TV isn’t just TV any more — or at least it doesn’t have to be. Smart TVs were the buzzword of the 2010 CES, but ten months on, what does the Smart TV market look like? Gizmodo Australia tells you what you need to know to make an informed Smart TV buying choice.
Panasonic’s Smart TV App view, pictured above
Gizmodo’s Smart TV Buying Guide
- Part 1: Basics You Need To Know
- Part 2: App Stores Compared
- Part 3: Latest Models Roundup
- Part 4: Smart TV Tips And Tricks
What is Smart TV?
At the most basic level, a Smart TV is one that leverages the power of an Internet connection to deliver additional services specifically tailored to the TV medium. This can be as simple as networking ability that allows you to access shared content on a DLNA complaint network share and play it back on your TV, but most Smart TVs will go beyond simple network sharing.
What do I need?
A smart tv, for a start. Just because you’ve got a full HD panel doesn’t automatically make it a Smart TV per se, although there are ways to bolt on some Smart TV functionality onto existing panels. You’ll also need an internet connection to feed through to your Smart TV. Some Smart TVs offer only an Ethernet port, some offer WiFi and some can have WiFi added via an optional USB adaptor.
What makes a Smart TV so smart?
The key thing that defines a Smart TV is “Apps”, and just as they are on smart phones, Smart TV apps allow you to access online services and resources — except that instead of having a system that’s bodged onto a TV screen, a la what you’d get if you plugged in a notebook, you get interfaces that have been programmed specifically with TV resolution and TV remotes in mind.
This can vary from music streaming services, catch-up TV — most notably sports content in the Australian market — to social networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter. There’s a mix of paid and free apps, as well as streaming services such as Sony’s Qriocity music streaming service that are offered on a subscription basis. As the smart TV market grows, we should also see a growth in App stores offering a wider variety of content to enhance the TV’s they’ll run on.
So is Smart TV a distinct platform of its own?
No, not exactly. It’s important to note that each of the vendors runs their own app environments, so you can’t transfer applications from one TV to another; nor will every smart TV application be available across every single Smart TV platform.
Will Smart TVs make my existing telly obsolete?
Smart TVs aren’t a replacement to the existing HDTV market; it’s really an add-on feature to existing, mostly high-end TV units. So the kinds of features that you’d expect in a high end TV panel — solid refresh rates, 3D compatibility for compatible 3D content and the like — should still be present in a Smart TV. It’s a feature to consider when buying a new TV, just like whether or not you want 3D compatibility or a particular panel size.
billyjoebob
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 2:30 PMnot that i don’t trust the Giz, but running a story about “smart tv”, when it’s surrounded on all sides by animated ads touting a particular brand of smart tv, doesn’t look wholly journalistically kosher from here.
Gabriel
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 2:46 PMThat’s what Ad Block Plus is for….sorry Giz..
Biderjum
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 2:53 PMI odnt have this plug-in, I have it kind of built into my head, i skip all ads automatically.
I didnt even notice all the smart tv ads until I read billjoebob’s comment, haha.
I like how the images used the story are not said smart tv manufacturer, must be some small attempt at not making it so obvious, lol.
Alex Kidman
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 3:07 PMPerhaps not as sorry as I am — without advertisers we wouldn’t have a site to bring you!
But to be clear; yes, this story is running Samsung TV ads. It’s a story about TVs — so a TV ad makes sense in context. Samsung has zero input as to what I’m writing about, which is Smart TVs generally.
awallafashagba
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 2:51 PMscreenshots from Panasonic and LG with Samsung ads .. seems fair to me Billy
CraftyNinja
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 4:49 PMI have the Telstra Ads……
Ads or no Ads, the article has no bias towards any particular TV Manufacturer. I personally don’t have a Smart TV, nor do I even want one as my PS3 does everything that these things do.
Patrick
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 3:52 PMIf you don’t have the “Smart” but have the “TV” – most blue-ray players will give you all the functionality missing – at a fraction of the cost of buying a new TV
Michael
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 5:14 PMI have a recent model Sony LCD. I thought I wouldn’t really use the “Smart TV” features, but surprisingly they are nice to have. Particularly the iView App and the Channel 7 app, and the USB port which plays videos directly from a USB stick.
Andrew
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 5:32 PMReally opposed to Smart TVs as a concept. I want a GOOD TV.. I’ll plug in my own “smart” bit. The smart = software, and TV ODM’s are not software experts. This can only add expense, cause problems, and constantly be without the latest and greatest way to get content. Less is more, just make it a big monitor.
Peter
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 5:34 PMI have a smart TV, but I only ever use the one HDMI port that I plug my HTPC into. That’s the real “Smart TV”. Even the antenna is plugged into the back via a digital TV tuner.
