 at 2:46:54 PM

Isn't that actually great? Just never create and sign into a Walmart account and now your TV isn't infected.

by darknavi

3/26/2026 at 2:59:53 PM

This presumes that, now or later, there won't be an on-screen message that can't be dismissed saying "Sign in to a Walmart account to enable all TV features."

There's plenty of ways they can interfere with attempts to use the TV in "dumb" mode. Heck it could refuse to show any video at all til you've signed in.

by sjsdaiuasgdia

3/26/2026 at 3:05:40 PM

Yep. I bought a Samsung TV that I never even put online. It pops up with a half-screen display that lasts for 2 minutes every time I turn it on . Never again.

by freedomben

3/26/2026 at 3:11:53 PM

What is the half-screen display? On my Samsung S90D (new within the last year or so), I can set it to skip the "home" screen and go directly to the last input on power on. It works well.

by jvolkman

3/26/2026 at 3:34:48 PM

A manufacturer can target multiple markets and make different choices for different markets.

The Samsung S90D (a 65" 4K model) you bought appears to sell for about $1000. Looking at Best Buy's site, you can also buy a Samsung 65" 4K TV for as little as $180 (model DU6900).

Yes, there's other differences. LED vs OLED etc. But at a glance they seem equivalent to a consumer...and one costs 5x more. The $1000 TV is targeting a market that expects more from their purchase and would potentially grate at a persistent sign-in notification. The <$200 TV is targeting a market that wants a big TV and hasn't thought much past that.

There's definitely a chance that on some models Samsung would be more aggressive about enabling smart features, because those models are expected to be subsidized by ads.

by sjsdaiuasgdia

3/26/2026 at 3:57:37 PM

While all of that is certainly true, even the DU6900 has the "Start with Smart Hub Home" option that defaults to enabled but can be disabled according to its manual. I assume that's what OP is seeing; it's a common thing to want to disable on Samsung TVs.

by jvolkman

3/26/2026 at 5:16:33 PM

I'm not at home currently so can't check, but you might be right about what it is. I'll definitely have to check! I do remember being nagged to connect to wifi though, but it might be a combination or something. I appreciate you mentioning this because if I can just disable it, that would actually improve my life :-)

by freedomben

3/26/2026 at 5:18:16 PM

It's like poor people living in the crowded business district with little peace and giant billboards shining in the bedroom window.

by m463

3/26/2026 at 3:43:27 PM

There are free TVs now that are completely subsidized by ads: https://www.telly.com/

But don't think people who can afford the more expensive TV are also more tech-savvy. Some just want a nicer TV. Also, they are a much more lucrative target market than people who cannot afford the nicer TV.

by jerlam

3/26/2026 at 5:17:09 PM

I finally saw one of these in person last year!

It was as fascinating as it was terrifying.

It had a noticable array of sensors and (I think?) microphones along with a camera smack dab in the middle. Above that was its permanent ad display. The TV also has access to its own portal, which was what was on when I saw it. An AI-generated reporter was talking about entertainment news.

Not even Orwell could've imagined a better telescreen than this. You know it's chock full of anti-defeat protections to prevent curious minds from scoring a free TV.

by nunez

3/26/2026 at 3:32:57 PM

2 minutes. I think I would have boxed that up and returned it to the store as broken.

by deltoidmaximus

3/26/2026 at 4:09:15 PM

Heh, I really almost did. It started a big fight with the wife, and I lost the battle quickly. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I'd fought that fight.

by freedomben

3/26/2026 at 3:19:25 PM

Samsung is top of my list of companies to never buy from.

Except SSDs, I guess. Would be nice if I could meaningfully reject all products from a given company. I'm sure they'll someday cram ads and spyware into those also.

by plagiarist

3/26/2026 at 5:54:09 PM

I get that they could do this in a future update, but if you never connect it to the Internet, a TV that doesn't require it today isn't going to just start. (Unless they pregamed to do it on such-and-such-a-date, but that would be a nightmare for their legal department if the rules change)

by boutell

3/26/2026 at 4:05:31 PM

They can't do that later if you never sign in. If they do that now, you just refuse their terms, get a refund.

by oliwarner

3/26/2026 at 3:33:16 PM

Pi-Hole sped up my Samsung home and menu screens tremendously. I use something like this list [0]. The growing size of the list itself is a testament to the enshittification of Smart TVs.

I wonder if the SmartTV blocklist change history and size of commits could tell a historical story of how things have evolved? I'm aware that DoH makes this approach less and less viable ... but for my existing TVs it still seems to work fine as long as I'm careful not to blindly update.

[0] https://github.com/Perflyst/PiHoleBlocklist/blob/master/Smar...

by boilerupnc

3/26/2026 at 2:57:36 PM

Is there any kind of “hook up” on wholesale large dumb displays?

