Roku files patent to inject ads via HDMI (opens in new tab)

> Anyone who doesn’t do everything in their power to avoid adverts is part of the problem.

Says everybody until they are wanting to advertise their own product.

It does not, in any way, depend.

If your only options are "bad" and "even worse", that does not mean that one option is good. They are both, in fact, bad.

How accurate they are directly correlates with how much pain I'd wish on whoever is responsible.

Eventually everyone will adopt this and there will be no escape from ads outside of jailbreaking your device and flashing oss software.

For the rest of the tale, I recommend you follow the stock symbol "ORCL" on the NYSE.

Rather curious that Mr. Ellison owns an island in a volcanic archipelago, isn't it?

I think from their perspective, the likely $XXm legal settlement wouldn't be worth the time and effort to bring a case against Samsung for this crime. I guess it could go on a backlog somewhere though. Still unfortunate.

Anyway, it doesn't violate wiretapping laws, because the resources/budget to uphold the law isn't high enough. A programmer might say they chose availability over consistency.

I have to wonder what their end-game is. Eventually the word has to get out.

> Roughly twice per second, a Roku TV captures video “snapshots” in 4K resolution. These snapshots are scanned through a database of content and ads, which allows the exposure to be matched to what is airing. For example, if a streamer is watching an NFL football game and sees an ad for a hard seltzer, Roku’s ACR will know that the ad has appeared on the TV being watched at that time. In this way, the content on screen is automatically recognized, as the technology’s name indicates. The data then is paired with user profile data to link the account watching with the content they’re watching. (https://advertising.roku.com/learn/resources/acr-the-future-...)

Note that this isn't documentation of their data collection practices, this is ad copy providing one example intended to convince advertisers to pay them. They mention TV but my guess is that this applies to every type of roku device, exploiting your data is how they make their money after all, although a stick is probably not capturing the screenshots in 4K. I would also assume that this applies to all content viewed on the device regardless of the app being used and including personal content cast to the device.

Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), it's called, generically.

https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/how-to-t...

The TV makers don't need ACR when you are using apps on their OS. Those apps all report the currently playing title to the OS maker. ACR is used for when you watch broadcast TV or anything coming in over HDMI.

The margins on TVs are surprisingly small, so being able to show you a few dollars of ads every year dramatically improves that margin, which allows the TV to be either a better value or cheaper compared to other sets you see in the store.

For the HDMI inputs and live TV. Not everyone uses the built in apps on the TV.

The redditor who noticed ads pushed to his LG gaming monitor said he connected it to wifi for updates. I think a lot of people assume that updates are really important and don't expect companies to screw them over with ads.

How many 65" Displays with Display Port are there? Also, don't nVidia GPUs only support the nearly 10 year old Display Port 1.4, which doesn't support variable refresh rates for high resolution/high framerate displays? Sure, buying an AMD GPU is a solution, if you don't mind worse drivers and higher power usage for less performance.

(To be clear: I want HDMI to die, DisplayPort to win, and AMD to get their crap together. But at the end of the day, we need support on both the GPU and the Monitor/TV side, and that's where it's lacking.)

I still hate that turning off one of my monitors moves the windows to the other still on monitor...

I’d rather just use SDI

No, just someone who managed to keep his sanity in the onslaught of advertising, someone who sees the forest through the trees.

As to the nature and science education, documentaries, great films and TV shows that entertain and help us experience the human condition through great visual art and storytelling, those can be had without subjecting yourself to advertising (other than whatever advertising they put in the programs themselves) by using ad-free platforms like Jellyfin or Kodi running on whatever available piece of hardware (old laptop with broken screen and keyboard, SBC, discless workstation, ...). There is no reason to give in to the ad juggernaut, it can not force your door or pry open your eyelids to force you to watch. Just don't use anything which pushes ads and you're set.

This is not fantasy, it is the daily reality of countless individuals and families. You don't need to give in to the advertising industry.

> Are you from 1950?

First tv ad in 1941, first radio ad in 1922, first newspaper ad in 1704, first known written ad in 3000 bc.

What's the reason for data collection though?

Then why the "targeted" ads and data harvesting? For all the effort, ads are still mostly totally irrelevant and may as well be random.

Alas, if you let the people with enough money pay for making the ads go away, your remaining ad audience will be poorer on average, and perhaps less interesting for ad space buyers.

> On Facebook/Instagram I frequently see ads for products

I never have that; it’s always irrelevant stuff OR stuff I just bought (because the ad tracking know I was on that other site looking at that product; somehow they don’t know I bought it so now I get weeks of a product I no longer want to buy aka fully useless) so will definitely not buy again.

On fb I mostly see advertisement for programming courses.

