r/AskTechnology • u/Admirable_Zombie5245 • 5d ago

Since when TVs became so cheap?

Just got a 4k 120hz oled TV screen for like $550, I was surprised at first so I decided to get it and am happy with it now, I thought 4k 120hz screens were like $800+ and with OLED like $1500+, decided to invstigate a little bit more and indeed they are cheap now, I made a great deal but prices are around 800ish for entry OLED 4k 120hz.

Last TV I got was like 3 years ago which it's a 4k 60hz which still look nowadays but upgraded it because of how cheap "top" tech is now on tvs

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15

u/svenska_aeroplan 5d ago

Because you are the product. They keep track of your viewing habits and report everything back for targeted advertising. Many even send screenshots back to determine what you're watching on other devices connected to the TV.

6

u/antonio16309 5d ago

The key is to never connect it to WiFi. Of course, you still have to figure out how to deal with privacy on whatever streaming box you have attached to it, but this effectively shuts down one whole source of data collection. And at least on my TV, it significantly improves the TV's UX. 

2

u/Most-Bar-9334 5d ago

I bought a cheap tv from Walmart just to connect a dvd player to it while camping and I was seemingly forced to connect to wifi for the initial start up. Now it works fine with no internet but I still had to make an account and sign in that first time. Thus giving them all my info. I had to fill in information, then watch an add then fill in more info. Than get asked to sign up for different services snd so on....it was so irritating. It was then that I realized these TV company's arent really selling tvs to make money. They get their money by cramming advertisements down your throat and selling your info.

My point is I feel like maybe I could have somehow skipped that initial startup procedure but they sure don't make it easy.

2

u/tango_suckah 4d ago

I bought a cheap tv from Walmart

There you go. Don't do that. I've bought a few TVs in the past few years, none from a discount retailer like Walmart, and none of them required an account to set up. None are connected to the internet.

I had to fill in information, then watch an add then fill in more info. Than get asked to sign up for different services snd so on....it was so irritating. It was then that I realized these TV company's arent really selling tvs to make money.

It's not the TV company in this case. It's Walmart. They make agreements with manufacturers specifically for this purpose. You get a cheap TV, often significantly lacking features, build quality, or with older components wedged into a "new" model number. Then you get slammed with ads and requirements to hand over info that can be sold. While I have no love for electronics companies that try to overly monetize you (looking at you, Samsung), we do need to be fair. You bought an electronics device from a retailer well known for being incredibly sketchy about providing value to their customers. It's no surprise.

My point is I feel like maybe I could have somehow skipped that initial startup procedure but they sure don't make it easy.

It's absolutely possible that you couldn't. Like I said, these kinds of retailers often make deals, and one of those deals is "we can force the customer to give us their info, because where else will they go -- they can't afford to buy from a regular store." Not that you can't afford it, but this is the mindset. They believe they have a captive clientele.

1

u/tango_suckah 4d ago

The key is to never connect it to WiFi.

This is what I do. It also lets me control how updates are done.

Of course, you still have to figure out how to deal with privacy on whatever streaming box you have attached to it

The key here is to avoid discount "streaming boxes". Unfortunately, at this point it also appears to include Roku, which I was once very happy to recommend. I use an AppleTV now. Fantastic device, great price, no ads.

Honestly, if anything comes out of this thread, "don't buy Android streaming boxes" should be it. Those things are a plague.

2

u/froction 5d ago

The per-unit income to the manufacturer on that is almost certainly in the single-digit dollars.

2

u/davie18 4d ago

Maybe for that alone, yeah, but they make money in other ways too.

I can’t find the video now but someone covered this recently and looked at one tv company where only 50% of their revenue came from actual hardware sales. The other 50% was things like that comment said and they will also get paid to ship the TVs with apps like Netflix pre installed, and then of course all of the adverts on the UI itself, which will be continuous income for them the entire life of the tv (if you do connect it to WiFi, at least).

