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

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

#171

Post by barotalomey »

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…

> when it turned out they were monitoring your watching habit

I think every single smart tv manufacturer does this today.

At least I know LG, Samsung, Sony, Amazon, Philips, Sharp and Vizio does.

Since your smart TV is on your same domestic IP, there's a market for getting data on your watching habits to combine with your browser habits collected elsewhere.

The advertisers know more about you by now than you do.

That's why AppleTV is the best option for the moment.

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

#172

Post by barotalomey »

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #153
throwup238 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know how much longer that will be possible with how cheap 5G is getting. Sooner or later they’ll be able to install a $10 part and make a deal with wireless carriers as backhaul for unconnected TVs. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has already made a deal with Spectrum or XFinity to use those open wifi networks that are open to customers via their account signin. The best solution is commercial displays but…

> I don’t know how much longer that will be possible with how cheap 5G is getting. Sooner or later they’ll be able to install a $10 part and make a deal with wireless carriers as backhaul for unconnected TVs. I had a really snarky reply to this, about how I'd just crack it open and remove the sim card, warranty be damned. Then I realized that even sim cards are going away, that's all done in software on the latest ph…

It's called eSIM and has been around for a while.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESIM

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

#173

Post by 42772827 »

donnachangstein wrote: post #147

Am I the only one here that read the part where you can absolutely disable this? I don't understand the performative outrage. The TV has an ad-supported screen saver, which they claim is used to support free streaming content. You can disable the screen saver entirely. No, you cannot just disable the ads but keep the screen saver. What is the problem? Meanwhile half the posters here work for Google or other ad-survei…

>What is the problem?

Consent. The user didn’t consent to the feature, and now is expected to opt-OUT

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

#174

Post by barotalomey »

ada1981 wrote: post #101
kulahan wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You could find their ad server and just do a rewrite in your router for that ip address.

Or.. just don't connect the TV to the frigging internet in the first place.

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

#175

Post by barotalomey »

nozzlegear wrote: post #77
alemanek wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple TV is pretty good and not very pricey. It’s a good value

Apple TV has to be one of my favorite purchases over the last five years. It just does what it says on the tin and gets the hell out of the way otherwise. I've bought three of them and disconnected all our tvs from wifi in favor of using these devices.

Great device, if only they could make a decent remote. The older silver one was like a slippery soap in the palm, while the next (black) one was hopeless to figure which side was up or down.

My newer 4K controller started acting up recently and I had to ifixit.

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

#176

Post by barotalomey »

dharmab wrote: post #143
Nectar0516 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bigger problem with running on a PC is UI. No longer will it work well with a simple remote that only needs 10 buttons.

I had a media center PC that was usable with a remote control in 2008.

Choke full of XVID cams, I bet

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

#177

Post by torh »

like_any_other wrote: post #103
jorvi wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest, this is part of why TVs can be offered for so cheap these days. Same reason really cheap phones are stuffed with bloatware. Luckily with TVs you can freeload: just never connect it to the internet and only apply updates via USB. Stick an Apple TV / Chromecast / console into it for playback. This might even become standard operating procedure considering Samsung is getting into the ad game, and LG and So…

> To be honest, this is part of why TVs can be offered for so cheap these days I spent $3,000 on a Samsung Smart TV -- and all I got were ads and unwanted content - https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/home-entertainment/i-s... It'll be a cold day in hell when I believe corporate lies that they're doing all of this for my benefit. Especially when they neither clearly disclose all the ads and spying before purchase,…

I bought a Philips many years ago, and it was perfect until an update suddenly gave me a lot of crap (ads) on the home screen.

Ironically they also provided a button where I could "adjust what you see on the home screen", but it turned out I could only add more crap. Not take anything away.

It's annoying, because it is not the same product I bought. It's worse.

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

#179

Post by wruza »

3np wrote: post #106
footlose_3815 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just don't give it your Wifi password...

I recall reading a few years back about some crapware that opportunistically would attempt connecting through any available AP (e.g. your neighbor) and smuggle data that way.

The rumor was not only that, but also peering through neighbors devices from the same company.

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

#180

Post by anal_reactor »

jasinjames wrote: post #87

If you have a "smart" TV you'd like to avoid connecting to the internet for reasons like this, you can try disconnecting the wireless module entirely. I had a Sony Bravia TV I didn't trust, and after popping off the back I disconnected the wireless module's ribbon cable. The android-TV OS handled it gracefully, and now I don't have to worry about it attempting to smuggle data through any other WLANs in my apartment b…

I connect my TV because the remote doesn't have a button for changing brightness, but there's a PC app for that
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