Older Samsung Smart TVs, Certain Roku Devices To Lose Netflix Support Next Month (techcrunch.com) 170
An unspecified number of smart TVs manufactured by Samsung will lose native support for Netflix next month, the companies said in an announcement this week. From a report: Netflix app installed -- or available for -- Samsung smart TVs manufactured in 2010 and 2011 (C and D lineups) -- and likely sold for many years after that -- will stop functioning December 2, Samsung alerted customers this week. In a statement, a company spokesperson said these TV models were sold only in the U.S. and Canada. In its statement, the top smart TV manufacturer advised affected customers to look for a game console, streaming media player, set-top box or other devices that still support Netflix app to continue their binge-watching sessions. A Netflix spokesperson cited technical limitations for the change. The developement comes weeks after Netflix alerted several Roku customers that they, too, will lose access to the streaming service on December 1.
Sign of the times (Score:5, Insightful)
Buy, use, throw away, buy more.
Percent? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder what percentage of landfill "works".
It all successfully fills the land, so I'd guess 100%. Maybe 0.1% gets blown away in the wind and/or rain, but then it's filling land in ANOTHER location, so still managing to fulfill it's purpose.
Re:Sign of the times (Score:4, Insightful)
When I was a teen we had a TV in each room but those weren't so smart and made a lot of heat too.
You're missing the point. Take the most energy-sucking TV from 30 years ago, and the damn thing still works.
Due to either technical obsolescence or shitty hardware just simply dying, I'll have to buy multiple "smart" TVs to replace a piece of hardware that used to last decades.
There's no amount of "energy-saving" arguments that will offset that amount of electronic waste, and we're only talking about one type of consumer tech that has become disposable due to greed.
Re:Sign of the times (Score:5, Insightful)
Uh, the TV still works in this case - you just need to plug in a Chromecast or something to get the Netflix app because your POS is so old that Netflix doesnt want to support it still.
But it still works as a TV, just the same as your energy-sucking CRT TV from 30 years ago does - and equally, you almost certainly need a digital-to-analog conversion box to do anything on that 30 year old TV anyway.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Which is missing the point. It's a tv. Why can't Netflix, or anyone else, "support" it. It's essentially a display terminal. Date comes in, it displays it.
Why does a tv need middleman software to display a video? Or even access it? If the tv (now) has a network connection, you should be able to select Netflix, scroll through their list of titles, and select one. There is absolutely zero need to have versions of software which wi
Re: (Score:3)
You're posting on slashdot, and don't understand that smart-tv app content is delivered in a compressed format that requires hardware/software decoding?
It's not like netflix is sending baseband or even ATSC video streams.
So if they want to move the netflix service to a NEW codec, they will not be able to support legacy devices.
Or they could just stick with the exact same codec for 30 years like we did with analog TV (NTSC/PAL).
Re: (Score:2)
Believe me, it's not the CODEC. They just don't want to implement new software features on so many devices. I actually bought a new TV, because Hulu was dropping support on my Sony Blu-ray player - again, having nothing to do with CODEC's. Okay, the old TV was a 32" 720P model that took up as much space as the 43" replacement. But it still worked perfectly - and had real speakers. So now the 43 incher also has a soundbar taking up space (and adding 50% to the cost of the TV). Progress!!!
Re: Sign of the times (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, it could be. Some of these older devices canâ(TM)t handle the newer AVC profiles or GOP structures like pyramid B-frames for example. Then they have the challenge of updating software on otherwise obsolete devices. It becomes difficult and expensive keeping around enough old hardware to test on. How well are older Android phones supported, and then extrapolate that to a TV? The idea of one box and one remote is nice, but maybe dumb TVs are the better choice long term.
I canâ(TM)t comment about these particular TVs, but we had problems 2-3 years ago with some Sony TVs that couldnâ(TM)t handle pyramid B-frames, and its player based on Exoplayer couldnâ(TM)t handle some fairly basic features of the MPEG-DASH IOP in the playback manifest file
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Sign of the times (Score:4, Insightful)
You're both missing the point. Why can't you just buy a TV these days without all the 3rd party apps that will eventually go obsolete. I guess putting all that stuff on a TV that is essentially a computer anyway doesn't cost you (much) more. But I'd rather have more inputs and, yes, rely on a cheap external device to access content.
