A dog and two cats here.
They all nearly completely ignore the TV regardless of what is going on…nearly.
My dog will respond to other dogs on the TV. Usually it is the dog on TV making a sound that gets her attention and she starts watching. Once the dog is out of the scene she goes back to snoozing. Sometimes she will just see the dog and stop and pay attention even if there is no sound to alert her to her favorite dog actors.
When I was growing up my dog LOVED Miss Piggy. The only time she would watch TV was when Miss Piggy was on and would stay glued to the action till Miss Piggy was off. Otherwise she completely ignored the TV. Don’t ask…I have no idea why.
My cats likewise ignore the TV at all times. However, for some reason a friend gave us a Cat Video. Yes…a whole industry exists to make movies for cats (if that doesn’t speak to their being able to see TV images I don’t know what does…who knew?). We were dubious but figured what the hell and put it in. The cats totally ignored it. About to give up I recalled that cats are notoriously near sighted. So I got a chair and put it a foot in front of the TV and plopped the cats on it. They were immediately mesmerized watching fish and squirrels and what not run about. Their heads were yo-yoing up and down and back and forth following the action. Sometimes looked like they were watching a tennis match. They would go around to look behind the TV then come back to make sure that the critters didn’t really disappear. Then look behind the TV, then back, swat the TV, look behind it, and so on.
So, anecdotal though that may be it is clear that animals can perceive the images on TV. All that this indicates to me is humans do not make shows that cats or dogs like.
I have also seen a friend’s dog respond to its own reflection in a mirror when it was young but it appeared it thought it was another dog. It kept that up for a week or two then ignored the mirror ever after.
I have heard that only chimpazees, gorillas (I think) and dolphins appear to be able to look in a mirror and recognize the reflection as itself. Some claim this as a sign of intelligence or at least a higher order mind that possesses a sense of self (or something new agey like that). I don’t know but it does seem odd only four species on the planet can do that.