I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I just want a giant dumb display from my Apple TV. I vaguely remember someone posting a link to tvs restaurants use but I don’t remember exactly what or if it was what I’m looking for.

(Sorry, being lazy here)

by Robdel12

3/26/2026 at 3:32:10 PM

I wonder about this every time I see a smart TV-related thread on HN. I recently purchased an LG OLED (C5 48") because my old TV died so I'll finally comment. As others have said, just don't connect it to the internet. But you knew this already, so I'll provide my anecdote on the experience of this since I wondered the same thing for years before getting this TV.

When the TV is never connected to internet, and you use a single HDMI source like me, the TV acts completely like a dumb TV. It gets turned on via my AppleTV remote and displays the picture 1-2 seconds later. No LG logo (I disabled this), and no smart interface shown whatsoever.

If you want to change settings, you can display the settings interface via LG remote control and it generally acts like a dumb TV (not blocking the entire screen, so you can adjust picture quality and see the result as expected).

I've had the TV for about two months and never been asked to update it or shown any ad. The only time I've ever seen the smart fullscreen interface is when you unplug a live HDMI source and the TV detects that nothing is there. (If you turn the source off, it tells the TV to turn itself off as well.)

Hope this helps since it's a lot easier to buy a nice smart TV and do it this way than find a truly dumb commercial panel.

by jonpurdy

3/26/2026 at 7:18:49 PM

Don't assume that because you don't connect something to the internet that is doesn't connect to the internet.

Things can use cellular modems to phone home. This is already done.

Walmart could also easily cut deals with cable providers for outbound access via WiFi and cover most of the country.

by ____tom____

3/26/2026 at 8:55:19 PM

They could also make agreements with ISP's where their TV's can be whitelisted for access to a public or potentially unlisted WiFi, enabling them to connect that way, without the vast majority of customers ever being aware.

Similarly, these TV's could connect to any open wifi hotspot it can find and phone home/download updates that way. Cox for example proudly boasts how more than 4M of it's residential customers modem+router+ap's can be used for "WiFi Hotspots" by anyone - not just the customer/resident - if they have a cox account. I don't see why Samsung or any other manufacturer may approach said ISP's to use this network to update devices under some guise of "convenience" or "seamless updates" ostensibly for their less tech savvy users.

I don't know if these business deals exists, but "smart devices" will often try to phone home/update anyway they can, even if you don't manually configure it on a private network.

EDIT: Forgot the source on the cox hotspots claim: https://www.cox.com/residential/internet/learn/cox-hotspots....

by 0manrho

3/26/2026 at 8:51:05 PM

Totally correct and a good call out. I did check this as best as I could for this particular model of TV. But I'd have to do the same in a few years if it was ever to be replaced. I suspect I'll have to desolder the cellular module of my next TV circa 2036...

by jonpurdy

3/26/2026 at 3:01:06 PM

Look for used 'Digital Signage' or 'Commercial' displays. They usually have dumb firmware and the same panels as retail models.

by 1bpp

3/26/2026 at 5:35:11 PM

Yeah, if you want a TV that looks terrible. They usually have terrible response times and focus on nits at all costs. Try watching anything HDR on a display panel.

by philistine

3/26/2026 at 3:10:05 PM

Most are also larger, heavier, with higher power consumption, and sometimes uncomfortably high minimum brightness. They rarely use the same panels as retail models because they have to support different operating conditions like extreme temperatures and 24/7 operation.

by close04

3/26/2026 at 3:11:17 PM

And the worst part, usually way more expensive too, seen some panels where the cost was double because the target market is "ad agencies" or whatever.

by embedding-shape

3/26/2026 at 3:23:53 PM

> the cost was double because the target market is "ad agencies" or whatever.

A TV capable of operating in those conditions has to be more expensive or else it'll need replacing twice as often and cost even more long term. Remember when Tesla used bog standard laptop screens in their dash because they were cheaper than automotive grade, leading to high failure rate?

by close04

3/26/2026 at 3:29:17 PM

This makes me wonder if my local McDonalds, which has three big screens mounted vertically in the drive-thru, ended up with not the commercial grade ones. They’re cooking in the sun in a hot climate all day, so they fail and turn into flickery messes, and it seems like they’re on a cycle of roughly 3 months newly-replaced & working, 1 year flickering.

by xp84

3/26/2026 at 4:31:52 PM

They’re probably inside commercial displays - not outdoor rated, which are much, much more expensive (and usually look much worse).

by bombcar

3/26/2026 at 4:48:23 PM

Many (most?) "smart" TVs will work fine if their network connection is never set up. Many of those can be set to wake on an HDMI signal from, for example, an outboard streamer box. That means you can take advantage of the subsidy paid by the bloatware that comes inside your TV, for a price that I bet is coincidentally close to the same as the price difference of an unsubsidized dumb TV.

by Zigurd

3/26/2026 at 5:21:08 PM

I wondered this as well when I was shopping for a new TV a few years ago. Unfortunately, not only is it really difficult to find a "dumb" modern TV, but the best display panels will always be on smart TVs because that's what sells.