My Samsung set (an older 1080P model I bought recently because the viewing angles are shit on the 'better' newer, similarly priced 4K ones) has so many apps to scroll through, it's a big pain (okay, a little pain) - and it insists on returning you to their 'smart hub' menu whenever you exit the settings menu. But hey, Netflix still works on it... for now (but apparently not for as long as if I'd bought the shitty 4K model I didn't like).
Re: (Score:3)
What's the point of buying a TV without that stuff? Then you have to buy a box for it anyway. At least with these TVs you didn't need the box for the last 9 years.
Re: (Score:3)
It should be cheaper. Less hardware required, less development required, less support required. I've never seen a "smart" TV with the anywhere near the streaming choices and the UI offered by a $50 Roku, or a few other similar choices. Unless you buy a Roku TV, I suppose.
Re: (Score:2)
Which is missing the point. It's a tv. Why can't Netflix, or anyone else, "support" it. It's essentially a display terminal. Date comes in, it displays it.
Why does a tv need middleman software to display a video? Or even access it? If the tv (now) has a network connection, you should be able to select Netflix, scroll through their list of titles, and select one. There is absolutely zero need to have versions of software which will obsolete your tv in 3-4 years.
No, its not missing the point, and its not a "TV". We stopped having "TVs" when we switched to digital, let alone when we started getting content delivered over the internet rather than broadcast. TVs have had to do ever more work since the digital switchover, and this is the outcome - the content that Netflix wants to deliver today is not the content that Netflix wanted to deliver a decade ago - and your TV cannot support the new streams at new compression levels etc. And no, its not Netflix job to be y
Re: (Score:2)
Why can't Netflix, or anyone else, "support" it.
I can output Netflix to my TV just fine. What I might not be able to do is run Netflix on the "computer" on the TV.
Expecting your TV to output video that it receives on the video port years later? Totally reasonable. But would you expect to be able to run all of today's programs on a decade-old computer? Unfortunately, that's the paradigm we're dealing with here.
Really, all I ever want is my display devices to display video I feed to them. I don't need them to support Netflix or Hulu or anything else direct
Re: (Score:3)
Dude's got a 7 digit Slashdot ID. Probably a Millenial or a Gen Z. My ID's way older than yours and I'm only Gen X.
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. When I got my Samsung smart TV 4 years ago it was already struggling to run Netflix smoothly so I never used it for that. About 2 years after I bought it I started getting banners across to the top of the display when I turned it on saying "application X will be retired in 28 days due to lack of support/upgrades/the processor in this TV is too shitty to run it anymore/etc" for a whole host of preinstalled apps. After I got 3 or 4 of those I just turned off its wifi completely and went to using ei
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Baby-boomers were born right after WWII. 1940's and 1950s. I'm not 70.
Normally I wouldn't give a fuck, but I don't want to be confused with the generation that fucked us. I'm GenX. Boomers are my parents generation.
"ok, boomer" is the new "whatever, old man".... unapologetic ageism aimed at anyone over 30. Choke on some avocado toast faggot.
PS: please lie to me and tell me you're doing it ironically.
Re: (Score:3)
Which is missing the point. It's a tv. Why can't Netflix, or anyone else, "support" it. It's essentially a display terminal. Date comes in, it displays it.
Ok, boomer.
Whatever, snowflake.
Re: (Score:2)
Except for my Sony/Google TV that has the TV as an app in an android back-end. It tries to sync to google every few minutes and pops up an error message in the middle of the screen.
It's basically un-usable. I managed to hack around it a bit, but other people won't be as fortunate.
Re: (Score:3)
When I was a teen we had a TV in each room but those weren't so smart and made a lot of heat too.
You're missing the point. Take the most energy-sucking TV from 30 years ago, and the damn thing still works.
Yeah, in the same way that the Samsung TV still works.... you now need a 3rd party adapter of some kind to receive the updated signals.
Re: (Score:3)
Or you know, ignore the "Smart" part of the smart TV, which is almost certainly low quality and performing all sorts of unwanted surveillance if you connect it to the internet (Samsung is especially notorious for that) and just buy a TV. Which will continue working as a TV until the hardware fails. And then you can repair it if you want to (though unless it's something really basic it's a fair chance that buying a new TV will be cheaper).
