Cite as: Real Problem AI problem “Which TV can I buy that does not track what I watch?”. Opportunity score 7.7 out of 10 (severity 7, AI feasibility 7, market signal 9, competition gap 8). Category Others. Trend Vision. Source signal: Ask HN "Which TV do you recommend for privacy?", 1 November 2026.. Canonical URL: https://www.realproblem.ai/idea/which-tv-can-i-buy-that-does-not-track-what-i-watch.
Which TV can I buy that does not track what I watch?
Almost every large 4K TV is now a smart TV that wants to go online and report what is on screen, so people who just want a big display end up keeping the TV off the internet, pulling out its wifi module or giving up on finding a privacy friendly model at all.
Who has it: Privacy minded households buying a new 55 inch or larger TV who plan to stream through their own box (Apple TV, a games console or a small PC) and do not want the set itself watching them.
- Severity7/10
- Feasible today7/10
- Market signal9/10
- Competition gap8/10
Heard in public
“I went and researched this, and found that basically none of the TV brands were anything but creepy on privacy.”
Quoted word for word from the public post linked below. Nobody submitted it to Real Problem AI.
Ask HN "Which TV do you recommend for privacy?", 1 November 2026.What nothing does yet
An independent guide and checker that tells a buyer, model by model, which TVs work fully offline, what each one sends home when connected, which privacy settings stick after updates, and which dumb or commercial panels match the size and picture they want.
Tools that solve this
3 named so far, and where each one stops.
- Never connecting the TV to wifi or Ethernet
The most common advice in the thread, but the set keeps nagging for a connection and loses features like input control and smart home triggers.
- Commercial displays and signage panels
Sold as dumb screens, but hard to find in shops, often dearer, and picture quality and warranty terms vary.
- Turning off viewing data settings in the TV menu
Buried under different names on every brand, and updates or resets can switch them back on.
How you might build it
- 01Network traffic capture and analysis
- 02Model by model test database
- 03Settings walkthrough generator
- 04Price and availability feeds
- 05Comparison web app
#NOV72 · Canonical URL: https://www.realproblem.ai/idea/which-tv-can-i-buy-that-does-not-track-what-i-watch