That said, I ended up getting a Sony A95K 55" TV, and it's been great. It has Google TV built-in, but I immediately connected our Apple TV to it, and it's never seen the Internet since. No nags, either. Sony also made it really easy to disable motion interpolation, a feature I really dislike.

by nunez

3/26/2026 at 4:11:11 PM

I bought a 60 inch Spectre tv from walmart and it works great as over the air and receiving video from my appletv.

I just googled “dumb tv” and that brand showed up.

by prepend

3/26/2026 at 3:11:30 PM

Just use any TV but don't log into your WiFi or connect an Ethernet cable. It sounds like that won't work with these Vizio TVs, but they're likely junk anyway. This is what I do with my Sony and LG TVs in my house and they work fine as dumb displays attached to my AppleTV box.

by sgerenser

3/26/2026 at 3:16:17 PM

I've said it before on HN, but I just want a somewhat trustworthy group to develop "DUMB" certification. I think enough people would pay extra for a certified DUMB TV for it to be worthwile. "Don't Upload My Bits"

by ortusdux

3/26/2026 at 3:34:52 PM

I wonder if a "woot" style service could work. If 10K like-minded consumers made a group-buy every 2-3 years, a high-end panel vendor might be willing to provision a new SKU with a few firmware tweaks.

by elevation

3/26/2026 at 3:57:11 PM

For a while, Costco had a reputation as the place where you could buy a TV and be confident that it was usable as a "dumb" TV. The rumor (unconfirmed as far as I know) was that, among the customizations that manufacturers would make for retailer-specific models, the Costco ones included firmware tweaks to pull back on requirements for things like mandatory connectivity, account creation and the like.

I'm not sure how true any of that is, but in any case Costco still has a reputation as a place where it's easy to return a TV, and they pay attention to the stated reason for return.

by nlawalker

3/26/2026 at 4:38:35 PM

I would go in on a group-buy dumb TV, but not every 2-3 years.

by thesuitonym

3/26/2026 at 5:32:45 PM

Skim through B&H and you'll find commercial displays but also various other display formats that are sufficiently stupid.

by indrora

3/26/2026 at 3:35:20 PM

Somehow these dumb displays always seem to be cheaper than the smart ones. For some mysterious reason all the chips and stuff to needed run an OS have a negative cost.

by bee_rider

3/26/2026 at 3:12:34 PM

I’ve been using my TCL Roku disconnected from the internet for 6 years

by ezfe

3/26/2026 at 3:01:34 PM

NEC/Sharp commercial displays are great. Even come with a daughter board you can throw a Raspberry Pi onto to run your own OS.

by slackfan

3/26/2026 at 3:10:17 PM

Just use an AppleTV, Roku, etc. and connect it to the HDMI port.

TV is just a screen. That is how I've used mine for the last 5+ years.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 4:23:43 PM

Saw this elsewhere:

"It will not let you do anything until you download the app on your phone, make an account, and log in on the TV. You cant just change it to HDMI 1 and use a Firestick. I set it up with a throw away email, then deleted the app, and took the TV off of the WiFi."

by c420

3/26/2026 at 4:32:18 PM

Well that sucks, but maybe tolerable for a cheap TV if you only have to do it once.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 5:07:47 PM

Do they tell you this up front? When you buy it? I once returned a small bluetooth speaker, because it would not just let me connect to it. It wanted me to download an app, create an account, sign in and then accept a metric ton of crap about how they would collect all kinds of data about (in this case my mom's consumption of content that would be streamed to the speaker).

It was a damn portable bluetooth speaker. Well it was returned within an hour and the competitor was bought online.

At least, the store accepted it - I would have instantly send this as a case to the consumer protection agency, if they hadn't, though. Because they never even hinted (neither on the packaging, nor in the store) towards the necessity of the app and crap.

by sdoering

3/26/2026 at 4:09:22 PM

I find roku really ad heavy and it sent tons of traffic back to roku.com. Same for firetv.

by prepend

3/26/2026 at 4:23:59 PM

I've got a Roku on a TV in a spare room because it's the cheapest way to add airplay to a tv - I have it plugged in to a "smart" power bar that only provides power to the roku when the TV is turned on, so at least for the 99% of the time that the TV isn't turned on the roku isn't spamming my network.

by Marsymars

3/26/2026 at 5:21:03 PM

Same for me. I had to quarantine my FireTV box with its own rules on my network to stop it from using all of my XFinity bandwidth for the month just doing nothing but maybe an hour of actual usage per day.

by grounder

3/26/2026 at 4:33:37 PM

I've never noticed ads on mine, but I basically just go immediately to Fubo or ESPN apps and that's all do with it. I don't watch much on TV other than live sports.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 4:18:23 PM

Exactly. If I wanted ads and surveillance I'd have just connected the smart TV directly to internet in the first place.

