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TLC or Fire TVs integration with C4


tims

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Hey Guys,

Any of the TLC Tvs (Or any other brands for that matter) that have fire tv built in... Can they be integrated like a fire stick? Are they just seen as a fire tv like a fire tv stick and controlled that way? I think I would rather have direct integration as opposed to a fire stick external in one of the HDMI ports...

Thoughts?

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1 hour ago, tims said:

I think I would rather have direct integration as opposed to a fire stick external in one of the HDMI ports...

Wrong. While using internal services has gotten better and is feasible, external is ALWAYS preferred for reliability.

For FireTV specifically, the actual TVs cannot be controlled IP for it's 'TV' controls as the drivers for the stick (and possibly the API from Amazon) don't have the required controls available.

The one notable exception is RokuTVs.

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3 hours ago, tims said:

Hey Guys,

Any of the TLC Tvs (Or any other brands for that matter) that have fire tv built in... Can they be integrated like a fire stick? Are they just seen as a fire tv like a fire tv stick and controlled that way? I think I would rather have direct integration as opposed to a fire stick external in one of the HDMI ports...

Thoughts?

The non Roku tcls can't be supported well, last I tested (I tried writing a driver a few years ago, and there were command limitations at the time).

And you're better off with a seperate device honestly most of the time

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6 hours ago, Cyknight said:

While using internal services has gotten better and is feasible, external is ALWAYS preferred for reliability.

I don't necessarily disagree with this, but why do you say that?  I have several RokuTVs at home and also a few external devices and it isn't clear to me that the external are always better.  I can see pros and cons for both.

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1 hour ago, zaphod said:

why do you say that?

While TVs have gotten better, long term support is generally much lower. IF the apps aren't supported anymore, it's much cheaper to get yourself a new fire stick than a new fireTV in pure hardware cost alone. in install cost more so.

Control over things like Roku Players, FireTV sticks and Android TVs is solid overall, and easy to troubleshoot both locally and remotely, TVs often are not easy to 'fix' remotely.

Universal driver support for media players is all but universal, support for TV apps is more fickle. especially Samsungs (need to manually first put them on home screen comes to mind)

 

 

Again RokuTVs are the noteable exception here.

As for Pro's to use Smart TV apps...are their really any? really minimal cost difference? Unless you have a Sony Master series TV, quality is likely better from connected device, at least not worse? Saving a single HDMI input?

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The minor advantages of built in apps:

  • one less device to have networking issues, and one less IP address used,
  • most of these TVs have an ethernet port so easier to use a wired connection
  • cleaner setup without needing a device like a Roku, plus power supply. 

Pretty minor advantages though.

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On 12/17/2023 at 7:26 PM, msgreenf said:

So do most media players. The only ones that don't are low and Roku or fire tv. 

I think the more correct way to put it, at least with Roku, is that only the high end player has an Ethernet port.  On their website I see the following players:  Express, Express 4K, Premiere, Stick, Soundbar and Ultra.  Of those six players, only the Ultra has an Ethernet port.

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4 minutes ago, zaphod said:

I think the more correct way to put it, at least with Roku, is that only the high end player has an Ethernet port.  On their website I see the following players:  Express, Express 4K, Premiere, Stick, Soundbar and Ultra.  Of those six players, only the Ultra has an Ethernet port.

Always an option to get an ethernet adapter for Roku and Firestick.

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