Smart TV owners are introduced to increasing advertising and tracking. Ad fatigue, only exacerbated by a trend that sees streaming providers trying to force consumers to sign up with ads, is understandable. We are in an age where one would rather use a broken laptop hanging from the TV than be closely monitored by a TV operating system.
Earlier this month, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware, a blogger named Carl Riis, who claims to be a software engineer, shared his DIY project, a Linux-based “smart TV”. Riis’s plan doesn’t stand out because it’s the most unique, the smartest, or the cleanest. Of course, if you’re the type of person who’s willing to pay a lot for televisions that have a strong aesthetic appeal, like televisions that can look like pictures or are transparent, you’ll be put off by EarlGreyTV. This system uses an old Lenovo laptop with a broken keyboard and is connected to the TV with a cable. As Riis wrote: “This might look crazy, but it’s been a great way to keep things organized while keeping access to the laptop.”
The laptop is broken because Riis spilled tea on the keyboard years ago. The keyboard stopped working, making it difficult to turn the laptop on and off. “I have to shorten the two pins where the keyboard connects to the motherboard. For this reason, I removed the back, which probably helps it not get too hot,” Riis wrote.
Riis has added another function so that the project is not only about using a smart laptop TV to broadcast and using the TV as a speaker. His computer sees its HDMI connection as a device and uses Debian Linux and, because of its simplicity, Sway as a desktop environment. Riis set Sway to open the full Firefox browser when you sign in. He made a Firefox home page, with shortcuts to streaming services and anything else Riis wanted in a custom HTML file. He also adapted it to Firefox using the userChrome.css file to give the browser a traditional TV look, including no visible address bar and an on-screen pop-up that appears when the volume is adjusted.
Riis knows his TV editing method is clumsy and flawed, but he says it “works for my needs.” EarlGreyTV is far from the best answer to the problems of smart TVs but it still has appeal as an ad and tracking alternative to smart TV software.
Aside from the faulty laptop, Riis says his project uses a 55-inch Samsung smart TV bought at a discount during Black Friday. Per Riis’ blog, the display is not correct for the project:
Ideally, I’d want a dumber TV screen—one that only shows output. But this one was on sale, and I bought it. I’ve seen people do cool things, like wake up a list of hidden TV services to completely fool it. I might do that at some point, but for now, the default settings can get Tizen OS out of the way enough for me.
Riis also has a USB-powered CEC adapter so that the air mouse can power the TV and laptop at the same time, since the HDMI port on his 5-year-old computer was does not support the optional feature itself. Riis even shared the iPhone manufacturing process with his design.
The package also includes an air mouse that doubles as a remote control that Riis says has a learning curve and feels a little “reduced”.
An alternative to Smart TV
Riis would rather use a tea-equipped laptop that relies on a cable and adapter for entertainment than smart TVs that are already installed on branded TVs. “I’m not here to bash other smart TV interfaces, but the short version of why I don’t like them is: tracking, ads, and lack of control,” Riis wrote. .
TV OS operators, including Roku, Vizio, Amazon, and LG, have a strong desire to build their ad businesses and ad tracking capabilities. Combined with the constant push from internet providers to get viewers to watch commercials, it can be difficult to get from your home TV screen to the show or movie you came to watch without to endure advertising first. For example, Roku recently started showing video ads on the Roku OS home screen, while Amazon is creating a variety of TV ads, including ads related to the upcoming AI version of Alexa .
Someone like Riis deciding to spend hours on this imperfect system is an example of how tired TV users are. Of course, Riis isn’t the only one sharing ways to watch TV online without using a smart TV OS or looking for smart TV alternatives out of privacy concerns.
Apart from ad fatigue, Riis is impressed by his ability to improve his experience of watching TV and movies online with browser extensions “like blockers/sponsor blockers or setting blocking times space.”
Riis’ project is on GitHub, and he’s shared a video about his work on YouTube, below:
It shows my smart TV – EarlGreyTV
#incomplete #DIY #smart #powered #Linux #fatigue