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 3:15:42 PM

It won't be "just a screen" for much longer if people continue paying for TVs that do this bullshit.

by plagiarist

3/26/2026 at 3:41:59 PM

IDK. People are always going to want to connect game consoles, computers, etc to big screens without a lot of fuss.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 4:19:16 PM

To me "a lot of fuss" includes having to sign up for a walmart account and dealing with ads being shoved in my face

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 5:32:55 PM

If people spent a small amount of fuss to make sure they never paid for an ad-ridden spyware OS just to fulfill their "takes a few HDMI in" requirements, then we wouldn't be struggling with ad-ridden spyware OS TVs now.

by plagiarist

3/26/2026 at 3:41:19 PM

Can you even buy 'just a screen'? We have huge (100"+) screens in the office, they cost A LOT. full of spam, apps, ads, popups. It doesnt even swithc to hdmi or what ever you input automatically, you need to select the screen mode orso.

The local electronics chain has 50-100 different TV's. All are 'smart'.

I would be ok with classifying this as a crime against humanity. /s

But honestly, I've just given up. I don't watch tv or movies or stream anymore, because it's all the same bullshit

by boesboes

3/26/2026 at 3:58:28 PM

I meant, I treat the TV as "just a screen."

Set the input to "HDMI-1" or whatever my Roku is connected to, and that's the last thing I touch on the TV remote.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 3:56:36 PM

Sceptre used to sell dumb TVs but they seem to be exiting the marketplace. Computer monitors and digital signage may be your best bet. You'll have to save up for 'em but that was true of TV sets back in the day too.

by bitwize

3/26/2026 at 4:42:38 PM

Sceptre still has a bunch of dumb TVs on their site. I used to be all in on them, but I bought one that had the backlight go out after only two years, and their answer was "lol buy a new one"

by thesuitonym

3/26/2026 at 3:34:21 PM

This is why you never connected a "smart TV" to the internet. If you disagree, do it and then run a Wireshark analysis. The best option I have found, after trying them all is Apple TV. Least about of telemetry, best picture quality, and very secure.

by nla

3/26/2026 at 2:45:43 PM

2040: a $30k neural interface becomes available.

2042: a $20 budget neural version hits the market but requires the user to watch a 15s ad every 5 minutes.

by shermantanktop

3/26/2026 at 3:07:43 PM

We already live in Harrison Bergeron's world, for anyone forced to, say, watch the NBC broadcast of the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies. "Don't go having unsanctioned thoughts about that artistry, or forgetting about our commercial sponsors!"

by h2zizzle

3/26/2026 at 4:12:25 PM

2041: a $30k neural interface that forces a user to watch a 15s ad every 30 minutes replaces previous version.

Every year after: interval decreases by a minute between ads

by prepend

3/26/2026 at 4:06:17 PM

Let's be honest, they'd put ads in the pay version too.

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 3:22:02 PM

We would never force a user to watch a 15-second ad every 5 minutes.

We simply augment their content with a 15-second fully-immersive aesthetic and psychological experience which highlights the quality of our sponsor's product.

by jMyles

3/26/2026 at 3:21:39 PM

If the neural interface can filter other ads, that frequency would be a reduction for many people.

by plagiarist

3/26/2026 at 4:08:41 PM

Filtering ads outright would never happen. They'd create a market where the device would replace the ads you see or hear with the ads of the highest bidder, and then insert new ads on top of that.

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 5:41:55 PM

NeuraLink a year later: "Help your ad bubble to the top! Our BlueCheck ad partnership plan bypasses our filters for the paltry sum of 10% of conversion revenues!"

by ImPostingOnHN

3/26/2026 at 3:07:03 PM

A lot of people do their grocery shopping at Walmart (even if you don't). This positions Walmart as being able to offer discounts for food and other daily necessities to people right on their TV. People are going to like this-especially the cohort that would buy a cheap TV at Walmart. They're going to really like saving a few dollars on groceries or gas. Not to mention Walmart can now offer perks through the TV to its millions of employees. They're going to like it too.

Walmart is one of the most litigated companies ever, and probably has 10+ active lawsuits against it at any given time. So if they're getting into this, they're fairly sure it will work legally now and in the future.

The battle against personal-data-collection by default on TVs is probably lost at this point. It's over. Non-smart TVs will probably become specialized, super-expensive corporate-class expenses out of reach of most people before too long.

