Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.
This way, when an owner of a Roku TV takes a short break from playing a game on their Xbox, or streaming something on an Apple TV device connected to the TV set, Roku would use that break to show ads. Roku engineers have even explored ways to figure out what the consumer is doing with their TV-connected device in order to display relevant advertising.
Cool so what are some good Roku alternatives?
A simple PC, you can also use it to browse, download stuff, Steam stream etc. The possibilities are endless
Any used office pc from Craiglist for <$200, wiped and reinstalled with linux… self contained mini PC NUC boxes are also a very good bang-for-buck these days
I’ve always loved my Apple TVs.
Is nVidia Shield an alternative?
That’s what I’ve been using for years now. It’s great.
I blocked my TV from using WiFi, but there have been times I have need to unblock it (like using AirPlay or Google Cast), so it gets updates occasionally. I’m open to throwing my TV straight to the dump and buying another TV to avoid this at all costs.
Personally looking at dumb panels and building OSMC machines to run them.
I run an LG OLED TV (disconnected from network), AppleTV, and my own media server. I haven’t seen an ad in my TV for years.
Nothing, all TVs are crap.
The best options are usually buying large “monitors” or digital signage. However these both tend to be more expensive than a similar TV. Monitors also often lack a remote which may be valuable for a TV and digital signage may have less input ports than you may want.
I would love if a major manufacturer made a TV that just displayed what signals I put into it.
Right now the best option still seems to buy a Roku TV and never connect it to the internet. But some features will be disabled. For example Miracast doesn’t work for some explicitable reason until you connect it to the internet. (Then again it barely works anyways, so no major loss)
No, your best option is to buy any other TV than a Roku TV, and not connect that TV to the internet.
Get an A/V receiver, a computer monitor or dumb TV, and speakers. Then you can get a Roku streaming player and it cannot show you anything when you do not have its input selected on the receiver.
Even an inexpensive pair of bookshelf speakers placed on either side of the TV will sound better than built-in TV speakers. Add a center speaker and a subwoofer drastically improved sound.
Non-4k AV receivers are dirt cheap used.