Is Your Gaming TV Listening? The LG Investigation PS5 Owners Should Read

Is Your Gaming TV Listening? The LG Investigation PS5 Owners Should Read

Your PS5 might be the reason you bought that big OLED. But the television around it is also a networked computer—with its own software, privacy agreements and, on some models, microphones.

A Gamers Nexus investigation, made with Level1Techs and independent security researchers, raises uncomfortable questions about LG smart TVs: what they discover on your network, how viewing recognition works, and what a compromised television could capture.

The important distinction: demonstrating that a hacked TV can record audio is not proof that LG routinely records everyone's conversations. LG disputes the recording allegations and says its optional voice and advertising features require consent.

For Indian console gamers, the sensible response isn't panic-selling a TV. It's understanding the evidence, checking permissions and deciding whether the television itself needs internet access.

LG product image, via Ars Technica. Illustrative OLED setup; not a photograph of the investigation's tested unit.

What Gamers Nexus actually found

The investigation includes LG's G5 and G3 OLED televisions. Ars Technica's report identifies an OLED65G3PUA in the network-testing material. That is not a finding about every LG model, firmware version or Indian-market unit.

Three different issues need separating.

Network discovery: Gamers Nexus says its TVs scanned the local network and identified unrelated devices, including phones and smartwatches. The team also examined nearby Wi-Fi information and advertising-related traffic. Network visibility is worth questioning, but seeing a device locally does not, by itself, prove that all its details were uploaded or sold.

Viewing recognition: Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR, identifies content played through a television. Switching to HDMI is not necessarily an escape: LG itself says enabled ACR can operate on supported HDMI sources. Playing a console game doesn't automatically switch the television's own software off.

Recording and security: The researchers also demonstrated audio capture and access to voice-input transcripts. Crucially, the security-demonstration section explicitly describes rooting a TV, which changes its software's functionality. Researchers showed offline capture and later retrieval using vulnerabilities. CyberInsider separates these compromise demonstrations from ordinary telemetry.

That distinction gets lost in dramatic summaries. A device being capable of abuse after compromise is a serious security concern. It is not interchangeable with a finding that every retail TV secretly uploads household conversations as standard behaviour.

Gamers Nexus / YouTube. The thumbnail's wording is the source's own headline, not Gamehood's conclusion. Watch the full investigation for context.

LG's reply deserves equal space

In its official privacy statement, LG says its smart TVs do not continuously record or transmit conversations.

According to LG, wake-word detection happens locally. Speech-to-text begins only after a supported wake word or deliberate remote-button interaction activates voice recognition. LG says audio without a recognised wake word is discarded, and denies storing offline voice data for later upload.

LG also says ACR, voice recognition and interest-based advertising are optional and off by default. It describes ACR as audio fingerprinting through the internal audio processor, not microphone recordings of the room, screenshots or video recordings. Its statement says ACR does not operate inside third-party LG streaming apps such as Netflix or YouTube.

On network scanning, LG says device discovery supports connectivity and smart-home functions, not advertising household profiles. It separately acknowledges that nearby Wi-Fi information can support approximate location estimation where ACR is available, enabled and consented to.

These are LG's explanations, not independent verification by Gamehood. The Verge's initial report and its follow-up on LG's response show why readers should see both sides. We should not turn disputed claims into a blanket accusation.

Why Indian PS5 owners should care

If you use an LG C-series or G-series OLED for PS5 or Xbox gaming, this is relevant to how you configure that setup—not evidence that your particular Indian TV has been tested.

We have not verified equivalent behaviour on Indian firmware, Indian account settings or every regional model. LG says ACR availability varies by market. Menu labels and agreements can vary too, so a missing Live Plus toggle is not evidence of hidden wrongdoing.

The practical point travels across borders: your console's internet connection and your TV's internet connection are separate. A PS5 can remain online through your router while a disconnected television displays its HDMI output. The trade-off is losing the TV's own online apps and connected features.

Original Gamehood diagram. Simplified configuration, not a measurement of network traffic.

How to lock down your LG TV

Treat this as a checklist, not a promise of zero data collection. Check your model's built-in User Guide before changing settings.

1. Disable Live Plus, where available. PCMag's guide gives Settings → General → System → Advanced Settings → Live Plus. Other webOS versions use Additional Settings instead of Advanced Settings. LG's Live Plus guide confirms the feature but warns that some models are unsupported. Use your TV's guide for the exact route.

2. Review optional agreements and advertising controls. Look under All Settings → Support → Privacy & Terms on supported webOS versions. Withdraw optional viewing, voice and cross-device advertising consent if you don't want those services. LG's webOS 24 privacy guide documents Advertisement → Limit AD Tracking: turn the limit On. This is not a master switch for all telemetry. Resetting an advertising ID is not the same as opting out.

3. Disable hands-free voice recognition. LG's voice-command support page documents All Settings → General → AI Service → Voice Recognition Settings for webOS 6.0/22. Disable the relevant voice-recognition or hands-free option; labels differ on newer sets. On supported hardware, switch the TV's microphone off too. LG says the remote microphone remains a separate input when deliberately activated and enabled. Check app microphone permissions where offered.

LG Support. Example interface for the documented model generations, not a universal Indian webOS layout.

1. Review ThinQ and connected features. If you don't use phone-based TV control or smart-home integrations, review paired devices, permissions and account connections. Don't assume deleting the ThinQ phone app disables the TV's ACR or microphones. These are separate controls; there is no verified universal “ThinQ privacy off” switch for every model.

2. Consider keeping the TV offline. Disconnect Ethernet and remove or disable its Wi-Fi connection using the model's network settings. Keep the console connected separately. This prevents communication through those disconnected interfaces while disconnected; it does not prove the absence of local processing or stored data. Plan trusted firmware updates rather than abandoning security patches.

3. Use router controls if you need TV connectivity. A per-device internet block is clearer than an unverified list of advertising domains. If keeping smart apps, an isolated guest/IoT network can reduce access to household devices—but enable actual LAN/client isolation, not just a second Wi-Fi name. Casting and phone control may stop working. Domain blocking is partial, can break services and is not a guaranteed privacy fix.

Original Gamehood checklist. Settings availability depends on model and region.

Should you switch to a monitor—or a gaming cafe?

Not solely because of a viral clip. First audit the display you own. If you don't need smart apps, a conventional monitor without a smart-TV operating system can simplify the setup, but check the actual model's software and connectivity.

Our PS5 gaming monitor vs TV guide helps with that broader decision. At a Mumbai or Navi Mumbai gaming cafe, ask which display and network arrangement the console uses. Avoid saving personal accounts on shared equipment, and sign out after playing.

FAQ

Is LG proven to record every conversation?
No. The reporting covers network discovery, viewing telemetry and security demonstrations with different conditions. LG denies routine ambient-conversation recording. Blanket claims go beyond the evidence reviewed here.

Does turning the screen off disconnect the TV?
Not necessarily. LG documents standby voice activation on supported models with the relevant features enabled. Screen-off and network-disconnected are different states.

Does using a PS5 through HDMI stop ACR?
Not by itself. LG says enabled ACR can work on supported HDMI sources. Review consent and the TV's network access separately.

Do I need a new television?
Not automatically. Start with permissions, microphones, updates and network isolation. The goal is a better-controlled gaming setup—not an expensive reaction to an oversimplified headline.