dumb or smart tv
oilman
Posts: 4,529 Forum Member
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Many threads here complain about issues with smart tvs not working with iplayer or youtube etc.
Problem is web and tv technology changes all the time but the software on smart tvs cant keep up, and manufacturers have little interest in keeping up to date by supporting models more than a year old.
I prefer to use a dumb tv, abd provide the brains externally eg tablet and chromecast or now tv box.
Even if external brains become obsolete, it is much cheaper to replace than a tv.
Only problem is buying a dumb tv is getting harder. of course, you can still use external devices via hdmi on smart tvs.
Problem is web and tv technology changes all the time but the software on smart tvs cant keep up, and manufacturers have little interest in keeping up to date by supporting models more than a year old.
I prefer to use a dumb tv, abd provide the brains externally eg tablet and chromecast or now tv box.
Even if external brains become obsolete, it is much cheaper to replace than a tv.
Only problem is buying a dumb tv is getting harder. of course, you can still use external devices via hdmi on smart tvs.
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My firetv and pc are connected to my tv as i don't watch any live tv and they combined with the samsung tvs apps provide all the tv i need.
I have a ROKU connected too as Showtime works better on that than on pc or firetv.
We have smart TVs in two rooms of the house, but ultimately I find that external devices such as Chromecast, Now TV, Amazon Fire TV and HTPCs provide much more flexibility than the inbuilt smart features.
As I see it, smart TVs are just another cynical way to extract money from customers, by firstly bumping up the price and secondly by convincing you that you need to buy a new telly sooner than you normally would because the "smart" features are no longer supported or work 2 years down the line.
My current TV is dying so I've been looking around at what's on offer out there. I'm not impressed.
Just buy a TV for its picture. If it has a smart hub or not, who cares. If it has one, just don't use it if you don't want to - after all, it is no different then to having an extra tuner you never use, or two spare HDMI ports.
But you never know, perhaps it will still come in useful after-all. Lets say you have a Samsung TV as well as your set-top-box of choice (perhaps Apple TV, Chormecast or Amazon Fire TV). You may use those devices more, but if you want some of the free-to-air catch-up services, none of them have it all. Samsung's D,E,F and H series TVs are the only devices in the UK that has all the catch-up services (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4, Demand 5 and BBC Sport) plus Netflix AND Amazon Prime.
So... as much as you may prefer to have alternative STBs (and I also tend to use say the Amazon Fire TV as my personal choice when an app is available), the backup may come in handy.
You are not doing anything wrong at all.
Demand 5 don't support AirPlay. They are the only one of the four major networks to turn their back on AirPlay still.
Ok, it is (or was) possible via mirroring, but video quality is so bad mirroring streaming services, that it is really not worth it.
Check your Smart TV. Works great with that.
Yes sorry I should have mentioned tried mirroring and gave up immediately. I had a think and I suspect my issue is that with a tablet it's all tap screen where as my smart TV can be awkward scrolling and tracking to the right bit of a player.