This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Relatedly, Hisense also forces updates and disables use of the TV if you do not accept the update (via a full screen non-cancelable prompt).
I learned this the hard way after Hisense broke my TV via an update that I didn't want and then refused to fix it even after 6 months of escalations and emails.
They’re not alone, either. I had to downgrade my Visio just to use the features that it shipped with. I’m sure this is illegal, but no one cares unless you’re rich.
I outright told them it's illegal, since they are unilaterally altering the terms of any T&C agreements when we started using the TV and materially interfering with our ownership and use of the TV we purchased. They didn't care. I then sent it to our state attorney general and nothing happened.
You can likely sue them in small claims court. Many states let you file for a couple hundred dollars and will give you 3x damages if you win.
The most likely outcome is they settle when the court date approaches or dont show and you win hy default.
I know they're different manufacturers, but TCL tried this shit and I just factory reset and never setup the Internet on it. I use an android TV box for the smarts.
Unfortunately the firmware was the issue, not just OS software. So factory-resetting didn't help us. But yeah, that definitely radicalized me to the "never connect it to the internet" camp for future TVs.
Buying the TV and then not connecting it still rewards the bad behavior.
We have to boycott these fucks and lobby to get the behavior outlawed.
I got a TCL last year and it wouldn't let me use the TV until I set up the internet. After 4 factory resets I figured out how to put it in store demo mode, and plugged in a separate streaming device that connects to the internet. Now I realize I could have connected the TV to the internet and then blocked it at the network level.
This future fucking sucks
This is the cyberpunk future that the 80s kids were so hyped for.
If anyone remembers the cyberpunk 80s TV show Max Headroom, then they know that TV was everywhere all the time in that universe. There was a scene in one episode where the police enter a suspect’s home and discover that she had an off switch on her TV. The cops react in shock to the fact, and one of them says “She’ll get twenty years for that.”
This universe also had "blipverts" which were a type of ad (advert..advertisement) that directly accessed your brain's motivation to get you to buy something. The only problem was that blipverts also had a high chance of killing the people that watched it.
This was a TV show from almost 40 years ago now and it looks like these would be the things that are coming in the next few years from now.
As a 80s kid I don’t recall being hyped. If anything all sci-fi books were warnings for us. Younger generations embraced the black mirror shit thought.
I have a HiSense TV and use ADB AppControl to disable/remove the telemetry or forced updates, and Projectivy Launcher to get a home screen/launcher that doesn't show ads. Both are free and work really well. I don't see trash on my homescreen anymore.
changing the TV's DNS servers or disconnecting it from the internet entirely.
Chiming in as an Australian budget VIDAA owner.
I spotted that this TV attempts to query 8.8.8.8, regardless of your DNS settings. I implemented a port 53 (DNS) redirect so those queries get resolved by my local server.
I also figured out which servers are serving up ads/tracking. I fired an email to Pete and got them added to his list. You're welcome. I'm guessing a pi-hole would work with it.
https://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlist.php
I didn't install the latest update, and probably never will. My TV contacts the unruly ACR servers, but the later firmware probably contacts nexxen.
People like you help to make the internet a better place — which matters a lot to me, because one of my most desperately held beliefs is that it is possible to take the hopefulness of the early internet and combine it with the wisdom of the last few decades to produce a more robust kind of hope
Okay, so strike Hisense products from the list of brand I'll ever buy from
The list is getting pretty big.
This is why, for years, I've been trying to point out that "if you don't like it, just don't buy it" isn't good enough. Boycotts aren't enough; we have to force the law to change to prohibit the abusive corporate behavior.
At this rate it is easier to do a whitelist than a blacklist
IF YOU BUY ANY TV, DO NOT CONNECT IT TO THE INTERNET.
Televisions were never meant to be smart devices. There's no reason your screen should have software of its own. That would be like your face having a mind of its own.
Ummm,
Cell modems are getting cheaper and cheaper, it's only a matter of time before cheap smart TVs will flood the market with always-on telemetry and intrusive personalized ads.
Don't let your TV be on the internet.
Never buy Hisense, got it.
I got a Hisense tv in November and never connected it to the internet. Now I am extremely pleased that I never connected it.
I have a Hisense that I bought late last year and have never connected it to the internet (I stream everything through my PS5) and boyhowdy does that TV take every chance it gets to let me know I'm not connected lol
I'd like to let people know that Sceptre still makes dumb tvs and they're pretty good.
They can’t force me if I don’t connect it to the internet
I can imagine future TVs refusing to work without an always-on internet connection.
I can imagine them shipping TVs with built in cellular data just for ads
How hard is it for companies to just make a good screen screen with the necessary ports any nothing else.
We are all losing our minds.
It's textbook rent-seeking behavior. They discount the TV $201 to undercut someone else, and make up the difference selling the ads over the life of the TV.
This is how SO many things work, it's only surprising that it's taken this long. If you watch YT on this fancy TV, you're getting the same thing.
I had a 65" Hisense TV for just over a year, and a firmware update bricked it. It was stone dead, and Hisense wouldn't even try to repair it. So I spent a little extra money and got a Samsung instead. And once it was set up, I turned off its wifi...just in case.
Hisense can eat a bag o' dicks.
Anybody have un-enshittified 4k tv recommendations?
Mainly want good picture quality for movies + high refresh rate for games.
The biggest thing you can do is just never connect it to the internet. I even block the MAC addresses so ever if someone tried to connect it, it won’t. Then use an external box like a Roku, PC, or AppleTV to connect to your content.
And, if any TV requires an internet connection to set it up, immediately return it.
I bought mine a few years ago, never connected to the internet, never had a problem.
Now I'm definitely never connecting it.
I bought my last TV about 7 years ago. I got a "small" 38" TV. As I was checking out, the cashier asked me if I'd rather upgrade to a larger model from the same brand with smart features for 10 dollars less. I flat out told him 'no' and that was probably the best decision I made that year.
I would resort to violence, Holy shit.
Damn. Just bought a Hisense fridge last week. I hope I won't have to watch an ad before it lets me get the mayo.
I'm sorry Dave. I can't let you do that.
They are cheap for a reason...
It’s true that things are worse on a cheap tv but even if you buy a $5000+ flagship model it will still have advertising baked into the os
I'm feeling a lot less crazy having my strict rule on AV equipment:
It should work out the box without connecting to the internet, and it shouldn't be connected without a damned good reason.
To the point that I insisted on setting up the PS5 and playing a game on it before connecting, just to be sure.