That’s where Smart TVs need to get to. One environment, working together for live and static video, music and apps. Not needing to switch between web-apps, TV, DVD player, Console with a remote that can only focus on one at a time.
They are getting better all the time, but right now they’re just allowing TV makers to tick feature boxes and not really giving consumers a wonderful experience that us techies have had for a decade.
Nathan
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 9:21 PMI have an LG smart TV, but it is not so smart after all.
DLNA (both wired and wireless) has not worked for ages.
LG promised firmware updates to fix the issue but none of the updates issued so far have fixed the problem.
The magic motion remote is cool though.
Matt Kossatz
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 9:20 AMNice article Alex,
Just for the record, you don’t need to fork out for a new TV to get access to all the local TV apps. Both LG and Samsung offer their ‘Smart TV’ platform on their Blu ray players, home theatre systems, and OTT products (LG TV Upgrader). So if you bought a new TV over the past few years, you can make it ‘Smart’ for a $100-$300.
There are obviously other options like Telstra’s T-Box and Fetch TV if you’re with other ISPs that come with Smart TV apps.
More and more of the local content owners, service providers and media organisations are looking to roll out apps in the coming months, so Smart TV’s are here to stay.
The next phase is companion apps or apps for companion devices (ie smart phones & tablets). Whether it is controlling what you do on the TV, accessing additional content / features, social media plugins or taking the content you were watching on the TV with you.
New products should arrive in Q1/Q2 next year and that’s when Smart TV’s will hit the forefront.
Troy
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 10:05 AMYou know what these TVs need? Android. One platform running on all/most of the models, so there aren’t 10 different app stores and brand specific crap. Just a thought
shifty
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 3:46 PMactually, you know what the TV market needs: an Apple branded TV – imagine the quality of design, how good to monitor would be, and the seem-less integration with all other Apple products – iTunes, iPad, iPhone etc… AWESOME
Bill
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 4:07 PMNo it doesn’t, in fact, that’s the last thing we need.
Sicarius123
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 4:11 PMI’d rather a next gen Xbox. Upper model plays games, lower “lite” model does all the media stuff without games. One high end model for the main TV, and the lite models for other TV’s in the house.
All one ecosystem with Kinect.
vin
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 3:54 PMi’ve got the 55″ samsung 8 series… beautiful tv! beautiful picture… but the responses from the remote are soooOOoO laggy?! maybe there’s an update out there for it (moves house and still waiting for the internet to be connected…
also just bought a new LG 55″ LED 400Hz (JB have them on special atm for a rediculous price!)… thought the wii remote thing would be a bit of a gimmick, but it’s actually pretty well executed, and well handy! the picture’s pretty solid, and the smart tv functions are great so far (though it has nowhere near as many codecs as the samsung). still…for > 1500, you can’t complain! great tv!!!
Nath
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 3:56 PMSmart Tvs are overrated, if your want a Smart experience, build your own HTPC
vin
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 5:24 PMdon’t know about that…
checkout plexapp, and it’s integration into smart tv’s..
im a minimalist… so, though i have a htpc, i’m always looking for a ‘cleaner’ solution…
love xbmc… but definitely looking forward to the evolution of smartTV’s…they’re easily the next short term evolution for tv’s…
AzzaD
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 11:24 PMyeah the Plex functionality in my new lg tv makes it a better tv than it already was
Sicarius123
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 4:01 PMI want a high end panel and processor, with none of this rubbish software in it. It’ll never be as good as the media capabilities of a console, and it’s just another ecosystem I don’t want to buy into.
Adam
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 4:18 PMWhen Apple release TVs, the whole experience will change. The software on smart TVs these days is rubbish.
Steve
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 5:58 PMThese smart TV’s really do not interest me. I do not use Facebook/Twitter and dont plan to, and other apps such as Youtube are easily accessed on the laptop or phone which is always nearby.
You can pickup a Samsung 51″ D550 3D FHD Plasma for around $700-$750 which is a fantastic TV minus Smart capabilities.
AzzaD
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 11:23 PMreally liking my new 55″ LG LED TV, didn’t buy it for the smart tv functionality but now have been delighted by the fact that it works as a Plex extender, so it virtually plays all video types, cover art and info …a great suprise
kangarobin
Friday, December 30, 2011 at 2:09 PMG’day all, from California – as an Aussie who hasn’t been back in Oz for many years I was just interested to see what TV offerings were developing downunder – looks like it’s all still in its infancy – few channels to choose from and nothing apparently useful that will auto-program for adding entire upcoming series onto a DVR playlist – guess we’re spoiled with over 75 HD channels compared to Melbourne’s meager Foxtel selection – but it’s such a tiny market that this takes time i guess. Anyway, enjoy,for what it’s worth.