[ToniCipriani]

I just came across this:

HARDOCP - LG Dumbs Down Your Smart TV For Declining Its Privacy Policy

[geekpeter]

I just came across this:

HARDOCP - LG Dumbs Down Your Smart TV For Declining Its Privacy Policy

im guessing the reviewer(s) dont have apple/android devices then? which probably suck more personal data than that tv would.

also the poor bugger involved is in the UK and the story gropes for the data protection act etc to try and help or figh toff LG, do other countrys have the exact same or similar law?

[eblade]

Of course, no one ever blames the app manufacturers, it must be the device manufacturer's fault, right? ....

[Preemptive]

im guessing the reviewer(s) dont have apple/android devices then? which probably suck more personal data than that tv would.

also the poor bugger involved is in the UK and the story gropes for the data protection act etc to try and help or figh toff LG, do other countrys have the exact same or similar law?

The guy who posted the original story did make a list of URLs that could be blocked in the router. I suppose you could agree to the T & C's, then block the phoning home... I suppose that might count as breaking the agreement, but OTOH, offering a product with certain functionality, then after purchase restricting those services unless a further agreement is made seems underhand.

Free apps & services can get away with this because you can reject & delete. But a big TV isn't free. I think all manufacturers know that making it clear that a device you pay for will be recording your behaviour is not a selling point. Android exists to plug into Google services. Tizen exists to divert that stream to Samsung so they can get a bigger payback for all those devices - just like Apple is doing with fewer sales... That's a little simplistic, but everyone wants to jump on to 'big data'.

[bluenote]

I just came across this:

HARDOCP - LG Dumbs Down Your Smart TV For Declining Its Privacy Policy

Whoa, if that is the case, then I am out.

Went to someone's house a few days ago and linkedin email showed up a few minutes later asking me if I wanted to add their partner as a contact (not them, rather their partner who owns a business). I do not have linkedin app on my phone. Creepy.

Was it the GPS app (Scout) powered by telenav that connected my name to the address I was driving to and then sent all that to LinkedIn?

I don't know. I was using an iPhone. I try to use as little apps as possible and will look into deleting Scout.

[eblade]

LinkedIn just freaks me out a lot. But its existence has lead me to a lot of good work.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

[hellonnnewman]

LinkedIn is a great source of contacts but can also be bad if you don't use it a lot (but that's a whole 'nuther thread )

I'm one who hates allowing GPS access to apps unless I turn it on /off as needed. It's handy but unless you turn it off right after, you can have apps gather too much info for use after your initial purpose.

Sent from my HTC One using Mobile Nations mobile app

[Joery Lemmens]

Are you sure it's a WebOS model? It was my understanding that all WebOS models come with the Magic Remote, you might have the newer "regular" smartTV platform. Is this the TV you got? 42LB5800

If it is indeed a WebOS model and it still says coming soon on the LG Store sounds like you need to do an update, just go to about TV and click software update, it might just fix the issues with the USB as well, not sure about that though, but you need the update anyway!

Update: I updated the firmware, and I have the LG store now :-)
I tried plugging in my Logitech receiver (usb) for my wireless logitech keyboard and mouse, but that didn't work.

I haven't tried viewing pictures again from USB. But I did set up Plex server, and the LG tv plays my movies and series from my computer via plex-dlna on the tv very nice.
Except for subtitles. Plex server is set up to automatically search download and display subtitles, and that works on my plex clients, but on the LG tv via DLNA there are no subtitles unfortunately.

I also used the youtube and the redbull app on the tv, they work very well, just like the accuweather app.
I wonder if at some point lg will release a program to stream the tv input from the tv to the computer.

I tried screen mirroring but that dit not work. I have windows 8 but not yet 8.1, so natively from windows is no option.
I have an intel core i7, so i tried using widi but the driver said my configuration does not support widi.
I tried searching for a LG windows program to mirror to tv but that does not exist.
I tried opening chrome, installing the chromecast extension (ps i do not have a chromecast device) and tried to use the chromecast button in Chrome to cast to the tv. On several attempts, the tv was listed under available devices. But when I clicked it nothing happened to my tv. I tried several settings and options on the tv via DeviceConnect but nothing worked.

So I guess installing windows 8.1 would be the only option for me, but for now, reading this forum, it seems this does not always work well.

If i updated or figured something out, I will let you guys know.

[Joery Lemmens]

you can get a vga > hdmi adaptor, i use 1 for 1 of my FPGA Amiga emulator boards to hook up to a Project GAEMS Portable gaming case which has a built in hdmi screen.

I have a vga to hdmi converter cable, like this one:http://www.ncst.co.za/home/images/st...t/ghdmivga.jpg

I tried to use it to connect my small media center pc to the tv. It does not work at all.

[Joery Lemmens]

We do not support the profile yet. Currently we only support Bluetooth audio profile for headphone. Will we support it later? It all depends upon the voices from the field.

Thanks for the info David !

Please note that some of the LG tv models with webos are shipped without magic remote, which is my case. If you only have the 'normal' remote and not the magic remote, and you try to use the browser or the youtube app, then bluetooth keyboard support is suddenly very important to me.

So I would love it if this feature would one day come with a software update.

[gizmo21]

I just came across this:

HARDOCP - LG Dumbs Down Your Smart TV For Declining Its Privacy Policy

Here is the original article and another one showing URLs that potentially could be blocked if one does not like too much of "phoning home"

LG will make your smart TV dumb if you decline to share usage data | News | Geek.com

What can you do? Well, you can always agree to the ToS and then cut off the flow of data to LG’s servers. You just need to block a few domains:

ad.lgappstv.com
yumenetworks.com
smartclip.net
smartclip.com
smartshare.lgtvsdp.com
ibis.lgappstv.com

Don't know if those links refer to webOS or older smartTV versions and they perhaps will not be complete.

