What are we doing for TVs these days software wise?

Hdmi cable to a laptop
- +1 that's what I do at home with my desktop and what is IMHO the best solution.
  Yet on vacation I use an old android box with Android Tv (SlimTv) and I have to say it's nice to have a dedicated interface allowing use of a remote.
  
  Okay, but then the TV is still running all the same spyware.
  Update: just disabling wifi doesn't guarantee 100% privacy anymore on a densely populated area. Nowadays you've stuff like Amazon Sidewalk and who knows who's partner and what devices are in it.
- Dedicated mini pc running vlc and retroarch with a network link to my 18tb file server schwing schwing
  
  Good choice, I've been tempted to set up something similar myself

Personally, I just use a raspberry pi with flex launcher. Not sure about remote though
- It should be feasible to get the remote working under Wayland
- Thank you for sharing this, it looks really promising
  I'm tired of only hearing of Kodi suggested in threads like this. I don't get why it's so popular, it's confusing for non-tech oriented people, you can't stream, YouTube functionality is questionable, the interface is dated looking and IMO an eyesore...
  Some people like Kodi and that's great but it sucks balls for other people and there's barely ever any mention of any sort of alternative (like your comment)
  These threads are usually just:
  "I need a device or software for watching tv that works with a remote"
  Kodi Kodi Kodi jUsT uSe A lApToP Kodi Kodi Laptop + HDMI cable
  
  Yeah, as much as I love Kodi it is simply not meant for what I want to do, streaming that is.
  
  Kodi isn't for streaming from services like netflix and YouTube. It's used to stream offline video files over the local network.

We've been using an Apple TV. From memory, there's a Jellyfin client.
- Apple isn't exactly my go to company especially for privacy and freedom

I use a raspberry pi with LibreElec/Kodi. It works with the HDMI-CEC, meaning I control it with the TV remote.
Jellyfin can be used as a source for movies and stuff with a plugin.
- Awful UI and my TV remote only has on off with CEC. I have a Bluetooth remote but the select key code is higher than 255
  
  Yeah, fair enough. Did you try kodi with a different hardware? Might be a bit easier on the clunkiness. But besides AndroidTV, which I hate because it doesn't do what I want, I have no alternative.
  I haven't dabbed in it, what does the select keycode being higher than 255 do?

Use the jellyfin kodi addon works very smoothly. I've been using it for two years and love it. I replaced all my chromecasts with kodi. It even has the approval of my wife.
- It even has the approval of my wife.
  He is the chosen one! Hail him!
- It isn't bad but it does leave something to be desired. Mostly a UI that doesn't require going though submenu after submenu. Also my remote control doesn't work with kodi as it can't handle key codes greater than 255
- Just started messing with this last night and can't find wjhere Jellyfin ends up after installing it.

Jellyfin + Apple TV + Infuse = Bliss
- Apple TV only works on Apple hardware and isn't great for privacy or freedom. No thanks.
  
  The "Apple TV" is Apple hardware.

You can debloat an NVIDIA shield android tv box, replace the default launcher, then install whatever else you want. It’s probably not perfect but it’s pretty darn good. That’s what I use and it can be updated without losing any of my customization.
- I don't own one but I agree, it ist very good. But it's too expensive for what it is nowadays. A second hand one or maybe the next generation might be worth it again
  
  Yeah we looked into a shield recently because we know someone who has one and we really liked it, plus I've heard it can be locked down and side loaded decently
  But then we saw the price of one and are not willing to spend more than half the cost of a brand new 4k tv on a little box to stream from our media server and Netflix...

- The Nvidia shield can run Lineage which is a option.
  
  Lineage has google tv version?
  can it be flashed on "google tv" teevees?

ive been through this process recently and sadly, what you are looking for doesnt exist at the moment. thr closest thing is Kodi and as you already know, has a lot of flaws.

ONN tv from walmart with all the bloat removed by adb and projectivity laauncher. you will not find a better option for under $30
- I have one but the bootloader could not be unlocked. I'll just reuse the remote as it was pretty cheap.
  
  is there a good tv focused android rom you know of that would justify unlocking it? i havent found any that dont act like a phone and require a mouse to use. i like the stock ONN over others because it was so easy to debloat without needing a new rom but i def understand wanting to have full control over everything too.

Do you need an in-remote microphone? If not, I'd suggest a degoogled nvidia shield tv (i.e flash it with lineage OS or similar)
- Not a bad option. However, apps are lacking and I don't want Google
  
  Lineage OS doesn't include google apps or services. Jellyfin works though.

For most of the Samsung TVs with the dogshit Tizen OS, you can use TizenTube to block YouTube ads within the TV OS and not requiring any new hardware.
- This sounds awesome. It uses the native YouTube app? Or YouTube in the TV web browser?
  
  I have no idea; go ahead into the github page and read about it.

Nvidia shield is an option you should check out.

