14 ms·

My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened?

374 points by decimalenough 2y ago

stalfosknight 2y ago
This is why all of my TVs are airgapped. I don’t understand why some people don’t just get an Apple TV or similar and keep their TV completely ignorant of the LAN and internet.
- rerdavies 2y ago
  I'm not sure there are a lot of similars left, now that Android TV has become an ad faucet.
Always42 2y ago
At least they have an FAQ about it... not that I endorse ads baked into your TV
userbinator 2y ago
You can buy a "smart" TV with ads for cheap, and get a generic replacement motherboard to dumb it down.
- omalled 2y ago
  Do you have a link or something that goes into how to do this?
  - userbinator 2y ago
    http://web.archive.org/web/20190511065920/http://redlightgreen.org/2019/01/obzor-universalnogo-skalera-s-dvb-t2-ds-d3663lua http://web.archive.org/web/20190511065920/http://redlightgre... (original Russian page: https://mysku.club/blog/aliexpress/67872.html https://mysku.club/blog/aliexpress/67872.html ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YTL25iyHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YTL25iyHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8_kJENdoQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8_kJENdoQ There are plenty of other videos but the vast majority are not in English - they seem to be some Indian or Russian.
pmags 2y ago
I seem to recall that Vizio was added to my "do not buy" list quite a long time ago, when it turned out they were monitoring your watching habit (https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tracking-settlement-disable-settings https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tr...). This seems to be more of the same I guess. Choice text from the link above: Q: Why did I see an ad in Scenic Mode? A: After Scenic Mode launches to full screen, you may see ads. We offer free, scenic content by supporting it with ads. These ads allow VIZIO to offer enhanced, built-in Smart TV features, 300+ live channels, and 15,000+ movies and shows at no cost through WatchFree+ while also helping keep the price of our TVs accessible and competitive. Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time. These ads allow VIZIO to offer enhanced, built-in Smart TV features, 300+ live channels, and 15,000+ movies and shows at no cost through WatchFree+ while also helping keep the price of our TVs accessible and competitive.
- ninjin 2y ago
  Sure seems like a "wonderful" company. Their Wikipedia page lists the personal data collection lawsuit and them also likely being GPL violators at that with a court date in September this year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - zahlman 2y ago
    All that plus they expect to run JavaScript on my computer to show any of this page content.
    - systemswizard 2y ago
      To addon to this they are also owned by WalMart
    - tester756 2y ago
      That's actually normal
deadlinermusic 2y ago
[dead]
jwjohnson314 2y ago
This is remarkably dystopian. ‘Bought our tv? We are going to show you ads and you can’t even turn it off’
- laweijfmvo 2y ago
  It sounds like you can turn the feature off entirely, which seems semi reasonable — the ads support the updated scenic content, and you can opt out. but i’d bet it shows ads in other places too.
  - michaelt 2y ago
    > the ads support the updated scenic content, Ha, that's a good one! Gotta have regular updates to my videos of forests, waterfalls, lapping waves and crackling log fires. You never know when they're going to launch a new version of trees.
    - cozzyd 2y ago
      And we'll pretend it's Christmas day in my atomic garden
    - gblargg 2y ago
      And as they say in the FAQ, > Q: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened? A: Your TV launched Scenic Mode, a FREE, new feature that displays relaxing, ambient content when your TV is idle for a period of time. Scenic Mode delivers an experience that adds to the environment of your home or office. It's relaxing, so you need to RELAX rather than getting in a huff over blaring ads. What, you're not relaxed and going to pull the plug?
CamperBob2 2y ago
It's like getting an unending dystopian sci-fi series, free with your TV. Guaranteed to be renewed every season. No risk of writers' strikes, cancellation, or preemption by sporting events. "Scenic Mode does not require payment and is part of our mission to continually make your Smart TV better than when you bought it." That'll teach me to buy a TV from Lumon Industries...
nosrepa 2y ago
And possibly why this got posted: https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if_i_leave_my_vizio_tv_idle_it_plays_calming/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if...
- zoklet-enjoyer 2y ago
  I used to feel bad for South Dakotans. Now I feel bad for all of us.
  - leereeves 2y ago
    I feel like ads are taking over everything. I fear the world will soon resemble Minority Report. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bXJ_obaiYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bXJ_obaiYQ
    - vitus 2y ago
      Soon? Sure, we don't have billboards that scan the biometrics of whoever's walking past in order to deliver customized ads, but instead we have conditioned everyone to glue themselves to their own personal miniaturized billboards.
      - genocidicbunny 2y ago
        Actually, wasn't one of the selling points of those freezer/fridge door screens that CVS or Walgreens had that they could show personalized ads based on the person standing in front of them?
        Larrikin 2y ago
        Whenever you see them, just hold the door open while you look. The store needs to see the electricity spike and they'll get rid of them.
      - hypercube33 2y ago
econ 2y ago
My favorite development is ads interrupted by ads.
- phkahler 2y ago
  This is most apparent when watching movie trailers.
- genocidicbunny 2y ago
  When the second Youtube preroll ad cuts off the first one... My favourite development in this regard is the lying timers on those ads. More than one streaming app I've caught resetting the overall timer on every ad. So it will say that there's 90s of ads, play through a 15s ad counting down to 75s, and as soon as the next ad plays, the timer resets to 90s again. Eventually after a few minutes of ads something must realize that it's actually been more than 90s, and just cuts off the current ad in the middle. Or even more fun is when it says you can skip in X seconds, but every ad it plays is Y seconds, where Y < X, and the skip timer resets with every ad. Looking at you Youtube.
  - halper 2y ago
    I have noticed on some smaller ad delivery sites that they use fake seconds. The "seconds" are actually 1.5–2 seconds long. If anything can be made worse, let's do it!
    - 6510 2y ago
      Maybe that is the right kind of start up make it worse. Until we get a decent percentage of rage quits things can not improve. I one time click an add because I was curious how the scam worked. First they wanted my name and phone number... when I typed the last digit of the phone number into the form my phone rang immediately. They even managed to confuse me for a moment. Next level would be to use 10, 100 or 1000 phone lines (depending on budget) and call people when they haven't typed their entire number. Quickly train the sales "person" llm on whatever public personal information can be found using their name ip/location, phone number, anything about their friends, relatives coworkers etc. Mimic the correct accent for the region. Or howabout a question about the ad to check if they watched it properly. If they get it wrong it seems only fair to give them a new ad. Some question should not have a correct answer. Or, how would you rate this advertisement? With each rating triggering an unique-seeming follow up question.
reactordev 2y ago
I refuse to buy any “smart tv”. If that means going without a TV, then I’m going without one and will use the largest monitor I can use with a small beelink Linux box. We’re prey for their bottom line as they can’t sell TV’s for a profit without running ads all over it. I’m done. I’m out. Back to books, vinyl, fresh press, gnu, board games, and going outside.
- gruez 2y ago
  Why not buy a smart TV and don't connect it to wifi?
  - viraptor 2y ago
    You still reward the company and there's a chance you'll resell it to someone in the future, who will not understand the dark patterns. If you really disagree with the approach, just don't touch them at all.
  - yaur 2y ago
    After a house guest decided to accept the EULA and connect my smart tv to the internet it took me years to figure out how to get it to function without being connected to the internet.
  - LeoPanthera 2y ago
    Some smart TV don't enable all features until you've connected them once and done a firmware update. And I don't even mean smart features, sometimes it's things like HDMI input formats. Of course you could just do the one update and then unplug it.
