Roku has patented a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV

Good way to kill their product..

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

So we just ordered a new tv and just want the universe to know that Roku wasn’t even considered and this shit is why.

I'm glad they patented it so that any of the products I actually buy won't be able to do this

The amount of ewaste they will be producing when they push that update. Should be against some environmental laws.

Now, if only they would invent the exact opposite of this, I would buy it

I want zero ads. Ever.

Hopefully this ends up something they never actually do like that sony patent for ads that only go away if you call out the name of the product.

Sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
Imagine that you pay for an ad free streaming service through your roku, like HBO for example. And now you have ads streaming over it?
People will sue for a way to disable it over ad free paid content.
Also, this will lead to way more pirating. People are sick of advertisements.

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.

That's some scummy shit...

On this episode of Black Mirror....

roku has patented a way to go fuck itself

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.

Aight. So it’s time for me to start taking this seriously. Has anyone tried using like a GrapheneOS or LineageOS as a Roku or FireTV replacement? Is there anything like that which will support an experience with a regular remote control and have apps like Netflix and Hulu work?

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

also, check their privacy policy 💀

Thankfully they patented it, hopefully deterring anyone else from also doing it

Roku filed for the patent in August 2023 and it was published in November 2023, though it hasn’t yet been granted

So they haven't patented shit.

I never considered Roku and I'm glad.

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

if they patent this, it could be slightly good thing because it might prevent other companies from doing it

Thanks to OP for reinforcing my choice to forever avoid smart TV's.

Edit: if you want a non-smart TV look for hospitality TVs.

Also, "how to ask everyone capable to hack your shit product without asking everyone to hack your shit product."

So I guess fuck people who use static images as screensavers

I'm tired boss...

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Now, the company is apparently experimenting with ways to show ads over top of even more of the things you plug into your TV.

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.

This theoretical Roku TV's internal hardware would be capable of taking the original source video feed, rendering an ad, and then combining the two into a single displayed image.

Among the business risks disclosed on Roku's financial filings from its 2023 fiscal year (PDF), the company says that its "future growth depends on the acceptance and growth of streaming TV advertising and advertising platforms."

If implemented as described, this system both gives Roku another place to put ads, and gives the company another source of user data that can be used to encourage advertisers to spend on its platforms.

It seems as though a Roku TV that was capable of this kind of ad insertion would need more sophisticated internal hardware than most current sets currently come with—this is the same company that feuded with Google a few years back because it didn't want to pay for more-expensive chips that could decode Google's AV1 video codec.

The original article contains 591 words, the summary contains 221 words. Saved 63%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

if the video being displayed is static

Imagine you're playing Skyrim and while reading one of the books your TV covers up the content with an ad! That would be infuriating!

Fuck Roku. If we stop buying their shit. They'll eventually be bankrupt to implement this feature. So Fuck roku

I don't have to imagine roku injecting ads, I've already seen it. Had a movie going on my tablet, screen shared to the tv over wifi, tv screen had an ad "you can watch this movie on our bullshit streaming service!". This was 2 years ago. I will never buy a smart tv. And fuck roku specifically.

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.

That backlog of books and DVDs in my closet is more and more attractive each day.

*their tv

This is like Windows putting ads in the fucking startmenu....

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

Well, fuck, that's pretty gross.

Permanently Deleted

The newest LG GX (4?) is actually removing ads from their UI, I think it is totally ad-free. It is expensive as fuck though, it makes sense to deliver a premium experience.

avoid integrated smart technology, buy a separate box preferably Foss or with possibility to load a custom rom/os

Nope! I had thought about trying out their 4k box, but nope.

LibreELEC FTW!

I would assume that these ads still need an internet connection to play. Another great reason to use an external box to play your media and leave the smart TV offline.

There should be a special division in all patenting offices called Burning With Fire ™

ROKU has patented a way for me to not even look at their tvs.

Please don't tell the idea to HP or they might get inspired.

I've just invented a way to never use a Roku product again, and I've chosen not to patent it.

The process is this:

1. Don't buy anything from Roku anymore.

not sure why people are losing their minds, there are lots of absurd patents out there - actually making it to market is a whole different step

I don't understand why anyone uses one of these,when you can stream anything you want for free on your computer in your web browser.

Ever since Roku deplatformed Alex Jones I knew they were unprincipled and no good. Glad I left and never looked back.