I use an amazon fire tv 4k, I only use it to start jellyfin. It's perfect.
If you don't want it to phone home, put it behind a firewall, and block all but your domains
- I can’t recommend it for such a use case. There is no way to automatically start it unless somebody found a new workaround since the last time I tried it. (I hijacked the home button via a accessibility until they removed that possibility) Though it depends on your use case. It’s probably okay if you always have internet and never have the situation where you are offline and want to watch material from a USB stick or something like that or stream it from another home server. In that case fire TV would lock you out and tell you to fix your internet, but only settings are available and all apps are hidden.
  
  I didn't check for internet connectivity and I'm always onine. I just don't care that it phones home whenever I start the device.
  What's the best alternative? I'd move if there was one

I've been using a Chromecast with Google tv, and have deprived my tv my WiFi credentials. 90% of what I watch is from my Plex server, 9% other streaming services, 1% digital antenna.
It's not an ideal situation but as you know because you asked the question, the privacy situation in TVs is dire. Otherwise you're doing ridiculous shit like plugging computers into it or whatever.

RPi with minidlnad, all devices at home from computers, phones, tablets, video projector, even VR HMD, can play content with e.g VLC.
Very quick to install (basically have a media directory with your videos inside) and still very flexible, e.g new content is added simply by copying from any other device with access, e.g scp which itself can be a script after downloading something.

I've heard an nvidia shield with lineageOS is really quite good!
- What software do you use? I assume it is Google free
  
  It's WebOS for now sadly. I have a jellyfin server, but it frequently doesn't have internet as family members need the cable. And I don't have a lot of money to spare at the moment, but I hope to buy an nvidia shield 4k, and stream everything from jellyfin soon.

I use a steamdeck with jellyfin installed. It's not its main purpose but works well enough

even though Microsoft clearly wants to push Windows 10 users to Windows 11
does it still require a pointless hardware upgrade? then no, they clearly fucking don't.
- Because they want to make money. The get a licensing money for big OEMs. It probably was the OEMs who were pushing Microsoft to make everyone upgrade. They want to continue selling computers at a high rate.
  
  with the death of Moore's law they will find it much harder to add enough value to hardware to make upgrading worth it.
  I'm ready for the Linux switch but for many this kind of bullshit will strong arm them into buying new shit they don't need.

Cheapest TV you can find that has the specs that you are interested in combined with a $50 pawn shop laptop and an inexpensive wireless keyboard and mouse.
Linux is optional but highly encouraged.
Connect that to a USB dac which is then piped into an amplifier for 2.0 sound.
I could probably rig up a subwoofer for a little extra oomph but none of the amplifiers I found at the thrift store have a way to turn off a powered amp or power an unpowered one.
- I have a portable USB/Bluetooth DAC with jack, that get's me high quality music if rigged to my pc and can switch to phone/tv-box with a tap.
  Doesn't annoy my neighbors and is a better DAC than those built in wireless earbuds.
- I have a TV. I just need a good TV box which probably will be a old RPI
  Also I would rather continue to use Kodi over a keyboard. At least with kodi I can use my phone to control it
  
  A 4B is kind of the minimum for newer Librelec versions. Still cheap and fanless with a good heat sink case. I've learned recently about CEC and it works on my old Panasonic with Viera but I keep a little Bluetooth keyboard around too.
- Recently got this for my laptop/TV in the bedroom, this thing is awesome.
  It's a keyboard/touchpad/basic IR remote
  https://a.co/d/5UbzJGv
- Another option would be one of the t95 Android boxes. There are some really great tutorials on how to replace their stock firmware with a Linux and get all of the activity and availability that you would typically need as a media box out of them for just you know $25 and 3 to 8 hours of your time depending on how tech savvy you are and what your luck of the draw is.

I really dig my tcl roku tv. Ultra cheap and has plex/jellyfin. Has 1 ad on the main screen that can be easily blocked but can also be setup to insta launch an app on boot. These tvs also have decent latency in game mode too (my most important requirement).
- I remember that roku TVs refuse working until you connect it to the internet. their values/intentions are clear, I wouldn't give money to them
  edit: they also require registering a roku account
  
  Not true at all. Yes you do have to do an initial setup connected to the internet (and making a roku account), but after that you can disconnect it from the internet completely. It even looses its initial ad after a certain time.
- The ad on the right side of the home screen always shows up for me, even with a pi-hole setup at home. I actually ended up factory resetting my roku tv and disconnected it from the inyernet entirely a couple years back for that exaxt reason. Except roku OS 10+ actually gas built-in ads on the right side that show up even if you're offline.
  ...so how did you get rid of the ads entirely? Because I'd love to do that myself.
  
  You have to disconnect the internet for a while. Think a month or two.

Any offline or disconnected smart TV, pi 4 with Kodi (LibreElec), Steam Link, blu-ray player, AVR, and a Logitech Harmony remote to tie it all together. We have a huge disc collection that we've ripped and we also grab media from the library.

I have recently switched a second tv to kodi and I‘m very happy. I had an appletv but it is just so limited and reminds me that I dont really own that device. Now I can play retro games, watch all my movies, listen to music and see my favorite pictures without having to use apples ecosystem or paing them for being able to use my device.

Put them behind a firewall in the guest network.
- Who?
  I'm looking for a TV desktop environment