Disable your speakers and run your audio out through an amp/speaker-bar that has no internet connection.
You might not be able to stop Jack Bauer from personally tracking you, but the sort of dragnet surveillance most people are worried about can still, for now, be mitigated with effort.
Depends. If we’re talking about malware targeting a TV OS, doing that will not really improve things. Another side note, a soundbar might include a microphone. (Most do)
Overall, it is a viable solution, but I wouldn’t bet on it at all if I were to go for full privacy.
You’d have to pair this with removing the mics (as shown above) and clipping the speaker leads (or just damaging the diaphragm enough by poking something through the speaker grille).
After that?
Not an audio engy but I image a lot of external amps are built to prevent back-feeding out through the line in.
Worst case use s/pdif, and you’ll know that the only thing going through that wire is good ol’ one-way pcm-digital audio.
Also its not impossible to find a sound bar that doesn’t have smart features yet. Even if it is, they tend to age way better than TV’s.
Personally?
My living room has 480i and 1080i tubes at around 26/27inches each.
My bedroom has a dumb 1080p panel.
If I need something prettier I use my higher-res computer monitor (no baked in OS, just firmware for display settings.)
Disable your speakers and run your audio out through an amp/speaker-bar that has no internet connection.
You might not be able to stop Jack Bauer from personally tracking you, but the sort of dragnet surveillance most people are worried about can still, for now, be mitigated with effort.
Depends. If we’re talking about malware targeting a TV OS, doing that will not really improve things. Another side note, a soundbar might include a microphone. (Most do)
Overall, it is a viable solution, but I wouldn’t bet on it at all if I were to go for full privacy.
You’d have to pair this with removing the mics (as shown above) and clipping the speaker leads (or just damaging the diaphragm enough by poking something through the speaker grille).
After that?
Not an audio engy but I image a lot of external amps are built to prevent back-feeding out through the line in.
Worst case use s/pdif, and you’ll know that the only thing going through that wire is good ol’ one-way pcm-digital audio.
Also its not impossible to find a sound bar that doesn’t have smart features yet. Even if it is, they tend to age way better than TV’s.
Personally?
My living room has 480i and 1080i tubes at around 26/27inches each.
My bedroom has a dumb 1080p panel.
If I need something prettier I use my higher-res computer monitor (no baked in OS, just firmware for display settings.)