TV Makers Are Taking AI Too Far (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0180549521
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/01/08/1912203/tv-makers-are-taking-ai-too-far
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/column/858463/tv-too-much-ai
Demos repeatedly showed video shrinking to make room for sports scores and information when viewers asked questions -- noticeable on 70-inch displays and likely worse on anything 50 inches or smaller. Amazon's Alexa Plus can jump to Prime Video scenes based on verbal descriptions. LG's sets switch homescreen recommendations based on voice recognition of individual family members.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/column/858463/tv-too-much-ai
TV makers can do what they want (Score:2)
And we are free to not purchase their products... which it appears is happening more and more.
Thing is, at this point these panels don't cost much to make - but the TV makers (similar to the smartphone makers) are doing everything they can to pretend the stuff people actually want are basically commodities anymore. So they keep adding whatever gimmicks (3D, AI, etc. etc.) they can come up with, and do their best to keep their prices far higher than they probably should be at this point.
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You say that, but try buying a non-SMART TV nowadays...
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> You say that, but try buying a non-SMART TV nowadays...
Just don't connect them to the network. Ever. You don't *have* to use the smart features on most sets sold today. Granted, there are companies working on making it required, but it's up to us to keep ourselves educated enough to not buy from those companies.
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There are plenty of "smart TV's" which can be used offline but it's a pain in the ass trying to determine which ones can and can't be used without an internet connection. If anyone has a suggestion for a site to easily determine which ones can be offline vs need to be online, I'd appreciate the tip. I tried googling for that info and... well... google... yeeeeah...
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Commercial monitors for digital signage. These days they have some sort of playback system installed but the markets they are meant for means they work out of the box, no cameras, no mics, no internet needed:
[1]https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c... [bhphotovideo.com]
[1] https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/digital-signage-monitors/ci/36550
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Yes but they are made for commercial displays meaning that they do not handle motion well. Great for signs but bad for the latest blockbuster action movie. But the TVs will last forever.
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I've installed hundreds of these, many that were playing video and even movies. They work fine, they look fine but they don't have the image processing features, yes. Some like Samsung so purport to still use the same image tech even internally so it'll be subjective. But the request was for a dumb TV and this, they do exist and are pretty common, you can buy them online.
That said I don't and wouldn't use one in my house since I I don't put my TVs online or use the smart features and for regular use they
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> You say that, but try buying a non-SMART TV nowadays...
Oh I can't argue with that... but as long as my current TV* continues to work, I'm golden.
Heck that used to be the norm - you'd buy a television and then keep that same one for a couple decades.
*Technically my Samsung TV is "smart" but I have as much of that turned off as I can. Any smart features are handled via a connected box (e.g. Apple TV, Roku).
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Of course either way, people are less likely to buy their products. If for no other reason than that the same screen you bought 10 years ago is still pretty good, if you paid a decent amount for a high end set.
I suppose upgrading a low end set makes sense, but then what, with the backlights on LCDs being quite dynamic now....
other than for sports or video games (Score:2)
Honest question: who wants a tv anymore?
Is this not a declining market?
I read the kids don't watch tv anymore, preferring to use their portable devices to watch video content.
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Watching "tv" on a different sized screen does not mean that they don't watch "tv" anymore...
YouTube is still "tv"
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I couldn't imagine watching the series "How The Universe Works" on anything other than a large screen format. But you're correct, that large screen does not need to be used as a TV. A friend of mine purchased a new 80" monster display and didn't want his "old" 55" curved screen Samsung any longer so he gave it to me. Works perfect as a large computer screen connected to my custom HTPC. I can imagine lots of people have older big screen TVs that they need to get rid of that would work just as well as monitor
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A 16" laptop screen located 1.5ft from my eyes (in my lap) appears subjectively approximately 3 times larger than a 59" TV located on the wall, 10ft away.
Wondering if we could pi-hole it? (Score:2)
Seriously, can we block the annoying AI apps with Pi-hole?
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Maybe, but NO.
There may be some that can be blocked. But, like the ads in streaming services - impervious to DNS blocking without also blocking the stream itself - DNS blocking probably won't be effective against AI stuff.
Simply don't connect the TV to the internet at all.
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Well I do have the [1]SmartTV blocklist [github.com] for pihole and blocking the Internet is a bit of a problem with streaming services. I guess we now need a "block AI Slop list"
[1] https://github.com/Perflyst/PiHoleBlocklist/blob/master/SmartTV.txt
Consumer to the TV: No internet for you (Score:2)
You'll be fed HDMI video from I device which I have control over.
You'll have no connection to the internet.
TV's which won't work without an internet connection, or those with cellular modems integrated to get internet connectivity behind the back of the consumer will be returned to the point of purchase for a refund.
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This!
"Use the best panel you can afford, never connect it to the net, and connect only items over which you have control"
But, for the sake of intellectual rigor, can you point us to any examples of TVs with built in cellular connectivity? (Beyond commercial panels intended for advertising)
Or are you perhaps anticipating the next wave of horror ;-)
Pass (Score:3)
It's cool that we can do things like this -it is a great technical demonstration. I still don't want to buy it.
I guess ... (Score:2)
... I need bigger rabbit ears.
Television is done. Move to Localvision (Score:2)
Soon you will be selecting your entertainment directly from your AI powered Localvision. It should probably be called something else, Localvision sucks. The point is you’ll have a list of themes or genres that you will be able to select from, and it will create your custom entertainment on the fly.
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Googly, "play Lord of the Rings extended version but with muppets and Baywatch cast substituted in. And David Bowie as Elrond."
Meanwhile... (Score:2)
We can't use our phone keyboard to browse the menus yet
I'll Never Smart TV Again (Score:3)
I'll never use the smarts of a Smart TV again. I got pulled in at the beginning and was left high and dry when, they not only discontinued support, they deleted my perfectly functional apps and features.
Now, I require a display panel. It will not be directly connected to the internet. I use a PC or 3rd party box(Apple TV, Roku, Firestick) when I want those services and display them on my neutered TV display panel.
You want to spy on me and fuck up my experience, you've got my phone. But, my display panel(TV) is mine alone.
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> I use a PC or 3rd party box(Apple TV, Roku, Firestick) when I want those services and display them on my neutered TV display panel.
You realize, don't you, that just changes who is spying on you, not that you're being spied on.
Don't you?
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Dude, of course I realize. I literally said it in the very next line.
TVs are now about everything except TV (Score:3)
Pretty sure I'm just buying monitors or maybe DSD from here on out. The entire consumer TV category is surveillance-infested trend chasing garbage.
Repeat after me: (Score:2)
Idiocracy was just a movie, not a rulebook!
But TV Makers Are Typically So Judicious... (Score:2)
* 3D TV
* Motion Smoothing on everything
* Curved Screens
* Advertising-subsidized TV prices
* Now... AI Television hardware.
What a waste.
TVs - Monitors (Score:2)
After TVs went to 4k with HDMI inputs, the reason to buy a monitor instead of a TV went away. After the scripted dramas all became available on streaming, the only reason left to get a TV is if I want to use the built-in less-than-ideal speakers. What we need is a review site that tells you if the TV can be a monitor without calling home online. If it can, who can blame consumers for withholding that connectivity. If it can't, I reckon I'll buy something different. An eventual good use for AI would be
See, that's just bad marketing (Score:4, Insightful)
> Hisense showed an AI agent that displays real-time stats for every soccer player on screen, a feature requiring so much space the company built a prototype 21:9 aspect ratio display to accommodate it.
This would seem like a *perfect* argument to instead sell a two-pack, with a discount on a wall mount. One display for the game, and one for the statistics.