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This might be defensive in a way? This is Roku, a maker of media players, patenting a method where a TV would detect the connected player stopped playing and in
by dale_glass 3y ago
This might be defensive in a way? This is Roku, a maker of media players, patenting a method where a TV would detect the connected player stopped playing and inserts an ad.
Being that Roku makes the media device, it'd be trivial for them to insert an ad without any of this "detect a pause in content" hackery. So I'm going to guess that the point here is actually preventing TV manufacturers from playing ads over Roku's stuff by patenting this themselves first.
Also, sheesh, the patent system is a plague that should be done away with. This is a technically completely straightforward process. There's nothing innovative being done here.
- samrolken 3y agoRoku’s software is increasingly integrated into TV sets as the built-in smart TV stack, making Roku’s software the one to manage the HDMI connections and display of everything.
- filoleg 3y agoIt all depends on the brand of the TV. Built-in Roku seems to be limited to TCL and a few other minor brands. In-fact, I just checked, and all top 4 recommended TVs on RTings with built-in Roku are TCL-made[0]. Sony has been going with Android TV, LG has been with their WebOS, and Samsung with their Tizen. Given that the top 3 largest TV manufacturers don’t have a single TV model with built-in Roku, I wouldn’t be worried. However, I still heavily prefer just sticking an Apple TV to whichever TV I have, connecting the smart TV to my wifi, blocking all internet access to it (all while it is connected to my home network), and go along my day without having to worry about any of their built-in “smart” features. 0. https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/roku https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/roku