[NA] “TV” in the current day

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
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west Texas
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Dave Taylor
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I have a TV screen in my living room that has not been powered up in 25+ years. This isn’t about if the device will work, I might replace it. It’s about what service is available these days as I’m thinking about it.

So, I have only been exposed to TV at hotels, movies at friends’ homes… but I don’t have a grip on what is truly available (and I’m not impressed with the samples I am exposed to either).

If I’m to watch TV this winter, it might be something like history, science, weather, maybe drama or mystery/spy. Never news, not sports or music. One family member has a penchant for occasional Hallmark-type shows (/V).

So how does it all work? I presume it all arrives via my Starlink. Any other devices needed? What services are good & might address my tastes?

Or should I run?
 
The only differences I can think of: 1. Signal source, older tv may only support over the air (antenna reception), and 2. Picture quality will be less than newer boxes. Be interesting what others come up with.
 
I have a mini PC connected to my TV for use with streaming services, instead of having a smart tv or Roku-type device. I also have an antenna. My viewing is about evenly split between antenna and be streaming.

It's not hard to find content on streaming of any variety, though sometimes it can be hard to find ~good~ content. I often Google "best shows on X this month", where X is the name of a streaming service, and usually will find an article or blog post where someone has done the homework. I've used Netflix, Hulu, and Pluto, the latter of which is free with ads.
 
I also don't watch tv except for football season I watch a few games.
I spend my extra time on the computer which just as bad.
My wife watches tv. If your tv is 25 years old I suggest getting a new one.
Plenty off good stuff on u tube and netflix to watch on your new tv according to my wife.
 
Streaming service gets turned on right before college football season. I watch college football, NFL, and college basketball. After the NCAA March madness is over, it gets turned off until the following fall.
 
Most new TV’s are “smart” TV’s, which give you the ability to download apps - Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and the like. Though the built in interface can be frustratingly horrible.

We’re entrenched in the Apple Ecosystem, so each of our TV’s are hooked up to AppleTV’s. For us, an elegant solution, working quite well with our iPhones and other Apple devices. Otherwise Roku is a similar option.
 
Bit of a flow chart here.
1. Are you in range of broadcast TV stations? - If so, antenna and the local TV stations will work
2. If no or you want more options - then streaming
3. If you keep your old TV, you'll need a device to translate the incoming internet signal to TV - Roku, Apple TV etc.
4 . New "smart" TV will have that internally
5. Streaming services - Lot's of them, generally in the $10 - $20/month range. Netflix, Hulu, Peacock etc. Some are aligned with Network TV (e.g. Peacock = NBC), some are independent of network (Netflix)
6. Do you have Amazon Prime? - if so you get their ad supported streaming for free

Lot's more than what's here, but kind of a starter kit. For what you are describing as a need, I'd bet one of the main streaming services that might have stuff you want to watch.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I have a TV screen in my living room that has not been powered up in 25+ years.
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Do you mean CRT, one of those big projection TVs, or a first-gen flat screen? If anything other than a flat screen, I would pitch it, and go to Walmart and buy the biggest screen you can get for $300. As mentioned above, if you are in range of broadcast stations you will have plenty of choices and can stop there. If not, then get a Roku or Apple TV or Amazon Fire stick and put between your Starlink and TV. Plenty of free streaming services if you just want background noise or old reruns (Johnny Carson, Carol Burnet, et al). You'll need to subscribe to a service to see and understand what all the young pups in the office are talking about (Love Island, ugh).

But if you've gone 25 years without TV, why start now?
 
My AppleTV home screen, if anyone's curious:

55457164009_a5ebc040c9_z.jpg


LOTS more apps to scroll down to access.
 
I have both streaming and broadcast. I had broadcast from day 1 when the house was built, redirecting the coax feed to the cable box to an attic antenna. It still worked great when analog went away, and I kept the functionality when fiber was installed for internet. As for the streaming TV, Xfinity shoves it up your booty hole whether you want it or not and charges you for it.
 
The bonus thing about the digital OTA local stations are the .X stations. Local channel 4 will have their main broadcast on 4.0, then they will fill in programming on 4.1, 4.2, … Sometimes it’s just junk to fill bandwidth, but sometimes you can find some interesting things. Set the TV to scan for available stations. If you think you only have 3 or 4 you’ll be surprised when it finds 30 or 40. There’s at least one website where you can enter your address and it will show you the stations you can get depending on your antenna orientation.
 