Personally, given the choice between a "smart" and "dumb" TV for the
Re: (Score:2)
I just use an old Dell desktop via HDMI to watch any internet video. Cost next to nothing, and easy to update if needed. Geez, it’s not like you guys don’t know how to set it up, a cheap wireless mouse and mini Bluetooth keyboard and it’s done.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. Or use a newer computer - a 4k TV makes for a dang fine monitor, provided you shop for the details that matter for monitors. (I've been very happy with a TCL 43" - checks all the important boxes, are both amongst the highest rated as monitors, and the cheapest overall. I just wish it were a little smaller)
Re: (Score:2)
Actually TV repair is making a comeback. 9 times out of 10 it's either capacitors in the power supply or one backlight LED has failed. Often not hard to fix.
Re: (Score:2)
I would choose the dumb TV even if it was significantly more expensive than the smart TV. I already have a separate Nvidia Shield box that blows away the performance of anything built into a TV - plus it runs an uncorrupted stock Android TV.
Re: (Score:2)
every CRT TV I've ever had the tube went bad at some point
it doesn't still work
Re: (Score:2)
You overestimate the reliability of those old TVs. There were a lot of repair shops back when repair was viable.
People into retro computers will tell you how unreliable monitors of that era, which often used better parts than TVs, are.
Re: (Score:2)
In other words (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Your smart TV is now a dumb TV.
But you paid more for that dumb thing..
Who's really dumb now?
Re: (Score:2)
The last time I bought a TV, the "Smart" ones were more expensive due to the subsidies the providers gave the manufacturer.
Re: (Score:2)
and by "more" I meant "less" sorry, I didn't proof read
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
When I've seen them marketed they are indeed more expensive, though not enough more to account for the added hardware and headache I'm sure it causes support, but about on par with buying a Roku or other streaming device to add on...
Personally, I buy a TV for the display and connectivity, not because it's "smart" and can stream stuff, or at least I do now. I'd rather buy some streaming device and add it on, where I can update the hardware when stuff like this happens. If you build it in, woe to you shoul
Re: (Score:2)
Your smart TV is now a dumb TV.
Maybe they should just start making them battery powered. That way it'll just wear out and break before consumers can complain about lack of software support.
Re: (Score:2)
SmartTVs have always been one of the dumbest ideas people have ever come up with.
Right now there's a retired SmartTV executive sunning themselves somewhere on a beach they own, wondering who's the dumb one here.
OK... (Score:2)
So now what? No TFA? WTF? A little more information would be nice, you know, not just repeating some article from somewhere else. At least post a link to it, please.
Quality not Quantity, fellows.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The reason is that Slashdot doesn't know the difference between a title and a freakin' link.
Re: (Score:2)
Those older devices were crap (Score:3)
Stuttering streams and weird audio glitches plagued me until I upgraded my Roku. I bet Netflix is just tired of trying to tell customers that it was their device, rather than Netflix, that was causing playback issues.
Re: (Score:2)
I bought a $50 small form factor desktop and run Sling from within a browser. Trying to use a Roku was painfully slow. Codecs haven't changed so the only answer for slowdown is planned obsolescence.
Re: (Score:3)
In my case, my old Roku just did not have enough RAM to buffer streams effectively. Not really "planned obsolescence" just the usual "devices come with more RAM now than they used to."
Re: (Score:2)
Fundamental problem w/ “Smart TVs” (Score:5, Informative)
The vast majority of people replace their television (assuming they even own one) maybe once a decade or even less, yet most manufacturers treat them as if their lifetime was on the order of two or three years.
This particular piece of news is only surprising in the fact that Samsung supported these TVs for a relatively long period. By point of comparison: My 2011 LG television had lost most of its functional apps by 2015-2016.
Re: (Score:2)
They could probably easily release an update to fix this, but they won't because they want to sell new TVs.
Really, both Samsung and Netflix are at fault here; Netflix could easily just not deprecate their API. I'm sure they have their selfish reasons too, though.
Re: (Score:3)
Netflix could easily just not deprecate their API.
Perhaps their old DRM has been cracked and they need to switch to more robust encryption. But the old hardware won't support the newer system. But if Netflix doesn't upgrade, the studios will yank their content.
Sue the studios.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Planned obsolescence in a throw away society, it's the corporate way.
