this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024

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Roku has patented a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV (arstechnica.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

230 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My TV set is like a dumb monitor: HDMI in, colorful image out, basta.

Not even audio. And of course it does not get any internet connection. And I don't feed it any caviar.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago (3 children)

TIL what 'basta' means.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Time to go back to books, fellas. This party is done.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

Amazon/Audible walks in.

"Guess what industry I just exploited the shit out of!"

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Time to create an app that runs a moving pixel and or subsonic tone during pause to thwart these fuckers

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (6 children)

Anyone know what I should be running Plex on instead? I don't want to just hook my computer up to the TV. Rokus are like $10, so ideally around that price point lol

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

Why not? To get a picture on a big screen, I just use a really long cable from my desktop.

I control mouse/keyboard input via KDE connect, or grab the actual wireless mouse and keyboard from my desk.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (6 children)

This is why Rokus are $10

Spend more if you don't want this.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 9 months ago

On this episode of Black Mirror....

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

also, check their privacy policy 💀

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The best way to prevent ads is to figure out every way in which they can be served in the future, and patenting every one.

And then do nothing with them.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Utility patents expire after 20 years (under US patent law; might have different rules somewhere else).

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago

Twenty years of sweet freedom from ads

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Just a thought: What if I were to buy a TV with a port other than HDMI and use a converter from Roku device to that port? For example, hdmi to display port or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's a lot cheaper and easier to not use a Roku device.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

that gets rid of cec but everything else would still work. you really just have to plug your other devices into the TV directly instead of into the roku. the problem will be the tvs with roku integrated directly

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is there a consumer tv out there that has display port as an option?

Monitors for sure, but I’m talking 70” OLEDs and whatnot.

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[–] [email protected] 206 points 9 months ago (3 children)

tl;dr never buy anything Roku, ever again. Got it.

[–] [email protected] 75 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Roku has patented a way to ensure I don't buy their junk.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Yeah... I've been evaluating moving to Plex or Jellyfin.

Kinda getting done with a lot of this smart stuff. The Monopolies are flexing and I don't enjoy it.