Projectors are capable of creating a big image on a wall like a TV, and while it's not as bright, it comes with much less privacy invasion, and is also portable. That's where I'm likely spending my future TV dollars until those gets caught up in this as well.

by RiverCrochet

3/26/2026 at 3:24:34 PM

Great point! My knee-jerk reaction was that this is an intrusion and the enduser would be held hostage unless he/she gives up personal information to Walmart...and maybe that is the case for some, but some will surely benefit from the personal advertising and discounts. I do believe there should be a large, bright, unavoidable notice on the outside of the TV packaging stating that a Walmart account is required to use the TV.

by waltwalther

3/26/2026 at 3:33:30 PM

And that will also benefit Walmart. They have Walmart+ which is their grocery delivery and in-store checkout app - which, if you've ever shopped at a busy Walmart near a city, both of those either enable you to avoid actually entering a Walmart or make it much quicker if you go in the store.

So that sticker will be a big "This TV requires a Walmart+ account - Sign up for Walmart+ and get free grocery delivery on orders over $30 and discounts at the self-checkout AND deals on streaming!" Their electronics department people will probably be trained to answer any questions and help people sign up on the app (if they're not already).

Walmart's pretty smart here.

by RiverCrochet

3/26/2026 at 3:08:52 PM

Get an actual projector screen and mount it on your wall, you'll get a much brighter picture than just projecting on a painted wall.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 3:10:39 PM

Brighter picture perhaps, but good luck being able to have anything resembling "actual black", best you'll get is dark gray.

Alternative solution that doesn't require worse picture quality, never hook up the TV to the internet. State of the art quality, none of the data collection.

by embedding-shape

3/26/2026 at 3:18:40 PM

I would bet five figures that within 5 years it will be commonplace for TVs to require an Internet connection in order to be used at all. One is ATSC 3.0 and its DRM encryption capabilities. The other scenario is probably be that, because the TV has pre-installed applications, then the TV has to record your age and register it upstream to comply with an age-verification law or interpretation thereof.

by RiverCrochet

3/26/2026 at 3:52:59 PM

[dead]

by chrony3705

3/26/2026 at 3:17:37 PM

Agreed, you'd still need to darken the room for the best picture in any projector scenario, as the darkest black you can get is whatever the ambient light level is.

by SoftTalker

3/26/2026 at 3:31:22 PM

> People are going to like this-especially the cohort that would buy a cheap TV at Walmart.

What? If anyone truly believes that "People are going to like this", then just make it opt-in.

There is a reason it's not "opt-in". They know damn well people are NOT going to like it.

by emacdona

3/26/2026 at 3:54:33 PM

[dead]

by chrony3705

3/26/2026 at 3:19:35 PM

My solution to this problem has been to stop using TVs.

The last TV I actually enjoyed more than a PC/Mac display was a monster Panasonic plasma that had some serious practicality issues. I'd use it maybe 2-3 hours per week.

None of the other display technologies are that interesting to me. OLED gets close sometimes, but nothing matches the visceral urgency of a plasma panel clocked at 600hz. The noises it would make in bright scenes was crazy. You had to have a powerful sound system to cover up the semiconductor switching. And, that's kind of the entire point for me with a television. Go big or go home. Exhibition. If I just want to consume content without pissing off the neighbors, my MacBook/PC tends to provide a much better experience.

by bob1029

3/26/2026 at 5:13:06 PM

>plasma that had some serious practicality issues

I finally had to let my mid2000s plasma go, only because moving it required two people (I can one-person a mattress). Not even OLED can reproduce those backlightless blacks (but my 48" Aorus comes close, when viewing straight-on).

by ProllyInfamous

3/26/2026 at 5:34:08 PM

I wish rtings had a list of best TVs without smarts.

I have a $1700 Samsung TV. It's quite nice, but I struggle with changing the HDMI input of all things.

by shepherdjerred

3/26/2026 at 2:45:15 PM

At my last job we bought a lot of Vizio tvs. We used them for conference rooms, hallway displays, etc. They were reasonably priced and had a good feature set needed.

They have been on a decline for years and this is a nail in the coffin.

by JoeBOFH

3/26/2026 at 3:03:17 PM

There are business models that are dumb displays that you bring your own device to do conference stuff on whatever platform you wish. I'm not current with the pricing but they typically have good warranties.

by hypercube33

3/26/2026 at 3:15:43 PM

They are insanely priced compared to disposable Vizios - renting a "real" display monitor for a conference would be $1000 or so (including the shipping, setup, return, usually involving large crates and trucks).

Buying a similar Vizio would be delivered by free by Walmart for $200, you just ignore the setup prompts, stick HDMI in, and give it to a nice hotel employee when done.

by bombcar

3/26/2026 at 4:07:59 PM

This actually seems better than before when a vizio account was required. At least now its a walmart account. If forced to choose, Id prefer a walmart account.

