"Commercial displays" are "dumb mode" TVs. Alternatively, you can get an Apple TV and keep the TV off networks or in network jail.
And ofc, an adversary can operate that way.
For example, I was looking at Bird scooters/e-bikes while travelling since they were the local provider of rentable bikes. I noticed a particularly aggressive EULA declaration in their app and decide to skim through the EULA. In it, they had language that stated that I gave them unlimited rights to my likeness and voice. So by clicking this EULA this company could then harvest any photos of me, interviews, what have you, clone my voice or likeness with AI, use it for ads or even sell it to others to use! Needles to say I uninstalled instead of agreeing.
But how many other things did I unknowingly sign to in these EULAs? It's genuinely crazy.
Was that the actual panel resolution though? Because my 4K Samsung consumer TV also reports 4096x2160 resolutions in its EDID and will accept that input (but the native 3840x2160 is marked as preferred). It would be surprising if there were entirely separate panels used only for commercial displays.
If there is ever a campaign where people smash these, I’m in.
Driving around a shopping strip while the damn things flash and change is awful. It’s distracting too, and seems likely to cause crashes.
The problem is that a lot of TVs won't even let you use it that way without signing in or downloading an app first. My Vizio wouldn't do anything until I acknowledged a terms of service screen. The only way I could do that was by downloading the Vizio app and connecting it to my network.
They are getting away with this shit because the return rates are low.
Bumping up the return rate isn't something you can count on others to do; if you don't return it, you're part of the problem.
The packaging can be precarious; what was once stapled cardboard is now taped, what was once a neat and rigid rectangle is now kind of floppy and misshapen and getting worse every time it moves.
Besides, they're big things that can be challenging to move around. Doing it solo is mostly a non-starter.
But sure: Eventually, it gets wheeled back in through the same front door of the store that it came out of just a few hours before.
Now the real fun starts: They don't want it back. They hem and haw. Other associates arrive to reinforce the ultimately firm standpoint of "No."
You point at the return policy on the wall. You read the relevant passages aloud, word by word. You tell them, over and over again, that you're here to return merchandise.
Some smart-sounding person shows up, gives everything an appraisal, and explains "Sir, it even says DO NOT RETURN TO STORE right here on the box!"
It's not clear who got loud first, but it's quite obviously the case that things are definitely loud now.
Finally, the store manager appears. He just needs this fucking circus to end. He asks no questions, issues the refund without hesitation, and everyone walks away pissed off.
---
I mean, I guess that's resolution.
But what often happens instead is this: The TV is unpacked. It's mounted on the wall or arranged just-so on whatever furniture is involved, requiring sometimes-tricky bits of assembly the whole way through. There's excited anticipation in the air about the new widget and how much better it is going to be than the old widget.
Finally, you switch it on and discover that it can't proceed without a network login. This raises a series of red flags that you find impossible to ignore.
So you go out back to cool off for a few minutes, think about life's decisions, and Google ways to get this 2026 build of this TV that nobody online ever mentions the specific model number of to work offline without any connection.
And the missus knows how these things can go. So while that's happening, she signs the thing into the network and gets it set up with an account "just to see how it really works."
Now the TV is connected and it's never going back to the store.
The end.
It does not match reality. It's trivial to find modern televisions that don't follow VESA's mounting hole patterns.
Unless, you know, it was amazing, like completely dumb with no registration step, and offering great picture quality. That might be worth drilling some new holes in the mounting plate, or whatever it takes to make it work.
Congratulations!
Is there any merit to pinning me down on this matter?
Do you want me to start asking you the questions, instead?
Please accept your victory.