Trying to get a feel for what we normally watch: local news and sometimes network news (can be handled OTA), NFL (can usually be OTA unless it’s MNF or TNF), college BB (it’s rarely OTA). Then it’s almost all streaming. We have Amazon Prime, a discounted Netflix/HBO package through our phone service, and Apple TV. There’s a streaming service called Kanopy that’s free through our public library, but it’s not something we use much. I don’t usually care much to sit through a Bulgarian language documentary about rocks. Although we do use YouTubeTV, we could live without it except for the ESPN and other sports channels I like, and some of the other movie channels we watch. It also gets us local stations. I couldn’t tell you how many years it’s been since we’ve watched any network prime time shows. Once the local news is over, it’s time to see what’s on Netflix, or whatever. There are lots of good series out there.
 
Pretty much everything is on streaming services now. Unfortunately it's spread out across many different services that all require their own subscription. If you happen to have Amazon prime you already have one of the better ones and even then there are all kinds of add-on packages to get certain things. Disney plus is a good one for kids- Star Wars and all the Marvel stuff is on there now too. Really just all depends on what sorts of things you're into.

As far as new shows it's a lot of junk with the occasional really good series sprinkled in.
 
cowman said:
Pretty much everything is on streaming services now. Unfortunately it's spread out across many different services that all require their own subscription. If you happen to have Amazon prime you already have one of the better ones and even then there are all kinds of add-on packages to get certain things. Disney plus is a good one for kids- Star Wars and all the Marvel stuff is on there now too. Really just all depends on what sorts of things you're into.

As far as new shows it's a lot of junk with the occasional really good series sprinkled in.
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Yeah, that’s one problem: too many different subscriptions to deal with. I do tend to watch college BB, but that interest is declining now that it’s just another professional league. My team is normally on ESPN, but the league has a contract that puts a certain number of each team’s games on ESPN+, subscription only. Our local MLB team has a contract with a streaming service that’s not carried to the majority of cable subscribers in the area, so that becomes another subscription. I stay away from those, they just become a pay-per-view type of service.
 
Not really sure what you're asking.

I use YouTubeTV for the "TV" channels and networks.

YouTube (not YouTubeTV) makes up the majority of my screen time. Lots of channels for any interest. It's the first thing I go to when I turn on the TV.

I have MLB.TV (free with T-Mobile) and Braves Vision for baseball.

I have AppleTV for a number of really good shows that they produce.

I have Paramount+ and PrimeVideo, which comes with my Prime subscription.

All of my purchased digital content (digital copies of movies or purchased movies and TV shows) I keep/manage through Fandango. There's no fee for Fandango, just the one-time cost to purchase each show.

I will occasionally do short-term subscriptions to services like Hulu, Netflix, etc. when there's something specific I want to watch. i.e. subscribe, watch the full season of something, then cancel. Those listed above I keep active full time.

The great part about the streaming services is you can subscribe/cancel one month at a time. The bad part is that it can get expensive keeping a lot of different services active at once.
 
TVs...My first purchase on credit was a tv in a faux wood console from Sears with my first credit card. I was 18-19 years old in a one room apartment.
Then many years later bought giant projection tv right before the super bowl that year. When they delivered it, it was huge in a small living room. Took up about a 1/4 of the living room! It's didn't look that big in the store showroom! lol
 
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Hang 4 said:
6. Do you have Amazon Prime? - if so you get their ad supported streaming for free
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Amazon Prime does still have offerings to stream for free, but increasingly, the free content is stuff you might not want to watch. It's been well over a year since we've found a movie there that doesn't have the $3.99 upcharge, even with a Prime subscription. And that's not just on fairly new releases, plenty of 10, 20, 30, 40 old movies now have the upcharge added.
 
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Gary Ward said:
TVs...My first purchase on credit was a tv in a fax wood console from Sears with my first credit card. I was 18-19 years old in a one room apartment.
Then many years later bought giant projection tv right before the super bowl that year. When they delivered it, it was huge in a small living room. Took up about a 1/4 of the living room! It's didn't look that big in the store showroom! lol
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Similar story here. I'd just finished grad school, started a fairly well-paying job, and my first purchase for the apartment was a faux wood console TV. A stereo TV! They had just been introduced, and there was one and only one show being broadcast in stereo--Miami Vice. I might never have watched it otherwise, but I tuned in every week if only to hear the Jan Hammer theme that opened the show--in stereo!
 
Yep I'm disappointed with Prime too. They have, as most company's do, dialed down their offerings to the point I hardly ever use it any more for streaming. Even movies I've watched years ago now want a charge to watch again.
 
If it has an HDMI port, you can pretty much "upgrade" it to current standards by adding a Roku or AppleTV box, both of which are very easy to do and very easy to use.

You can still get over-the-air TV if you have an antenna for it, but it comes with all of the bad parts about OTA TV: You have to watch what's on being the big one.

