There are some hardware limits that make a Pi not perfect for the job, and while there are things I like about Kodi there are things I don’t. For one thing, I had speakers attached to the Pi via it’s audio jack, but it would keep defaulting to the television’s audio over HDMI and I’d have to alter a config file to get the option to use the audio jack to even appear in the GUI’s menu. Someone decided to make it do that.
Another commenter mentions HDMI-CEC, which allows the Pi to control the TV like a remote, it can turn the TV on and off, change volume, etc. What this does is make it so that you can’t turn the TV off. You turn the TV off, the Pi turns it back on immediately. Again, someone decided to make it do that.
It’s one of those open source “It technically works and has the UX of west nile virus, so it’s exactly what we want and we will treat you with open hostility if you ask us why it sucks” things, like GIMP and FreeCAD.
Is there a way to install a smart TV OS on e.g. a raspberry Pi, and have it to the tv all the time? Would there be any downsides?
I have used Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, via OSMC.
There are some hardware limits that make a Pi not perfect for the job, and while there are things I like about Kodi there are things I don’t. For one thing, I had speakers attached to the Pi via it’s audio jack, but it would keep defaulting to the television’s audio over HDMI and I’d have to alter a config file to get the option to use the audio jack to even appear in the GUI’s menu. Someone decided to make it do that.
Another commenter mentions HDMI-CEC, which allows the Pi to control the TV like a remote, it can turn the TV on and off, change volume, etc. What this does is make it so that you can’t turn the TV off. You turn the TV off, the Pi turns it back on immediately. Again, someone decided to make it do that.
It’s one of those open source “It technically works and has the UX of west nile virus, so it’s exactly what we want and we will treat you with open hostility if you ask us why it sucks” things, like GIMP and FreeCAD.
That last paragraph hurts too much, some programmers live too much in a programmers bubble/underestimate UX design way too much
You can use something like Kodi TV on a raspberry pi. Most TVs allow you to automatically load into a device on HDMI.
You’ll also want to use the HDMI-CEC connection on your TV to the RPI - this will allow you to use your TV remote with it as well.