Your Smart TV Takes Screenshots Every 10 Milliseconds

By State of Surveillance Published: 2025-12-02 Last Updated: 2025-12-02

Your TV Is Watching You Watch TV

A 2024 study found LG TVs capture screenshots every 10 milliseconds. Samsung captures every 500 milliseconds. This happens even when you're using the TV as an external monitor. [1]

The technology is called ACR—Automatic Content Recognition. It identifies what you're watching and sends that data to advertisers. Samsung sends data every minute. LG sends it every 15 seconds. [1]

Opting out doesn't always stop the tracking. And for Vizio, selling your data is more profitable than selling TVs.

How ACR Works

Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) takes periodic screenshots or audio samples of whatever is on your screen. These samples are compared against a database to identify the content—shows, movies, commercials, even video games.

What Gets Captured

  • Visual fingerprints: Screenshots compared to content databases
  • Audio fingerprints: Sound samples matched to known content
  • Viewing duration: How long you watch each thing
  • Channel changes: When and how often you switch
  • External inputs: What's on your gaming console, streaming device, or computer

The Screenshot Frequency

The 2024 University College London study revealed the actual capture rates: [1]

LG TVs

Screenshots: Every 10 milliseconds

Data sent: Every 15 seconds

Partner: Alphonso (advertising company)

Samsung TVs

Screenshots: Every 500 milliseconds

Data sent: Every minute

Partner: In-house (Samsung domains)

Vizio TVs

Already fined: FTC settlement in 2017

Revenue model: Data more profitable than hardware

Partner: Multiple third parties

Even "Dumb" Usage Gets Tracked

Think using your smart TV as just a monitor bypasses tracking? Wrong.

The UCL study found ACR remains active when the TV is used as an external display—whether connected to a gaming console, laptop, or streaming stick. Your PlayStation gameplay, work presentation, or Apple TV viewing all get captured. [2]

The only way to stop it: disable ACR in settings (if your TV allows it) or don't connect the TV to the internet.

Where Your Data Goes

The Advertising Pipeline

  1. TV captures content: Screenshots/audio every few milliseconds
  2. Data sent to servers: LG uses Alphonso, Samsung uses internal servers
  3. Content identified: Matched against databases of known media
  4. Profile built: Your viewing habits compiled over time
  5. Sold to advertisers: Target you across devices and platforms

Who Buys This Data

  • Advertisers: Target you based on viewing habits
  • Content networks: Measure actual viewership
  • Data brokers: Resell to unknown third parties
  • Political campaigns: Microtarget based on media consumption

The Vizio Business Model

In 2017, the FTC sued Vizio for collecting viewing data without consent and selling it to third parties. Vizio settled, agreeing to get consent and provide opt-outs. [3]

But here's the real story: Vizio's earnings reports show advertising and viewer data is more profitable than selling TVs. [4]

This is why TVs have gotten so cheap. You're not just buying a television—you're subscribing to be surveilled. The hardware is subsidized by your data.

The Opt-Out Problem

It's Deliberately Confusing

The UCL researchers found that opting out of ACR is "extremely complex, requiring users to opt-out of several advertising and tracking settings with multiple clicks under different sub-settings." [1]

Even after opting out:

  • Some tracking may continue
  • Settings may reset after updates
  • Different settings control different types of tracking
  • GDPR requests returned vague responses that didn't match observed data transmission [1]

What Happens When You Ask

When researchers made GDPR requests to see what data Samsung and LG held, the response was vague and didn't correspond to the volume of data they had observed being transmitted from the TVs. [1]

Translation: They're collecting more than they'll admit to.

How to Disable ACR

Samsung TVs

  1. Press Menu or Home button
  2. Go to Settings → General & Privacy
  3. Select Terms & Privacy or Privacy Choices
  4. Find Viewing Information Services → Turn Off
  5. Find Interest-Based Advertising → Turn Off
  6. Disable Voice Recognition Services if not needed

LG TVs

  1. Press Settings button
  2. Go to All Settings → General
  3. Select System → Additional Settings
  4. Find Live Plus → Turn Off
  5. Go to Advertisement → Disable Limit Ad Tracking
  6. Check for Viewing Information and disable

Vizio TVs

  1. Press Menu button
  2. Go to System → Reset & Admin
  3. Find Viewing Data → Turn Off
  4. Go to Privacy → Disable ACR
  5. Disable Advertising ID if option exists