  - cortesoft 2y ago
    Smart TVs are slower to do things like turn on
    - driverdan 2y ago
      That depends on the TV. I have 3 smart TVs from different manufacturers that have never been online. They all turn on as fast as my dumb computer monitors.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
sxp 2y ago
This is why I haven't connected my smart TV to my WiFi. It just has a Google TV + HDMI from my PC. At least with Google TV, the only ads I see are random sportsball ads when YouTube has some partnership deal and those are easy enough to ignore.
- RandomBacon 2y ago
  I hope you never have a guest that connects it when you're not aware.
someonehere 2y ago
Before anyone asks, you can buy a TV that’s dumb. Look on Sony or Samsung or business kiosk TVs. I bought some Sony kiosk TVs for conference rooms when building out an office ones. They can be left on forever have the same great quality and cost a little bit more. But they’re dumb in the end and they turn on fast.
- thakoppno 2y ago
  Sony and Samsung were the two TV manufacturers that first introduced this technology of automatic content recognition to my knowledge.
- genocidicbunny 2y ago
  Iirc, in the earlier days of LCD tvs, the ones meant for digital signage sometimes had different color calibration, and also sometimes had weaker processors than their consumer bretheren because they weren't really meant to display high-framerate motion content, and were mainly used for static images. A friend's dad picked up a few for cheap when their employer was updating some of the ones they used for digital signage, and they struggled with some types of 1080P content, especially when the images were messy and rapidly changing (think close up tracking shot of a soccer game.) Not sure how relevant that is today, but likely still something to watch out for especially if you're looking for a cheaper dumb TV. Also, if you're getting a used digital signage TV, if you can try to run through some basic color and motion video tests on it before you buy it; mostly to check for burn-in and backlight quality. Also, are there decent OLED dumb TV options available yet? I rarely watch anything on my TV, so when I do it's generally something more 'special' and I rather like the gamut that OLEDs offer for those occasions.
  - hypercube33 2y ago
    Bet money on it being the garbage smooth frame stuff that pushed the TVs to fake 60 or 120fps by guessing frames. Even my newest 75" TV has this junk and makes the picture stutter enough that it drove me bonkers trying to turn it off - Google TV is awful for this but the TV also lets you fully turn it off on some ports.
tzs 2y ago
My TV occasionally turns on unexpectedly. I'm pretty sure it is the Xfinity Flex streaming box that is connected to it telling it to do so. It used to happen between 3 and 4 am, if I remember correctly, and was very annoying because the TV is in the same room I sleep in. I guessed that it might be the Flex box doing it after I remembered that the Flex box was scheduled do to automatic updates between 3 and 4 am. My guess was that sometimes when it reboots after an update it turned on the TV. To check that I changed the update schedule to do them between 2 and 3 pm. Sure enough the unexpected turn ons then started happening between 2 and 3 pm which is pretty good evidence my guess about the Flex being responsible was right.
- do_not_redeem 2y ago
  That's crazy of you to sacrifice your sleep enough nights to notice a pattern. The extent of my patience would be 1st night - disable CEC on the TV 2nd night - to hell with you, into the garbage it goes
  - jowea 2y ago
    I think there should be "pull out the cord" step somewhere
    - ortusdux 2y ago
      Smart plug, set a timer
    - account42 2y ago
      And then what? Keep pulling the plug every evening? No thanks, might as well get a different non-defective setup.
  - nosioptar 2y ago
    You're way more patient than me. If any of my devices turn on in the middle of the night, they get the business end of a 48" crowbar that weighs too damned much. They all saw what happened to the printer when it refused to print a black and white document without yellow ink. I think their fear will keep them in line.
NotYourLawyer 2y ago
[dead]
spl757 2y ago
Just remember that while you are watching the ad, the ad is watching you. Actually anything you do on your internet connected Smart TV is being collected and sold by the TV manufacturer. Smart TVs should be called Surveillance TVs at this point.
- RandomBacon 2y ago
  It's almost like the wall screen from 1984.
charcircuit 2y ago
Preroll ads when playing videos or streams are normal. If you don't want to see them then don't use streaming services that do so. In this case it's the WatchFree+ streaming service. Scenic mode is an optional feature that will open up a WatchFree+ channel from the Mood and Ambience category when the TV is idling.
hnthrowaway0315 2y ago
Great. Another company to avoid and I'm going to spread the news to every friend and every colleague and every Internet forum. I'll just them frankly that Vizio steals and sells users' data -- maybe not 100% true but whatever.
throwaway519 2y ago
Wasn't Vizio the company that sold a box letting you skip ads? What happened?
- tw04 2y ago
  Walmart bought them specifically to be an ad serving platform. https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2024/12/03/walmart-completes-acquisition-of-vizio https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2024/12/03/walmart-comple...
  - throwaway519 2y ago
    Thanks
jamesy0ung 2y ago
Just don't connect it to the internet and use an Apple TV instead.
- rerdavies 2y ago
  Just don't buy an Android TV box. My ancient, very dumb, and totally wonderful Chromecast died, and I had to replace it with a Chromecast TV device. It's turned my TV into a 24-hour a day ad faucet. Transformed from a device that does remote Chromecasting very very well, to a insufficiently provisioned Android TV box that crashes and locks up frequenly when you are doing remote chromecasting. :-(
  - Larrikin 2y ago
    Just change the launcher. Android TV is the only platform that can block YouTube ads and supports Sponsor block
    - rerdavies 2y ago
      Huh. Thanks for that. I naively assumed that Google would lock down the launcher. I have emerged from darkness into light. The difference between an Android TV launcher that's designed give people what they want, and the baroque monstrosity that results when Google tries to extract every fraction of a cent of advertising revenue that it can is startling. My TV just became an appliance that does exactly what I want, no less and no more, instead of a cacophony of distractions and diversions trying to convince me to do things I don't want to do.
- zie 2y ago
  That's exactly what we do. Works great.
  - RandomBacon 2y ago
    I hope you never have a guest that connects it when you're not aware.
autoexec 2y ago
Unless there is massive push back from consumers and people outright refuse to buy these TVs Vizio wont be the last company to do this. Roku also pushes less intrusive ads at you when the TV is idle depending on your settings. As much as I complain a lot about roku for their spying and ads (they deserve it and I'll never buy one) I do give them some credit for not filling that fish show they have with ads. I know people who have had those fish (or some version of them) on their screens for many years and it's a decent little virtual fish tank.
jmward01 2y ago
Sadly people keep buying these types of devices. Every time I walk by modern devices all I can think is how I wish I could buy them without the fear of what they will do once I turn them on. I don't want a new car because of the spying it does. I don't want a new TV because of the spying and advertising it does. I don't want any part of the current crop of smart speakers because of the spying/advertising they do. The problem is I will eventually have to buy some of this junk as my old stuff slowly breaks. If I am forced to buy something spying on me because there is no alternative, is it illegal to poison the data sent back in some way? Is it time to go on the offensive?
- drivingmenuts 2y ago
  There are workarounds for a lot of those things, though, and some of them work out to be pretty cheap in the long run. You will have to get used to using older equipment in a lot of cases and doing some of your own maintenance.
- mystified5016 2y ago
  It's because these devices are the only ones being sold.
neilv 2y ago
When my very nice Sony Bravia vintage dumb-TV did something like this last year, it was due to a streaming service running on my PS5, which service I canceled, with extreme prejudice. (Right now, the ad-free Netflix that I pay for is testing limits sometimes, of how much they try to control my experience for their own whims, but it's tolerable, and there's potential obnoxious things that they tastefully haven't done.) (Though they did briefly give me two creepy categories, for about a day, but then maybe someone realized their mistake, or got the Netflix fired-fast.)
