The issues facing smart TV adoption aren't insurmountable, however, especially as television technology improves. You might not be throwing out your gaming consoles and streaming players anytime soon, but if smart TVs can improve in a few areas, you might be tempted to.
The Technical Limitations
A television's primary function is to output video and audio information to the screen and speakers. When you start expecting the television to browse the Internet, stream Netflix, play video games, and run every app known to humanity, you run into issues on the technology front. The televisions aren't as speedy as other devices when it comes to loading content such as sports scores, weather reports and other common apps that are useful in theory.In practice, you're better off using a second screen instead, such as a tablet or smartphone. The television manufacturers need to work on improving the computing power in the television, as well as optimizing applications to take advantage of the horsepower the TV does have, to eliminate loading times and lag.
The Interface Debacle
Manufacturers have no particular standard in how apps are laid out. The same app is different from television to television, according to NBC News. This might account for why more than 27 million smart TVs are in the U.S., but only about 60 percent of them are actually connected to the Internet, a 2012 study by NDP Group found. Not only are the apps quite different from each other, they generally aren't optimized for viewing on a television screen.The interface elements are clunky at best and are generally unclear about navigation and use advanced features with the television remote. All of that combined leads to a frustrating experience that needs to be addressed, so that viewers don't have to go through such steep learning curves whenever they use different smart TVs. It already takes enough time to find the best cable packages — DirectTV bundles and subscription services to use — you don't want to be hamstrung on figuring out the apps, as well.
The Future
Some manufacturers are starting to fix all of the issues this type of television faces.Samsung is making it closer to the mobile interface everyone is used to, instead of shoehorning in a television-specific interface that isn't all that great for TV screens. The Samsung smart TV has a homepage that lets you swipe through five different pages, each themed to a different topic.
Pages include “currently on,” movies and TV shows, music and photos, social networking, and apps. The mobile-esque UI works very well on the screen, and it's even controlled with swiping motions similar to mobile.
What do you want out of a smart TV? Do you think one is worth purchasing? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Author Bio :
Charles Clark , Chuck is a technical writer who lives in the Ft. Worth, Texas, area.