Customer service

Disabling ads is easy, don't connect it to the internet ever

Any way to connect it to an internal network so I can still cast from local devices? Otherwise it's just going to exist plugged into a laptop.
- Something like a chromecast would be the easiest solution.
  Me personally, I just like having a media pc hooked up to my tv. I bought an amazon fire tv cause it was fairly cheap for 4k and its never been hooked up to the internet.
- Depends on your router. Some have the ability to disable internet access to single devices while leaving their internal network access intact.
- You probably can give it a static ip through your router and block any access to the internet for it. Could even set up pihole to block the ads from coming in to any device. That said, it's possible the TV has built in ads or error messages to show in place of the ads when offline/blocked, or may just not even work if offline for longer than x minutes/hours/days
- That's how I handled my "smart" TV - I had a spare minipc from my old homelab, threw Linux on it and plugged it into the HDMI port.
  It has never connected to my network, despite the BestBuy employee insisting it would need firmware updates for better picture.
- if it gives you the option you could try setting the DNS settings to something that doesn't exist.
- You can probably get a DNS based ad blocker and configure your router DHCP to assign it to devices.
- Maybe if you give it its own vlan? Idk tho
- You may use it as a display and connect it to a Raspberry Pi (or other mini-PC) with Kodi on it.
- ...that's what I've been doing. I've accepted my fate
- Sure, break it's routing. You can give it a fake DNS server (like a pihole that blocks everything), you could set up routing rules that block everything not addressed in the network ip range, there's a ton of ways I can think to do it off the top of my head. It might require some tinkering though
Eventually they are going to require Internet on all TVs, it's only a matter of time
- Then I make my own mainboard.
  Good thing I saw that pcbwaydotcom ad.
- it's standard here in sweden to deliver TV over internet these days, TV can fuck itself sideways and die
At this point, just get a cheaper non-smart TV
- They don't sell good TVs that aren't Smart anymore. You could get a monitor but that comes with size, featureset and price limitations.
- Where are you buying a non-smart TV in 2024? Genuinely asking for some links to something bigger than 32" and that is not a $3,000 "commercial display panel".
- An more expensive dumb TV, actually. They want you to buy the thing that makes passive income so its cheaper.
I’ve heard some will seek out open wifi in the area. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start having cellular data capability soon just for the ads and reporting back to corporate.
- "fun" fact: most modern cars have over a dozen sim cards because various components relay statistics, etc. to their respective manufacturers.
Don’t buy a Samsung tv is even better. There software gets worse every year. Recent tvs now can’t change inputs when first powered on. They also need to detect a device to change the input.
Yeah, but some new tech won’t work at all if you don’t.
Plenty of people aren’t aware of that, and when you’re buying shit, it often obfuscates that fact.
Most people will buy shit having no idea the thing will require you to connect it to your wifi.
e: television is only one of the things. It’s getting harder to name things that don’t require this.
- It's simple: return the item

^FU

^MF
Took me three hours to realize FU meant Felix Unger!

Surgeons generally initial their incision site pre op; one of the general docs I worked with had the initials "HA", and would do laparoscopic surgeries with 3 port sites... so our patients would roll in with "HA HA HA" written across their abdomen. Always got a kick out of it! _