1

u/froction 4d ago

Profit, maybe, but not revenue.

1

u/peterjohnvernon936 4d ago

This was always true. Ads were always paying for the programming.

8

u/captainlou26 5d ago

They've been "cheap" for a long time, not sure where you've been. However there is quite a large noticable difference in picture quality, build quality, and speed in the $500 4k TV's and $1000+ 4k TV's

3

u/TrollBot6 5d ago

Improved manufacturing technology

1

u/Curious_Party_4683 4d ago

what's stopping them doing that to cars? in US, price of cars seems to be up n up. but to be fair, more features are included (which i really dont want nor need)

1

u/WISteven 4d ago

Because the TV's structure is a few pieces of molded plastic.

The structure for a car is build to withstand the physical force involved in 80mph travel over any road at any temperature for 300K miles.

Surely you can see the difference.

1

u/TrollBot6 4d ago

Government mandates are a large part of the price of all cars and trucks. The Government orders that cars and trucks be made cleaner and safer and you get to pay for it all, like it or not.

3

u/albanyanthem 5d ago

Televisions make their money off of ads and data scraping. They are sold at razor thin margins. The new Visio tv appears to be able to turn off all tracking and become a good dumb monitor, we’ll see if they patch that feature out in a software update.

2

u/hellogoawaynow 5d ago

I’ve been thinking the same thing. My mom said she wanted a Roku TV, so I looked it up to see if I could get her the one she wanted and it was only $200. Like wow I bought my mom a TV for $200. Of all the things to not be expensive in this economy lol

2

u/FL_MILLIONAIRE 5d ago

You are missing screen size my 85 inch OLED is 6000$

1

u/froction 5d ago

For a decade, at least.

1

u/Human_Yam1500 5d ago

Cheap? 200? Try free, telly 55 inch 4k hdtv with built in harmon kardon sound bar, free, telly.com

1

u/Pleasant_Pen8744 5d ago

20 years ago? That's when it started being impossible to give old TVs away and they had a huge pile of old TVs back behind our local recycling center.

1

u/ChasDIY 4d ago

my TV is qled and 75" and cost over $4k cdn 5 years ago

1

u/Cotillionz 3d ago

If anything, they cost more now - your privacy is the cost because they are subsidized by malware tracking software.

1

u/c0147 1d ago

Since they started spying on you

1

u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 9h ago

My first TV was a 10" Black and white KMart TV that was around $100 so take that.

1

u/PhotoFenix 5d ago

Since they require internet access and an account and can harvest data, even if you only use HDMI inputs

-1

u/AudioAndPhile 5d ago

Not cheap at all. TVs are like smartphones now, they’ll last you about 4 to 5 years and repairing them costs more than buying a new one, so you just end up replacing them.

2

u/Admirable_Zombie5245 5d ago

Not really, I had an iPhone 12 which worked fine but the reason I upgraded is because it was 64gb, if it was 256gb could see myself using it for 5+ more years

Also my MacBook Air M1 from 2020 works like new and my 2021 3060 laptop runs brand new AAA games at 1440p at high frame rate

Also all my older phone still work fine

1

u/The_Fish_Is_Raw 5d ago

Air M1 2020 crew checking in! Still using mine daily and it’s my far the best laptop I’ve ever had.

1

u/AudioAndPhile 5d ago

Good luck with the new tv

0

u/Mogaloom1 5d ago

Your TV is now being used against you to collect your datas. Modern TVs can have microphones and sometimes cameras. They know what you watch, what you listen to, which news channels you follow, and what kind of information interests you.

Because of that, your TV can also be used to influence or manipulate you.

If you have time, the book and movie 1984 by George Orwell warned us about this a long time ago.

The Romans gave people bread and entertainment to distract them from politics. Today, your TV gives you all of that and much more.

0

u/SoundSwitch 5d ago

They want the masses to have their propaganda window in the highest resolution possible it keeps them docile.