LG Smart TVs, Including OLEDs, Now Show Screensaver Ads

Rasmus Larsen, writing for FlatpanelsHD:

While reviewing LG’s latest high-end G4 OLED TV (review here), FlatpanelsHD discovered that it now shows full-screen screensaver ads. The ad appeared before the conventional screensaver kicks in, as shown below, and was localized to the region the TV was set to.

We saw an ad for LG Channels — the company’s free, ad-supported streaming service — but there can also be full-screen ads from external partners, as shown in the company’s own example below.

Death comes for us all.

Amazon, Google, and Roku have long built their respective TV monetization strategies around ads, and with LG and Samsung turning webOS and Tizen into digital billboards, the only refuge appears to be Apple TV 4K, which can be connected to any TV. You can now disconnect your TV from the internet.

I bought an LG OLED in 2020 that hasn’t been connected to the internet since a few days after we started using it. It’s a great TV.

★ Thursday, 26 September 2024