…due to seemingly installing adware on PCs and telling you to warn guests they may be recorded by AI features, to comply with ‘wiretapping’ laws
“Please allow ads on this site. Click OK to learn more.”
Here’s the Gamers Nexus report.
TechRadar is a shitty content mill that, in this case, basically just half-asses a summary of the GN video, embeds a few Reddit comments, and calls it
macaronijournalism.Thanks Steve!
Super short version for those who don’t want to fight the site, some lg monitors install upsettingly comprehensive spyware onto your computer.
Some lg tvs, years after purchase and with no warning, do the same thing to themselves. Like sleeper agents.
And I’m not talking “monitor the images” spyware, I’m talking “listen in on your every word and send the transcript to lg” level spyware. “We have clauses around wiretapping wormed into the user agreement” level spying.
This shit and flock is more what the explosion of data centers is about than LLMs having more power
🤣 RIP
They are not even asking though. They just install it.
When I was shopping for a new monitor a while back I stayed away from “Smart” monitors with their own operation system. I’m connecting it to a computer, why would I spend an extra $600 when the exact same monitor without an operating system exists?
Look! You can watch Netflix on this monitor!
Well, yes, there’s a PC stuck on it, of course I can.
No, you can watch it without the PC!
Why would I want to use a monitor without a PC?
It’s only half again as expensive! It’s a steal!
Tbf, you could probably actually stream Netflix at 4K on it since it gets limuted to something like 720p in the browser. But that’s just because Netflix are bastards, not because of technical limits
Spherical bastards
it gets limited to something like 720p in the browser
I think that depends on the browser (for reasons that I never really looked into). Some do 720p (I think that’s Firefox), some do ~1k (the Chrome based ones), maybe more.
I thought dumb monitors cost more than smart TVs?
Monitor and TVs are very different.
Yes. Usually TVs are cheaper because they record you and your usage habits and sell that data
My original comment was about normal monitors and smart monitors. Smart monitors are more expensive because of the added software and chip hardware.
Isn’t a smart monitor an oxymoron?
I thought the whole reason to buy a monitor was to get something dumb
I didn’t know the smart disease had infected computer monitors too. Seems like a harder sell even for those unconcerned with privacy. What could it possibly do that the computer it’s connected to wouldn’t be used for? If it’s a computer monitor it’s usually physically installed in a space you set aside for computer related stuff so even if you wanted all the “smart” features of a smart tv you’d be unlikely to want them there .
Remember just a few years ago, all the main tech companies and Government were gaslighting the shit out of everyone about the targeted advertising stuff? It’s not listening to you! The ADs based on what you’re talking about are just coincidental!
Maybe no one remembers this for some reason. Of course they just get away with all the lying
“Whoever came up with this…”
Executive with shit eating grin in the corner of the room
“And I’ll fuckin’ do it again”
I have an “ancient” 720p dumb TV and I refuse to get rid of it because of shit like this. My disabled eyes can’t tell the difference between that and 4k anyways
When I’m at someone’s house and the YouTube video kicks into 4k 60fps its noticeable.
Its almost too distracting when you’re not used to it. When its gone I miss it for a day or two but ultimately wasn’t the reason I enjoyed it.
I’ll watch YouTube on my phone at 480p because I pretty much grew up on metered internet and it just feels wasteful. But I’m the type of guy to play at 1080p mid settings (uncapped distance and frames if possible tho) to give my PC a easy time. Even if have the media installed locally I’m going 720p tops because now storage is more important.
The only time I’ll fully let myself enjoy high res high quality media is if its a physical form like a blue ray. Other than that in the back of my mind I’m always thinking about how ray tracing and crazy high rez is kind of a gimmick, and how I would rather have more frames or conserve my hardware.
uBlock Origin anyone for the shitty ads? How do you folks even use internet without adblockers?! I don’t give a shit if it “pays” for the websites, it’s shit.
As for LG, I put it on my shit list. Their panels might be good, but I will never buy TV or monitor branded by them after seeing this shit. Then again my MSI motherboard has its dumbass Armory whatever driver nonsense that I need to disable in BIOS every time I reset CMOS which is pissing me off too.
Issue here is actually combination of shitty behavior from both, LG and Microsoft. LG doesn’t technically inject anything, they just send a hardware flag to Windows which then just gladly pulls shit from internet and runs it. Not only it’s annoying as fuck, this is malicious behavior and on top of that huge security risk. If anyone hijacks this shit from LG and Windows will just gladly parse and execute WHATEVER binary on millions of LG monitors. WHAT. THE. FUCK. You don’t have to compromise each individual system, you just need to compromise single target which is LG. I don’t think I need to further explain how that is insanely bad idea and Microsoft should disable this bullshit in Windows ASAP. I hope there will be more outrage about this…
The ads are inherent in the software which Windows 11 automatically downloads as soon as you plug in the LG monitor. It doesn’t ask, and you will get the ads even with an adblocker because they are not shown in a browser, but in Windows itself.