Re: (Score:2)
Even with cellphones, we might've kept our landline (and our old slimline corded phone)... if Century Link hadn't been trying to charge us $45/month for the privilege.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Cue class-action suit in 3... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Good luck with that. The primary function, being a television, is still viable so you're going to have a hard time winning anything in a court. At least in the USA.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, I seem to recall a number of big settlements for this sort of thing. Of course, the lawyers get all the settlement money, in practice, but at least the threat of lawsuits gives manufacturers pause when deciding whether to put in a feature, forcing them to decide if the feature is actually maintainable long-term.
Re: (Score:2)
They'll likely indicate that the apps support was to "subsidize the cost of the television by use of partner programs" and that over an 8 year period of time those partner programs can change. They will continue with "You're lucky we gave you the subsidized version of the TV 'cause the normal version without the apps is STUPID EXPENSIVE and you wouldn't have been able to afford it."
Then again, I'm feeling cynical today.
Re: (Score:2)
self driving cars stop updates after 2-3 years! (Score:2)
self driving cars stop updates after 2-3 years!
Re: (Score:2)
Pretty sure there's some legal precedent for suing the pants off a manufacturer who remotely lobotomizes your product after you purchase it. Something about provable harm, fraudulent advertising, fitness for purpose and so on.
Yeah, because software and hardware obsolescence isn't a real thing at all, right?
And what exactly is your argument here? That a channel on your smart TV (that is otherwise working perfectly) no longer works? Good luck with that "fraudulent advertising" bullshit. Samsung sold you a TV, not service.
This rather seems to me like a manufacturer saying, "Your 8- and 9-year old cars will lose support for their OEM gas tank next month, which will no longer hold gas. We recommend that you purchase and install a third party gas tank in order to keep your car operational.
Yeah OK. Let's boil this down to what it actually is. Your favorite drink doesn't fit in the cupholder because the manufacturer changed the size of the can.
Normally I'm all for car analogies, except for thos
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Cue class-action suit in 3... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
maybe netflix does not do the manufacturing but they do the coding. you would think they would at least let their users use a stripped down version of their app or continue using the old app on those devices.
personally I am against any class action since the only one who gets anything are lawyers and the consumer get coupons for free subscriptions.
(! smart) TVs (Score:5, Interesting)
I visited Dad this summer and while there he asked me to look at a TV in his house that could not receive OTA signals. It was an LG smart TV, maybe four or five years old, with built-in wifi. It errored out whenever I tried to do the automatic channel scan. Some online searches mentioned that it required Internet access (?!?) in order to do the channel scan, so I hooked it up to my cellphone's hotspot, but it still produced the same error after that. Further investigation showed that LG decomissioned the servers that the TV needed to download a region file before it'd run the channel scan.
This, having a non-upgradeable embedded computing device dependent on the grace and goodwill of its manufacturer, is why I don't intend to buy a smart TV ever. The issue with these Samsung TVs, while not as bad, still represent a loss of service for owners.
Re: (Score:3)
The goodwill of the manufacturer likely has nothing to do with it. Netflix has been migrating over from h.264/AVC encoding to h.264 high profile and VP9, and these devices probably simply do not have a hardware decoder that can handle such streams in real-time. A similar issue happened several years ago when Google switched YouTube over to VP9 - th
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly this. My "Smart" TV doesn't get to access the internet, and I've got a little Intel NUC pushing any video I need to it. It doesn't matter what apps the TV is running, or what hardware it has. As long as it can handle HDMI in, I'm good to go.
The NUC has at least some upgradability, but when it no longer can handle YouTube and Netflix, it's not exactly an expensive piece of hardware to replace. However, that will be quite a few years into the future, I'm guessing.
Re: (Score:2)
They were nice before Roku. Now there is really no reason for them with Roku being something like $20 at Wal-Mart. And the "smart" TVs of old work just fine as a dumb monitor.
what kind of technical limitations? (Score:3)
A Netflix spokesperson cited technical limitations
At a guess I'd bet that the processor, storage and memory installed at the time were the absolute bare minimum required to make the original version run. Now there's a new codec or whatever and the old cpu/ram can't be made to run it.
Buying a smart TV = expensive (Score:2)
seeing the look on your face when a smart TV makes you look dumb - priceless.
Re: (Score:2)
A dumb TV usually costs more than a smart one. If I had to guess why, it would be that they get paid for/by the smart TV functionality somehow, either through ads or bundling. But buying a smart TV is still much dumber than buying a dumb TV...
