System would detect paused content on external devices and show ads on top.

A patent application from the company spotted by Lowpass describes a system for displaying ads over any device connected over HDMI, a list that could include cable boxes, game consoles, DVD or Blu-ray players, PCs, or even other video streaming devices. Roku filed for the patent in August 2023 and it was published in November 2023, though it hasn’t yet been granted.

The technology described would detect whether content was paused in multiple ways—if the video being displayed is static, if there’s no audio being played, if a pause symbol is shown anywhere on screen, or if (on a TV with HDMI-CEC enabled) a pause signal has been received from some passthrough remote control. The system would analyze the paused image and use metadata “to identify one or more objects” in the video frame, transmit that identification information to a network, and receive and display a “relevant ad” over top of whatever the paused content is.

  • rasakaf679@lemmy.mlEnglish
    5·
    7 months ago

    Fuck Roku. If we stop buying their shit. They’ll eventually be bankrupt to implement this feature. So Fuck roku

    • Landless2029@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      7 months ago

      Roku would just start selling the televisions well below cost or even free since they make WAY more money from ADs.

    • viking@infosec.pubEnglish
      3·
      7 months ago

      So then some other ad-tech company can buy the patent for cheap during the wind-down.

    • Louisoix@lemm.eeEnglish
      01·
      7 months ago

      Is this real? I’ve never seen a native ad in windows and honestly don’t know if maybe it’s some kind of a regional thing.

      • mbfalzar@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        On fresh installs before running the debloater scripts there’s plenty of Try Candy Crush and it’s already got Office 365 pinned and accidentally clicking that takes you to the store page, and there’s some other shit I can’t remember by name

  • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pubEnglish
    5·
    7 months ago

    Thanks to OP for reinforcing my choice to forever avoid smart TV’s.

    Edit: if you want a non-smart TV look for hospitality TVs.

    Also, “how to ask everyone capable to hack your shit product without asking everyone to hack your shit product.”

    • IdleSheep@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      6·
      7 months ago

      Or just buy whatever TV you want, never connect it to the internet, and then plug in a separate box where you’ll actually get the content from.

      Smart TVs aren’t actually that smart if they have no internet and you entirely bypass their home screen to go straight to whatever box you have.

        • daFRAKKINpope@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          7 months ago

          I don’t see how. Unless it has, like, 20 predefined stored ads. But even then it might be refreshing in 20 years to see a commercial for Kia. Be like, “Oh yeah! I remember Kia! Man, crazy how long it’s been since Kia’s have been around. Such a bad car.”

          • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pubEnglish
            1·
            7 months ago

            I wish I could find the source but I do remember seeing an article about it. Maybe it’s a broken memory.

            IIRC, it was Vizio brand TVs that had not yet been connected to a network and they were already showing ads implying that they had in fact been shipped with ads in their cache, or perhaps having been connected to a network for testing

      • jcg@halubilo.socialEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        Computer monitors are significantly more expensive for the same size and are overkill for the applications TVs are generally used for.

  • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    So we just ordered a new tv and just want the universe to know that Roku wasn’t even considered and this shit is why.

    • ilmagico@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      I mean, yeah sure, but are the alternatives that much better in this respect? Which alternative non-ad-ridden, privacy-respecting smart tv would you recommend (or ended up buying)? Asking for my future tv choice…

      • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        We have a HiSense Android TV (most are now Google TV, but they’re essentially the same). There are ads by default, but you can install a custom launcher with no ads, so the experience is much better.

        I use Projectivity launcher and it looks nicer, has no ads, and it’s much faster and more responsive.

        As soon as I figured out how to install a custom launcher, I researched how to disable ads similarly on our Roku TVs and discovered all of the secret menus that could have disabled them, except they no longer work.

        So the Roku level of lockdown on their custom OS is much worse now versus an android-based OS.

  • festus@lemmy.caEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    if the video being displayed is static

    Imagine you’re playing Skyrim and while reading one of the books your TV covers up the content with an ad! That would be infuriating!

    • bcron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      I was thinking Diablo 2 is gonna be rendered unplayable. It’ll probably view “IL” in “SKILL” or a rune or small charm as a pause symbol and make it so you can’t open your inventory

      Edit: Oh shit, the ‘II’ in Diablo II

  • Nora@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    The amount of ewaste they will be producing when they push that update. Should be against some environmental laws.

  • glitchdx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    I don’t have to imagine roku injecting ads, I’ve already seen it. Had a movie going on my tablet, screen shared to the tv over wifi, tv screen had an ad “you can watch this movie on our bullshit streaming service!”. This was 2 years ago. I will never buy a smart tv. And fuck roku specifically.

  • somnuz@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    There should be a special division in all patenting offices called Burning With Fire ™