HTG 546: Dumb TVs Again - Pros & Cons of Modern Internet-Connected TVs

Hey there! Scott Wilkinson here, The Home Theater Geek.

In this episode, I answer a question from Lance Pellissier, who writes...

Many of us have things like a PlayStation 5 that can do almost everything we need online.

So smart TVs are just a waste of money.

Do you think dumb TVs will make a comeback? Since things like the PlayStation 5 can also be called a home theater in a box, what are the pros and cons of a home theater in a box setup? Well, thanks for the question, Lance.

First of all, very few people call game consoles like the PlayStation 5 a home theater in a box.

That term is most commonly applied to a product, a box, from a manufacturer that includes something like an AV receiver and a complete set of surround speakers.

And they're packaged as a complete system.

That's normally what is called a home theater in a box.

Game consoles like the PlayStation 5 are source devices.

That's certainly what I call them.

And they do an awful lot in the home theater, no doubt about that.

But I wouldn't call it a home theater in a box.

So you're right, game consoles like the PlayStation 5 and streaming boxes like Roku and Apple TV duplicate the smart TV functionality found in today's smart TVs, which are almost all of them.

So why build TVs with those features? Well, for one thing, not everybody has a source device, a streaming source device like a game console or a Roku or an Apple TV or something like that.

And TV manufacturers want to make sure that their products can be used right out of the box all by themselves.

Also, a lot of people don't want the complexity of an extra device.

So having everything in the TV, all the streaming apps and all that stuff, simplifies the operation of the system.

I think this is especially important for older users.

So that's another reason.

Another advantage of smart TVs is the ability to update their firmware online.

Dumb TVs can't do that.

So they don't have internet connectivity.

So you can't perform this particular function.

Another perhaps insidious reason that manufacturers prefer smart TVs is that they can, unless you set a bunch of controls properly, monitor what you're watching and tag advertising to accommodate that or any one of a number of reasons.