greatgib 2y ago
So fun (when you don't have this shitty tv) to read this FAQ. A wtf at each paragraph: - question1: video starting alone to "provide you a relaxing experience". I'm totally so relaxed by that unexpected kind of things... - question2: suddenly ads can show up in this video to be able to provide you a more relaxing experience. Sure sure, how relaxing to be force fed ads unsolicited on your own tv... - question3: can I stop that? No you can't because we are forced to impose you these ads for your own good...
ortusdux 2y ago
I've said it here before, but I wish a consumer focused org would create a 'DUMB' certification. "Don't Upload My Bits"
ninetyninenine 2y ago
[flagged]
paradite 2y ago
You can turn it off. This is just a poorly worded FAQ. At the beginning, there is an FAQ that says you can't turn off ads in scenic mode. Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time... But in fact you can turn the Scenic mode off completely, but it buried later in the content of an FAQ about settings. Q: Can I change any settings for Scenic Mode? A: Yes. To use Scenic Mode with or without volume, navigate to the left side menu on the VIZIO Home screen, click Settings > Extras > Home Page Settings > Scenic Mode. Once you’re in the Scenic Mode section of Settings, scroll down and select either Volume On or Volume Off. You will see a checkmark appear, noting that you’ve correctly selected your setting. If you want to turn off Scenic Mode completely, follow the same instructions to get to the Scenic Mode section of Settings and select Disable.
- 42772827 2y ago
  "Poorly worded" makes it sound like incompetence. This was deceptively worded.
  - paradite 2y ago
    Maybe it is. Maybe it's not. I prefer to state facts and leave interpretations to others.
    - 42772827 2y ago
      When someone writes something that they know is not true, it's called being deceptive. Vizio wrote this: >Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time.
  - cortesoft 2y ago
    Why would they want to make it seem like they are forcing you to watch ads? They tell you in other sections you can turn the functionality off, they aren't hiding it. I don't get why they would try to make themselves sound worse than they are.
    - 2y ago
Brian_K_White 2y ago
"... a FREE, new feature ..." Why are you complaining about this punch in the face? It's a FREE new punch in the face you ingrateful parasite! https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if_i_leave_my_vizio_tv_idle_it_plays_calming/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if...
andrewstuart 2y ago
>> We offer free, scenic content by supporting it with ads. Sheesh
johnea 2y ago
This is why one should never, ever, allow their television to connect to the internet. Feed it via HDMI from whatever device you choose, but DO NOT let the TV connect to the mothership... Or, just accept the consequences...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
gj0 2y ago
Reminds me of, "You are not using a product, you are the product"
donatj 2y ago
About 2 years ago we got a deal on a smallish Samsung for our nursery. The thing is haunted. On more than a couple occasions in the middle of the night I've heard people talking. On working up the courage and getting out of bed I've found the TV tuned in my daughter's room to one of those Samsung Internet TV channels. My wife and I never use those, so it's absolutely bizarre.
- nyarlathotep_ 2y ago
  This genuinely seems like a Black Mirror episode from the core seasons. It starts slowly playing anodyne ads that get progressively more and more accurate, eventually turning to prescient ads about the future--maybe an ad for a divorce you didn't see coming, an illness etc The owner throws the TV out but then starts seeing other prescient ads in storefronts, kiosks...
- account42 2y ago
  Possibly voice activation trying to interpret baby noises as commands? If so there should be a setting to disable it.
  - donatj 2y ago
    As far as I am aware the only voice control requires a button press on the remote. Beyond that, our daughter sleeps in a pack-n-play in our bedroom.
jasinjames 2y ago
If you have a "smart" TV you'd like to avoid connecting to the internet for reasons like this, you can try disconnecting the wireless module entirely. I had a Sony Bravia TV I didn't trust, and after popping off the back I disconnected the wireless module's ribbon cable. The android-TV OS handled it gracefully, and now I don't have to worry about it attempting to smuggle data through any other WLANs in my apartment building.
- ffsm8 2y ago
  I have an 6 yo LG OLED and bought a Xbox series x on release. I've had the firmware update disabled too, because I couldn't think of a reason why I would want it to update. I'm not using it as a smart device after all. Well, when I got the Xbox, it worked. But a few months after, it wouldn't receive any signal on my TV. After some googling, it turned out that the Xbox had a firmware update which now made them incompatible. Incompatible, yes. HDMI. And incompatible. So I updated the firmware on the TV for the first time and it worked again. A few months later, the same happened again and I was forced to update another time. So, just as a cautionary message: if your TV has appliances which need to be updated connected to it they might become unusable/essentially bricked if you decide to do that.
  - genocidicbunny 2y ago
    I wonder if the incompatibility was due to something like HDCP, and needing new keys or something similar. The Xbox is fairly strict on enforcing DRM, and that might be why it wouldn't output to the TV after a while. I recall that when I was doing console gamedev stuff, some monitors would not work if you set the console devkits into 'retail' mode, especially some of the old cheap LCDs that IT had stashed away to use as temporary loaners if someone's monitor was broken.
  - sshine 2y ago
    I avoided firmware updates on my Samsung TV and removed as many built-in apps as possible. It used to start in quiet mode looking for a source. Then my renter updated the firmware because of a popup. Now I’m forced to start one of the commercial flow tv channels. Somehow I’m allowed to play the same episode of Baywatch, progressing 10-15 seconds before I start whatever app I actually want to use. David Hasselhoff hasn’t left the beach yet. This is because some idiot introduced KPIs like “minutes streamed”. Can’t you just be a dumb device? I imagine that in ten years, every electric appliance is infested with chatbot-level sentience and constantly wants to engage in conversation. EU will introduce laws that force electronics to STFU.
bananatron 2y ago
But its `free`
ctippett 2y ago
I'm super grateful for the webOS Homebrew[1] community for allowing me to wrangle control of my LG TV and giving unfettered root access to the device. [1] http://webosbrew.org http://webosbrew.org
gennarro 2y ago
This is truly dystopian. Also this sad excuse for an FAQ: Q: Is payment required to receive Scenic Mode? A: No. Scenic Mode does not require payment and is part of VIZIO’s mission to continually make your Smart TV better than when you bought it. Smart TVs are really and truly awful.
- tiltowait 2y ago
  That answer is a laugh. I quite liked my Vizio when I bought it. After a few updates, I vowed never to buy Vizio again and to recommend against them to anyone who asked. Now, it constantly nags me to buy a new remote, aggressively changes to an ad screen the moment you disconnect an input, and runs more slowly than before. Great job, Vizio!
andrewmcwatters 2y ago
OK, related, so I have to share, because it's driving some valley residents crazy. It is currently the portable air conditioner season in Arizona. Home Depots now have them stocked in the front of the store. All Wi-Fi enabled Toshiba models (which are white-label rebranded Midea units,) their overwhelming predominate stock, are susceptible to a bug where your unit can be remotely turned on or off randomly, without your input. Presumably mismatched accounts on their back-end. Separately, but related, they also have universally paired remote controls, so your next door neighbor who also has a very popular Toshiba portable AC unit model can accidentally turn yours on and off without your input, and adjust your temperature any time, too. And you can accidentally do the same to them. Oh, and their remote controls work across all unit models, so it doesn't matter if you have a window unit instead, either. Whoops! Never buy them.
- account42 2y ago
  Huh, surprising that portable air conditioners are popular in Arizona - I'd have expected them to be used mainly in climates that don't call for buildings to be equipped with air conditioning already.
