Hardware and software laden with ads have, unfortunately, become part and parcel of modern life, but there are occasions when the hunt for revenue goes too far. One of those cases comes from Hisense, known across Western markets as a budget electronics brand. The firm's TV sets have repeatedly come under fire for forcing non-skippable ads when switching inputs, turning the TV on, navigating to the home screen, and even when switching channels — all changes that took effect unilaterally after purchase, reportedly even for users who had all ad-related options disabled.
The affected models are mostly but not exclusively lower-end units with Hisense's VIDAA operating system, recently rebranded as Home OS. The vast majority of reports come from Hisense TV owners, but we saw at least one such complaint about a Toshiba set. The operating system is also licensed by Schneider, Akai, and Loewe, among multiple other brands.