Streaming is where most people get their entertainment these days. You can subscribe to various services to get the content you want, some things are still free (YouTube for example).

Cable still exists, but it's the worst of both worlds: The inconvenience of OTA TV with all the expense of streaming and much more. FWIW, most streaming services are $10-15 per month, and you just need a decent internet connection to use them.

YouTube is a great way to consume content that is more special-interest. There's lots of really high-quality stuff out there. Some of my favorites are Mark Rober (fun engineering), I Like To Make Stuff, Xyla Foxlin, Veritasium, Smarter Every Day, and Jared Owen (high-quality animations that explain how various things like the Space Shuttle, Las Vegas Sphere, and Titanic work/worked).
 
HDHomerun boxes can be used to record OTA. But you are at the mercy of the quality of the OTA signal.

(and the hdhomerun devices can stream to any of your smart devices that can run the hdhomerun app - there are minimum system requirements for that)
 
fyi
It has an hdmi port
No signals here (boonies) ; no OTA
Have Prime, fwiw

Want to get something that has minimal or zero ads. I forgot how off-putting that is to me.

Thanks
 
It's surprising to me how many over-the-air stations can be received.
I never turn ours on, haven't for years. Rarely watch it, but do watch a few shows with her that we both like. DW is addicted to the thing though. It's always on for background noise if for nothing else.

There are a few ok shows on network televsion. We have a TIVO DVR box that records things she likes so that she can watch on her schedule instead of theirs.... otherwise I think she's using the smart-TV apps to stream from Netflix and other services.

For video entertainment, I pretty much just watch youtube on my computer
 
If your TV is truly 25 years old with an old antenna you may not pick up anything at all. Old TVs are analog and will not pick up the digital signals that are now used. Maybe a new digital antenna will work but I’d splurge on a new 4K TV. They are fairly inexpensive.
 
Mike Leimetter said:
If your TV is truly 25 years old with an old antenna you may not pick up anything at all. Old TVs are analog and will not pick up the digital signals that are now used.
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:yeahthat:
The analog shutdown and ATSC digital cut-over happened in 2009.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
So how does it all work? I presume it all arrives via my Starlink. Any other devices needed? What services are good & might address my tastes?
Click to expand...
Yep, Starlink.

Just for drill, I did a signal search for your ZIP code and, as you note: there ain't nuttin'; "No towers found within 100 miles." Them's the boonies.

I think of myself as being in the boonies, but I can get Austin stations (and some other random'ish transmitters) from my home, and it's over 70 miles to the transmitters; pretty remarkable, really. I could also get eth San Antonio stations, but I'd have to move the antenna to an inconvenient location, and I am too lazy to bother. I have a Tablo box that is connected to the antenna, receives, records (as desired) and distributes the TV throughout the house overthe network. But, of course, I have a signal to get. And, I'm glad to have it, but it is interesting how little we watch of that; mostly the morning news. The newer Tablo boxes (mine is a "legacy" box) also getsome Internet streaming services.

Get a streaming device - I favor Roku for simplicity and compatibility with all manner of services; the hardware is cheap and it just works. THen, you load whatever services you want to use as "Apps" into your Roku, and they even "help" you by taking care of the billing through the Roku ecosystem. And, you can load the Roku app on your iPad or iPhone and watch all the content through that without having to load all the various streaming apps on the iDevice separately.

Then, you select the streaming resources you want; it can be a bear selecting just what you want, because different services have different bundles of channels available.
 
I agree with the go buy a $300 Smart Flat TV. I have been using the Visio Brand with Good results for a long time. Just stayed with Visio to keep remotes and menus the same. Have been using Netflix subscription for years, seem to have a good selection of shows and some there original programming is pretty good. Lots of American/World History Shows on it right now as a result for 250 Anniversary, a fair amount is there own content. Have to admit I have watched so much of these history shows I am getting burned out of them, but some still look interesting.
My Son put a hulu subscription on it as well, I have watched some of it but seem to prefer the Netflix selections better. Visio does have some of their own Free programming with ads, my wife has been watching some of those.

Also Agree might be worth investigating if Digitial TV is available for you. Do watch some of that as well.

As another poster mentioned am Curious what is making you decide to turn it on now?

Brian
 
so what streaming services don't have ads? and what DVR cloud streaming services allow fast forward while the program is being recorded?
 
My advice: Buy a computer monitor and a good speaker system. TV's are overpriced spyware.
 
Bob Noel said:
so what streaming services don't have ads? and what DVR cloud streaming services allow fast forward while the program is being recorded?
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Don't know. Don't care. I refuse to pay for a service that feeds me ads.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
My advice: Buy a computer monitor and a good speaker system. TV's are overpriced spyware.
Click to expand...
Looking for a good 75" computer monitor...

