Samsung 55" QN90B TV

My old LG OLED TV finally got enough burn in from many years of use as a computer monitor for me to decide I needed a new one. Various internet sources claim that the QLED TVs don't have a burn in problem, so I got one (time will tell if the burn in advice was correct).

One nice thing about modern TVs is that they don't weigh much. They are clumsy to move around because they are large, but I managed to remove the old one and set up the new one by myself. I was using the new TV as my computer monitor in less than an hour. Setting up the Blu-Ray player and receiver took longer (but I wasn't in a hurry).

Most important bit: I found the switch to turn off the damn microphone on the bottom edge under the Samsung logo, so no stupid audio assistants listening in!

First impression: If this TV is smart, I'd rather have a dumb one.

There are no discrete codes (that the Harmony database knows about) to set the audio output. Only fantastic dives deep into menus can allow you to switch the audio out from TV (where I normally use it) to the optical output (when I want to run the Prime Video or Netflix apps).

Here's the ridiculous sequence that switches from TV to optical I eventually got to work on my harmony:

Source, Delay, Up, Left, Down, Select, Delay, Down, Delay, Right, Delay, Select, Delay, Down, Select, Delay, Right, Select, Delay, Return, Delay, Return, Delay, Return, Delay, Return

A similar sequence puts the output back to TV.

Since I use it as a computer monitor 99% of the time, I really want it to display the computer output as soon as I turn it on, but Samsung is so proud of their "smart hub" they want to show that at power up. I had to get help from the avsforum to find the hidden setting I could use to finally make previous screen be the default power on state (Settings>General & Privacy>Start Screen Options, make Autorun Last App the only selected item).

The default screen settings were blindingly bright and washed out light background on text. Setting brightness down to 12 and contrast to 43 seemed to make everything appear much nicer on the computer screen.

The remote has a solar cell on the back to help keep it charged, but if you set the remote down on a table, the solar cell won't get much light. I found Samsung TV Remote Stand on thingiverse and printed one up, then stuck some cork on the bottom so it wouldn't slide around too much, and it works great. Hopefully the remote will stay charged now.

P.S. Every time I've checked the charge in the remote (there is a setting for that in the power saving stuff), it is lower than it was before, so the solar cell doesn't appear to be enough to keep it fully charged.