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Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

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Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#101

Post by madeofpalk »

paulcole wrote: post #71
einarfd wrote: post #45

If you live in the right jurisdiction consumer protection laws might be able to force the seller to get this defect fixed or have them take back and refund the tv. Where I live (Norway), there is a five year warranty on long lived products, which a tv is, and if it breaks during that period, the seller needs to fix or replace the product. Motion smoothing that can't be turned off seems a serious breakage, and if they…

> Motion smoothing that can't be turned off seems a serious breakage, and if they seller pushes back, you can point out that Tom Cruise and a bunch of other movie luminaries think motion smoothing ruins movies. Is this the standard in Norway, where the consumer can just call something they personally dislike "serious breakage" and demand their money back? Does this work? Would you actually invoke your Tom Cruise argu…

Kind of, yes. Terminology used in Australian consumer law is that devices must be "fit for purpose" and of "acceptable quality", especially in regards to other similar products. A software update changing the product in a significant and negative way after purchase definitely would be grounds for a "remedy".

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#102

Post by romwell »

adamomada wrote: post #74
kstrauser wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad other systems offer it as an option for people who enjoy it. I can't fathom the decision process that permanently enabled it for everyone.

They made the feature, they’re gonna enable it or nobody would use it and it would have been a waste of time making You’re really gonna hate the fact that 99% of people think this is what stuff on their digital television is supposed to look like. (Which is exactly why Roku did it)

Which is why Roku decided to take away the option to disable it for people who understand and notice the effect and actively don't want it?

Pardon me, it makes zero sense at all.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#103

Post by olyjohn »

adamomada wrote: post #74
kstrauser wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad other systems offer it as an option for people who enjoy it. I can't fathom the decision process that permanently enabled it for everyone.

They made the feature, they’re gonna enable it or nobody would use it and it would have been a waste of time making You’re really gonna hate the fact that 99% of people think this is what stuff on their digital television is supposed to look like. (Which is exactly why Roku did it)

If you have to force people to turn it on, maybe it sucks and you shouldn't waste your time developing it.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#104

Post by olyjohn »

tomrod wrote: post #78
cjk wrote: post #50

I used to work at Roku (audio team). I left in late 2020, but I know that many of Roku's best and brightest were shitcanned as part of the several rounds of layoffs that happened recently, in an effort to cut costs. It would not _at all_ surprise me to learn that this was a mistake, and that there's no one left that knows how to fix it.

Geez, add this to the crummy way they've been rolling out no-opt-out "features" and regressions like automatically showing your recently watched series. Yes, I really _didn't_ want my 7 year old to stream the Walking Dead, thanks for the nightmares Roku!

Yeah they keep adding garbage to the home screen, and putting it between the things that I actually use. Smells like desperation.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#105

Post by paulcole »

madeofpalk wrote: post #101
paulcole wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Motion smoothing that can't be turned off seems a serious breakage, and if they seller pushes back, you can point out that Tom Cruise and a bunch of other movie luminaries think motion smoothing ruins movies. Is this the standard in Norway, where the consumer can just call something they personally dislike "serious breakage" and demand their money back? Does this work? Would you actually invoke your Tom Cruise argu…

Kind of, yes. Terminology used in Australian consumer law is that devices must be "fit for purpose" and of "acceptable quality", especially in regards to other similar products. A software update changing the product in a significant and negative way after purchase definitely would be grounds for a "remedy".

It's a TV! It plays video. How is that not "fit for purpose" and of "acceptable quality."

Honestly just seems nuts to me for the law to be so vague.

Why don't they just say, "Refund under any circumstance the customer feels inconvenienced and upset" and be done with it?

I find that much more honest and easier to follow than what you're describing.

Caveat emptor and all.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#106

Post by paulcole »

ribosometronome wrote: post #97
paulcole wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Motion smoothing that can't be turned off seems a serious breakage, and if they seller pushes back, you can point out that Tom Cruise and a bunch of other movie luminaries think motion smoothing ruins movies. Is this the standard in Norway, where the consumer can just call something they personally dislike "serious breakage" and demand their money back? Does this work? Would you actually invoke your Tom Cruise argu…

Fundamentally altering the way the picture is shown without anyway to revert to the original functionality is obviously a severe deviation from how the product was originally sold. It's akin to not having blue anymore.

But it's not akin to not having blue anymore. Not having red anymore is akin to not having blue anymore.

Having the video play in a way you personally dislike is perhaps upsetting to you, but it's a TV and the video still plays.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#107

Post by themadturk »

We have a Samsung "smart" TV, with smarts not connected to the Internet. We hook it up to a Roku box. When we turn the TV on it splashes a banner encouraging us to connect. It disappears after 15 seconds or so.

I have no problem with the Roku box, but this makes me happy I didn't buy a Roku TV, and that I've never attached the TV itself to the Internet. My next streaming box will be an Apple TV, but as of now I'm in no hurry.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#108

Post by mikeocool »

FWIW I have a TCL Roku TV running 13.0.0 and don’t seem to be impacted by this. Motion smoothing is definitely not enabled when watching Hulu/Netflix/HBO.

If I go to picture settings, I see the option for Roku Smart Picture, but it’s not enabled.

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#109

Post by pugworthy »

The article says...

> If you’re someone who doesn’t notice motion smoothing or doesn’t particularly care about it...

This basically is me.

It then proceeds to describe a number of things that would be blatantly obvious and asks you to imagine if you couldn't turn them off. Yes, if my Kindle's fonts all went 3x size, I'd both notice and probably care.

But this "logic" fails to work with that previously quoted sentence. Yes, I would care about something I noticed or cared about. But why should I care about something I don't notice or don't care about?

Re: Dear Roku, you ruined my TV

#110

Post by ipsento606 »

rightbyte wrote: post #88
rewgs wrote: post #81

Does anyone want or like motion smoothing? It’s seemingly universally hated by a majority of those who care (myself included), and a minority of those who don’t. Why are TV manufacturers so dead-set on shoving it down our throats?

Maybe it is good for tracking the ball in sports? (Note: A hypothesis. I don't watch sports ...)

it's good - or at least, fine - for stuff that you want to look as true-to-life as possible. Sports, nature documentaries, news coverage (if you're into that)

it's absolutely awful for everything else

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