- This is so very special, I love that only a few people will ever see it
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/13/doctor-branded-liver/
  Yeah that was pretty fucked up. Psychopath got caught literally branding a patient's liver.
  Pre-op, surgeons use a skin marker (washes off after a few days) to confirm the correct site, and will sometimes even write "NO" or put an "X" over the same site on the other side. If you go in for surgery on your left leg, then wake up with you left leg still fucked up and a bunch of stitches on your right leg... yeah not a good situation. And it's happened. There are a TON of redundant checks now to prevent wrong-site surgeries, but people get tunnel visioned and still manage to fuck up every now and then. I was even in a case where we had a close call - cataract surgery. We did all checks, heard and read "left eye" probably 20 times just in the OR. Shit's all good and we're ready to start: "Uh... Doc? You just draped the right. This one's left."
  It was the only left eye that day, all the others were right. So even despite all the checks, our monkey brains still find a way sabotage us.
  But that's also why we do shit as teams, so when one of us fucks up, there are like 4 others there to call us out - hopefully in time to prevent any harm.
- Yeah they do it with a marker when the patient is awake. Like "this is the surgery I'm doing on you, you cool with that? Ok I'm initialing that we are doing the right thing here"
  Like for an amputation they'll mark the leg while the patient is awake "yes I want this one removed"
- Here's another doctor that branded women's uteruses with the initials of his school.
  https://www.wave3.com/story/1141325/nine-women-want-to-join-lawsuit-against-surgeon-over-branding/
- Yea branding can be legit for navigational orientation purposes during arthroscopy procedures, but they really need some cool universal orientation design, not dude or school initials.
  Something like Prince's symbol, that the patient chooses. Way cool private organ art.
  And patient consent.
  Get your shit together, docs.

Same.

-BS

Username checks out.

I equate Samsung TVs with HP printers. I would rather go without than have to put up with their nonsense.

We should form a club. Would be great to avoid some of this insidious bullshit. Ads on a TV I paid for and subscription to my own printer. I hope both companies fail.
I don't want any smart TV. If I want a smart TV I'll hook my own computer up to it.
- I’m happy with my cheap Sceptre tv. It isn’t for everyone, but I have no need for smart TVs. I’ve never had one, and I don’t want one.
  My cheap ass Sceptre has a beautiful 4K picture which I rarely use anyway. My kids watch YouTube on my switch most of the time. I think I seen a 4K video once when I hooked my Steam deck up to it. It was pretty, but I don’t have time for TV with these babies anyway.

The BS really makes the follow up statement believable

Oh i thought it said RS. Man someone should learn to crop their memes
That is the joke, yes!
The chicken wasn't on the other side, that's why he crossed the road!

The two people in charge of Samsung UK's social media account are named Hanita Anita and Blorbo Spurlock.

I'm a big fan of Blorbo, he once gave me nasty oral sex
- she samsung on my blorbo till i spurlock

I haven't had a tv in years, and every time I get tempted by the screen size I have to remind myself about this shit. It's just me, 30 inches is enough, and I haven't seen an ad within my own home since 2012 (not entirely true, I've changed browsers a few times and had to re-setup adblockers).

You can look for display boards, they're specifically meant for like retail space so don't come with all the fancy bullshit. Typically cheaper, and you can go pretty large as well.
- I was always under the impression the ad-riddled bullshit was cheaper because it's subsidized by the sponsoring companies.
Just use it as display device for your library and *arr services. A high-end 55" OLED goes for 1000$ nowadays.
i got a giant ass tv that has no ads. just got to not get smart tv

Ah, 2021, when cryptobros were all in on NFTs, which was totally the best thing ever and totally not a greater fool scam, you guys!

Used to work with a guy who kept trying to get everyone else to buy crypto and NFTs, and said he had 2 million in Bitcoin on a drive in his house.
Given he lived in a one bed flat and wore the same cigarette smelling jumper every day for three years, I doubted that very much.
I had a co-worker who bought into the NFT scam hard. He even had a virtual room on his phone to display his multi-thousand dollar "investments". He collected all his favorite Avengers or some shite.
Guess how much they're worth now.
- I'd say
  about tree fiddy
  but that feels optimistic.

Why do people buy Samsung bullshit? Honestly. Weren't the multiple products known to catch on fire enough? No, you need more than "products might catch fire" and "everything they make is enshittified to the max"?

Ever since my Samsung Galaxy S5 got an update that fucked it in every single way, I decided that there are no exceptions to the shittiness they work into their products.

Fuck Samsung. Stop buying their awful, overpriced, bloated, half-functional, fuck-ass engineered e-waste. They might even be worse than apple and that's saying something.

