Mastodawn

jwz Dec 12, 2023

"An off switch? She'll get years for that."

Your Smart TV Knows What You're Watching:

ACR identifies what's displayed on your television, including content served through a cable TV box, streaming service, or game console, by continuously grabbing...
https://jwz.org/b/ykHC

"An off switch? She'll get years for that."

Your Smart TV Knows What You're Watching: ACR identifies what's displayed on your television, including content served through a cable TV box, streaming service, or game console, by continuously grabbing screenshots and comparing them to a massive database of media and advertisements. Think of it as a Shazam-like service constantly running in the background while your TV is on. These TVs can ...

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americanjeff Dec 12, 2023

@jwz Seems simpler to just not give the TV the wifi password

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C.Dec 12, 2023

@americanjeff @jwz

Agreed - if I ever have to replace my beloved plasma, there probably won't be any "dumb" TVs left -- but if you keep them off the network, they're effectively dumb.

Lobotomized TV, next best thing to a dumb TV?

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kajer :notverified:Dec 12, 2023

@cazabon @americanjeff @jwz

Last time I went TV shopping, I asked the sales guy at best buy to let me factory reset each model i was considering. If any forced a TOS / internet check before letting me select HDMI input... I stopped considering that model.

I got a samsung something, and immediately got a service remote to access the service menu, to disable ALL RADIOS. Never looked back.

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Chris Gerlinsky Dec 13, 2023

@kajer @cazabon @americanjeff @jwz I have a Samsung 85" TV that worked for about six months without connecting to wifi, and then one day stopped working (would not display any video) until it was connected to wifi. No previous indication it would cease to function without wifi connectivity. Past the return window.

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kajer :notverified:

@akacastor @cazabon @americanjeff @jwz

The basic 70" samsung i got at costco seems fine after 2+ years...

unfounded thought: What if the ACR image buffer filled up due to no upload ability, and then the TV's OS went in to some safe mode?

Did you factory-reset in that process?

Does "factory-reset- even do what it should anymore? Or did the industry turn it in to a placebo button? 🤔

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C.Dec 13, 2023

@kajer @akacastor @americanjeff @jwz

The "Does factory reset really clear *everything* these days?" thing is one I've wondered about.

I also presume that the TV #manufacturers, who are starting to earn more #money from #surveilling users' watching habits and selling the data to the ad giants than they do from #selling the #hardware, will be putting in LTE/5G modems that aren't exposed to the user, so the sets have network connections without relying on the user to provide it.

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kajer :notverified:Dec 14, 2023

@cazabon @akacastor @americanjeff @jwz

Given how cheap some IoT cellular plans are, I'm willing to agree with the cost benefit of having a cellular connection... :(

Pair that with AI upscaling, and maybe the ACR screen grabs dont need to be very large or even contain color? Great, now you'll have me opening TVs looking for SIM cards / cellular modems.

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C.Dec 14, 2023

@kajer @akacastor @americanjeff @jwz

We may already be there.
https://mastodon.social/@akacastor/111570518696729801

Regarding how ACR works, I'm certain it isn't by comparing entire frames - distill the image to a few numbers/vectors, and send that to the central video-id server for comparison with the master database. Much like shazam or other audio apps do for identifying songs.

It doesn't have to be 100% accurate. 2 matches out of 3 for the same program is probably sufficient to say "yup, that's the one".

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