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Roku has patented a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV (arstechnica.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

231 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Just a thought: What if I were to buy a TV with a port other than HDMI and use a converter from Roku device to that port? For example, hdmi to display port or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's a lot cheaper and easier to not use a Roku device.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is there a consumer tv out there that has display port as an option?

Monitors for sure, but I’m talking 70” OLEDs and whatnot.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Use more adapters

Adapt hdmi -> RCA -> hdmi

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

that gets rid of cec but everything else would still work. you really just have to plug your other devices into the TV directly instead of into the roku. the problem will be the tvs with roku integrated directly