Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

support.vizio.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 268 posts

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#31

Post by kulahan »

nightski wrote: post #12
pmags wrote: post #2

I seem to recall that Vizio was added to my "do not buy" list quite a long time ago, when it turned out they were monitoring your watching habit ( https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tr... ). This seems to be more of the same I guess. Choice text from the link above: Q: Why did I see an ad in Scenic Mode? A: After Scenic Mode launches to full screen, you may see ads. We offer free, scenic conten…

You can however turn scenic mode off which I would do immediately. That said, probably would never consider a Vizio tv.

Yeah, looks like all they’re saying is that you can’t use scenic mode without ads. They even promise it won’t turn itself back on after an update, which is a surprising yet refreshing thing to see.

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#32

Post by kulahan »

mlinhares wrote: post #14
pmags wrote: post #2

I seem to recall that Vizio was added to my "do not buy" list quite a long time ago, when it turned out they were monitoring your watching habit ( https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tr... ). This seems to be more of the same I guess. Choice text from the link above: Q: Why did I see an ad in Scenic Mode? A: After Scenic Mode launches to full screen, you may see ads. We offer free, scenic conten…

All TVs at home are blocked by MAC on the wifi router, so there's definitely a way to turn off this bullshit.

Out of curiosity, do you simply not use streaming services, or do you get them on the TV some other way?

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#33

Post by charcircuit »

Preroll ads when playing videos or streams are normal. If you don't want to see them then don't use streaming services that do so. In this case it's the WatchFree+ streaming service.

Scenic mode is an optional feature that will open up a WatchFree+ channel from the Mood and Ambience category when the TV is idling.

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#35

Post by kulahan »

reactordev wrote: post #11

I refuse to buy any “smart tv”. If that means going without a TV, then I’m going without one and will use the largest monitor I can use with a small beelink Linux box. We’re prey for their bottom line as they can’t sell TV’s for a profit without running ads all over it. I’m done. I’m out. Back to books, vinyl, fresh press, gnu, board games, and going outside.

I’m pretty sure you can buy “industrial” TVs from standard vendors which might fit the bill for you. They’re much pricier though, if I’m remembering correctly.

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#36

Post by garfield_light »

reactordev wrote: post #11

I refuse to buy any “smart tv”. If that means going without a TV, then I’m going without one and will use the largest monitor I can use with a small beelink Linux box. We’re prey for their bottom line as they can’t sell TV’s for a profit without running ads all over it. I’m done. I’m out. Back to books, vinyl, fresh press, gnu, board games, and going outside.

It's technically still "smart" in the sense that it can be connected to the internet, but the samsung digital signage TVs don't have weird shit or ads.

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#37

Post by michaelt »

laweijfmvo wrote: post #23
jwjohnson314 wrote: post #5

This is remarkably dystopian. ‘Bought our tv? We are going to show you ads and you can’t even turn it off’

It sounds like you can turn the feature off entirely, which seems semi reasonable — the ads support the updated scenic content, and you can opt out. but i’d bet it shows ads in other places too.

> the ads support the updated scenic content,

Ha, that's a good one!

Gotta have regular updates to my videos of forests, waterfalls, lapping waves and crackling log fires. You never know when they're going to launch a new version of trees.

Re: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

#40

Post by autoexec »

Unless there is massive push back from consumers and people outright refuse to buy these TVs Vizio wont be the last company to do this. Roku also pushes less intrusive ads at you when the TV is idle depending on your settings.

As much as I complain a lot about roku for their spying and ads (they deserve it and I'll never buy one) I do give them some credit for not filling that fish show they have with ads. I know people who have had those fish (or some version of them) on their screens for many years and it's a decent little virtual fish tank.

Post reply on HN