For Android phones at least (especially in the US), there aren't many great alternatives. Regardless of what you think of Samsung and their bloatware, Galaxy phones have fewer glitches and far better customization options than Google Pixels.
- Maybe stop thinking that you absolutely need a flagship phone with the latest SoC to browse Lemmy and marketplace and you'll find there are more options.
- Galaxy phones have fewer glitches and far better customization options than Google Pixels.
  What? I ain't trying to praise google here, because fuck 'em, but what on earth are you about with customization and glitches?
  I've had the Pixel 5 and 7 pro so far and I've wanted to stomp on those phones way less than any phones I've ever had from samsung.
- They are definitely niche appeal, but take a look at Unihertz. They make some phones that diverge from the current trends with flagship phones.
- They exist. They're just not well known. I love my LG Velvet. It's as unobtrusive as a phone of this processing capability can get. Just about fully stock Android with a few minor apps from my carrier preloaded. It's about 5yrs old now and not a bit slower than when I bought it. Decent camera, too.
Their SSDs have been pretty reliable for me at least. Knock on wood
I don't buy anything else from them though.
- Fuck! I forgot that I have a few of those... I guess I can expect to replace them or put out a fire in the near future
Because they focus on curb appeal. Their phones and TVs and appliances look pretty in the store so people buy them. It's not til you get them home that you begin to notice that they are trash. The next problem is that people may not even realize that the competition is better. If you buy a Samsung device knowing only that it looks good in the store, you probably aren't the type to research, so you think that's just how it is: Modern phones have weird confusing UIs, modern TVs have weird menu lag and ads, modern appliances just don't last the way they used to.
I'm with you. Their stuff has sucked for a while.
- With Apple, I hate so many things about them, but I can kind of understand why people buy their shit. I just can't wrap my head around it with Samsung. It seems like it all comes down to brand recognition. I don't know.
I will never again buy a Samsung product after they refused to honour the warranty claim on my dishwasher. It had a legitimate design defect, I alerted them well within the warranty period, and I provided all the appropriate receipts. They just plain ignored my complaint while putting on a contrite facade in every interaction.
- That's awful. Sorry that happened to you
I have banned Samsung from my list of trusted electronics since long time ago, two cell phones that strangely started to behave erratic and slow exactly when the warranty expired. I don't want to buy more programmed obsolescence BS.
Their PC monitors are still solid. At least with that you're just getting the screen. The second they add shit I'm out.
- They're really not. Brick-and-barrel-pin power connectors, panels that shit the bed with regularity, and a few "smart" monitor models. Other brands are more reliable imo.
To be honest, with a company as massive and diverse of Samsung, you are guaranteed to have multiple products that catch fire in one way or another. Samsung makes up 20% of South Korea's entire economy, that's the monolithic scale of Samsung.
- Are you implying that it's just normal for products to catch fire? Unless we are talking about a once a century event related to cars, grills, ovens, etc, I can't say I agree.
  Phones aren't supposed to catch fire. Ever. Washing machines also should never catch fire. It is not normal or okay
My Note 4 had a Bixby button. I never bought a Samsung phone again.
Can confirm. I had an S6 and hated it. Sold it early to get away from it. I've never done that before or since. My kid needed a tablet and so I got him a Samsung as it was cheap. Same thing. Bloated to hell. He also has a smart TV which again is Samsung. Even that is bloated. I'll never buy Samsung again. I can't understand why they are so popular. I guess advertising works.
Can you recommend a manufacturer who doesn't display ads? It doesn't help to single out one company if they're all doing it.
- My old 2015 Android TV doesn't. Neither does my LG. But the LG could be because I always disagree to all consent message or because I push all DNS traffic through AdGuard and NextDNS.
- I've bought 2 Sony android TVs in the last 5 years (one 5 years ago and one a couple of weeks ago), both are connected to the internet. Neither shows ads.
- What? The device has very little to do with ads. I block ads on Android with ddg app privacy protection and Firefox + ublock origin

I feel like it would be easier to block all traffic to/from the TV and just connect a device to HDMI (not that that will stop them, haven't some smart TVs already been caught just connecting to any unsecured wireless network?)
- This is what I do. I have an Nvidia Shield, which does show ads on its default interface, but you can install new ones (or root the device if you're techy enough). TV itself has never been connected
This. But also my apps stopped working and I have let the tv update every once in a while.

