I also got a new LG. I purposefully didn't connect it to the internet because of ads.
What happens? I get a popup every few times I turn on the TV telling me that I can enable Alexa support by connecting it to the internet. It's an ad. For itself.
I connected it to the internet. Now I get other ads in that way instead.
Genuinely curious - which model is this?
I bought a LG C2 OLED last year (still current model) and never experienced this. It mentioned alexa support on the box, but I have never seen any popups related to it.
FWIW - on most LG TVs, you can 'revoke' your acceptance of the EULA, which essentially returns the TV to non-smart status. Most of the tiles will disappear from the home screen, as will the ads. Depending on the model you might need to futz with the settings to make sure that the TV defaults to the hdmi input instead of the homescreen when you turn it on.
I used to own a C2 in Brazil. Never accepted EULA. Noticed that the notification system sometimes notified me of TV Globo newest productions, begged me to install Alexa, begged me to install other random crap.
And when a guest accepted EULA it promptly filled my home screen with "recommendations" of documentaries about Porn, with explicit posters included.
I then threatened to sue them. The porn recommendations stopped and they sent me an apology, but the other ads remained.
Since many decent panels are sold by display OEM's factory divisions to other TV makers, I'm hoping some non-OEM brand finally figures out there's a big enough opportunity here to spec a new model with the highest-end panel they can source and pair it with the most elegantly minimal front-end possible. Then promote it with a clever ad campaign highlighting that it will never have ads and never bother you.
With the development time and money saved they could afford to implement a few thoughtful touches like a physical master on/off switch. If that switch is on, then the TV is on whenever power is present. This allows it to be controlled with a simple home automation power plug. A soft on/off control can still exist downstream of the physical switch.
Sony has decent TVs that have Android TV with settings you can shut off. However I never connected it to the internet and I am never bothered by pop-ups.
The Roku TVs I put in my family’s vacation home are terrible. They oversaturate the image to account for the shitty display. Don’t use it a lot so I don’t care.
What happens? I get a popup every few times I turn on the TV telling me that I can enable Alexa support by connecting it to the internet. It's an ad. For itself.
I connected it to the internet. Now I get other ads in that way instead.
LG is no savior in the anti-ad race.