OT obsolete browser LG smart TV

[hubops]

Hi folks - wonder if anyone here can suggest any quick-and-easy work-arounds for this ... I have a LG Smart TV just ~ 4 years old which does not have any software/firmware upgrade capability - it will no longer stream my shows from the television station web sites - < it will stream from Youtube > .. it's not any sort of connection / speed problem. I can stream on my old Win8 laptop no problem - I have good fiber internet and decent router.

I've spent a couple hours repeating myself to their Customer Service people, to no avail.

model 42LF5800 not that it matters.

Is there a way to feed wireless TV into the Smart TV ? . . short of a dedicated wired laptop . . I'm not sure how the little USB TV Sticks work . . ? Thanks in advance. John T.

[trader_4]

I'm no expert in this, don't use one, but Roku and the Amazon Fire are examples of devices you can buy that allow you to stream video to any TV using it's video inputs. I think Apple has one too.

Is there a factory reset possible on that TV? You've verified that the internet service appears OK, no problems streaming to PCs, etc?

[hubops]

I can stream Youtube videos - very seldom have a slow-down. No factory reset is evident in the menus nor suggested by Customer Service. I've seen Amazon Fire , Roku , and Android TV Boxes on Amazon .ca but I have no idea if they will act any better as a browser/player for the television station web site content . . ie: is it a browser/flash player issue or a Canadian TV copyright / protection issue? Ideally - if I could borrow one to test it - I'd know. eg

John T.

[gfretwell]

I think he is saying the built in browser in the TV is running in XP mode and the site he wants requires 7 and above. I ran into that with my PC connected TVs but slapping a 7 upgrade on a PC is easy. (shrink wrapped disks are <$20 on Ebay) That is one reason I don't think "smart" TVs are a such a smart idea.

[Scott Lurndal]

I've never seen a smart TV that's running anything but an embedded linux operating system. Samsung had a proprietary OS on some of their TV's, but they went to Tizen (linux) eventually.

No TV vendor runs windows (XP or any other flavor) on smart TV platforms.

It's not uncommon for the apps on those smart TV's to become unusable when the TV manufacturer stops providing updates; this has happened with YouTube, for instance, where the native you-tube clients on older TV's no longer work after google updated the API. It's likely that's what happened with the apps the OP was using.

[hubops]

I have no idea what the "operating system" is .. ... nor even what the "browser" is - it looks pretty standard though - I use a cheap wireless keyboard. I suspect that the built-in Youtube APP is somehow allowing the proper Youtube streaming - even though I access Youtube through the browser <not via the APP button >

As an aside, the TV was built in 2015 but the software version is 2011 - and when trying to update through the menu - it says that it is the most recent ! methinks it really means not upgradable .. for whatever reason ? It was not a cheap TV and I do like the picture quality .. but it fails to perform the main function that I bought it for - cancelling my TV account when I got high speed fiber internet .. I've been peeved with my LG washing machine for a few years .. now the TV has me swearing off everything LG . . Hoping my email to them might return some resolution, but I'm not holding my breath .. ps: LG Customer Service people were polite but not helpful - and I had the feeling that they had been through this before many times <?>

John T.

[trader_4]

I would be surprised if an LG TV is running Windows anything. I agree that smart TVs raise their own issues, like this, can it be software upgraded. It's surprising LG doesn't have that. It's not rocket science to include the ability to upgrade or fix problems on internet connected things.

[gfretwell]

I didn't mean it was actually running XP, only that it only supported the codecs, APIs and HTML versions XP runs.

[gregz]

Browsers are so complicated, and an instance of I can't update browser because it needs features linked into an updated operating system, and not available on current hardware.

Greg

[hubops]

Well - I tried an on-sale older model Android TV Box <Android 4.4>

and it's browser behaved exactly like my TV - able to browse but not able to stream TV station video. I just hooked up my new Android 9 TV Box - with Chrome browser - it works like a charm. $ 75. from Amazon .ca and it came with a little back-lit keyboard . .. now I just need to learn which APPS I can't live without . . Are there any worthwhile free apps out there ? for TV < I don't have a smart phone >

or do they all cost $ something $ . . John T.

[trader_4]

For Android on a TV box, IDK. But for Android phones there are thousands of apps, the vast majority are free. Many have a free version that either has limited features or ads. The premium version is typically a couple bucks. Is there an app store icon on it? If so, you can search from there and install them. If not, then IDK. On the phone I have a lot of apps, some I use frequently, some rarely. Most used would be Gmail, Google Maps, Ebay, Chrome Browser( you must have that already), Weather Underground, Google News.

[hubops]

I'll need to browse them. The TV Box came with a browser that connected to Google login - prompting me to installed Chrome - so I did. It also had about a dozen other apps - a few I recognized - like VLC media player < my favourite on the laptop > I searched & installed CBC GEM < Canadian CBC TV streaming >

I'll see if I can use USA's PBS and NPR if free. < there might be location blocking ?>. John T.