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Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

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Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#111

Post by dnm »

andybak wrote: post #42
ChrisLTD wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smart TVs are a good idea. Who doesn't want less crap plugged into their TV? However, TV manufacturers – for some reason – are ill-suited to developing the software that would make for a good experience.

Smart TVs are a terrible idea for the same reason that combined printer and scanners are a bad idea but with the negative aspect magnified many times. The cost and life expectancy of each part is very different and you don't want their replacement/upgrade to be tied together. A display panel should last you more than a decade and probably costs many 100s or 1000s. The 'smart' bit is probably worth less than $200 and…

The software on my 2011 Samsung "smart" TV has always sucked and is unusable. My initial reaction was that they went cheap on the processor (the network connection is hard-wired). It's just too slow to be usable and Youtube never played properly. I just want more HDMI ports at this point. I don't mind the external devices. With the revelation of the ad delivery, I have no interest in doing a software upgrade.

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#112

Post by asd »

astrodust wrote: post #61
ChrisLTD wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smart TVs are a good idea. Who doesn't want less crap plugged into their TV? However, TV manufacturers – for some reason – are ill-suited to developing the software that would make for a good experience.

Every "Smart TV" I've seen is like a dumbed down version of a real device like a Chromecast or an Apple TV. How do you make something so brutally garbage, anyway? Some of these TVs take so long to register a button press you have to wonder if they aren't using a 6502 inside to power the thing. The only experience that's worse is those set-top boxes the cable companies provide you with. The Amiga had near flawless, re…

What's worse is when you do not think that the Smart TV registered your button press and you send another after a second or two. Then you'll get two keypresses queued up and fire at once and then you have exited your app/screen/etc. Yay. DirecTV's apps (even on their latest Genie DVR) are the worst - you hit the right button and wait about 8 seconds for the apps to load. Why even bother? Someone surely tests these things and sees the laggish behavior and just say, "Fuck it! Good enough! Ship it and never update it!"

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#113

Post by xai3luGi »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #37
mpeg wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a few set top boxes too, but I'd like deeper integration with the tv firmware itself, and that's something that they can't do unless the firmware was open. In which case, we could have the same regular updates you get with a roku.

There are smart TV's with open firmware?

http://www.samygo.tv/

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#114

Post by spiritplumber »

Step 1: Buy a projector. Step 2: Buy a roku box, or a used laptop. Step 3: Buy a decent pair of speakers. Step 4: Set it all up. Step 5: Enjoy a large screen that is also portable, and that probably cost significantly less than the same-size TV would have.

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#115

Post by arca_vorago »

You know what I'm curious about? Why so many people rail against GPL for business use, claiming it makes it more difficult to monetize a product, but then companies like Samsung and Google turn around and use GNU/Linux and other GPL code on a project and then lock it down with proprietary blobs and DRM.

Doesn't seem to really be hurting them at all, but it is certainly hurting consumers that linux is being used to abuse peoples rights.

If I buy a TV with a quad core processor in it, there is no reason I should not, if I so choose (and potentially void warranty) that I shouldn't be able to install whatever I want to on that. The only technical limitations to rooting a Samsung smart tv are artificially placed there by Samesung, and with recent updates they made it so trying to root can brick your TV!

I would love to buy a completely FOSS smart tv, but it infuriates me to know I have linux but can't do anything with it on mine.

Contrary to popular opinion, I'm increasingly convinced that RMS was just a man ahead of his time and the principles of the GPL are more important than ever to uphold.

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#116

Post by potatolicious »

omega_rythm wrote: post #79
snarfy wrote: post #26

> Samsung explained that these sorts of ads were supposed to be opt-in only and was working with Yahoo to improve the system. No user would opt-in to commercials, ever. I don't believe for a second this system was designed with opt-in in mind. Whenever an ill conceived feature like this is brought to the light, it's always explained as a bug, glitch, or some screw up in engineering. Well, it's not a bug. It was speci…

> No user would opt-in to commercials, ever. I don't believe for a second this system was designed with opt-in in mind. The occidental mindset is heavily geared against advertising. If you got free rebate coupons, gifts, etc. as rewards for opting in, would you still refuse it? I'm trying to say that we don't necessarily see the whole picture, and the article doesn't give hints about the purpose of that "feature".

> "The occidental mindset is heavily geared against advertising."

As opposed to the oriental mindset? Speaking as one, I'll still take no ads, thanks. IMO it's a mistake to look at East Asian cities (and the assault of advertising it presents) as some kind of preference for advertising - in the same way you can't look at LA and come away with the conclusion "wow, people really love being stuck in traffic!".

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#117

Post by outworlder »

verytrivial wrote: post #81

Attention Samsung mobile phone division! Malignancy detected in TV division! Excise without delay!

Thing is, they are probably working together already. Witness the samsung-phone-only video inputs that started appearing on TVs and monitors for the last few years.

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#118

Post by jpindar »

Roboprog wrote: post #103
anon4 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's called a monitor. There are plenty of monitors that have hdmi inputs and a standard audio jack output for connecting to a set of speakers.

Like how you think. I'm not sure what the biggest monitor you can get is, though.

The largest monitor I am aware of is the one in the Dallas Cowboy's stadium, which is 72 feet by 160 feet and 1920 x 1080 resolution.

The largest one a normal person can afford is of course a different question.

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#119

Post by jessaustin »

spiritplumber wrote: post #114

Step 1: Buy a projector. Step 2: Buy a roku box, or a used laptop. Step 3: Buy a decent pair of speakers. Step 4: Set it all up. Step 5: Enjoy a large screen that is also portable, and that probably cost significantly less than the same-size TV would have.

Do you have recommendations for projectors? Anything that can be used during the day?

Re: Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted ads into users' own movies

#120

Post by click170 »

First of all, outbound filtering. You might want to look into it. I'm installing outbound filters for all my friends and family, with stuff like this it's not hard to help them see the benefit.

Second, what's the big deal? If it only takes 15-30 minutes for an ad to appear, simply return the TV the first time it displays one. I could understand the outrage if the TV waited until after the return period had expired before doing this, but this doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Return it and blog about your experience, naming and shaming the manufacturer, and share your experience with your friends and family as well so they can avoid the same mistake.

Shame on you Samsung for thinking it would ever be appropriate to insert advertisements into the consumer's own content.

Edit: As an afterthought, I wonder how the TV behaves if it can't access the Internet to download said Ads. Anyone with experience able to speak to this?

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