Of course, I would never buy this tv because of the requirement. I just buy dumb tvs and then stick an apple tv in front if the hdmi input.

by prepend

3/26/2026 at 2:45:30 PM

Kinda a wild idea I had never really considered, but absolutely a possibility: using a TV as a loss leader to sell ads.

Not sure if that's they're intent here, but I could easily see that becoming a thing (if it isn't already). And what better way to collect useful ad data on people than forcing them to create an account and then tracking their usage of the device.

by SunshineTheCat

3/26/2026 at 2:50:11 PM

That's been the standard for a decade. $200 for a 4k 55" TV is not realistic without a secondary profit source

by mholm

3/26/2026 at 3:04:52 PM

Part of the reason that computer monitors are considerably more expensive. They're higher density, higher refresh rate panels, but they're also dumb so the sticker price has to cover the whole cost; no "netflix" button on the remote control contributing a few bucks or whatever.

by mikepurvis

3/26/2026 at 3:00:31 PM

This has been a thing for years, and so much so, that there's an entire TV with a dedicated second screen that shows you ads underneath your main screen: https://www.telly.com

by andrewmunsell

3/26/2026 at 3:09:43 PM

Wow. I guess I'm surprised it took this long for banner ads to reach TVs.

I think I have my next startup idea: a physical ad blocker for this thing. We could even have multiple styles: yellow sticky note, duct tape, painters tape.

And if you want cheaper ones, we can print our own ads on your ad blocker!

by ifyoubuildit

3/26/2026 at 5:43:50 PM

"ERROR: PLEASE REMOVE AD BLOCKER TO CONTINUE VIEWING."

"TO RESUME PLAYBACK, PLEASE STAND UP AND SHOUT THE NAME OF THE BRAND ON THE LOWER SCREEN"

"THANK YOU. PURSUANT TO YOUR CONTRACT WITH US, A VIDEO OF YOUR PROMOTIONAL ENDORSEMENT WILL BE POSTED TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS"

by ImPostingOnHN

3/26/2026 at 3:14:54 PM

> Kinda a wild idea I had never really considered, but absolutely a possibility: using a TV as a loss leader to sell ads.

They did it with a computer to sell ISP services. Maybe they could sell a TV that requires streaming subscriptions?

https://www.theregister.com/2000/03/20/circuit_city_shuts_do...

by bluedino

3/26/2026 at 3:09:33 PM

TV has always been a loss leader for propaganda, so why not?

This comment brought to you by Ovaltine.

by h2zizzle

3/26/2026 at 2:49:24 PM

> using a TV as a loss leader to sell ads

That's Amazon's Fire TVs in a nutshell.

by stronglikedan

3/26/2026 at 2:52:14 PM

it is definitely a thing. a 65" 4K OLED tv costs less than 32GB of ram!

practically every other electronic has gone up in price like crazy, tvs have gone down.

by john_strinlai

3/26/2026 at 4:14:39 PM

Havent all electronics dropped in price?

Computers are cheaper. Phones are sort of cheaper. Headphones are cheaper.

Game systems cost more.

by prepend

3/26/2026 at 4:21:51 PM

>Havent all electronics dropped in price?

that does not reflect my reality, for the things i have bought (or considered buying), no.

but i dont have hard data to back that up, so maybe i am wrong about the general case and the price increases are more local or specific to some other variable.

by john_strinlai

3/26/2026 at 3:49:42 PM

At the moment, my strategy is only to own older TVs that have no smart features. Eventually this strategy won't work. When that happens I'll either use a computer monitor or forgo TV altogether.

by everdrive

3/26/2026 at 3:38:18 PM

"A Walmart spokesperson confirmed to Ars Technica that Walmart accounts will be mandatory on “select new Vizio OS TVs” for owners to complete onboarding and to use smart TV features."

------

Some questions prospective buyers should ask:

1. Is "onboarding" necessary for this "Smart TV" to function as a "dumb screen"? i.e. Would a user need to get a Walmart account just to access video settings?

2. Does it inject ads or phone home to share screen captures from HDMI input?

3. Is not giving it access to WiFi sufficient, or does this thing have alternative ways of getting "updates"?

by beloch

3/26/2026 at 2:50:58 PM

So, just like Google, Amazon, and Roku TV's? (And probably LG and Samsung too?)

by limagnolia

3/26/2026 at 2:55:06 PM

Google and Amazon make smart TVs?

by pavel_lishin

3/26/2026 at 3:03:02 PM

No, but neither do Roku. All three participate to embed their software (and hardware, probably) on smart TVs that other people make.

by toast0

3/26/2026 at 3:51:05 PM

Roku makes TV, as well as Amazon.

