Roku patent invents a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV
arstechnica.com
System would detect paused content on external devices and show ads on top.

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

The technology described would detect whether content was paused in multiple ways—if the video being displayed is static, if there’s no audio being played, if a pause symbol is shown anywhere on screen, or if (on a TV with HDMI-CEC enabled) a pause signal has been received from some passthrough remote control. The system would analyze the paused image and use metadata “to identify one or more objects” in the video frame, transmit that identification information to a network, and receive and display a “relevant ad” over top of whatever the paused content is.

  • melpomenesclevage@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    They did! Its called a pihole plus ublock origin plus piracy.

    You can’t buy it, only the hardware, but the software is all free.

    • Llewellyn@lemm.eeEnglish
      01·
      7 months ago

      You can’t defend against ads with pihole if the ads server has the same address as content server

        • Llewellyn@lemm.eeEnglish
          01·
          7 months ago

          But with the risk of malware infection, unfortunately.

          When something is free, you’re the product.

          I’d advise to continue to use non-pirated products, but only from those companies, whose service you’re satisfied with.
          And if there’s none, don’t consume product at all. It’s not like movies are vital for you.

          • melpomenesclevage@lemm.eeEnglish
            0·
            7 months ago

            Vlc is pretty good, and I run a pretty strange distro. If I’m extra scared, I’ll use qubes or get a sacrifice machine.

            I think the poor having culture is important. Either art is important, or it Fucking isn’t. You seem to be arguing its the frivolity, not the substance and fruit of civilization.

            Video isnt my favorite medium, I have a lot of criticisms of it, but its still art, still precious. And so everyone deserves to have it.

            • Llewellyn@lemm.eeEnglish
              01·
              7 months ago

              And so everyone deserves to have it.

              And authors along with those, who maintain content distributing infrastructure, deserve to be rewarded for their labour.

              • melpomenesclevage@lemm.eeEnglish
                0·
                7 months ago

                But I can’t pay them. Its not generally an option. Have you seen the terms on their Fucking contracts?

                Literally the closest I can get is wandering around Los Angeles giving money to people who look vaguely familiar or give off writerly vibes.

                • Llewellyn@lemm.eeEnglish
                  01·
                  7 months ago

                  But I can’t pay them.

                  Then don’t consume the product. It’s entertainment, not vital goods.

                  By the way, where do their salaries come from, in your opinion?

                  • melpomenesclevage@lemm.eeEnglish
                    0·
                    7 months ago

                    Okay but then noone should. Theres no way to give money to the people who made this shit. I’m not saying I’m poor, I’m saying there is no vector by which I could.

                    And I just said why I’m gonna, and why I’m gonna give more away to everyone else. I’m gonna buy extra tools to do that, just to spite your classist ‘the poor should have no culture’ bullshit.