This isn't cropped nearly enough. I can still barely see the punchline.

I think it was "^{RS", cropped to look like "}BS".
- Pretty sure I can see the backward bend of a B.
- That could be. I was just joking anyway.

The hardware they use on these TVs is complete shit* anyway, so your actually better off not using them for anything other than a TV. Buy an android box or one of those mini PCs instead.

*every time I saw the specs of these "smart" TVs a few years back, I would internally scream. I don't know if it has improved since, but I highly doubt it.

Or just plug in a regular laptop when you want to watch something. That's my move.
On top of crap hardware, "smart" TVs are a pretty serious security vulnerability, too. Better to not have it on the same network as your primary devices.
- Connecting and deconnecting cables can cause damage. It's best to have a dedicated hardware.
  Plus, you can literally turn your mini PC into an emulation box to play retrogames (snes, megadrive, ps1) and the new generation of "retrogames" (ps2, ps3, wii, nds). And if the hardware is good enough (modern amd APUs and 16gb ddr4) you can even play switch games on it.
Any recommendations on shopping for an Android set top box? Every time I start down the rabbit hole I feel like I’m just getting AI-written SEO scam fake review sites.
- I can't really give you recommendations because you're from Canada and I am from a shitty third world country, so my needs and available choices are likely vastly different from yours. My only source is AliExpress, and I mostly don't care about the Android box being certified by Google so Netflix & co. work (at least I believe that's what the Google certification is for) because I sail the high sea.
  TL;DR: Better to ask local groups.
  That said, here's my recommendation based on my own limited experience:
  A Xiaomi box would be a good choice if you want a product from a big international company.
  A Mecool Android box is also a good choice since they are Google certified and have decent hardware like DDR4 RAM and somewhat decent CPUs. Just avoid the boxes with the AMLOGIC 905Y4 CPU (which uses the weak ARM Cortex-A35 cores) and only go for the ones with the AMLOGIC 905X4 (ARM Cortex-A55 cores). Otherwise, they both have the same GPU (Mali-G31 MP2) which should suffice for an Android box.
  A more specific recommendation would be the Kinkhank G1 which has an AMLOGIC 905X4, 4GB DDR4, and 32GB of ROM and is Google certified.

Too bad that last reply wasn't signed by Fritz Ubermensch

2 easy solutions:

Don't connect your TV to the internet
If you need an internet connection for some reason, run a network-wide DNS filtering solution like Pi-Hole or AdGuard Home, and make sure to set it as the default DNS server in your router

LG TV's serve ads in notifications via the same domain that distributes new firmware. I got so sick of it that I blocked my TV from being able to reach the internet but it's still on the network so I can still use wake on LAN to turn it on/off.

If they stop selling dumb TVs, I won't own another TV in my life. Not even being funny right now.

No need, just leave any smart TVs disconnected from your network and they’re harmless
- Yep. I never use the smart TV features. I've a fire stick and yes I see the irony but the firesick is almost used exclusively for Kodi.
- For now ...
  I wouldn't put it past them to start trying to mesh network their way out of local network jail. Are your neighbors as diligent as you are about privacy and security?
Smart TVs are cheaper than dumb TVs because smart TVs can send your watching habit data to be sold. I wish I was joking.
- That’s why you buy the cheaper smart one and just leave it air gapped
You can always buy a digital signage display and use it as a tv.
- Those are usually more expensive and don’t do HDR.
- That's good. My fallback plan was to get one of those school style overhead protectors and just do pantomime shows with coloured paper and wires
My current TV is an old one I got from a friend of my dad when he got a bigger one. It's a bit glitchy, but it's not smart, and that's what matters.

