Technology

59594 readers

3131 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

839

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

submitted 7 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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's just not convenient, and not everyone in my house is as techy as I am, so having it work like a basic streaming setup is important. I also don't want to run more cables through the attic lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

This is the issue. Roku is good for kids, wife, and me, three vastly different skill levels. My garage? It's just my PC hooked up to a receiver that can go to a projector or a TV. I need something a little more user friendly inside. A buddy has the Nvidia Shield that I think is solid, but the Roku I have at home has a fantastic UI, or at least one were familiar with, which I think is key.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Fair enough, dad uses a chromecast, mum has a miui android TV stick that started off ok but the new Android TV version is pretty ad-heavy. Siblings don't have big screens at all, and simply use laptops and phones for media consumption.

Dads savvy enough that he'll just use the HTPC he has if the chromecast gets obnoxious, but mom could use something more bespoke. Getting that for 10 bucks without having her trade in her digital soul so to speak isn't happening. "Cheapest" option I can think of is something like an RPI with OSMC/Kodi/JMP + a FLIRC receiver. For what that will cost, a Shield or OSMC Vero starts looking reasonable.