I know "don't buy a smart TV if you don't want it to be smart", but i think it should be in the users hand to decide what OK to share and what shouldn't be shared.

[geekpeter]

I have a vga to hdmi converter cable, like this one:http://www.ncst.co.za/home/images/st...t/ghdmivga.jpg

I tried to use it to connect my small media center pc to the tv. It does not work at all.

o bit different to mine, mine needs a micro-usb cable as a powersource.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
^ thats the one i used and works for my FPGA device(s) to HDMI output.

[Preemptive]

I have a vga to hdmi converter cable, like this one:http://www.ncst.co.za/home/images/st...t/ghdmivga.jpg

I tried to use it to connect my small media center pc to the tv. It does not work at all.

I think VGA & HDMI are different formats and there needs to be some circuitry to convert the signal. A cable that simply adapts the connector won't work. I'm not saying that's what you have, but there are some cheap and unusable cables out there. Check reviews and be aware that a proper signal adapter will cost more than a simple cable. I think the Apple Mac has a DVI video output which is more compatible and easier to adapt with a 'plug-changer' cable, but again, do your research before purchase.

[eblade]

I have a DVI <-> HDMI cable that works quite nicely, didn't try VGA <-> HDMI, didn't see that as an option when I went cable shopping anyway.

[fabianlanco]

AFIK VGA and HDMI are not directly compatible. That means that you need some sort of circuitry to make them compatible. That is because VGA allows only for analog transmissions whereas HDMI is digital only.
On the other hand, VGA -> DVI-I (analog only) or DVI-A works.

[hellonnnewman]

There are a lot of VGA to HDMI converters you can buy. Really no difference in format - just the way the signal is split.

https://www.google.com/search?q=vga+...x-a&channel=sb

[Joery Lemmens]

I think VGA & HDMI are different formats and there needs to be some circuitry to convert the signal. A cable that simply adapts the connector won't work. I'm not saying that's what you have, but there are some cheap and unusable cables out there. Check reviews and be aware that a proper signal adapter will cost more than a simple cable. I think the Apple Mac has a DVI video output which is more compatible and easier to adapt with a 'plug-changer' cable, but again, do your research before purchase.

You are right, after it not working (too late) i googled for a bit and now know that vga is an analog signal, and dvi and hdmi are digital signals. So yes the signal needs to be adapted and my connector does not seem to do that. It seems logical now that a proper working adapter will be a bit bigger for the transcoder chip inside and is in need of a power source to do the signal transcoding. (i am probably using the wrong word with 'transcoding').

Thanks also for the other user for this link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
so i know what a proper working adapter looks like. I might purchase one of these but for my problem, I also might buy one of these: 874000 Externe videokaart Aantal ondersteunende monitors: 1 in de Conrad online shop | 874000
An external video card for your pc that plugs in USB (compatible with usb 2.0 since my media center pc is old) with an HDMI out.

[gizmo21]

First german Amazon reviews of 42" model WITHOUT Magic Remote (LG 42LB650V):

http://www.amazon.de/product-reviews...RankDescending


* Preinstalled apps in germany:
"Vorinstalliert an Apps ist: Maxdome, Watchever, Youtube (durch Verknüpfung des Android Smartphones mit der Youtube App des TVs erhält die App „Chromecast“ Funktionalität!), Zatoo, Tagesschau, Amazon Instant Video, Browser." Appstore in germany since 16th may

* Many media are played of usb and wifi : "MKV,AVI, Xvid, Ac3, DTS, MPO, m2ts (Original Blu Ray) spielt er von USB ab"

* Instead of Magic remote a user takes his usb rf mouse. Mouse arrow is shown and e.g. scrubbing in media files works which does not work with usual remote:
Amazon.de: Michael Scharfe "Trust no one."s Rezension von LG 42LB650V 106 cm (42 Zoll) Cinema 3D LED...


* Some more comments about how to order favorite channels (i was asking before):

http://www.amazon.de/review/R1VESUJQ...wasThisHelpful
or
Amazon.de: Michael Scharfe "Trust no one."s Rezension von LG 42LB650V 106 cm (42 Zoll) Cinema 3D LED...

But some also have probs with ordering channels and having error messages on it.

* Energy Class: "49 Watt Stromverbrauch und Energieklasse A+" in eco mode (=darker), so usually "etwa 80 Watt"

* negative comments about the the fixed stand

* Sound seems to be good for such a pricerange

* 559,00 € in germany


---------------
42" WITH Magic Remote: LG 42LB671V

http://www.amazon.de/product-reviews...owViewpoints=1

* channels search too slow >20min.

* here also the favorites channel setting takes too much time about 1h (but got better in update 03.23.08)

* channel change times acceptable

* Update 03.23.08 brought overall performance

* manual search for updates seems to be extremely buggy (even in 03.23.08)

Price 799,99€ in germany


---

Magic remote 2014 will be 50€ in germany

http://www.amazon.de/LG-AN-MR500-Mag...&keywords=2014

[gizmo21]

In depth review of LG 42LB670V from the nederlands:
Review: LG 42LB670V - fwd - FWD Magazine

* Color Ok a bit blue
* Black value and contrast is only good with activated "local dimming"
* loss of detail in Trumotion
* good sound of 2.1
* Detailed videoformats test:
** mkv only first track played
** subtitles with special characters fail and position can't be changed to be in black video bar
** NO folder structure so scrolling through endless files from all sources simulatiouly required

Subtitle probs (taken from other review):


Video formats test:



TiP: you can get missing apps in a country by switching "country" in gerneral options - download it and switch back country

-----
Test seems perhaps based on older version < 03.23.08

[hellonnnewman]

Thanks Gizmo! We may want to think about making that last post a thread of it's own as a review.