This is the best summary I could come up with:
Now, the company is apparently experimenting with ways to show ads over top of even more of the things you plug into your TV.
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.
This theoretical Roku TV’s internal hardware would be capable of taking the original source video feed, rendering an ad, and then combining the two into a single displayed image.
Among the business risks disclosed on Roku’s financial filings from its 2023 fiscal year (PDF), the company says that its “future growth depends on the acceptance and growth of streaming TV advertising and advertising platforms.”
If implemented as described, this system both gives Roku another place to put ads, and gives the company another source of user data that can be used to encourage advertisers to spend on its platforms.
It seems as though a Roku TV that was capable of this kind of ad insertion would need more sophisticated internal hardware than most current sets currently come with—this is the same company that feuded with Google a few years back because it didn’t want to pay for more-expensive chips that could decode Google’s AV1 video codec.
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So where’s the alternative FOSS operating system for Roku TVs, pucks, and sticks?
There won’t be a FOSS alternative for TVs. TVs have regulations that come with them in many countries. There is no way to make a FOSS “TV” that respects you as a customer.
We however can buy Large Format commercial Displays. They will cost more, but that’s the solution.
There are lots of closed devices that smart people have found exploits for that they use to install open OSs and firmware. If companies are going to be this combative, seems like an obvious place for a counter strike. If right to repair can gain more momentum, the movement absolutely needs to include being able to install your own OS on any device you own.
From what I understand, TVs are incredibly customized and locked down by design. Not only that, they change very often and by the time you make a cracked firmware, the TV is no longer in production.
Is it possible, yes. Is it worth your time? Probably not but hey I would love to see it be done! Imagine TCL seeing a sudden uptick in TV sales because someone found out how to remove the Roku from the Roku TV.
I’d be first in line!
Are you aware that there are jail breaks for roku TVs?
Smart TVs aren’t running on custom hardware in the way you seem to think.
