You should replace the TCL with a Google TV model. They have a basic TV mode which doesn’t require Wi-Fi and lets you just use HDMI and antenna inputs.

If you haven’t done so yet, you should set the clear motion/action smoothing setting to custom with de-judder and de-blur set to 0, and turn off the noise reduction stuff.

The blur and AI generated look those features cause on their default settings is even worse than home screen ads for me.

How do you do that, and do you get full control of picture settings?

I can’t wait for free movie site levels of ads.

TCL makes Google TV models which explicitly allow you to set them up without Wi-Fi so only HDMI and antenna work. You should buy one of those next time.