You can often buy the "digital signage" of TVs. Same pannel, but it's just a screen. I think it's targetting businesses but you can buy them too!
Oh, the same company that screenshots your content even if you use it as a dumb display? Who could've predicted this!
Who the fucks connect tv to the internet
Straight to the work bench, remove the back, physically remove the wifi adapter, replace back of TV. Yay, i am ready for xbox.
I just set up a rule on my firewall to disallow outgoing web traffic from my TV so I can still control it over the wifi. Then if I want to sell it I haven't broken any functionality.
If I had done that, I would have never gotten the firmware update to enable VRR support on my HDMI 2.1 ports…
I need someone to explain to me, what situation could possibly arise that would require me to use Copilot on my fucking TV?
Play the movie where Darth Vader dies.
Of course there are features enabled by ai. But to force it down our throats, that's the problem.
Don't think about what copilot can do for you that's some socialism talk!, think about how it could squeeze profits and data from your instead ~Microsoft lunatics
I believe we're talking about the "number go up" scenario
I'll throw my money at any TV manfucturer that just sells me a dumb OLED TV with great picture quality. Heck, even drop the speakers, I won't be using them anyway. Just a dumb panel with plenty of input/outputs.
The LG TVs are basically that if you just ignore the LG ui. You can plug in whatever input you want and have it automatically go there on power on
I never see the LG UI. Only my nvidia shield
You'll never get a high quality panel like you want because there's only so many that produce the panels. And without a value add nobody makes any money.
FYI, LG and Samsung were both confirmed to take and upload periodic screenshots, whether you're using native apps or an external input.
Shitty article with guide to disable ACR: https://appleinsider.com/inside/mac/tips/how-to-stop-your-lg-or-samsung-smart-tv-from-tracking-you (you might want to block traffic altogether knowing what they are ok with doing)
Primary source for finding: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203
Thanks for the link. Looks like I had already turned it off.
This comes up a lot, and I don't necessarily get it. I have all smart TVs, and I just never, ever, EVER let them connect to wifi even ONCE for any reason. It's not like it NEEDS it for anything.
It’s not like it NEEDS it for anything.
I see this take online a lot, but in person, everywhere I go people play netflix and whatever directly on their TV. I think there might just be a huge divide in perspective between those with and without game consoles of some sort always connected to their TV.
This comes in handy...
Shit, Kodi isn't mentioned once in the article. That's a sign of the times.
Smart TV OSes help TV-makers stay afloat in an industry with thin margins on hardware. Not only do they provide ad space, but they also give OS operators and their partners information on how people use their TVs—data that is extremely valuable to advertisers.
I turn my tv on, turn it to whatever channel, and then I just go about my business. I even leave the house. Go to work. Ect.
So if I had a smart tv, I they would get info like "oh, he's been watching tv for 36 hours straight...."
Meanwhile, I may have watched 3 hours combined at different times.
Oh, you want to pay these companies more money, because more people are watching? Ok.....but I'm not even home. I've been at work for 5 hours. I just turn the TV on so it looks like someone is home.
Wait until the add cameras, telescreen style...
LG's recent software update has forcibly installed Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant, on smart TVs without removal options, sparking widespread user backlash over privacy, bloatware, and loss of control. This highlights growing tensions in smart devices, where monetization often overrides user preferences.
Sure is ironic that the article summary is itself AI-generated.
I have my TV on WiFi network that has no Internet access so at least I can control it via homeassistant still. It doesn't need Internet for anything but the UI so just get a shield and strip that down
The controversy centers on a Reddit post in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, where a user lamented the unexpected addition of Copilot following an automatic update. The post, which garnered thousands of upvotes and comments, describes the AI tool appearing as a non-deletable app on the TV’s interface.
"Widespread backlash" 🙄
So glad I blocked my LG C1 from the internet ages ago. Haven't received updates in forever, don't care. It's a TV, it shows pictures. I even still have it LAN enabled so it can be controlled via Home Assistant automations, it just can never leave the home network, and that's how I like it.
I can't even remember how long ago I set it up to do this, I think it was when I heard rumor they'd be including ads in the UI, maybe 2023 or so.
Incredible. What a shit idea.
Anyways, kids, remember: never let your smart devices talk to the internet. We actually love our LG OLED - it's fantastic hardware. But it has not once, and never will, get the chance to phone home.
I reworked my entire home network. Going from an Asus router to an opnsense firewall, just to put the HP printer and the LG TV on a VLAN with absolutely no internet access.
These two poor guys ping each other every day, in the hopes one of them gets a connection.
Awesome haha. ALmost exact same setup here, incl. OpnSense with an isolation vlan in which (brother) printer and TV are.
This shit is why more people now have dabbled in DNS blocking and vlans. Its "your" equipment but you need to literally treat it as hostile.
is it that hard just to a regular TV? i think with all the AI backlash and Smart TV fatigue that's kinda a reasonable solution. Def won't hurt anybody
FYI, it won't let you delete Alexa either. I hate that fucking thing.
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