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The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

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Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#131

Post by thunky »

jokowueu wrote: post #98
xoa wrote: post #87

FWIW, it is still possible to get TVs without this stuff, albeit at a premium. TVs are still made for business usage in areas like conference rooms, wall displays etc. They're often found under labeling like "commercial digital signage" or "business display" or the like, they seem to often try to avoid using "TV" (if being cynical maybe to make them harder for normal people to discover and confuse them if they do). B…

Or just get any smart tv and add a android tv dongle . They don't cost much

That's what I thought we well, but TFA seems to suggest that some TVs may overlay ads on top of any video source:

"Vizio collected a selection of pixels on the screen and matched them to an existing database of content to find out what a user was watching and when"

"pop-ups would reportedly appear halfway through the show and be injected into the users' own content, such as home videos"

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#132

Post by djbebs »

scarface74 wrote: post #122
rendall wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Thanks for the head's up. I have Disney+ and have not yet seen this, but I'm done as soon as it does.

It’s not true. Disney+ is adding a lower cost ad free tier. The current plan doesn’t have ads.

That lower cost ad plan is the same cost as the current plan with no ads.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#133

Post by amelius »

dwighttk wrote: post #9
DethNinja wrote: post #6

There is a much better option for HN crowd: Buy a large/modern computer monitor and connect it to your homelab’s media server. Literally there is no need for a smart TV so long as you are capable of setting up a small homelab.

Eh, I’d rather get that ad subsidy and never connect the tv to the internet

I recently got a small tuner box from my cable company. It requires both an ethernet connection and an ethernet-enabled HDMI cable ...

The nice part is that I can control the tuner with the same remote as the TV.

The not so nice part: my TV is now connected to the internet.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#134

Post by haunter »

mrweasel wrote: post #112
weberer wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already started showing ads to people with Twitch Prime a few years ago. It seems like its only a matter of time.

If you're paying for Twitch Prime, but still getting ads, then what are you paying for exactly? Less ads? Sadly I think it's what happens when companies are pushed to generate more and more profit each year. So you you start just a few ads to the paying users, because: "They won't mind one short ad" and then suddenly it's all ads all the time. It does make you wonder exactly how ads are so profitable and which produc…

>If you're paying for Twitch Prime, but still getting ads, then what are you paying for exactly

One free monthly sub + all the free games and DLCs. Cost me 4€ a month and I also have access to the Amazon Prime Video catalog. It's a very very good deal.

There is Twitch Turbo which removes ads but it's an entirely different product https://www.twitch.tv/turbo

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#135

Post by HeckFeck »

rovr138 wrote: post #101
marcinzm wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>At home, I've never connected my TV to my network The next (already there?) steps are the TV automatically scanning for open wifi network to leverage and/or having a built in 4g connection.

Samsung and Huawei are doing 5G, https://www.techradar.com/news/samsungs-5g-8k-tv-promises-to... https://www.techradar.com/news/huawei-is-developing-a-5g-8k-...

Cynical, sly enthusiasm. I just can't imagine 5G bands devoted to adverts passing invisibly through my skin. It is too much like the adverts in your dreams skit from Futurama.

Again, it is increasingly hard to separate satire from prophesy.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#136

Post by unclebucknasty »

rendall wrote: post #57

> Some may argue that there's no need to be dramatic and that there's nothing wrong in seeing an occasional ad every now and then. Oh, no, I am very dramatic about this. I will go to any lengths not to see advertising. I will entirely forgo any platform that shows me even one ad, especially when I pay them. Amazon Prime video is already pushing it with their preroll previews. The second it's something else I'm cancel…

It's the principle.

This probably sounds over the top, but at some point it feels like they're saying they own you. You're paying them for one service, and they'll unilaterally decide it's not enough and they are going to make more money on you. But they don't do it via a price increase that gives you a fair opportunity to decide on the value exchange. They just start shoving this stuff on you.

And worst of all, it's your time they're taking to do it. The one thing there's never enough of, and that you'll never get back.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#137

Post by cube00 »

scarface74 wrote: post #126
cube00 wrote: post #47

The new Google TV launcher complete with ads on an expensive TV or a Shield is getting a hammering in the ratings, shows how little they care about customer feedback. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and... Bonus points for making the preview images in the store not show the ads you'll see. If any other app tried to mislead users like that they'd be banned from the store. Although it's not lik…

Don’t buy hardware from an ad company - problem solved. Why do you think Google got into the TV streaming business?

Sony and nVidia are not ad companies.

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#138

Post by js2 »

scarface74 wrote: post #85
uptown wrote: post #53

At home, I've never connected my TV to my network. The few firmware updates I've needed to do were applied using a thumb drive, and I use an AppleTV as my interface. When I travel, I bring along an AppleTV and plug the HDMI port into their set. This lets me keep the services I subscribe-to and use them with their display. This has worked great until my most-recent rental, which had a RokuTV -- presumably setup on Wif…

I love my ATV 4K. But it’s useless for traveling since hotels require you to login and the AppleTV doesn’t have a browser. The Roku sticks get around this by temporarily exposing a pass through wifi connection that you can connect to from your phone/computer and log in to your hotel’s wifi. The only work around with the AppleTV is to buy a second travel router.

With tvOS 15.4, "Captive Wi-Fi network support on tvOS allows you to use your iPhone or iPad to connect your Apple TV to networks that need additional sign-in steps, like at hotels or dorms."

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/tvos-release-notes...

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#139

Post by [deleted] »

scarface74 wrote: post #85
uptown wrote: post #53

At home, I've never connected my TV to my network. The few firmware updates I've needed to do were applied using a thumb drive, and I use an AppleTV as my interface. When I travel, I bring along an AppleTV and plug the HDMI port into their set. This lets me keep the services I subscribe-to and use them with their display. This has worked great until my most-recent rental, which had a RokuTV -- presumably setup on Wif…

I love my ATV 4K. But it’s useless for traveling since hotels require you to login and the AppleTV doesn’t have a browser. The Roku sticks get around this by temporarily exposing a pass through wifi connection that you can connect to from your phone/computer and log in to your hotel’s wifi. The only work around with the AppleTV is to buy a second travel router.

[deleted]

Re: The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool

#140

Post by mrweasel »

scarface74 wrote: post #90
blueflow wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having an TV is also a viable option. Around 2016 my last TV broke down and i have adapted to live without it. When i say 'TV' i also mean to include Netflix and Hulu and other services serving the same purpose.

So, yes the alternative is not to use a device used by 95% homes in the US. What next the old Slashdot meme - “I haven’t owned a TV in 10 years. Do people still watch TV?”

While I do see, and agree with your point, we're also at a time where it's honestly much much easier to not own a TV than say 20 years ago.
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