The best solution is not to use LG or Windows.
An adblocker plug-in might not help but something like pihole will
Sadly I reckon they will start hardcoding their own DNS.
This annoys me intensely. I don’t own a tv or monitor from LG, but I do have an excellent (dumb) washing machine and fridge, I would have updated my TV which is currently a fairly basic Samsung TV, because of it’s ads and I’ve decided they are on my shit list for this kind of thing.
I disable JavaScript. I don’t see what you’re talking about
Tries to read
“please allow ads on our site!”
Please fuck the hell right off.
Try disabling JavaScript
Edit: removed old link because of DOS attack from browser by archive.is
Awwww shit.
Thanks for the heads up.
Yw
The irony of a site talking about how invasive ads and tracking on TV are, making it impossible to read the article because of all the ads and tracking.
Fighting the good fight with Pi-hole and I understand most people cant set it up or afford the hardware but its worth it.
Sorry if I’m daft but what’s the pihole blocking? The “Live on LG channels”?
I have an LG OLED but I don’t use the TV OS
Yeah, Pi-hole, with the support of the Firebog community’s blocklists, blocks about 99% of this kind of ad (and much more), and I absolutely love it. This is a 120Hz 4K LG OLED TV that I primarily use with my PlayStation 5, although I use LG’s built-in operating system for Plex because it’s the most convenient option.
If you watch youtube on the tv does it block ads?
No, I wish Pi-Hole blocked the ads that are embedded directly into the YT stream. I don’t watch YT on my TV only on my computer. If you use Firefox with the uBlock Origin extension, you can block all of those annoying embedded YT ads. I haven’t seen ads on YouTube in years, and whenever I watch it without the extension, it feels strange.
Yeah absolutely how I watch youtube but if there was a big screen way I would be so in. I wont pay google thought
I presume the LG OS is some version of Android. If you can get into the admin menus or use an android streaming box, there are several YouTube alternative apps that don’t show the ads. Pipe pipe is y favorite.
Not android, actually it’s WebOS which Palm developed first on their Pré line of smartphones before being bought out and then subsequently destroyed by HP. HP sold the OS to LG who has been putting on their TVs ever since.
WebOS was way ahead of it’s time and actually did a lot of things that both Android and iOS later copied years later.
I wish it worked on Roku. Wat hing shows on the PC is great, then I watch the same streaming service on Roku and gets ads.
If you can root it
Oh I had a guide on rooting webOS but lost it, have you any resources?
https://www.webosbrew.org/rooting/
Depends on your hardware and firmware. I think dev mode works no matter what. I’ve been fortunate, both mine had exploits
Much simpler this way. Just don’t connect the TV directly to the internet, all problems solved.
Dumb TV hooked to the HDMI out on my computer. Jellyfin.
Fuck the billionaires.
Non ‘smart’ devices are worth their weight in gold
Do you have a dumb TV to recommend? I went searching online a few years ago and literally couldn’t find anything other than giant digital screens used to show the menu at fast food restaurants.
Sceptre is about the only company left making dumb TVs anymore.
I have a LG oled tv and keep it off the internet because I keep hearing about crap like this
I connect it occasionally because it has been pretty unstable and I hope that updates will resolve issues, but seems they are more concerned about updating ads etc than improving the system software
Just return it if it doesn’t work right. You don’t need to tolerate this.
Surely there is some legal recourse? It’s vandalism. They are putting things on YOUR property. Secondly, shouldn’t they be paying YOU to lease your advertising space???
You are licensing their property. You do not own the TV.
It feels preachy but I try to explain that to people when appropriate
Is it possible to physically disable the mic on the TVs without adversely affecting other functions? I see no reason a mic to be necessary on a TV at all.
Probably, just cut the wire connecting the mic.
I did a quick search and other suggestions are to fill the “mic hole”, stick a needle in the mic hole to damage the mic, and applying a soldering iron to the mic. My LG tv has no visible mic hole, so they are getting crafty at hiding them.
Not sure about LG, but other brands usually put the microphone on the remote
The soldering iron might be a bad idea if you don’t know what you’re doing as it could lead to a short.
Remember, LG stands for “Literal Garbage”.
Lecherous Ghouls
Is it 1984 yet