Of course with a master of science in computer science, after years and years of posting links to my open source projects; what I need the most is a programming course or a no code platform.

And then they will decide that no-ads should actually be slightly less ads instead. And if you are still using that Rolu Plus Extreme after two years, you don't deserve to be able to opt out anymore.

In my grandparent comment I mentioned “fairly priced products” - if the price (including ad removal) is fair and the product is good, I have no problems with paying.

This comment is crazy. There's no reasonable way to fund a service without either ads or direct payment.

Piratebay still works right?

I just subscribe to paramount plus again to watch discovery. Seems perfectly reasonable, they give me a program I want (with no product placement from what I can gather - unlike the JJ Abram’s films with their “Budweiser classic”. I don’t think a self sealing stem boot counts), and I give them £8 a month. Everyone is happy.

However you try to double dip and I don’t give you a penny.

In Belgium I know of at least 1 provider who blocks you, once per hour, from being able to FF advertisements on recordings.

Hmmm… I suppose I’m looking for the wrong solution then. We need to jailbreak the smart TVs and load our own software on them instead- can be as dumb or as smart as you need.

And if you include the smart tv board, you can then lower the purchase price of the TV and make it up on ads and subscriptions. The resulting price competition on smart TVs is what makes it hard to buy dumb TVs.

Also, the screens spying on you and showing ads are often very subtle about it. They don't tell you every time they take a screenshot, they don't make a loud "click" sound, they don't advertise it. They're not even legally obligated to do anything other than tell you about it in buried legalese. LG will say you need to agree to new privacy terms so that you can use the "microphone" button on your remote control, for example. I persist in ignoring that one, but I'm sure others wouldn't and haven't. Amazon lately has been blatant with how much advertising is ruining their services and sticks, to the point where I don't go to Amazon to search for products now, they've just ruined it. Not every spying, advertising-laden service provider is as obvious as Amazon about it, though.

BestBuy house brand (Insignia I think) are dumb and cheap but no wifi.

I use a mini PC with an air mouse to add my own "smarts" that I can control.

sceptre tvs are pretty affordable. Have been using it for a while - no issues. No wifi though, just hdmi and usb.

You can get a used Wyze which is fast enough for any media consumption, and fanless, for <£50.

However I wouldn't say that the streaming services make the interface suitable for consuming via a TV. Windows lost it's Media Centre interface, and most services are hostile to Linux.

Video is still an area where piracy provides the best experience.

The recent addition of VPN support, including Tailscale, has made Apple TV even more compelling. VLC exists for Apple TV.

For purchased movies, Apple TV does not impose silly geo-restrictions, unlike Vudu and MoviesAnywhere.

I also like my Chromecast.

It's ok, I guess, if Google has all your data already anyway.

But then you don't have any of the big streaming services, so it's not really an alternative to Roku.

You'll need to do a little more legwork to replace them.

I use infuse with jellyfin

This is what I use, although it's obvious the enshittification has started with the terrible adverts across the top of the screen.

I have the 2nd gen, so there were no adverts when I first purchased it.

Which is why I have 3-4 of them across mine and the ex's house, but now with the changes they've had lately with showing more and more sponsored content in the home screen, issues with HDR10+ (mostly Paramount+), changing my theme for random reasons... I'm switching to Apple TV.

Ah ok, thanks for the information. I had never heard of them. Their website didn't make that really clear, it looks like a random rebranded android based tv box.

That only works with real competition.

How’s the ink jet printer industry doing these days?

Yeah. If everyone does it the only fix is a law. And clearly we don’t pass those anymore.

It doesn't work that way anymore and people need to understand the old rules are gone. We've passed an inflection point where a few companies have dipped their toes into extreme enshittification or excessive price increases and survived, so we're seeing the start of a free for all. Think of Reddit and Twitter doing user hostile shit starting last year, and fast food raising prices beyond the point where it's a discount relative to better food anymore.

A critical mass of consumers is now so passive and docile that they don't change behavior as they're boiled alive.

And when they all do it, then what?

Every single inkjet printer is trash because they all adopted the same tactics.

All the TV makers went to selling your advertising data. What makes you think they won’t all do this?

It's really not that simple.

Google, Tizen, and WebOS are the major TV players, with Roku also somewhere in the mix.

All three of these companies do some level of surveillance, and yet they, or another proprietary device, are often required to watch streaming services.

You can argue that streaming services are unnecessary, but that means both spending a lot of time and money on physical media, or simply missing out, as many shows are now only showing on streaming, and not broadcast anymore.

I own a Bravia, it has all the usual bells and whistles but was made in Japan for the Japanese market. We've had it connected to the internet for the year since we bought it and haven't had any trouble with ads.