Dumpster Diving for a 46" TV
Nov. 26th, 2020 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI scouted out the location of our garbage and recycling bins. I returned with a 46" TV that was sitting by the receptacles. Plugging it in, I found that it seemed to work well other than a bad backlight affecting the right quarter of the screen. I figured that if it's a bad inverter, it should be an easy fix and the TV is big enough for Danae and I to play split-screen co-op games on. The TV that came with the apartment was just not working. We'd considered moving it, but don't really want to have it in the middle of the room.
I laid it face down on the glass table and started disassembling, putting various screws into labeled boxes on a piece of paper for reassembly purposes. I determined the screen is edge-lit, and the back of the display panel looked quite difficult to access. Even with all the chassis and bezel removed, the panel was still connected to the metal plate that serves as a mounting for all the boards.
I turned it on again to see if I could better understand how the backlighting worked and to my surprise, it *really* worked. The whole screen lit up at full brightness. I can only assume someone dropped it or something and jostled one of the backlight connectors. I played a little bit of Super Mario Brothers on it lying on my back under the table to see if it kept working (it did), then put it back together. 69 screws from six parts later, it was standing up on the TV console in place of the 32" TV that was there before.
So, free Samsung 46" 3D-capable smart LED TV with wi-fi. Score! It has one row of bad pixels on the far right edge of the screen that I hardly notice, and the speakers are staticky, probably from being overdriven and blown. (Who plays their TV that loud?) This was a top of the line TV that cost about 1800 gbp nine years ago, and it is hands down the best-looking video display I've ever owned. The LED backlighting allows for brilliant saturated color and deep velvety blacks. I'm impressed.
I'm *not* connecting it to the network unless I can firewall the hell out of it so it doesn't report my activities to its masters. A friend told me I should make sure I turn off the functionality that sends snippets of what I'm watching on it back to Samsung for analysis. If so many companies hadn't violated privacy in so many egregious ways, it would have sounded ridiculous. I Googled and found that this was, in fact, true. I shouldn't be surprised by this behavior. I really shouldn't. But somehow, I often still am.
Company 1: "We've violated consumer privacy in the most awful way possible!"
Company 2: "Hold my hidden microphone..."
Danae says she almost feels guilty about it. I do not feel guilty at all. Rather, I'm feeling quite pleased with myself.
I laid it face down on the glass table and started disassembling, putting various screws into labeled boxes on a piece of paper for reassembly purposes. I determined the screen is edge-lit, and the back of the display panel looked quite difficult to access. Even with all the chassis and bezel removed, the panel was still connected to the metal plate that serves as a mounting for all the boards.
I turned it on again to see if I could better understand how the backlighting worked and to my surprise, it *really* worked. The whole screen lit up at full brightness. I can only assume someone dropped it or something and jostled one of the backlight connectors. I played a little bit of Super Mario Brothers on it lying on my back under the table to see if it kept working (it did), then put it back together. 69 screws from six parts later, it was standing up on the TV console in place of the 32" TV that was there before.
So, free Samsung 46" 3D-capable smart LED TV with wi-fi. Score! It has one row of bad pixels on the far right edge of the screen that I hardly notice, and the speakers are staticky, probably from being overdriven and blown. (Who plays their TV that loud?) This was a top of the line TV that cost about 1800 gbp nine years ago, and it is hands down the best-looking video display I've ever owned. The LED backlighting allows for brilliant saturated color and deep velvety blacks. I'm impressed.
I'm *not* connecting it to the network unless I can firewall the hell out of it so it doesn't report my activities to its masters. A friend told me I should make sure I turn off the functionality that sends snippets of what I'm watching on it back to Samsung for analysis. If so many companies hadn't violated privacy in so many egregious ways, it would have sounded ridiculous. I Googled and found that this was, in fact, true. I shouldn't be surprised by this behavior. I really shouldn't. But somehow, I often still am.
Company 1: "We've violated consumer privacy in the most awful way possible!"
Company 2: "Hold my hidden microphone..."
Danae says she almost feels guilty about it. I do not feel guilty at all. Rather, I'm feeling quite pleased with myself.
