[gausswho]

I'm surprised we haven't seen the "AI-powered" uBlock Origin of video yet. Not blocking by the web request but rather by analyzing the video signal itself.

Or even a nice appliance-tier solution. I want to buy an HDMI splitter that when it sees an ad coming through Input 1, switches to Input 2. Switches back to Input 1 when its over.

For folks still stuck with cable TV this is Nobel Prize territory.

[theage]

We've built an android video player that lets you adblock live IPTV [1]. It does exactly as you describe and more. Just endlessly avoids ads going from A->B->C->A and helps you update what plays instead of ads with ease. A passive hardware solution is certainly the endgame, we got enamored with adblock at the codec level as lets us add all the extra worthwhile UI features that should be inside of an innovative linear TV player.

[1]: https://relaxoplayer.com - join waitlist for link to beta apk.

[qwertox]

These SBCs like Radxa ROCK 5 have HDMI in and out, and a good amount of processing power. If it weren't for HDCP, we might see some OSS solutions in the next couple of years.

[nhance]

I've looked multiple times for something like this that I could load onto my nvidia shield, but nothing seems to exist.

There is a tool available for chromecast that works very well, but my ideal solution would be an app I can load onto the shield that auto-mutes during ads and un-mutes when the ads are finished.

If I didn't already have my hands full with side projects, I'd dig into this on my own time.

[theage]

Can you point me to that chromecast tool or tell how it worked?

I'm in the process of releasing a video player with adblocker for live IPTV on android that can definitely auto-mute the whole adbreak for you if you watch the stream in the player (see my previous comment for link).

But if you are suggesting a system-wide mute triggered by a dormant app as another live broadcast plays in some official app then that's easier in some respects and harder in others because people need to trust the data is accurate. Once we have enough users sharing accurate adbreak data (powered by accurate software with human corrections) we can offer a system-wide mute for ads in any other app playing those known broadcasts.

[gausswho]

I agree even just an auto mute functionality would go a long way.

People used to hack on this stuff decades ago. I suspect it's not as common now because for those who care (said hackers) they already cobble together some ad blockers and pi-holes. But ad delivery has stained so much daily life now they've sweetened the pot for a new generation of, not ad blockers, but... video shields?

I might have talked myself into tinkering on this. Curious what tools HN recommends.

[reginald78]

This was an ancient feature that was used when DVR/PVRs were popular to remove ads from recorded files. IIRC it used a heuristic to see if things matched but commonly it would just key off of obnoxious volume.

A guy at work mentioned using one of these on a football game and it reduced the runtime to like 45 minutes.

[DamnInteresting]

SponsorBlock[1] does a pretty good job of skipping inline adverts and similar stuff on YouTube. It is, however, crowdsourced rather than using machine learning (so far as I am aware).

[1] https://sponsor.ajay.app/

[pixxel]

Nice for sure. Until then: pay for sub, never use it, grab content from ‘other sources’.

Apps like https://overseerr.dev make it incredibly simple for household members to request content.

[MourYother]

Arguably we have the RI-powered uBlock called Piracy

Super universal.

[gausswho]

The whose a what?