lutusp 2y ago
The good news: large-panel TV sets are inexpensive for their performance. The bad news: like many modern products, and as freely confessed in the linked article, you don't own the TV, it owns you. The remedy: Connect the TV to your computer as a dumb monitor -- make it show only content you directly control. And disable the TV's network connection -- without that connection, it can't show ads. My large-panel TV serves only as a computer monitor. My Linux computer runs the Brave browser and has a frequently updated ad-block list in /etc/hosts. This means no "Scenic Mode" ads and no YouTube corporate ads, only ads embedded by video content creators, which I skip over with a pointing device because the video is being controlled by a browser, not a TV. The FBI recommends use of ad blockers to guard against fraud and malware (https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-blocker-to-dodge-scammers https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-b...). On the other hand, some sites refuse to function if an ad blocker is in use. Those sites don't deserve access to my eyeballs. If all this fails, I pick up a book. Books don't have ads ... so far.
- account42 2y ago
  > This means no "Scenic Mode" ads and no YouTube corporate ads, only ads embedded by video content creators, which I skip over with a pointing device because the video is being controlled by a browser, not a TV. You skip over the ones that are obvious, but not the ones that are more stealthily integrated into the content. IMO if a video creator sells out and adds sponsored content of any kind they are no longer to be trusted to not be manipulative in other ways.
  - lutusp 2y ago
    This is a YouTube version of the well-established principle that consumers, while being trained to buy specific products, are also being trained ... to buy products, to expect consumer goods to solve existential dilemmas. And I agree, it's true -- deplorable and true.
geor9e 2y ago
Aren't all videos in full screen on a TV?
ikerino 2y ago
I regret giving my TV my Wi-Fi password. By default, it has some knock-off Alexa assistant that triggers a couple times a day, even when I'm sitting in silence. It also warns me it will auto-updates the software 1-2 times a month. My TV was perfect out of the box--it doesn't need an update. When I disable Wi-Fi, I get notifications that my TV is disconnected. Can't win.
- devsda 2y ago
  We have ours connected but block all traffic to internet. Have a dedicated AP just for the tv and it has only LAN access to stream content through dlna or mirror phone screen using miracast.
- djaychela 2y ago
  Have you thought about using pi-hole? With the right things blocked, my LG TV still has all the functionality without the spying or annoyances.
donnachangstein 2y ago
Am I the only one here that read the part where you can absolutely disable this? I don't understand the performative outrage. The TV has an ad-supported screen saver, which they claim is used to support free streaming content. You can disable the screen saver entirely. No, you cannot just disable the ads but keep the screen saver. What is the problem? Meanwhile half the posters here work for Google or other ad-surveillance purveyors. I watched a short YouTube video today with half a dozen unskippable ads. If you had a hand in normalizing this then you can't claim to be upset by it.
- 42772827 2y ago
  >What is the problem? Consent. The user didn’t consent to the feature, and now is expected to opt-OUT
  - donnachangstein 2y ago
    Unlikely. Every Smart TV I've used requires you to agree to a EULA before any "smart" features are available.
    - banqjls 2y ago
      I’d be surprised if you could even use a smart TV at all without agreeing to an EULA.
      - account42 2y ago
        The GDPR really got that part right - for consumer-business contracts there is no consent if it wasn't freely given.
- account42 2y ago
  Hey sorry I broke into your home and ate your food but hey it's ok if you ask me nicely I promise I won't do it again. Won't give up they key though. And might change my mind about that promise in the future. Wait what are you mad for?
nycdatasci 2y ago
Unfortunately, I expect consumer-hostile behavior like this to become more common. The path that consumers take from intent-to-purchase to transaction will radically change over the next 5 years. It will result in less time shopping and better purchasing decisions for consumers, while diminishing the role of marketing/advertising. As that river runs dry, there will be desperate and intrusive attempts to monetize users like we’re seeing here from Vizio.
rahimnathwani 2y ago
- this scenic mode isn't an essential feature and can be turned off - TVs are cheaper here in the US than they are in China (or at least they were when I lived in China), and these revenue opportunities are likely the reason
- andai 2y ago
  The FAQ says you can't but apparently that's wrong (or intentionally deceptive?). Someone posted instructions below.
  - rahimnathwani 2y ago
    The FAQ says you can't turn the ads off in scenic mode. The same FAQ says you can turn scenic mode off.
  - dqv 2y ago
    Just reading it wrong. You can't turn off ads in scenic mode, but you can turn off scenic mode. Vizio kind of has a lot of dark pattern messaging. As an example, they make it seem like you HAVE to enable the microphone on the remote or install an app to change the TV volume. They don't provide a diagram of the remote, so if you don't notice the volume rocker on the side, it seems like you only have two rather invasive options. Another example is they use wording that makes it seem like you can't use the TV if you don't agree to the terms, but if you do select the disagree button (and after confirming you really want to disagree lol), it just reverts to a dumb TV.
    - account42 2y ago
      He's not reading it wrong, it's intentionally written to be read that way.
t0bia_s 2y ago
Why so odd terminology for playing ad? Scenic more?
QuiEgo 2y ago
Very afraid we will get to the point where new TVs will refuse to boot and let you use external inputs unless they have network connection. I’ll live with watching Plex on my phone before I buy a TV like that.
- account42 2y ago
  You mean on Apple's/Goole's/Samsung's phone that you're renting, right?
LASR 2y ago
They keep pushing. We keep tolerating. Every Tv in my home is paired with an Apple TV. I leave the display unconnected to the internet. The day when TVs require an internet connection to show external inputs - that will be a sad day. Or when they come with cellular modems.
hypfer 2y ago
Motorola rolled out basically the same feature to my phone with its latest "security update". They even went so far as to patch the Android System UI to send you notifications nagging you to enable their Taboola Lockscreen video ad things. So even if you uninstall the actual adware app, you still get nagged to use it. Seems like this might perhaps just be the new-ish idea that got cooked up somewhere and now all suits are copying each other?
lifestyleguru 2y ago
Once Mi smart TV in holiday rental I stayed switched on itself on early morning playing TV channel at high volume, interestingly web search specifically has results for "Mi smart TV switching on at 5am". The TV also had internal microphone and physical switch to toggle the microphone. It was literally Chinese invigilation device.
unixhero 2y ago
"You may see an ad"
kotaKat 2y ago
Ah, so now Vizio is taking pages out of the technology rapist playbook, too. “You’re forced to take this and you can’t say no.”
elkos 2y ago
Speaking of Vizio, what happened to the SFC vs Vizio GPL violation case? Last time I checked : https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2024/01/sfc-v-vizio-survives-motion-for-summary-judgment-on-third-party-beneficiary-issue https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2024/01/sf...
- RandomBacon 2y ago
  Another user said they have a court date in September and posted this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues
robcohen 2y ago
One super annoying issue I've found is that if you enable Smartthings on Samsung TVs, and you try to use your phone app as a remote, they ask for microphone access EVERY TIME I USE THE APP. The options are "Enable" and "Cancel". I click cancel, the remote works for 3 minutes, then stops working and I have to force restart the app and do it again. All for a feature I use if I can't find my physical remote. Seriously. I hate these companies with a passion. It's crazy that right now the only alternative is to not use smart features / wifi. There's not even a good Android TV option. The best I can do is just run VLC on a computer connected to the screen (Kodi has an awful UI/UX, in my opinion). Plex used to be good before they became awful. AppleTV is the only semi-decent device, but it requires a iCloud login.
jasonm23 2y ago
Just add Vizio to your ... nope ... list.