Good lesson: Don't buy the bells a whistles (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Give me a Dumb TV (Score:5, Insightful)
I did not want "smart" that would expire in a few years (as proven here)
I did not want 3D TV (we see how well that worked out)
I do not want 4K TV (its the modern version of 3D TV) I did not want a curved screen (stupid idea)
I did not want a TV that would spy on me and what I watch
All I wanted was just a plain dumb screen that I could make smart my hooking my own tech solutions to it.
TVs are NOT a fashion item, there is no need to upgrade them to the latest technology wank idea, so they SHOULD come with a 10-15 YEAR free support guarantee
Re: (Score:2)
Which model did you buy, so those in the market for a dumb TV, will know what to get. ...assuming you *can* still get it...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There are certain combinations of room/lighting layout and viewing distance:screen size for which a curved screen is ideal.
Then there are all the rest of them.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.rgb.com/display-si... [rgb.com]
Also, when fast changing scenes happen the eye/brain can not keep up so it "fakes" what it sees.
TVs are VERY careful about what they show on demo screens, most often scenes that do not change much and with HDR on vs HDR off for the "1080p" view People are also put into positions in stores where they are forced to stand much closer than they would sit at home, and so the extra resolution shows, but at home, more than 5-6 feet from the screen, your eyes can not
If you don't need coax, just get a monitor (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Swimming Against The Tide. (Score:4, Insightful)
PS3, still going strong (Score:2)
Hilariously, my PS3 Slim, which was released in the year before these Samsung TVs, still gets Netflix updates.
Smart TVs are a terrible idea—the margins are already slim, and the manufacturers have no particular reason to keep them updated. That means ultimately, they're WORSE than a dumb panel because you paid for something that will eventually not work, and might interfere with your ability to use your TV as just a TV.
By the best, dumbest panel you can, and hook things up to it. I'm not looking forwa
Re: (Score:2)
Hilariously, my PS3 Slim, which was released in the year before these Samsung TVs, still gets Netflix updates.
Even the Wii outlasted some smart TVs in that department. The PS3 has way more balls than most of these devices.
Remember when broadcast TV went digital? (Score:2)
When broadcast TV went digital in the US, it literally required an act of congress. It was considered such a big deal that the government had to pay for digital-to-analog TV converter boxes for Americans. Perhaps congress should mandate that if a smart TV suddenly loses the ability to become a TV, the manufacturer has to reimburse the owners for the new streaming media box they have to buy?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Remember when broadcast TV went digital? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
What a screwed up analogy. Broadcast TV went digital BECAUSE the government forced it. Since the government forced the change, they (not the manufacturers) paid for converter boxes. In this case Netflix forced the change. Why should the manufacturers bear the burden of that? Your smart TV did not lose the ability to be a TV, it lost the ability to receive Netflix. If your favorite TV channel stops broadcasting, is that the manufacturers responsibility?
Re: (Score:2)
Ok, you make a good point. So how about Netflix buys the box since they are the one who broke the protocol?
Smart TV = WebTV (Score:3)
Am I the only one that had flashbacks to the old "WebTV" when the smart TV's came out? It really is a matter of WHEN and not IF these apps on the TV's will fail.
On the plus side, I'll be able to pick up a decent TV on Craigslist and use it for OTA channels now!
Roku 3 (Score:2)
Then I see this article.. what is going on? I get that technology changes but feel that should be easy to overcome with a software update from either side.
Re: (Score:2)
You think that's bad.. You should look at PLEX support....
Good thing (Score:2)
Smart TV, dumb purchase (Score:2)
These "smart" TVs spy on you and only run "native" apps for a limited time until the OEM drops support for it.
Sounds like a dumb purchase compared to a normal TV that has *one* job -- display content.
Sony just pulled this shit on my DVD players (Score:2)
several? (Score:2)
>"The developement comes weeks after Netflix alerted several Roku customers that they, too, will lose access to the streaming service on December 1."
Only "several" customers?
Consumer Protections (Score:2)
There was a time in the US were consumers would have been protected against this, even as recently as the move to digital TV people at least was able to buy 'discounted' antennas. But that was the beginning of the end because that did not cover the full costs for a lot of people and the ones sold has issues.
Many years ago you bought something, you owned it and it worked without an outside entity stopping it from working
Once again all this proves is the US government has been sold to the top 1% over the ye
The only reliable "smart TV": notebook in HDMI (Score:3)