NextDNS has filters for Samsung TV's.

This has to be something that's only legal in the US because I've never had ads on any TV that I've owned. Never even thought about it, I just get a random big TV and it doesn't have ads.

Admittedly I haven't actually bought a TV in about 10 years so it is possible that the ones I'm getting from family members and friends are just very well researched, but I doubt it knowing them. They will have just got whatever is biggest.

only legal in the US
Wrong, modern Chinese tvs are filled with ads. Its been on the news several times, and has some minor regulation since then. Before, you get ads upon turning on the tv, more when loaded to the launcher, not to mention ads during shows, and finally ads when you shut off the tv. Currently, theres only ads when loaded to launcher.
People have been trying to get rid of the ads through root, replacing the launcher, editing the host file to block ad ips.
Its a mess.
- Or literally never, ever connect your TV directly to the Internet (seriously, don’t do it).
  My Apple TV does an infinitely better job than the half-assed built-in native apps; more services are supported and for longer, features are properly integrated, and the additional smart phone functionality (AirPlay, AirPods sync etc.) is a godsend in a busy household.
  Plus the added bonus of not risking my network getting compromised, and one less company collecting and selling data about me to unscrupulous marketers and shady middle-men.
Smasnug tvs definitely have built in ads
- Found the DankPods fan
- not mine ¯(ツ)_/¯
  I have a series 5 Samsung 32" smart tv and except preloaded apps and stuff which can be removed there were absolutely no ads.
  i even connected it to the internet and signed in with my Samsung account, still no ads
  (maybe it's a regional thing, mine is set to Ukraine)
- Not if you don't let them connect to the Internet
um, the tweet is customer support UK.....
- But Samsung TVs don't have ads in the UK. They don't. Perhaps if you buy a TV in the UK and then take it to another country it has ads and vice versa but I'm sure it's illegal here.

Can we have context? Are new Samsung TVs doing something with ads in their built-in apps?

You're getting ads with them.
- Can you explain? How am I getting those? On which apps?
Not sure about samsung but all Android tvs have a "recommendations" section on the home screen that can't be disabled that will show things from Disney, Netflix, Prime etc. Even if you're not subscribed to them.

I did a network analysis of outgoing traffic/connections from my Samsung TV. I don't have the results anymore, but with the TV sitting idle, the amount of connections was.... Staggering. Just, a lot of different connections, and I have no idea why.

Unfortunately, we use our TVs smart features so we don't have a lot of options for keeping it from doing these things.

I'm still pretty salty that it's basically special order to get a non-smart TV. You basically need to buy a commercial model to get one that doesn't have or need an internet connection to do what you need it to. I don't have that kind of money, and I don't have enough money to just throw away a TV because of this shit.

You basically need to buy a commercial model to get one that doesn't have or need an internet connection to do what you need it to.
You can just not hook your TV up to the internet
How many times do I have to leave this comment
- That's really not what I would want. If I'm not going to use the smart features, I wouldn't want them baked into the display, it's just more shit that can go wrong that I don't need. The OSD menus are all built into whatever "smart" bullshit is included. So you have to plug it in once and a while to check for updates and whatnot so it doesn't get all fucky for no reason.
  If I want a basic bitch display, I want it to be a basic bitch display. I don't want the risk or complexity of having that extra bullshit.
- There are infinite number of suckers on this planet. Just call them names next time, save yourself the stress.
- I have mine connected through my laptop as a second/larger monitor, but I also just don't gaf

I dread the coming day I'll need to buy a new tv, amd wonder if by then there will be guides (get this brand, download this xda tool exfiltrated from the oem, jailbreak that, cut this circuit-trace, etc.).

Just use a pi-hole