…due to seemingly installing adware on PCs and telling you to warn guests they may be recorded by AI features, to comply with ‘wiretapping’ laws

  • RabbitBBQ@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Remember just a few years ago, all the main tech companies and Government were gaslighting the shit out of everyone about the targeted advertising stuff? It’s not listening to you! The ADs based on what you’re talking about are just coincidental!

    Maybe no one remembers this for some reason. Of course they just get away with all the lying

    • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      That won’t protect you, if you run Windows.

      When Windows sees the device as LG through HDMI, Windows Update will pull in and install the adware.

      Thats the outrage, here. They didn’t just sell something new, they retroactively enshittified dumb displays.

    • DaleGribble88@programming.dev
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      16 hours ago

      Do you have a dumb TV to recommend? I went searching online a few years ago and literally couldn’t find anything other than giant digital screens used to show the menu at fast food restaurants.

    • FoxAlive@lemmy.zip
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      When I’m at someone’s house and the YouTube video kicks into 4k 60fps its noticeable.

      Its almost too distracting when you’re not used to it. When its gone I miss it for a day or two but ultimately wasn’t the reason I enjoyed it.

      I’ll watch YouTube on my phone at 480p because I pretty much grew up on metered internet and it just feels wasteful. But I’m the type of guy to play at 1080p mid settings (uncapped distance and frames if possible tho) to give my PC a easy time. Even if have the media installed locally I’m going 720p tops because now storage is more important.

      The only time I’ll fully let myself enjoy high res high quality media is if its a physical form like a blue ray. Other than that in the back of my mind I’m always thinking about how ray tracing and crazy high rez is kind of a gimmick, and how I would rather have more frames or conserve my hardware.

  • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 days ago

    Connecting your tv to the internet is a terrible idea and has been for years. If you have webos and must connect it for some reason root it, block all updates (they rarely include bug fixes, just make the UI more sluggish with increased advertising), and block all lg ad domains in your router.

    ||snu.lge.com^ ||su.lge.com^ ||su-ssl.lge.com^ ||snu-dev.lge.com^ ||su-dev.lge.com^ ||nsu.lge.com^

    Are the domains to block, formatted for adguard.

    • gedfromgont@piefed.ca
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      2 days ago

      Yeah but this is going a step further. This is also happening for PC monitors which are a bit harder to keep away from internet seeing as they connect to your internet-connected computer. Router blocking will help there too of course but the average user will not be able to set this up.

      • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        The monitor thing is crazy because I have no idea why you would install software for your computer monitor?? Like the monitor itself isn’t connected to the internet and the adware comes from installing some lg monitor tools suite, and I have no clue why you would do that? Like are people really dead set on changing their monitor input via pc instead of the monitor osd??

        Monitor should and does just work. Lg just scams people into installing unnecessary software because it’s harder to shove ads into a computer monitor

        • Jesus_666@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Windows does that automatically. The software is part of the LG monitor driver and is distributed through Microsoft’s automatic driver setup infrastructure.

          There’s an obscure GPO that can prevent Windows from auto-installing “related files” but of course most people don’t know it exists or that it’s yet another core OS feature you have to turn off to use Windows in peace.

          • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
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            19 hours ago

            “I turned it off but it got turned on again during the next update.” There is no peace. To use Windows is to constantly be at war.

          • maccentric@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            To prevent this kind of thing in future, run gpedit.msc and enable “Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata” under Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Device Installation.

            Thanks to:@floofloof@lemmy.ca

          • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 days ago

            That’s the part I’m confused by. Why does a non touchscreen monitor even need a driver? It should work fine before windows is even in the picture?

            • Jesus_666@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Might be glorified ICC profiles. Normally EDID should cover most bases already but I can see how config files might improve matters.

              Of course there is no justification for adding a dropper for unwanted programs.

        • kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 days ago

          I have no idea why you would install software for your computer monitor??

          AI. They need to be able to scan the pixels for…reasons

    • RustyNova@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I didn’t connect my tv to the internet, I never accepted the terms of service. All you’re supposed to do is display what the HDMI tells you to.

      Sadly the vendor that recommended this TV didn’t get the message that I wanted a dumb TV

    • TheFrirish@tarte.nuage-libre.fr
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      1 day ago

      Unlike a lot of what I see on the internet your TV is 10000% listening to you (sole purpose is to target ads) anyway just disconnect or isolate your TV from the internet.

    • tomkatt@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I mean, that’s a bit complicated, and they can always change the domains. I just block the whole-ass TV from WAN. I can still interface with it for smart home stuff on LAN, but it can’t update or access anything outside my network. And since it has an IP on the LAN, it doesn’t bitch and moan about not having network.

  • 13igTyme@piefed.social
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    2 days ago

    When I was shopping for a new monitor a while back I stayed away from “Smart” monitors with their own operation system. I’m connecting it to a computer, why would I spend an extra $600 when the exact same monitor without an operating system exists?

    • Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      I didn’t know the smart disease had infected computer monitors too. Seems like a harder sell even for those unconcerned with privacy. What could it possibly do that the computer it’s connected to wouldn’t be used for? If it’s a computer monitor it’s usually physically installed in a space you set aside for computer related stuff so even if you wanted all the “smart” features of a smart tv you’d be unlikely to want them there .

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Look! You can watch Netflix on this monitor!

      Well, yes, there’s a PC stuck on it, of course I can.

      No, you can watch it without the PC!

      Why would I want to use a monitor without a PC?

      It’s only half again as expensive! It’s a steal!

      • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksBanned
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        2 days ago

        Tbf, you could probably actually stream Netflix at 4K on it since it gets limuted to something like 720p in the browser. But that’s just because Netflix are bastards, not because of technical limits

        • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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          it gets limited to something like 720p in the browser

          I think that depends on the browser (for reasons that I never really looked into). Some do 720p (I think that’s Firefox), some do ~1k (the Chrome based ones), maybe more.

          • 13igTyme@piefed.social
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            16 hours ago

            My original comment was about normal monitors and smart monitors. Smart monitors are more expensive because of the added software and chip hardware.

            • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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              6 hours ago

              Isn’t a smart monitor an oxymoron?

              I thought the whole reason to buy a monitor was to get something dumb

  • NastyNative@mander.xyz
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    2 days ago

    Fighting the good fight with Pi-hole and I understand most people cant set it up or afford the hardware but its worth it.

    • boraginoru@lemmy.zip
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      Sorry if I’m daft but what’s the pihole blocking? The “Live on LG channels”?

      I have an LG OLED but I don’t use the TV OS

      • Abyssian@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Much simpler this way. Just don’t connect the TV directly to the internet, all problems solved.

      • NastyNative@mander.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Yeah, Pi-hole, with the support of the Firebog community’s blocklists, blocks about 99% of this kind of ad (and much more), and I absolutely love it. This is a 120Hz 4K LG OLED TV that I primarily use with my PlayStation 5, although I use LG’s built-in operating system for Plex because it’s the most convenient option.

          • NastyNative@mander.xyz
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            No, I wish Pi-Hole blocked the ads that are embedded directly into the YT stream. I don’t watch YT on my TV only on my computer. If you use Firefox with the uBlock Origin extension, you can block all of those annoying embedded YT ads. I haven’t seen ads on YouTube in years, and whenever I watch it without the extension, it feels strange.

            • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              Yeah absolutely how I watch youtube but if there was a big screen way I would be so in. I wont pay google thought

              • Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works
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                1 day ago

                I presume the LG OS is some version of Android. If you can get into the admin menus or use an android streaming box, there are several YouTube alternative apps that don’t show the ads. Pipe pipe is y favorite.

                • quadrant5835@lemmy.zip
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                  1 day ago

                  Not android, actually it’s WebOS which Palm developed first on their Pré line of smartphones before being bought out and then subsequently destroyed by HP. HP sold the OS to LG who has been putting on their TVs ever since.

                  WebOS was way ahead of it’s time and actually did a lot of things that both Android and iOS later copied years later.

            • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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              1 day ago

              I wish it worked on Roku. Wat hing shows on the PC is great, then I watch the same streaming service on Roku and gets ads.

  • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    “Whoever came up with this…”

    Executive with shit eating grin in the corner of the room

    “And I’ll fuckin’ do it again”

    • St.Elsewhere@threads.net@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      Super short version for those who don’t want to fight the site, some lg monitors install upsettingly comprehensive spyware onto your computer.

      Some lg tvs, years after purchase and with no warning, do the same thing to themselves. Like sleeper agents.

      And I’m not talking “monitor the images” spyware, I’m talking “listen in on your every word and send the transcript to lg” level spyware. “We have clauses around wiretapping wormed into the user agreement” level spying.

  • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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    1 day ago

    Fuck, is there something like a USB condom that allows image data only between usb-c monitors?

    • Burninator05@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      The monitors arent pushing the software over USB. When Windows detects an LG monitor it installs the software. This is doesnt require the monitor to do anything other than identify itself as being LG.

    • thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      The issue is, manufacturers are only going to get more and more insidious with this until they either have full unfettered control over what you are allowed to view on your own screen, or are stopped in a meaningful way by strong regulations.

      HDMI and USB-C inputs can both potentially carry an Ethernet signal, bypassing a need for WiFi permissions.

      Devices could look for and join hidden/ghost mesh networks from other complicit manufacturers devices without permission.

      Device drivers could be bundled with software which will enable tracking through the connected machine.

      Hell, we’re fast approaching the point that every TV could be equipped with a basic data SIM designed to directly phone home and act as a kill-switch once a device has been deemed EOL after its warranty expires.

      I’m not saying that these are already in place just yet, but that we are well and truly oblivious, slowly simmering frogs.