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Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Some Hisense TV owners report seeing ads when switching HDMI inputs, turning on the TV, or changing channels.
- The complaints appear to span a long period of time and span multiple countries.
- Hisense says the ads are part of a temporary ad test ending in Spain.
Ads can be a fact of life these days, and if you watch a free streaming service, it won’t come as much of a surprise. It doesn’t make them any less annoying, for example YouTube’s new unskippable TV adsstraining the audience’s patience. But some owners of Hisense TVs say the ads have crossed a completely different line by appearing when they perform basic actions like changing inputs or changing channels.
according to reports collected by Tom’s devicesome Hisense TV owners say their sets have started showing ads when switching HDMI inputs, turning on the TV, switching to the home screen or even changing channels. Many of the affected devices run the company’s VIDAA smart TV platform, which was recently rebranded as Home OS.
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User reports indicate that the problem is not new. Threads on reddit from a few years ago describe ads that appear in system menus or at startup more recent posts pretend to see full screen ads while changing inputs. Some users say they were able to turn off ads by contacting Hisense support and providing their TV’s unique device ID, raising questions about how the ads were delivered in the first place.
Spanish outlets Spaniards and The reason recently covered similar complaints from TV owners in Spain. According to those reports, some users were even seeing ads appear while switching channels.
Hisense responded by saying that the ads were part of a limited “spot test” in Spain through the VIDAA platform. The company said the test was to evaluate ad formats associated with free content and insisted it did not prevent users from using their TVs normally. According to the information provided by the company, the court proceedings have already ended.
However, the number of complaints and their geographical distribution make the situation somewhat clearer. as Tom’s device notes that the reports cover several countries and years, which does not quite fit the idea of a short-term regional trial. Let us know in the comments if your Hisense TV has shown ads while you are performing basic functions.
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