374 points by decimalenough 2y ago

This is why all of my TVs are airgapped. I don’t understand why some people don’t just get an Apple TV or similar and keep their TV completely ignorant of the LAN and internet.

rerdavies 2y ago
I'm not sure there are a lot of similars left, now that Android TV has become an ad faucet.

Always42 2y ago

At least they have an FAQ about it... not that I endorse ads baked into your TV

userbinator 2y ago

You can buy a "smart" TV with ads for cheap, and get a generic replacement motherboard to dumb it down.

omalled 2y ago
Do you have a link or something that goes into how to do this?
- userbinator 2y ago
  http://web.archive.org/web/20190511065920/http://redlightgreen.org/2019/01/obzor-universalnogo-skalera-s-dvb-t2-ds-d3663lua http://web.archive.org/web/20190511065920/http://redlightgre... (original Russian page: https://mysku.club/blog/aliexpress/67872.html https://mysku.club/blog/aliexpress/67872.html ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YTL25iyHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YTL25iyHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8_kJENdoQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8_kJENdoQ There are plenty of other videos but the vast majority are not in English - they seem to be some Indian or Russian.

pmags 2y ago

I seem to recall that Vizio was added to my "do not buy" list quite a long time ago, when it turned out they were monitoring your watching habit (https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tracking-settlement-disable-settings https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tr...). This seems to be more of the same I guess. Choice text from the link above: Q: Why did I see an ad in Scenic Mode? A: After Scenic Mode launches to full screen, you may see ads. We offer free, scenic content by supporting it with ads. These ads allow VIZIO to offer enhanced, built-in Smart TV features, 300+ live channels, and 15,000+ movies and shows at no cost through WatchFree+ while also helping keep the price of our TVs accessible and competitive. Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time. These ads allow VIZIO to offer enhanced, built-in Smart TV features, 300+ live channels, and 15,000+ movies and shows at no cost through WatchFree+ while also helping keep the price of our TVs accessible and competitive.

ninjin 2y ago
Sure seems like a "wonderful" company. Their Wikipedia page lists the personal data collection lawsuit and them also likely being GPL violators at that with a court date in September this year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- zahlman 2y ago
  All that plus they expect to run JavaScript on my computer to show any of this page content.
  - systemswizard 2y ago
    To addon to this they are also owned by WalMart
  - tester756 2y ago
    That's actually normal

deadlinermusic 2y ago

[dead]

jwjohnson314 2y ago

This is remarkably dystopian. ‘Bought our tv? We are going to show you ads and you can’t even turn it off’

laweijfmvo 2y ago
It sounds like you can turn the feature off entirely, which seems semi reasonable — the ads support the updated scenic content, and you can opt out. but i’d bet it shows ads in other places too.
- michaelt 2y ago
  > the ads support the updated scenic content, Ha, that's a good one! Gotta have regular updates to my videos of forests, waterfalls, lapping waves and crackling log fires. You never know when they're going to launch a new version of trees.
  - cozzyd 2y ago
    And we'll pretend it's Christmas day in my atomic garden
  - gblargg 2y ago
    And as they say in the FAQ, > Q: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened? A: Your TV launched Scenic Mode, a FREE, new feature that displays relaxing, ambient content when your TV is idle for a period of time. Scenic Mode delivers an experience that adds to the environment of your home or office. It's relaxing, so you need to RELAX rather than getting in a huff over blaring ads. What, you're not relaxed and going to pull the plug?

CamperBob2 2y ago

It's like getting an unending dystopian sci-fi series, free with your TV. Guaranteed to be renewed every season. No risk of writers' strikes, cancellation, or preemption by sporting events. "Scenic Mode does not require payment and is part of our mission to continually make your Smart TV better than when you bought it." That'll teach me to buy a TV from Lumon Industries...

nosrepa 2y ago

And possibly why this got posted: https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if_i_leave_my_vizio_tv_idle_it_plays_calming/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if...

zoklet-enjoyer 2y ago
I used to feel bad for South Dakotans. Now I feel bad for all of us.
- leereeves 2y ago
  I feel like ads are taking over everything. I fear the world will soon resemble Minority Report. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bXJ_obaiYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bXJ_obaiYQ
  - vitus 2y ago
    Soon? Sure, we don't have billboards that scan the biometrics of whoever's walking past in order to deliver customized ads, but instead we have conditioned everyone to glue themselves to their own personal miniaturized billboards.
    - genocidicbunny 2y ago
      Actually, wasn't one of the selling points of those freezer/fridge door screens that CVS or Walgreens had that they could show personalized ads based on the person standing in front of them?
      - Larrikin 2y ago
        Whenever you see them, just hold the door open while you look. The store needs to see the electricity spike and they'll get rid of them.
    - hypercube33 2y ago

econ 2y ago

My favorite development is ads interrupted by ads.

phkahler 2y ago
This is most apparent when watching movie trailers.
genocidicbunny 2y ago
When the second Youtube preroll ad cuts off the first one... My favourite development in this regard is the lying timers on those ads. More than one streaming app I've caught resetting the overall timer on every ad. So it will say that there's 90s of ads, play through a 15s ad counting down to 75s, and as soon as the next ad plays, the timer resets to 90s again. Eventually after a few minutes of ads something must realize that it's actually been more than 90s, and just cuts off the current ad in the middle. Or even more fun is when it says you can skip in X seconds, but every ad it plays is Y seconds, where Y < X, and the skip timer resets with every ad. Looking at you Youtube.
- halper 2y ago
  I have noticed on some smaller ad delivery sites that they use fake seconds. The "seconds" are actually 1.5–2 seconds long. If anything can be made worse, let's do it!
  - 6510 2y ago
    Maybe that is the right kind of start up make it worse. Until we get a decent percentage of rage quits things can not improve. I one time click an add because I was curious how the scam worked. First they wanted my name and phone number... when I typed the last digit of the phone number into the form my phone rang immediately. They even managed to confuse me for a moment. Next level would be to use 10, 100 or 1000 phone lines (depending on budget) and call people when they haven't typed their entire number. Quickly train the sales "person" llm on whatever public personal information can be found using their name ip/location, phone number, anything about their friends, relatives coworkers etc. Mimic the correct accent for the region. Or howabout a question about the ad to check if they watched it properly. If they get it wrong it seems only fair to give them a new ad. Some question should not have a correct answer. Or, how would you rate this advertisement? With each rating triggering an unique-seeming follow up question.

reactordev 2y ago

I refuse to buy any “smart tv”. If that means going without a TV, then I’m going without one and will use the largest monitor I can use with a small beelink Linux box. We’re prey for their bottom line as they can’t sell TV’s for a profit without running ads all over it. I’m done. I’m out. Back to books, vinyl, fresh press, gnu, board games, and going outside.

gruez 2y ago
Why not buy a smart TV and don't connect it to wifi?
- viraptor 2y ago
  You still reward the company and there's a chance you'll resell it to someone in the future, who will not understand the dark patterns. If you really disagree with the approach, just don't touch them at all.
- yaur 2y ago
  After a house guest decided to accept the EULA and connect my smart tv to the internet it took me years to figure out how to get it to function without being connected to the internet.
- LeoPanthera 2y ago
  Some smart TV don't enable all features until you've connected them once and done a firmware update. And I don't even mean smart features, sometimes it's things like HDMI input formats. Of course you could just do the one update and then unplug it.
- cortesoft 2y ago
  Smart TVs are slower to do things like turn on
  - driverdan 2y ago
    That depends on the TV. I have 3 smart TVs from different manufacturers that have never been online. They all turn on as fast as my dumb computer monitors.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

sxp 2y ago

This is why I haven't connected my smart TV to my WiFi. It just has a Google TV + HDMI from my PC. At least with Google TV, the only ads I see are random sportsball ads when YouTube has some partnership deal and those are easy enough to ignore.

