Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV • Hacker News Board

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#71

Post by dgacmu » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:34 PM UTC

chung8123 wrote: post #15

ramesh31 wrote: post #5

Worth it for the price though. A 100" Hisense can be had for $1k now at Best Buy. Would have been a $20,000 TV 10 years ago.

At 100" the packaging, shipping from china, the delivery, etc. add have to be so much more than $1k. I bought a 100" TV with setup and it was only $1600. I don't know how they make money on that with all the logistics required. Two people for delivery, two different people for the wall hanging, all the materials for the packaging, and that is just to get it to my house.

Shipping from China to a US coastal warehouse is probably modestly under $200, including packaging, assuming it's shipped in a 40" container. Possibly less if there's other cargo that can be used to fill the remaining space.

I suspect the domestic costs are really dependent on volume (like, can you ship a container of 45 TVs to a warehouse near NYC or do you have to ship each unit individually) and I don't feel confident estimating that side of it.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#72

Post by Y-bar » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:34 PM UTC

cr125rider wrote: post #9

ktallett wrote: post #3

Another brand I will not buy. What has become of so many companies selling out? Apple, Lenovo, Hisense, and so on.

It’s unfair to say Apple has sold out when they’re the last bastion of commercial streaming boxes that aren’t riddled with ads

Depends on your definition of ”ads”. As someone deep in the apple ecosystem without a subscription to Music or Apple TV I get regular full screen promotions/ads to subscribe when all I want to do is listen or watch my bought content.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#73

Post by newscracker » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:34 PM UTC

lpcvoid wrote: post #33

I have a rooted LG WebOS TV. It's really nice. I can ssh into it. It's on a dedicated VLAN which has all LG domains and IP firewalled off. It can connect to Youtube, using a version of the Youtube app with integrated adblocker and sponsorblock. It's absolute superb.

Do you have any recommended links for such a setup? I don’t connect my TV to the network and use it with an Apple TV. But I’m interested to know more on this.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#74

Post by everdrive » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:35 PM UTC

kotaKat wrote: post #55

p0w3n3d wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is outrageous and we need to stand up against it. You're merely avoiding the danger of uber-enshittification of hardware (now once software is enshittified enough), but this will crawl further and further. Meanwhile rating companies are lowering ratings of firms that DO NOT have 'subscription model' in their products, that's why we're intended to pay for enabling heating in car seats from now on.

The TV manufacturers know they can get a guaranteed $30-50/year spliff out of the platform vendors per unit for allowing the shitware in the first place and that these TVs will last long enough to get them a nice several hundred dollar subsidy on the TV. I’m afraid there’s not going to be a great affordable path out of this hypersubsidized trap we’ve set the market into.

Consumers just keep putting up with it. TVs are not a necessity; it's not like electric bills or healthcare. There are more ways to consume content than ever before, and more content available than ever before. Not owning a TV in the 80s or 90s was something of a big deal. Now, it couldn't matter less. But people are still putting up with whatever crap manufacturers are putting out. It should be easy to vote with wallet (even that means simply not purchasing a TV) but consumers just keep buying this crap.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#75

Post by everdrive » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:35 PM UTC

bilekas wrote: post #6

Ughh.. I recently turned on my 1000EUR+ LG Oled TV to find that it had automatically installed a Copilot app.. And keeps doing it every few days. Is there any smart TV that I can actually just use a TV how I want? Or am I reduced to buying an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely ?

>Or am I reduced to buying an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely?

Why would this be something that you're "reduced" to? Why would it be a bad thing?

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#76

Post by rebeccaskinner » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:37 PM UTC

cr125rider wrote: post #9

ktallett wrote: post #3

Another brand I will not buy. What has become of so many companies selling out? Apple, Lenovo, Hisense, and so on.

It’s unfair to say Apple has sold out when they’re the last bastion of commercial streaming boxes that aren’t riddled with ads

It is pretty riddled with ads though. By default the Home Screen shows the tv all and it’s completely crammed with ads.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#77

Post by mrweasel » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:39 PM UTC

greatpatton wrote: post #36

aerhardt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also had to take this approach with my LG TV. The OS actually had its use for a while but Apple TV has become my driver. I no longer wish to consent to LG’s EULAs which are starting to look like the legal corpus of a small nation. I’m also not interested in their software updates. Internet privileges: revoked. It’s concerning nonetheless as others are pointing out that in the current trajectory the TVs may soon ref…

It's simple: not buying them is the way. There is enough competition to just buy a screen that will not do that.

You don't really get a lot of options anymore. When people around don't really care and just buy this junk because it's cheap, and they "need" a new TV ever three to four years, for some reason, then you get priced out of the market pretty quickly. Even if you look for TV, and yes I want a TV, not a monitor, without all this junk, there's not really any options available locally anymore. I believe my only option is the Thompson Easy TV, which is great, if I needed a 43" TV or lower.

Apparently I can attempt to import one from Romania, but that seems fairly complicated. Even sites that recommend dumb TVs just recommend SmartTVs that works well as a dumb TV.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#78

Post by ceejayoz » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:41 PM UTC

ectospheno wrote: post #10

Once I verify a home video product works as intended I remove its network connection and never connect it again. I then leave its static ip address configured and block any traffic from it on the off chance it’s ever connected again. The sole exception is my PlayStation 5. I use apps on it for all streaming.

Even some cheap Kindles came with a SIM card.

I expect this to happen if enough people block ads on TVs. (They'll probably promote it as a "backup connection" or something.)

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#79

Post by aerhardt » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:41 PM UTC

andrepd wrote: post #62

aerhardt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also had to take this approach with my LG TV. The OS actually had its use for a while but Apple TV has become my driver. I no longer wish to consent to LG’s EULAs which are starting to look like the legal corpus of a small nation. I’m also not interested in their software updates. Internet privileges: revoked. It’s concerning nonetheless as others are pointing out that in the current trajectory the TVs may soon ref…

LG TVs may be rooted. You probably can also run a pi-hole sort of thing to block any traffic except whitelisted domains. Not that I've done it, I don't get enough value out of it to justify the hassle or the privacy intrusion.

The thing stopped being so needy when I neutered its internet access. Maybe it’s still exfiltrating data but at least it has stopped making me anxious that I may need to consult a civil rights lawyer every time I saw their EULA.

Re: Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV

#80

Post by ecshafer » Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 2:41 PM UTC

user3939382 wrote: post #48

aerhardt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also had to take this approach with my LG TV. The OS actually had its use for a while but Apple TV has become my driver. I no longer wish to consent to LG’s EULAs which are starting to look like the legal corpus of a small nation. I’m also not interested in their software updates. Internet privileges: revoked. It’s concerning nonetheless as others are pointing out that in the current trajectory the TVs may soon ref…

I’ve read reports of these devices turning on wifi and auto connecting to known public wifi networks. Seems we went from a generation of technologists dismissing Stallman as paranoid to one living in his nightmare and not being appropriately familiar with his work, issues of art vs artist aside.

Stallman has always been right. Hes a radical, but he was always been right. He is basically prescient with seeing how private software would be used. He was just so early that people thought he was a crazy radical, but now he seems to be stricken with a case of being Cassandra.