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Don Y[_3_]

On 9/3/2015 9:23 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Sep 2015 08:45:44 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

Is the TV acting as a "computer"?
If so, what operating system is the TV?

What browser does it use?
What architecture is that TV browser compiled for?

And a tv set has become a computer. They needed a CPU to handle the data
conversion, so they might as well allow it to be used as a more general
purpose computer.

It's not clear to me that you need a CPU to handle the conversion
of the digital bitstream to analog. It would seem that a dedicated
chip or chipset would be more far more suited to the application.

You do need a CPU to handle the human interface and supervise
the other chips. I'd think that's the CPU that's running the WEB/wifi
interface.

Everything is a CPU these days. It is cheaper to write software and
use an off the shelf CPU chip than to design a purpose built chip.

That depends on the functionality you intend in the product. Note
that CPUs go out of production just like "dedicated chips"...

Fixing mistakes is a lot easier too.

grin When was the last time you GOT an update to your microwave
oven software? The GPS *software* (not MAPS) in your car? Any of
the dozens of ECU's in your vehicle? The controller in your furnace?
You washing machine/dryer/dishwasher?

Fixing is a misnomer. *Changing* is a better description. Manufacturers
make *changes* (going forward) which may (or may not) "fix" problems.
But, folks *with* those problems end up living with them. I.e., the
CPU doesn't buy the consumer anything!

That is why things as mundane as a washing machine or microwave timer
is a CPU.
There is a processor in my "dumb" Samsung.

There's a processor in your mouse. Another in our keyboard. Another in
your CD/DVD drive. Another in your network interface. etc.

(Welcome to *my* world! : )