RandomBacon 2y ago
I hope you never have a guest that connects it when you're not aware.

someonehere 2y ago

Before anyone asks, you can buy a TV that’s dumb. Look on Sony or Samsung or business kiosk TVs. I bought some Sony kiosk TVs for conference rooms when building out an office ones. They can be left on forever have the same great quality and cost a little bit more. But they’re dumb in the end and they turn on fast.

thakoppno 2y ago
Sony and Samsung were the two TV manufacturers that first introduced this technology of automatic content recognition to my knowledge.
genocidicbunny 2y ago
Iirc, in the earlier days of LCD tvs, the ones meant for digital signage sometimes had different color calibration, and also sometimes had weaker processors than their consumer bretheren because they weren't really meant to display high-framerate motion content, and were mainly used for static images. A friend's dad picked up a few for cheap when their employer was updating some of the ones they used for digital signage, and they struggled with some types of 1080P content, especially when the images were messy and rapidly changing (think close up tracking shot of a soccer game.) Not sure how relevant that is today, but likely still something to watch out for especially if you're looking for a cheaper dumb TV. Also, if you're getting a used digital signage TV, if you can try to run through some basic color and motion video tests on it before you buy it; mostly to check for burn-in and backlight quality. Also, are there decent OLED dumb TV options available yet? I rarely watch anything on my TV, so when I do it's generally something more 'special' and I rather like the gamut that OLEDs offer for those occasions.
- hypercube33 2y ago
  Bet money on it being the garbage smooth frame stuff that pushed the TVs to fake 60 or 120fps by guessing frames. Even my newest 75" TV has this junk and makes the picture stutter enough that it drove me bonkers trying to turn it off - Google TV is awful for this but the TV also lets you fully turn it off on some ports.

tzs 2y ago

My TV occasionally turns on unexpectedly. I'm pretty sure it is the Xfinity Flex streaming box that is connected to it telling it to do so. It used to happen between 3 and 4 am, if I remember correctly, and was very annoying because the TV is in the same room I sleep in. I guessed that it might be the Flex box doing it after I remembered that the Flex box was scheduled do to automatic updates between 3 and 4 am. My guess was that sometimes when it reboots after an update it turned on the TV. To check that I changed the update schedule to do them between 2 and 3 pm. Sure enough the unexpected turn ons then started happening between 2 and 3 pm which is pretty good evidence my guess about the Flex being responsible was right.

do_not_redeem 2y ago
That's crazy of you to sacrifice your sleep enough nights to notice a pattern. The extent of my patience would be 1st night - disable CEC on the TV 2nd night - to hell with you, into the garbage it goes
- jowea 2y ago
  I think there should be "pull out the cord" step somewhere
  - ortusdux 2y ago
    Smart plug, set a timer
  - account42 2y ago
    And then what? Keep pulling the plug every evening? No thanks, might as well get a different non-defective setup.
- nosioptar 2y ago
  You're way more patient than me. If any of my devices turn on in the middle of the night, they get the business end of a 48" crowbar that weighs too damned much. They all saw what happened to the printer when it refused to print a black and white document without yellow ink. I think their fear will keep them in line.

NotYourLawyer 2y ago

[dead]

spl757 2y ago

Just remember that while you are watching the ad, the ad is watching you. Actually anything you do on your internet connected Smart TV is being collected and sold by the TV manufacturer. Smart TVs should be called Surveillance TVs at this point.

RandomBacon 2y ago
It's almost like the wall screen from 1984.

charcircuit 2y ago

Preroll ads when playing videos or streams are normal. If you don't want to see them then don't use streaming services that do so. In this case it's the WatchFree+ streaming service. Scenic mode is an optional feature that will open up a WatchFree+ channel from the Mood and Ambience category when the TV is idling.

hnthrowaway0315 2y ago

Great. Another company to avoid and I'm going to spread the news to every friend and every colleague and every Internet forum. I'll just them frankly that Vizio steals and sells users' data -- maybe not 100% true but whatever.

throwaway519 2y ago

Wasn't Vizio the company that sold a box letting you skip ads? What happened?

tw04 2y ago
Walmart bought them specifically to be an ad serving platform. https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2024/12/03/walmart-completes-acquisition-of-vizio https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2024/12/03/walmart-comple...
- throwaway519 2y ago
  Thanks

jamesy0ung 2y ago

Just don't connect it to the internet and use an Apple TV instead.

rerdavies 2y ago
Just don't buy an Android TV box. My ancient, very dumb, and totally wonderful Chromecast died, and I had to replace it with a Chromecast TV device. It's turned my TV into a 24-hour a day ad faucet. Transformed from a device that does remote Chromecasting very very well, to a insufficiently provisioned Android TV box that crashes and locks up frequenly when you are doing remote chromecasting. :-(
- Larrikin 2y ago
  Just change the launcher. Android TV is the only platform that can block YouTube ads and supports Sponsor block
  - rerdavies 2y ago
    Huh. Thanks for that. I naively assumed that Google would lock down the launcher. I have emerged from darkness into light. The difference between an Android TV launcher that's designed give people what they want, and the baroque monstrosity that results when Google tries to extract every fraction of a cent of advertising revenue that it can is startling. My TV just became an appliance that does exactly what I want, no less and no more, instead of a cacophony of distractions and diversions trying to convince me to do things I don't want to do.
zie 2y ago
That's exactly what we do. Works great.
- RandomBacon 2y ago
  I hope you never have a guest that connects it when you're not aware.

autoexec 2y ago

Unless there is massive push back from consumers and people outright refuse to buy these TVs Vizio wont be the last company to do this. Roku also pushes less intrusive ads at you when the TV is idle depending on your settings. As much as I complain a lot about roku for their spying and ads (they deserve it and I'll never buy one) I do give them some credit for not filling that fish show they have with ads. I know people who have had those fish (or some version of them) on their screens for many years and it's a decent little virtual fish tank.

jmward01 2y ago

Sadly people keep buying these types of devices. Every time I walk by modern devices all I can think is how I wish I could buy them without the fear of what they will do once I turn them on. I don't want a new car because of the spying it does. I don't want a new TV because of the spying and advertising it does. I don't want any part of the current crop of smart speakers because of the spying/advertising they do. The problem is I will eventually have to buy some of this junk as my old stuff slowly breaks. If I am forced to buy something spying on me because there is no alternative, is it illegal to poison the data sent back in some way? Is it time to go on the offensive?

drivingmenuts 2y ago
There are workarounds for a lot of those things, though, and some of them work out to be pretty cheap in the long run. You will have to get used to using older equipment in a lot of cases and doing some of your own maintenance.
mystified5016 2y ago
It's because these devices are the only ones being sold.

neilv 2y ago

When my very nice Sony Bravia vintage dumb-TV did something like this last year, it was due to a streaming service running on my PS5, which service I canceled, with extreme prejudice. (Right now, the ad-free Netflix that I pay for is testing limits sometimes, of how much they try to control my experience for their own whims, but it's tolerable, and there's potential obnoxious things that they tastefully haven't done.) (Though they did briefly give me two creepy categories, for about a day, but then maybe someone realized their mistake, or got the Netflix fired-fast.)

