From a May 15, 2023 article by Mr. Brad Linder of Liliputing:
Now a startup called Telly is going a step further – the company is offering ad-supported TV hardware. The company’s first product is a 55 inch 4K HDR TV that the company isn’t charging money for. Instead, users will pay with their attention – because below the screen is a second display that will show ads and other information.
Brad Linder
That is too dark. Make it stop.
Now Telly has come out of hiding and announce plans to ship half a million of its free TVs to customers before the end of the year. Folks who are interested can sign up to join a waitlist.
Brand Linder
No! Don’t sign up! Don’t do it!
What makes Telly different is that the ads are persistent – they don’t go away when you start watching a TV show or movie, because they’re on a secondary “Smart Screen” that’s always visible below the primary display.
Brad Linder
The pain!
Please do not accept a free TV with an entire section devoted to omnipresent advertising. Mr. Linder’s report also explains how it tracks your preferences and viewing habits.
The best solution is to either buy a dumb TV or monitor or turn a smart TV into a dumb TV powered by a Linux box. I wrote a bit about configuring a soundbar with my current Linux computer-driven set-up, which also works nicely for playing games. I plan to write more about this in the near future to help rescue people from smart TVs and their nefarious ads before this Telly nightmare catches on.