Roku TVs

  1. Press Home button
  2. Go to Settings → Privacy
  3. Select Smart TV Experience → Turn Off
  4. Disable Use Information from TV Inputs
  5. Go to Advertising → Enable Limit Ad Tracking

Amazon Fire TV

  1. Go to Settings → Preferences
  2. Select Privacy Settings
  3. Disable Device Usage Data
  4. Disable Collect App and Over-the-Air Usage Data
  5. Disable Interest-Based Ads

Android/Google TV

  1. Go to Settings → Privacy
  2. Disable Usage & Diagnostics
  3. Go to About → Ads → Enable Opt Out of Ads Personalization
  4. Delete Advertising ID

The Nuclear Option: Disconnect

The only guaranteed way to stop smart TV surveillance: don't connect it to the internet.

How to Use a "Dumb" Smart TV

  1. Never connect to WiFi: Skip network setup during initial configuration
  2. Use external streaming devices: Roku, Apple TV, Fire Stick (with their own privacy settings)
  3. Block at router level: If you must connect, block the TV's MAC address from internet access
  4. Use Pi-hole: Block known tracking domains network-wide

Trade-offs

Disconnecting means:

  • No firmware updates (security patches missed)
  • No built-in streaming apps
  • No voice assistant features
  • May nag you to connect

For most people, using external streaming devices you control is the best balance.

What About Privacy-Focused Options?

Projectors

No smart features, no tracking. Just displays what you send it.

Computer Monitors as TVs

Large monitors (32"+) without smart features exist. No built-in tracking.

"Dumb" TVs

Nearly extinct. Most TVs sold today are "smart" even at low price points. Some commercial displays lack smart features but cost more.

Self-Hosted Media

Plex, Jellyfin, or Kodi on a device you control. Your media, your server, your data.

The Microphone Problem

ACR tracks what you watch. But many smart TVs also have microphones for voice control.

What Voice Features Capture

  • Voice commands: Sent to manufacturer servers for processing
  • Always-on listening: Waiting for wake words
  • Background audio: May capture conversations near TV

Disable Voice Features

  • Samsung: Settings → General → Voice → Voice Recognition → Off
  • LG: Settings → General → AI Service → Voice Recognition → Off
  • Vizio: Most models don't have built-in mics

Some TVs have physical microphone switches. Use them.

The Camera Problem

Some high-end smart TVs include cameras for video calling or gesture control.

  • Check your TV's specs: Does it have a camera?
  • Disable in settings: If camera exists, turn off in privacy settings
  • Physical cover: If you can't disable, cover the lens

Network-Level Blocking

Block TV Tracking at Your Router

Even if settings get reset, network blocking persists:

Pi-hole Blocklists

Add these domains to your Pi-hole or AdGuard Home:

  • samsungacr.com
  • samsungads.com
  • lgtvsdp.com
  • lgsmartad.com
  • alphonso.tv
  • tvinteractive.tv

Router-Level Blocking

  1. Find your TV's MAC address in network settings
  2. Log into your router admin panel
  3. Create a rule to block that MAC from internet access
  4. TV still works for HDMI inputs, just can't phone home

The Bottom Line

Your smart TV captures screenshots up to every 10 milliseconds. It sends viewing data every 15-60 seconds. This happens even when using external devices. Opting out is deliberately confusing and may not fully work.

The business model is clear: TV manufacturers subsidize hardware costs by selling your viewing data. Vizio makes more money from data than from selling TVs.

Your options:

  1. Disable ACR in settings (may not fully work)
  2. Block at network level (Pi-hole or router rules)
  3. Don't connect to internet (use external streaming devices)
  4. Use a projector or dumb display (no tracking capability)

The TV industry's surveillance model isn't going away. Smart TVs are too profitable. Your only real protection is assuming every connected TV is watching you—and taking steps to limit what it can see and share.

References

  1. SecurityWeek - Smart TV Surveillance: How Samsung and LG's ACR Technology Tracks What You Watch (November 2024)
  2. Tech Xplore - Smart TVs collect viewing data even when used as external screens (December 2024)
  3. Consumer Reports - How to Turn Off Smart TV Snooping Features
  4. Tom's Guide - Stop your snooping smart TV: How to turn off data collection for every brand
  5. UCL News - Smart TV tracking raises privacy concerns (November 2024)

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