Don’t connect your TV to the internet, just don’t.
Roku’s New HDMI Tech Could Show Ads When You Pause Your Game
Submitted 8 months ago by ConstableJelly@midwest.social to gaming@beehaw.org
https://kotaku.com/roku-patent-hdmi-tech-tv-ads-game-console-pause-screen-1851388976
Comments
JoMomma@lemm.ee 8 months ago
tal@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Cars have cell radios now.
I would imagine that as long as it can generate enough of a return for it to make financial sense, manufacturers of other devices might start doing so at some point.
Dabjulmaros@reddthat.com 8 months ago
Imagine if your tv only worked if it can phone home so you couldnt just rip the chip off or mangle the antena.
JoMomma@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Did you reply to the correct comment? I’m not sure what that has to do with mine?
Domiku@beehaw.org 8 months ago
There was a really interesting interview on The Verge with the CEO of Telly. Basically, TVs are so cheap now because they make all of their profit selling your data. His pitch is “why pay for a TV and then also have your data mined. They should at least give you the TV for free.”
It’s frustrating because even if we buy a “premium” devices like an LG C3 or one of the nice Samsung TVs, they’re still going to spy on us. (PiHole FTW).
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
He’s right, but I don’t like the framing of TV companies are going to spy on you anyway so we’re the best option since you get a free TV. I would like the option to not be spied on. In fact I’m choosing that by not having a TV to begin with.
Kiosade@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
That’s one of the reasons i’ve stayed with a TV from 2009 for so long. It was just before they started doing all that Internet TV bullshit, so no spying possible.
Vodulas@beehaw.org 8 months ago
You can still do that and get a TV (for now), you just have to not connect it to the internet. Mine has never seen Ethernet cable nor my wifi password and gives me zero problems. I don’t even use the TV interface since I have an HDMI switcher that auto switches to the most recently powered device.
Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
isnt that why if you value privacy (or customization) youre supposed to not plug the tv to the internet and use your prefered streaming setup connected over hdmi. its ultimately a self inflicted problem of people using the built in stuff rather than take the time and setup an actual setup (that would stay the same between tvs as long as said device doesnt die on you)
then convenience is sold, especially if its free, then your data is going to be sold with it.
Domiku@beehaw.org 8 months ago
That only works if you’re using something Linux + Jellyfin, though. Any set top box like a Fire Stick or Chromecast will sell your data too.
powerofm@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Time to start jailbreaking TVs.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 months ago
Already a thing for Roku/Android TVs.
lowleveldata@programming.dev 8 months ago
Don’t buy Roku TVs?
ConstableJelly@midwest.social 8 months ago
Home entertainment is such a closed system that all these companies are just beta testing shitty ideas for each other. Eventually they all do the same thing as long as any backlash was neither too destructive to revenue nor sustained. See endless streaming services price hikes, account sharing lockdowns, or the fact that you just can’t buy dumb TVs anymore.
lowleveldata@programming.dev 8 months ago
That’s why you buy the less shitty ones to reinforce the backlash
tal@lemmy.today 8 months ago
This particular idea probbaly has technical limitations.
A device can only monitor and analyze and modify what a user is viewing if it’s being used as a pass-through device in a daisy chain of devices.
As long as there is any device out there that can take multiple video signals from different inputs, let the user choose which they want to use, they can just not daisy-chain them, have them connected in parallel to different inputs.
Now, that being said, I suppose that device manufacturers may not care, if 95% of users are going to just daisy-chain their devices. If it’s only a few privacy nuts out there who are constantly keeping on top of the latest shennanigans and figuring out how to avoid them, if the Roku manual says “daisy chain” and most users just follow the pictures there…shrugs
alphapuggle@programming.dev 8 months ago
HTPC or Google TV. With Google TV you can at least ADB the shit away
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 months ago
Should be able to with Roku since they are also Android based. I’ve found a bunch of things to side load or modify any TV running on Android or based on Android… Which only sucks because I was looking for that kind of stuff for my shit-ass Samsung TV which isn’t Android based 😩
alphapuggle@programming.dev 8 months ago
Roku is not android based, and doesn’t have an accessible ADB interface or similar
esaru@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Time to find interests that don’t depend on a company taking advantage of your consumption habits.
darkphotonstudio@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Roku’s New HDMI Tech C̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ Will Show Ads When You Pause Your Game
FTFY
HopingForBetter@lemmy.today 8 months ago
I’m just expecting ads with any “start” button press.
Press start ADS!
Change equipment by pressing start to access the menu. ADS!
Press start to conti ADS!!!
vox@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
note: this is just a patent
patents usually don’t mean shit, sony has a patent for an ad system that requires users to say the name of the brand to continue, but we’re not seeing it around yet eh?kandoh@reddthat.com 8 months ago
If they do,that’s it
ramble81@lemm.ee 8 months ago
The biggest thing I hate about any HDMI overlay is they inevitably screw with the picture quality of the underlying image.
lud@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Could it not be turned off when it’s not needed (I.E. The game is unpaused.)
roon@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
if !playing { play_ad() }
realcaseyrollins 8 months ago
When I move out and get my own TV, I'm definitely getting a dumb one.
thingsiplay@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Ads are making everything worse. Yes and ads are disturbing the doing nothing. Doing nothing is very valuable to me. It’s the time when I have some time for myself.
sirico@feddit.uk 8 months ago
Are they going to pay for the increased power to do so?
tal@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Ads have funded a lot of content in the past. I don’t mean just in the Internet era, but in the TV era and the radio era and the newspaper era. We’re talking centuries.
Unless you’re gonna get people to pay for your content, which can create difficulties, attaching it to ads can be a way to pay for that content.
Now, all that being said, that isn’t to say that one needs to want to choose ads or needs to want to choose ads in all contexts or can want unlimited ads. I’d generally rather pay for something up front. Let’s say that it takes $10 to produce a piece of content. For ads to make sense, it has to make the average user ultimately spend at least $10 more on some advertised product than they otherwise would have, or it wouldn’t make sense for the advertiser to give the content creator $10. I’d just as soon spend $10 on the content directly instead and not watch the ads. Ultimately, the average user has to pay at least as much under an ad regime as if they just paid for the content up front, and doesn’t have to deal with the overhead of me staring at ads.
But for that to work, the content provider has to be able to actually get people to pay for whatever content they’re putting out. If it gets pirated, or people disproportionately weight the cost of that up-front payment, or people are worried about the security of their transaction, or what-have-you, then the content provider is gonna fall back to being paid in ads.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 8 months ago
I don’t necessarily have a problem with advertising in general. I kinda hate that too. What I have a problem with is super invasive advertising where it collects a monumental amount of personal information, maliciously and often without your consent, to target ads for specific products.
And anyone who says they’re not doing it, I don’t believe them anymore.
Roku is capturing everything that’s on your TV and processing it as personal data.