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Online TV on your TV - What device are you using?
Tom2023
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There is a whole raft of options when it comes to accessing Online TV from dedicated Media PCs to games consoles & Apple & Google TV boxes.
What are you using to put online TV onto your TV and how would you say the experience is?
Does your device support the BBC iplayer, the ITV iplayer, 4OD & 5 on Demand?
What are you using to put online TV onto your TV and how would you say the experience is?
Does your device support the BBC iplayer, the ITV iplayer, 4OD & 5 on Demand?
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I use the Sky box for ITV/4OD and 5 On Demand, though to be honest generally don't watch ITV or 5
I use the TV for iPlayer and Youtube and my Sky box for all other online catchup services. Both are excellent at what they do.
Use them for the usual BBC/ITV/C4/C5, Hulu US, local downloads and Netflix.
The Samsung F6500 Blu-ray player looks a decent way to get smart TV via the internet onto an old TV.
It has an Ethernet port, WiFi and BBC iPlayer, the 4oD, Netflix, LoveFilm & YouTube apps are currently included.
ITV Player, and Demand 5 are coming soon according to Samsung’s website.
It has a web browser but not too sure if the DNS can be hacked.
All for the bargain price of £109 from Amazon.
PS3 or laptop for Netflix (all regions) - Sky boxes for catch up and On Demand.
Also watch on line TV on my Desktop PC occasionally.
I keep my PC connected to the tv, and this provides the best all round option. Its not restricted to certain online providers, it can do all of them if I wanted to.
That's one of the reasons I got mine a few days ago as my Sony Bluray player was unlikely to get 4oD.
It may turn out to be the cheapest option to get the main TV catchup services ( when it gets the remaining apps ).
It's a pretty good Bluray player as well , but the build quality isn't a patch on the BDP-S370 it replaces.
What is the browser like?
I don't suppose it supports Flash for watching streaming TV like the Abu Dhabi sports channel?
It also has Netflix, Lovefilm, YouTube and Crackle.
You can get music videos from Vidzone, use Sony's Music Unlimited service, and pay Karaoke game Singstar.
Also plays Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD & CD as well as numerous digital photo, video and music files. It as a baic internet browser and can also be used for streaming content from other devices, such as PCs, phones, tablets etc.
Overall, it's a good experience. ITV player and 4OD are a little clunky as they are links to optomised websites, rather than dedicated apps. Netflix is particularly good, as it supports their "Super HD 1080p" and 3D content. (3D currently from USA service only, using "unblock-us" etc)
Xbox 360 = BBC iPlayer, 4OD, Demand 5, Sky Go, Now TV in term of traditional TV.
It also has video apps for Netflix, Lovefilm, YouTube, Blinkbox, Crackle, MSN Video, Daily Motion, IGN, Screenrish, Last.fm, Sesame Street (req Kinect), Gamespot TV, Nat Geo (req Kinect), Blip, Game Trailers, NBA Game Time, MLB.TV, Machinima, Cruncyroll, Cnet, Sony Pictures, Sports Picks, NFL Gamecenter, Indieflix, Wall Street Journal.
Music fans are covered by Vevo, Last.fm, Muzu, Napster and Absolute Radio apps. There is also a Karaoke app.
It can play DVD & CD as well as numerous digital photo, video and music files. Can aso be used for streaming content from other devices, such as PCs, phones, tablets etc. It also has Internet Explorer.
It's a largely slick experience, but does require a £40 a year subscription to Xbox Live to access most of the features. (That's in addition to any individual service subscriptions that may be required). Being able to control many of the functions from your phone or tablet is a nice touch. Voice and motion controls are also available via a Kinect sensor.
Sky+HD = As far on "on demand" content goes, Sky have all the bases covered, with all major broadcasters offering a catch up service. It also has a substantial library offering, with it's selection of movies particularly strong. There are also additional film rentals available. It's progressive download system ensures that the picture quality is excellent, regardless of your broadband speed.
But, it's worth noting that to access the likes of ITV Player, 4OD, and Demand 5 you have to be a Sky subscriber, at a minimum of £21.50 a month. BBC iPlayer is available "subscription free", but only works on a non-subscription box if the recording functions are active, which is available at a cost of £10 a month for ex-customers only. All other content mirrors your Sky channel subscription.
In short, if you're already a Sky customer, then it's brilliant, and well worth setting up. (Although some content can be slow to appear, and some never appears at all). But it's an expensive proposition if you're just looking for the FTA catch-up services.
The browser is slightly more responsive than my LG 32LV550T but it's stil awkward to use with a Bluray remote.
It does appear to support Flash content as sports footage does stream from some sites, although I couldn't get any sound with my setup.
If you're thinking of using the Abu Dhabi sports to get EPL it comes up with a geo-location message saying no.
I couldn't get itvplayer via the browser to accept geo-location data like a UK postcode either !
It wirelessly connects and also has a USB port on it which has played everything I have tried on it.
The browser is a pile of poo but for £104.88 what do you expect.
But usually I remember to set the DTR for my TV or else set my Pure BUG to record for better picture quality and audio.