Edit: I guess this post is free advertising for these shitters, so I will describe what I previously linked.
There is this TV you can get for free but it has a ads on screen constantly and it has a camera pointed at you to record your reactions to ads and to ensure you don’t cover up the ad portion of the screen.
“The smartest TV […]”
I’m already out. Give me your dumbest.
Exactly, what’s the use of a smart TV when I have a game console capable of streaming everything a “Smart TV” can AND playing games/browsing the Web?
9/10 times people use a fire stick or cable box to watch TV anyway, all I need is volume, input selection, and power.You need that “smart” stuff to make smaller resolutions look good on a 4k TV.
Upscaling takes processing power, so adding in the smart functions doesn’t really need anything else.
Without the upscaling, it’s often a waste to buy a 4k TV because very few sources are in 4k. You’d be getting the same picture quality as 1080
I have a 4K dumb TV with no Wi-Fi at all and I’ve never had any image issues.
What does wifi have to do with anything?
And if it upscaled well, it’s already got the processing power to have all the apps installed. So, cool it doesn’t have that, but it’s kind of a waste you don’t… And seems a lot more likely you’re overestimating it.
But I have a feeling if you look up your TV on rtings you’ll be surprised, or find out you bought a weird Black Friday model that’s been feature stripped to be as cheap and low quality as possible while marking a couple highlights to advertise on the box.
I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a “smart TV” is
I think people don’t understand that the processing abilities upscaling needs means adding smart functionality is basically free.
That’s why I mentioned looking up the model number, I’m confident what that person said their TV was isn’t what it is.
No “dumb” TV is going to be good at upscaling because of that. OP might think it is, but they’re probably mistaken about something
Smart TV defines the extra functionality, not the processing hardware. If a smart TV has the Wi-Fi and streaming services disabled it is by definition NOT a smart TV.
you dont need to shove “smart” features into them to habe upscaling
any dumb computer monitor has it
any dumb computer monitor has it
?
I googled, and found one high-end monitor with any kind of native upscaling…
And saying something that is on the most expensive monitors has to be on the cheapest TVs doesn’t make a lot of sense…
And that’s not even getting into what kind of upscaling or how a bigger screen size makes upscaling more important.
Like a 22 inch it doesn’t matter, but an 80 it’s really important
Isn’t it time to stop being polite and start relentlessly mocking anyone who voluntarily buys this shit?
For free? Surely there’s some way to get that shit out… Or at least, the panel.
I’m sure there’s some gotcha in the contract that says you don’t actually own the hardware and modifying it is a breach.
Of course you don’t own it, you didn’t even pay for it
I lost the second monitor in a boating accident.
Ah, taking inspiration from late 1940’s literature, I see. Smart!
You can mute, but the ad will pause until you unmute.
Which makes the button almost completely useless.
That would mean the “unintrusive ad screen” isn’t unintrusive, if the ads shown in it also play sound.
I wouldn’t have known about it if not for this post.
Now this post feels like an ad.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to advertise, I’ll edit the link and the product name from my post.
Nah I think it’s ok since it provides context
But thanks for editing anyway
Same but I signed up for it
ROFL
“McDonald’s!” \o/
Drink the confirmation can now.
I understood this reference
There were several isps that did this years ago… A banner at bottom is of your screen showing ads, free internet. They all went bankrupt I think.
Considering you can buy a decent TV for a few hundred dollars these days, I don’t see it going much differently for this company either.
Oh man the memories! My parents used NetZero
You can still get 10 free hours a month on their dialup. Over 10 hours and you have to pay for their super ultra extreme dialup.
It’s “free” which means you’re paying for it a different way than money. If you don’t want the ads then don’t get the “free” TV.
Yeah. I’m completely behind the complaints people have with a lot of modern world problems in this regard.
- Ads on TVs you paid for
- Ads on streaming services you paid for
- Actually, ads on cable/satellite TV with a subscription in general. What a ridiculous concept of paying twice!
- Subscriptions for hardware features already installed (although I am fine with a one-off payment to activate them. I can see the argument for a single SKU with all features installed and deactivated for making the production line simpler)
But in this case, they’re very clear. They are making hardware available at no monetary cost. Therefore, you MUST know they’re monetizing you somehow, and this is the somehow.
Having said that, yes, the description does seem like the dystopian tellyscreens in nineteen-eighty-four. But they were mandatory for everyone, which is the main difference.
Having said that, yes, the description does seem like the dystopian tellyscreens in nineteen-eighty-four. But they were mandatory for everyone, which is the main difference.
This is actually closer to Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the former, citizens voluntarily buy huge TVs to adorn their living room walls because their whole society is built around pleasure-seeking and entertainment. These displays are then used by the powers that be to distract and pacify the population, prevent critical thinking and reduce political unrest.
Actually looking through the site. I don’t really see how they’re going to make enough money on this.
I cannot see anywhere on their site that suggests the camera will be watching you (and there’s probably laws against that, even in the USA!) and the FAQ specifically says the camera has a cover and only an app using the camera will make that open, and you have to accept the permission.
Also, it seems they play the ads on a separate screen. Which suggests there won’t be sound either. So they don’t even expect you to be paying attention to the ads, because it seems they won’t block content for them.
I expect there might be an initial interest in advertisers. But if they don’t see a decent conversion rate, I cannot imagine they will keep paying enough to cover the TV for ads.
Also, what happens when one of these breaks, they replace it for free? I’d imagine they would need to because otherwise the hardware they paid for is no longer generating revenue.
This sounds like a late April fool. :P
I am more interested in the technology used inside the TV.
I signed up for one.
Fuck it. Free TV. I can probably disable the ad screen somehow (even just covering it but leave the camera uncovered) Certainly would be fun to see if it can be hacked.
Guess your time is free too.
Time to tinker with expensive hardware given away free in an attempt to break what is making it free in the first place? You bet.
I’m sure that would be interesting, but if you have the skills for that, why not do something more productive? I don’t mean to insult. Are you making YouTube teardown videos or something?
I can’t just have fun? And I mean, if I succeed it could be useful to people who want but can’t afford a TV but also don’t want the bullshit baggage. What could be more productive than sabotaging capitalism?
