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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

#191

Post by omega_rythm »

asavadatti wrote: post #178
omega_rythm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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".

Look at Jared Diamond over here. Just because we're plastered with ads doesn't mean we like em.

I didn't talk about liking or disliking ads. I don't like medicaments but I find them very valuable.

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

#192

Post by userbinator »

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…

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.

Amusingly enough, my completely dumb pair of computer monitors (also made by Samsung, but before they started making things "smart") has a 6502-based SoC driving the OSD, and there is no perceptible lag at all.

These "smart" TVs seem to be based on ARM SoCs running at few hundred MHz to 1GHz+ and probably have more processing power than a high-end desktop PC in the mid 2000s.

I think it's all because of the software - tons of bloat.

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

#193

Post by Vendan »

comex wrote: post #173
Evolved wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardware combinations are mostly a terrible idea unlike software combinations that can be patched with updates. If your music player on your phone malfunctioned it shouldn't be a difficult remedy to push out an OTA update. Try that when your printer won't align thus relegating it to a bulky and expensive scanner (if that part still works). There isn't a solution to devices becoming obsolete because manufacturers woul…

That's why I suggested making the brains of the smart TV separable - in other words, somewhat similar to the current situation, but with tighter integration between the TV display, speakers, and ports and the box. Samsung seems to be doing something like that: http://www.samsung.com/us/2013-smart-evolution/ It being Samsung, the hardware upgrade was apparently offered after a single year and completely redid the UI,…

They already did that kind of thing, but it seems to have died off. My TV has an MHL port, and I've got an MHL roku plugged into it. One remote controls both the TV and the roku. Specific buttons get passed through to the roku. It's actually really nice.

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

#194

Post by Too »

RIMR wrote: post #168

Smart TVs are completely unnessary. I don't want apps on my TV. Sure, apps on something connected to my TV can be nice, but even the most basic TVs have too many features. Built-in speakers? They sound awful and I have an amp. Get rid of them. Oh, you cropped my 1080P HDTV signal? Well, I've plugged in a computer, so I need you to display the whole frame. Oh, less than half of TVs even let you turn that feature off?…

Does DLNA and Intel WiDi count as "just plugging in a monitor"?

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

#195

Post by Too »

galonk wrote: post #110
vidarh wrote: post #15

The whole voice recognition thing seemed to me to be an unfair storm in a teacup to me, but this.... This is beyond ridiculous. My next TV will not be a Samsung, whether they fix this or not.

How much you want to bet the average "smart" TV will start popping up "network error" dialog boxes every minute in that situation?

Oh this is the worst part, i could once not start my viasat-app on smart-tv because samsungs, not viasats, servers were down. The workaround was to reconfigure the dns to point samsung to a local server that just said "im alive" and then i could start my apps and use them without any problems. T_T

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

#196

Post by omega_rythm »

ChrisClark wrote: post #131
omega_rythm wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only experience that's worse is those set-top boxes the cable companies provide you with. I don't know about the American market. Over here (France), set-top boxen aren't so bad. And there are regular software upgrade; some of them even include games and apps.

In Canada it's like he said though. Press a button, there is just enough of a delay to wonder if you pressed it hard enough, then it starts moving... slowly.

It may have to do that often actions on set top boxes are related to accessing content, for which the software has to check permissions; these are usually embedded in the stream (think mumultiplexed), and the decoder needs to receive the frames before being able to extract the content and display it. Cable network has very high latency (compared to fiber or adsl).

If some of the credential checks are stored in a separate device (dongle, smartcard ), then it could take even longer.

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

#197

Post by LordKano »

a3n wrote: post #62
andybak wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I haven't bought a TV for five years (a Samsung, as it happens, plugged into a Roku). Can you even buy a TV that isn't smart these days?

Even if we get to the point that all of the available/affordable TVs are "Smart", you still have the option of not letting the thing on your network.

Well, at least for now.

I will continue to use my plain old "Dumb" TVs and Roku devices.

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

#198

Post by loco5niner »

ChrisLTD wrote: post #31
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…

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.

I disagree. Just like my printer, I want my display to be mostly dumb. Fewer things to break, first of all. Also, "smart" devices are usually pretty badly designed. I'll plug in my own choice of brain, thank you.

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

#199

Post by rkuykendall-com »

winslow wrote: post #150
JohnTHaller wrote: post #147

Smart TVs' apps generally lag FAR behind the equivalent apps on a Playstation, Xbox, Roku box or similar anyway, so it's generally a better option to go with a regular TV. The money you save can more than pay for a Roku box. Or even an Xbox 360 depending on brand. A TV without the annoying apps, added commercials, and privacy issues is a smarter choice. Stop calling them dumb TVs. They're "Smarter TVs".

Are non smart TVs even available (once you get into the big 55in and above range)? I suppose you could always buy the smart version and just don't enable/use it

I wonder if we'll start to see "Start TV Lobotomy" guides.

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

#200

Post by tomjen3 »

a3n wrote: post #62
andybak wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I haven't bought a TV for five years (a Samsung, as it happens, plugged into a Roku). Can you even buy a TV that isn't smart these days?

Yes. I brought one a year or so ago (40 inches I think) and it isn't smart (that is it doesn't have an internet connection option) but it does have the ability to e.g auto tune channel discovery and play music and movies from the attached usb stick (super useful feature btw) so it isn't like a tv of yesterday either.

I imagine the televisions you tend to see ads for or that are displayed most prominently in stores are those that they want to sell (no shit) and thus those tend to be the smart tvs.

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