When I shopped TVs a few years ago, Sony was the only consumer brand that didn't have ToS that included language about this type of advertising. I'm not sure if that's changed. They still spy on you plenty, though.
That's what we bought, but we still don't connect it to a network and only use hdmi inputs. Plus disabled quite a few apps via adb, and don't update the software.
It's sad that this is what it's come to.
I also suspect that at least Android devices are starting to use other (Android) network devices as proxies to get data to Google when they've been firewalled with only LAN access.
Lots of unexplained data getting transferred on my home network between firewalled Android devices.
But maybe the state of things just has me being overly paranoid.
While it will hopefully remain one way, it’s a matter of time the TV will receive updates and ads over DVB or other broadcast mediums.
Could even geo-target ads. TV could figure out its location by GPS, multilateration of DVB signal strengths, what wifi is around, or purchase/delivery information (you didn’t stupidly get your 85” TV delivered to your own house, did you???).
Would be cool to have on-demand TV or other data distribution given how much spectrum is available on DVB-T.
This is the holy grail for mobile carriers — have enough bandwidth in 5G where devices will come with mobile data already activated without user intervention at all.
They could have done that today with 3G if they wanted, they just choose not to.
Tons of unused spectrum overnight that should cost nearly $0, but they choose not to because we market prices would be bad for telecoms so it’s not on offer.
I bought a high-end Sony LCD in 2016. The picture (still) looks great but the UX was awful. Laggy trash Android TV build with a manifestly underpowered CPU. It’s not connected to the internet these days - just to an Apple TV and game consoles - but the user experience is still awful - changing inputs, adjusting image settings, etc - all painful and a world away from the LG C9 upstairs.
LG has plenty of its own problems, but I’d never buy another Sony TV and take every opportunity to shout it from the rooftops.
I got a Sony 2 years ago and haven't had any add issues.
Outside of being picky on what brands to choose from, the next best thing is to just never use the "smart" features and rely on a third party box like Roku/Apple TV/Pi/Etc. I know some smart TV adds will still throw ad's in the menus, but you shouldn't have to use the menu's that frequently.
That's what we bought, but we still don't connect it to a network and only use hdmi inputs. Plus disabled quite a few apps via adb, and don't update the software.
It's sad that this is what it's come to.
I also suspect that at least Android devices are starting to use other (Android) network devices as proxies to get data to Google when they've been firewalled with only LAN access.
Lots of unexplained data getting transferred on my home network between firewalled Android devices.
But maybe the state of things just has me being overly paranoid.