All 3 make streaming devices (Stick, set-top box, etc).

by 555513

3/26/2026 at 4:49:42 PM

Show me a listing for a Roku made TV? All the ones I've seen are for like a TCL Roku tv. Same for Amazon, usually the same makers.

n/m I do see that Roku sells tvs under its own name now. That's a change from the last time I looked.

by toast0

3/26/2026 at 3:07:24 PM

Amazon does in fact have their own brand TVs. I don't know if Google and Roku own a TV brand, but both provide the software that runs on TV's, and both require accounts and sell ads, so it comes out about even.

(Seehttps://www.amazon.com/firetv for Amazon brand TVs)

by limagnolia

3/26/2026 at 3:01:29 PM

TV/streaming devices. Amazon's launched in 2014 and GoogleTV in 2010 according to wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_TV_(2010%E2%80%932014)

by interloxia

3/26/2026 at 3:38:40 PM

Amazon has Fire TVs as well as the 'Fire stick' you're talking about.

by OJFord

3/26/2026 at 3:24:22 PM

I still use a Chromecast 2 on my non connected TV. Works well.

by beardyw

3/26/2026 at 4:11:46 PM

Recently I sourced two TVs for my elderly mom, who is never going to stream or use an app. I only looked at TVs which had their manuals online for review. I found two LGs which I could disable the app splash screen, and set to "select last input on power-up", which in her case is a cable box on HDMI-1. Don't know how long choices such as this will be available.

by greybeardgeek

3/26/2026 at 3:42:30 PM

Is this a benefit in disguise? You refuse to create walmart account, and therefore your smart TV is rendered dumb and you can just use it like normal?

by everdrive

3/26/2026 at 4:42:55 PM

Dumb enough to show a splash screen that might last anywhere from an infuriating time to nigh infinity, I guess.

by michaelcampbell

3/26/2026 at 4:49:11 PM

I have a Hisense Roku TV with on a network with a pihole. It can't reach any of it's ad networks so the interface is always the default. The default isn't great, mind you, but it is ad-free.

by nazgulsenpai

3/26/2026 at 5:01:52 PM

Just out of curiosity: why add the TV to your network just to block it from the internet?

Perhaps you stream content to it locally?

I have both a PiHole and SmartTVs — the latter never even get WiFi access (just use them as displays for CCTV & PS4).

by ProllyInfamous

3/26/2026 at 6:44:11 PM

It's just easier and my motivation is blocking ads. We have a PS4 also, and the PS4 shows way more ads than just the neutered Roku.

by nazgulsenpai

3/26/2026 at 6:47:33 PM

I also don't connect PS4 — but if you have your DHCP server issue your PiHole's address for DNS, then you can probably block that ad server specifically (just like you could for Roku/Vizio).

Wondering when the TV manufacturers begin requiring an internet connection to u se, perhaps even hard-coding DNS-via-https addresses.

>It's just easier [to connect TV to WiFi]

why? What does it make easier for your setup?

by ProllyInfamous

3/26/2026 at 7:00:38 PM

I don't have to do anything extra. I have a pihole on my network blocking ads, I have a Roku TV that has the ability built-in to stream from streaming services. I connect the TV to Wifi and my goal of having a streaming TV without ads littering the interface was achieved.

by nazgulsenpai

3/26/2026 at 5:23:31 PM

My Vizio TV stopped working when I put a pihole on our network

by kr1m

3/26/2026 at 4:47:27 PM

Used to use Roku, but why anyone would use anything other than an AppleTV these days who knows.

It’s obvious that the TV manufacturers have no motivation to provide updates and now they are moving to steal your data.

by daft_pink

3/26/2026 at 3:09:20 PM

Buy an Nvidia shield and never look back

by beastman82

3/26/2026 at 3:35:21 PM

Have they finally fixed the frame rate matching issues?

by pier25

3/26/2026 at 3:13:27 PM

And you connect that to what?

by dylan604

3/26/2026 at 3:15:52 PM

An airgapped TV I expect.

by m4tthumphrey

3/26/2026 at 3:55:23 PM

That's the point though. TVs like from TFA are preventing use when air gapped. As more manufacturers go this route, there will be fewer tvs that will allow that to work

by dylan604

3/26/2026 at 4:27:13 PM

Are they?

I skimmed TFA and what I consider "Smart TV features" are the things the Shield does: Apps, streaming, etc.

I see no indication that picture settings or HDMI features are disabled without an account.

I have a Samsung TV that is "smart" but I use a Shield and never touch my TV remote unless I need to adjust a picture setting.

by unethical_ban

3/26/2026 at 4:45:19 PM

And disable the telemetry and ads services.

by burnt-resistor

3/26/2026 at 3:22:50 PM

Reminds me of the insta go 360 3s cam I bought recently, have to install a mobile app on your phone to activate it. At least you can uninstall the app after.