I do turn off ad tracking on the TVs, but as Samsung's disclaimer notes, that won't reduce the number of commercials you see, it just means they won't be targeted.
 
brcase said:
I agree with the go buy a $300 Smart Flat TV.
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Why go buy a whole new TV, when any old TV with a Roku may be every bit as good?

OK, so a TV that old isn't going to be 4K, maybe not even 1080P. It's a good start at least... And if it comes down to @Let'sgoflying! wanting a better picture later, the Roku will plug into any old (or new) monitor and make it into a smart TV without needing to learn a new remote, a new UI, etc... @SCCutler was spot on when he said "I favor Roku for simplicity and compatibility with all manner of services; the hardware is cheap and it just works."

2-Bit Speed said:
Even more services let you pay for the privilege of watching their ads. Like Hulu.
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Hulu is the worst. There was a time where they literally had lower-third ads superimposed on top of other ads. Sadly, they also have one of the widest varieties of content, so it's hard to get away from them entirely.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
So, I have only been exposed to TV at hotels, movies at friends’ homes… but I don’t have a grip on what is truly available (and I’m not impressed with the samples I am exposed to either).
Click to expand...
What you want to watch may not be what your friends like to watch... but they sound like they have the current technology. If you think they are the type of people that can explain what they're doing with their TV, the go have a chat with them. Also, @Hang 4 gave you a good basic list in Msg# 7 with his Flow Chart! And with a quick search I found a number of "How To" sites about streaming. Here's just one, but you can find a few of them if you want to do some research.
https://medium.com/@kathie_hol/heres-how-to-get-started-with-streaming-71fcc03da13c

As he mentioned, you can still use the antenna on your roof if you want, even with the newest of TVs. And there is Cable if you just don't want to deal with the streaming Apps, but it often pricy. If you have Amazon Prime for shopping, then you already have one Streaming account as it includes Amazon Prime Video. And Amazon sells there "Fire" TV line, which is an acceptable TV and obviously works hand in hand with Prime Video (though all of the new TVs work with streaming, so you do not have to get Amazon's TV to watch Prime Video.)

Do a little research and then come back to us here when you think you have a plan. But the bottom line is Streaming shows is not as hard as it initially may seem. It's really a whole lot like adding a App to your phone and then go searching for an article or some other info through that App.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Why go buy a whole new TV, when any old TV with a Roku may be every bit as good?

OK, so a TV that old isn't going to be 4K, maybe not even 1080P. It's a good start at least... And if it comes down to @Let'sgoflying! wanting a better picture later, the Roku will plug into any old (or new) monitor and make it into a smart TV without needing to learn a new remote, a new UI, etc... @SCCutler was spot on when he said "I favor Roku for simplicity and compatibility with all manner of services; the hardware is cheap and it just works."


Hulu is the worst. There was a time where they literally had lower-third ads superimposed on top of other ads. Sadly, they also have one of the widest varieties of content, so it's hard to get away from them entirely.
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Roku may be great, I just haven't any experience with it. I generally try to avoid appliances the require extra connections that I seem to always be troubleshooting. Roku I assume will require another power connection plus likely the HDMI cable, and then configuring TV to select the correct input for it. Simple enough, but not as simple as the Plug and play Smart TV, which seems to be complex enough setting up Wifi and subscriptions.

Not sure what level of subscription my son is paying for Hulu haven't noticed that Ads, but haven't only found it to have limited content i liked, or haven't already watched enough times I don't need/want to watch it again.

I do pay for the Ad free netflix. sure there are other good services but try to limit how many subscriptions I am paying for to a minimum and something I actually use.
 
brcase said:
Roku may be great, I just haven't any experience with it. I generally try to avoid appliances the require extra connections that I seem to always be troubleshooting. Roku I assume will require another power connection plus likely the HDMI cable, and then configuring TV to select the correct input for it. Simple enough, but not as simple as the Plug and play Smart TV, which seems to be complex enough setting up Wifi and subscriptions.
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If you can fly an airplane, you can plug in two cables that don't fit anywhere else, and select an input on your TV. ;)

Roku is kinda like the AppleTV (hardware) but cheaper. Connects to anything (hardware-wise and streaming services), simple remote, easy to use. My older TVs have AppleTVs plugged in, the newest one has Roku built-in.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
…If I’m to watch TV this winter, it might be something like history, science, weather, maybe drama or mystery/spy.
Click to expand...
Can’t help but ask what would cause you to change your behavior relatively suddenly?

Go from being a non-watcher to a watcher?
 
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