greatgib 2y ago

So fun (when you don't have this shitty tv) to read this FAQ. A wtf at each paragraph: - question1: video starting alone to "provide you a relaxing experience". I'm totally so relaxed by that unexpected kind of things... - question2: suddenly ads can show up in this video to be able to provide you a more relaxing experience. Sure sure, how relaxing to be force fed ads unsolicited on your own tv... - question3: can I stop that? No you can't because we are forced to impose you these ads for your own good...

ortusdux 2y ago

I've said it here before, but I wish a consumer focused org would create a 'DUMB' certification. "Don't Upload My Bits"

ninetyninenine 2y ago

[flagged]

paradite 2y ago

You can turn it off. This is just a poorly worded FAQ. At the beginning, there is an FAQ that says you can't turn off ads in scenic mode. Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time... But in fact you can turn the Scenic mode off completely, but it buried later in the content of an FAQ about settings. Q: Can I change any settings for Scenic Mode? A: Yes. To use Scenic Mode with or without volume, navigate to the left side menu on the VIZIO Home screen, click Settings > Extras > Home Page Settings > Scenic Mode. Once you’re in the Scenic Mode section of Settings, scroll down and select either Volume On or Volume Off. You will see a checkmark appear, noting that you’ve correctly selected your setting. If you want to turn off Scenic Mode completely, follow the same instructions to get to the Scenic Mode section of Settings and select Disable.

42772827 2y ago
"Poorly worded" makes it sound like incompetence. This was deceptively worded.
- paradite 2y ago
  Maybe it is. Maybe it's not. I prefer to state facts and leave interpretations to others.
  - 42772827 2y ago
    When someone writes something that they know is not true, it's called being deceptive. Vizio wrote this: >Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time.
- cortesoft 2y ago
  Why would they want to make it seem like they are forcing you to watch ads? They tell you in other sections you can turn the functionality off, they aren't hiding it. I don't get why they would try to make themselves sound worse than they are.
  - 2y ago

Brian_K_White 2y ago

"... a FREE, new feature ..." Why are you complaining about this punch in the face? It's a FREE new punch in the face you ingrateful parasite! https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if_i_leave_my_vizio_tv_idle_it_plays_calming/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1jkwcbx/if...

andrewstuart 2y ago

>> We offer free, scenic content by supporting it with ads. Sheesh

johnea 2y ago

This is why one should never, ever, allow their television to connect to the internet. Feed it via HDMI from whatever device you choose, but DO NOT let the TV connect to the mothership... Or, just accept the consequences...

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

gj0 2y ago

Reminds me of, "You are not using a product, you are the product"

donatj 2y ago

About 2 years ago we got a deal on a smallish Samsung for our nursery. The thing is haunted. On more than a couple occasions in the middle of the night I've heard people talking. On working up the courage and getting out of bed I've found the TV tuned in my daughter's room to one of those Samsung Internet TV channels. My wife and I never use those, so it's absolutely bizarre.

nyarlathotep_ 2y ago
This genuinely seems like a Black Mirror episode from the core seasons. It starts slowly playing anodyne ads that get progressively more and more accurate, eventually turning to prescient ads about the future--maybe an ad for a divorce you didn't see coming, an illness etc The owner throws the TV out but then starts seeing other prescient ads in storefronts, kiosks...
account42 2y ago
Possibly voice activation trying to interpret baby noises as commands? If so there should be a setting to disable it.
- donatj 2y ago
  As far as I am aware the only voice control requires a button press on the remote. Beyond that, our daughter sleeps in a pack-n-play in our bedroom.

jasinjames 2y ago

If you have a "smart" TV you'd like to avoid connecting to the internet for reasons like this, you can try disconnecting the wireless module entirely. I had a Sony Bravia TV I didn't trust, and after popping off the back I disconnected the wireless module's ribbon cable. The android-TV OS handled it gracefully, and now I don't have to worry about it attempting to smuggle data through any other WLANs in my apartment building.

ffsm8 2y ago
I have an 6 yo LG OLED and bought a Xbox series x on release. I've had the firmware update disabled too, because I couldn't think of a reason why I would want it to update. I'm not using it as a smart device after all. Well, when I got the Xbox, it worked. But a few months after, it wouldn't receive any signal on my TV. After some googling, it turned out that the Xbox had a firmware update which now made them incompatible. Incompatible, yes. HDMI. And incompatible. So I updated the firmware on the TV for the first time and it worked again. A few months later, the same happened again and I was forced to update another time. So, just as a cautionary message: if your TV has appliances which need to be updated connected to it they might become unusable/essentially bricked if you decide to do that.
- genocidicbunny 2y ago
  I wonder if the incompatibility was due to something like HDCP, and needing new keys or something similar. The Xbox is fairly strict on enforcing DRM, and that might be why it wouldn't output to the TV after a while. I recall that when I was doing console gamedev stuff, some monitors would not work if you set the console devkits into 'retail' mode, especially some of the old cheap LCDs that IT had stashed away to use as temporary loaners if someone's monitor was broken.
- sshine 2y ago
  I avoided firmware updates on my Samsung TV and removed as many built-in apps as possible. It used to start in quiet mode looking for a source. Then my renter updated the firmware because of a popup. Now I’m forced to start one of the commercial flow tv channels. Somehow I’m allowed to play the same episode of Baywatch, progressing 10-15 seconds before I start whatever app I actually want to use. David Hasselhoff hasn’t left the beach yet. This is because some idiot introduced KPIs like “minutes streamed”. Can’t you just be a dumb device? I imagine that in ten years, every electric appliance is infested with chatbot-level sentience and constantly wants to engage in conversation. EU will introduce laws that force electronics to STFU.

bananatron 2y ago

But its `free`

ctippett 2y ago

I'm super grateful for the webOS Homebrew[1] community for allowing me to wrangle control of my LG TV and giving unfettered root access to the device. [1] http://webosbrew.org http://webosbrew.org

gennarro 2y ago

This is truly dystopian. Also this sad excuse for an FAQ: Q: Is payment required to receive Scenic Mode? A: No. Scenic Mode does not require payment and is part of VIZIO’s mission to continually make your Smart TV better than when you bought it. Smart TVs are really and truly awful.

tiltowait 2y ago
That answer is a laugh. I quite liked my Vizio when I bought it. After a few updates, I vowed never to buy Vizio again and to recommend against them to anyone who asked. Now, it constantly nags me to buy a new remote, aggressively changes to an ad screen the moment you disconnect an input, and runs more slowly than before. Great job, Vizio!

andrewmcwatters 2y ago

OK, related, so I have to share, because it's driving some valley residents crazy. It is currently the portable air conditioner season in Arizona. Home Depots now have them stocked in the front of the store. All Wi-Fi enabled Toshiba models (which are white-label rebranded Midea units,) their overwhelming predominate stock, are susceptible to a bug where your unit can be remotely turned on or off randomly, without your input. Presumably mismatched accounts on their back-end. Separately, but related, they also have universally paired remote controls, so your next door neighbor who also has a very popular Toshiba portable AC unit model can accidentally turn yours on and off without your input, and adjust your temperature any time, too. And you can accidentally do the same to them. Oh, and their remote controls work across all unit models, so it doesn't matter if you have a window unit instead, either. Whoops! Never buy them.

account42 2y ago
Huh, surprising that portable air conditioners are popular in Arizona - I'd have expected them to be used mainly in climates that don't call for buildings to be equipped with air conditioning already.