The hardware is amazing, the software could improve in terms of how it deals with motion blur and surfaces like gravel.

by ge96

3/26/2026 at 3:25:37 PM

Now that you mention it, DJI action cameras required the same thing (installing an app to activate the camera). I bought one, discovered this during setup, and promptly returned it and got a GoPro instead.

by jonpurdy

3/26/2026 at 3:29:27 PM

at this point the TVs should be sold in ad and non-ad supported versions

by PunchyHamster

3/26/2026 at 3:37:39 PM

Wouldn't be at all surprising for Amazon to do that with Fire TVs, it does with Kindles.

by OJFord

3/26/2026 at 3:53:08 PM

Ad version $£€599.00 No ads $£€7.99 Profit.

by Ylpertnodi

3/26/2026 at 4:09:54 PM

Any TV I buy that forces me to create an account will be returned as defective.

by autoexec

3/26/2026 at 3:52:14 PM

You sort of have to admire what a clever purchase Vizio was for Walmart.

by havaloc

3/26/2026 at 2:55:02 PM

The best thing to do is just leave them as dumb TVs until a root exploit is available.

by 1970-01-01

3/26/2026 at 3:29:45 PM

This is a friendly reminder that your local e-waste collection site likely has no shortage of sufficiently dumb TVs available for the taking. (Check local regulations before taking anything without permission.)

by ethagnawl

3/26/2026 at 3:44:20 PM

This is why I have protonmail aliases, a burner second phone, and an x1 virtual cc. While I can't stop the enshittification, I can fight back by remaining pseudo anonymous and compartmentalize each service.

by -warren

3/26/2026 at 4:38:46 PM

TV smart features are almost always underpowered spyware, so no Wi-Fi for the TV to use it as a dumb display and BYOSTV.

If one wanted arguably less/different spyware, there's the Fire TV Stick 4K Max* $35, Apple TV 4K* $149, or Nvidia Shield TV Pro** for $199.

* Shows ads

** Shows ads that can be disabled by stopping Google/Android services

by burnt-resistor

3/26/2026 at 4:33:25 PM

I just got a LG G5 and I bought a $499 Mac Mini and a light up bluetooth keyboard with built in track pad. I never see the OS on my TV. Works fantastic.

by latchkey

3/26/2026 at 2:46:31 PM

For now, we can vote with our wallets and avoid this crap. But, how long until the entire TV and display industry requires an account to tether you to each company in order to use their products?

by ryandrake

3/26/2026 at 3:17:54 PM

I do that by never shopping at Walmart. I was bored one weekend, and went to a bunch of stores to compare prices. The Walmart near me did have somethings that were cheaper, but for the most part the prices were average with other stores. So I can honestly say for things I buy, Walmart is not worth it for me and it's not just the principle of not shopping at Walmart but it's a principal issue

by dylan604

3/26/2026 at 4:36:26 PM

The Onn TV sticks (Google TV based) are an incredible value (the middle of the line-up $25 version is the best deal currently) for a bloat/ad-free experience if you just install the free Projectivy launcher from the Play Store and uninstall any unused TV apps.

I just have Stremio, Jellyfin and VLC installed and remapped the free TV button on the remote to Stremio.

by ewoodrich

3/26/2026 at 5:02:46 PM

In every Smart TV thread there are dozens or hundreds of comments that say people don't put connect their TV to their wireless.

I understand. I've been an EFF supporter for decades, at least when I can afford it. I get it.

The problem though is that you sometimes want to screencast a video or song from your phone. Your dirty dirty phone that has been out in the wild collecting malware. Or a guest does. And sure, what's one video?

And of course your TV doesn't have the latest updates.

It's a fucking perverse incentive that will lead to more regulation of the Internet and IoT when we get malware "leaks" and outbreaks.

The civil libertarians have been co-opted with game theory and smart knowledge of the tragedy of the commons in this case by the intelligence services.

Instead of just educating citizens and democratic debate.

I don't have the political power to sell that idea now, and I know it sounds crazy.

Oh well. I wonder what I can't sell next.

by jgerrish

3/26/2026 at 5:06:58 PM

Never have I ever wanted to do that" The problem though is that you sometimes want to screencast a video or song from your phone."

by downrightmike

3/26/2026 at 4:58:40 PM

From a security perspective... never connect your TV directly to the network. But artificially creating a Walmart dependency is total garbage.

by josefritzishere

3/26/2026 at 3:24:37 PM

Wishful thinking but I wish the EU would legislate this BS away.

by Havoc

3/26/2026 at 5:33:32 PM

[dead]

by inquirerGeneral

3/26/2026 at 3:37:39 PM

[dead]

by theturtle