Ads When You Change Inputs? Smart TV Platforms Face New Scrutiny

Technology publications, including Tom’s Hardware and Android Authority, have highlighted complaints from some Hisense television owners who say their sets display ads during routine actions such as switching HDMI inputs, changing channels, or returning to the home screen. The reports appear to relate primarily to televisions running Hisense’s VIDAA smart TV platform — the same system StereoNET recently examined in its coverage of German luxury brand Loewe adopting VIDAA for its latest televisions.

Hisense told multiple outlets the behaviour was part of a limited advertising test conducted in Spain tied to free content services, adding that the trial did not prevent normal use of the television and has since concluded.

Even so, the reports have circulated, with users across forums and social media sharing similar experiences and raising questions about the extent of smart-TV platforms' influence over devices after purchase. The episode reflects a broader shift within the television industry as manufacturers increasingly treat the operating system inside the TV as a long-term platform rather than simply a user interface.

For decades, televisions were largely static appliances. Aside from occasional firmware updates, the device's experience rarely changed after it left the factory. Modern smart TVs operate differently. Most contemporary television platforms, including Samsung’s Tizen, LG’s webOS, Google TV, Amazon’s Fire TV and Roku, function as connected ecosystems capable of receiving new features, interface changes and advertising formats through software updates or server-side configuration.

Modern smart TVs operate as connected platforms managed through cloud services, as illustrated above.

That flexibility allows manufacturers to deploy new services and refine their platforms, but it also means a television's behaviour can evolve long after it has been purchased.

Industry analysts say the shift reflects changing economics across the global TV market. Hardware margins have tightened significantly over the past decade, particularly in the mid-range, where intense price competition has reshaped the sector. In response, manufacturers have increasingly developed recurring revenue streams through advertising, content promotion and data analytics delivered via their smart-TV platforms.

To most viewers, that shift is largely invisible. Advertising and promoted content have already become a familiar presence on smart-TV home screens across most major platforms. The recent complaints have attracted attention because they appear to involve advertising appearing during core functions such as input switching or channel changes, areas that viewers typically expect to remain separate from the platform itself.

Among enthusiasts and home-cinema users, the distinction can be particularly significant. Televisions are frequently used as displays for external sources such as Blu-ray players, gaming consoles and AV receivers, making predictable access to different inputs an important part of the viewing experience.

Watching the Chinese Grand Prix this past weekend via Kayo Sports on an Apple TV 4K, our Pause screen was also taken hostage by advertising; something we've never experienced previously. A quick Google revealed this is a relatively new development, and paying subscribers are not happy (rightfully so!).

Manufacturers generally argue that advertising features support content discovery while helping to subsidise the cost of increasingly sophisticated televisions. At the same time, the visibility of those features remains a delicate balance. That tension reflects a broader reality: televisions have already become connected media platforms. The challenge now is how those platforms are monetised — and how visible that monetisation becomes to viewers.

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