lutusp 2y ago

The good news: large-panel TV sets are inexpensive for their performance. The bad news: like many modern products, and as freely confessed in the linked article, you don't own the TV, it owns you. The remedy: Connect the TV to your computer as a dumb monitor -- make it show only content you directly control. And disable the TV's network connection -- without that connection, it can't show ads. My large-panel TV serves only as a computer monitor. My Linux computer runs the Brave browser and has a frequently updated ad-block list in /etc/hosts. This means no "Scenic Mode" ads and no YouTube corporate ads, only ads embedded by video content creators, which I skip over with a pointing device because the video is being controlled by a browser, not a TV. The FBI recommends use of ad blockers to guard against fraud and malware (https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-blocker-to-dodge-scammers https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-b...). On the other hand, some sites refuse to function if an ad blocker is in use. Those sites don't deserve access to my eyeballs. If all this fails, I pick up a book. Books don't have ads ... so far.

account42 2y ago
> This means no "Scenic Mode" ads and no YouTube corporate ads, only ads embedded by video content creators, which I skip over with a pointing device because the video is being controlled by a browser, not a TV. You skip over the ones that are obvious, but not the ones that are more stealthily integrated into the content. IMO if a video creator sells out and adds sponsored content of any kind they are no longer to be trusted to not be manipulative in other ways.
- lutusp 2y ago
  This is a YouTube version of the well-established principle that consumers, while being trained to buy specific products, are also being trained ... to buy products, to expect consumer goods to solve existential dilemmas. And I agree, it's true -- deplorable and true.

geor9e 2y ago

Aren't all videos in full screen on a TV?

ikerino 2y ago

I regret giving my TV my Wi-Fi password. By default, it has some knock-off Alexa assistant that triggers a couple times a day, even when I'm sitting in silence. It also warns me it will auto-updates the software 1-2 times a month. My TV was perfect out of the box--it doesn't need an update. When I disable Wi-Fi, I get notifications that my TV is disconnected. Can't win.

devsda 2y ago
We have ours connected but block all traffic to internet. Have a dedicated AP just for the tv and it has only LAN access to stream content through dlna or mirror phone screen using miracast.
djaychela 2y ago
Have you thought about using pi-hole? With the right things blocked, my LG TV still has all the functionality without the spying or annoyances.

donnachangstein 2y ago

Am I the only one here that read the part where you can absolutely disable this? I don't understand the performative outrage. The TV has an ad-supported screen saver, which they claim is used to support free streaming content. You can disable the screen saver entirely. No, you cannot just disable the ads but keep the screen saver. What is the problem? Meanwhile half the posters here work for Google or other ad-surveillance purveyors. I watched a short YouTube video today with half a dozen unskippable ads. If you had a hand in normalizing this then you can't claim to be upset by it.

42772827 2y ago
>What is the problem? Consent. The user didn’t consent to the feature, and now is expected to opt-OUT
- donnachangstein 2y ago
  Unlikely. Every Smart TV I've used requires you to agree to a EULA before any "smart" features are available.
  - banqjls 2y ago
    I’d be surprised if you could even use a smart TV at all without agreeing to an EULA.
    - account42 2y ago
      The GDPR really got that part right - for consumer-business contracts there is no consent if it wasn't freely given.
account42 2y ago
Hey sorry I broke into your home and ate your food but hey it's ok if you ask me nicely I promise I won't do it again. Won't give up they key though. And might change my mind about that promise in the future. Wait what are you mad for?

nycdatasci 2y ago

Unfortunately, I expect consumer-hostile behavior like this to become more common. The path that consumers take from intent-to-purchase to transaction will radically change over the next 5 years. It will result in less time shopping and better purchasing decisions for consumers, while diminishing the role of marketing/advertising. As that river runs dry, there will be desperate and intrusive attempts to monetize users like we’re seeing here from Vizio.

rahimnathwani 2y ago

- this scenic mode isn't an essential feature and can be turned off - TVs are cheaper here in the US than they are in China (or at least they were when I lived in China), and these revenue opportunities are likely the reason

andai 2y ago
The FAQ says you can't but apparently that's wrong (or intentionally deceptive?). Someone posted instructions below.
- rahimnathwani 2y ago
  The FAQ says you can't turn the ads off in scenic mode. The same FAQ says you can turn scenic mode off.
- dqv 2y ago
  Just reading it wrong. You can't turn off ads in scenic mode, but you can turn off scenic mode. Vizio kind of has a lot of dark pattern messaging. As an example, they make it seem like you HAVE to enable the microphone on the remote or install an app to change the TV volume. They don't provide a diagram of the remote, so if you don't notice the volume rocker on the side, it seems like you only have two rather invasive options. Another example is they use wording that makes it seem like you can't use the TV if you don't agree to the terms, but if you do select the disagree button (and after confirming you really want to disagree lol), it just reverts to a dumb TV.
  - account42 2y ago
    He's not reading it wrong, it's intentionally written to be read that way.

t0bia_s 2y ago

Why so odd terminology for playing ad? Scenic more?

QuiEgo 2y ago

Very afraid we will get to the point where new TVs will refuse to boot and let you use external inputs unless they have network connection. I’ll live with watching Plex on my phone before I buy a TV like that.

account42 2y ago
You mean on Apple's/Goole's/Samsung's phone that you're renting, right?

LASR 2y ago

They keep pushing. We keep tolerating. Every Tv in my home is paired with an Apple TV. I leave the display unconnected to the internet. The day when TVs require an internet connection to show external inputs - that will be a sad day. Or when they come with cellular modems.

hypfer 2y ago

Motorola rolled out basically the same feature to my phone with its latest "security update". They even went so far as to patch the Android System UI to send you notifications nagging you to enable their Taboola Lockscreen video ad things. So even if you uninstall the actual adware app, you still get nagged to use it. Seems like this might perhaps just be the new-ish idea that got cooked up somewhere and now all suits are copying each other?

lifestyleguru 2y ago

Once Mi smart TV in holiday rental I stayed switched on itself on early morning playing TV channel at high volume, interestingly web search specifically has results for "Mi smart TV switching on at 5am". The TV also had internal microphone and physical switch to toggle the microphone. It was literally Chinese invigilation device.

unixhero 2y ago

"You may see an ad"

kotaKat 2y ago

Ah, so now Vizio is taking pages out of the technology rapist playbook, too. “You’re forced to take this and you can’t say no.”

elkos 2y ago

Speaking of Vizio, what happened to the SFC vs Vizio GPL violation case? Last time I checked : https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2024/01/sfc-v-vizio-survives-motion-for-summary-judgment-on-third-party-beneficiary-issue https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2024/01/sf...

RandomBacon 2y ago
Another user said they have a court date in September and posted this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio#Legal_issues

robcohen 2y ago

One super annoying issue I've found is that if you enable Smartthings on Samsung TVs, and you try to use your phone app as a remote, they ask for microphone access EVERY TIME I USE THE APP. The options are "Enable" and "Cancel". I click cancel, the remote works for 3 minutes, then stops working and I have to force restart the app and do it again. All for a feature I use if I can't find my physical remote. Seriously. I hate these companies with a passion. It's crazy that right now the only alternative is to not use smart features / wifi. There's not even a good Android TV option. The best I can do is just run VLC on a computer connected to the screen (Kodi has an awful UI/UX, in my opinion). Plex used to be good before they became awful. AppleTV is the only semi-decent device, but it requires a iCloud login.

jasonm23 2y ago

Just add Vizio to your ... nope ... list.