It really is not good for all these problems implementing something as simple as this ITV app for Samsung. Broadcasters have enough problems as it is, porting over their on-demand services for all the different platforms, it really doesn't need this from Samsung.

Porting something really isn't as hard as this... well, in theory. But when companies like Adobe and Samsung keep moving their goal posts around and not following standards, things really get messy.

Anyway, If anyone has any "inside" rumours if 4oD is coming to Samsung Smart TV's, please let me know. I've pretty much lost them since they killed Airplay. I refuse to watch their catchup on a my computer - they are after all, a TV channel ;O) And I only watch live TV for sports and the news these days - neither of which channel 4 excels at.

I have given up on the ITV Player on my set. Samsung continue to put CRAP Apps on my TV which cost me over £500 November 2011.
I am waiting for Sky's anytime catch up service. I have the latest Sky HD box.
Lovely Samsung TV I have, great 3D, Great HD Picture. I just should not have wasted money buying a "smart tv"

OMG this app is CRAP!!!
i have a 55ES8000 and "tried" to watch X factor on catch up....
the picture was so blocky i could't watch it...no HD..the BBC app in SD was 1000% beter than the itv app
please catch up with the BBC
one word......SHOCKING

^^ Interesting that you have such an experience. Definitely the picture quality is not as good as the BBC as they only offer SD. But the picture quality we have on a 40" screen is certainly good enough to forget about any imperfections after a short time. Our screen is considerably smaller than yours, but we do sit rather close. Maybe a 55" screen is just too large for the ITV quality stream? Maybe the X Factor is recorded at poor quality.

I know I get some blocky images on BBC or ITV streams when in SD when there is a lot of movement, maybe the X Factor has an issue with this.

But at least on our 40" screen the quality is as such that I would not use the word crap or have to stop watching it. In fact, I find it good enough. If we move back just 2 more meters (where most people would sit) the quality looks excellent for standard definition - it's just the shape of our living room this isn't practical.

How does it compare to BBC iPlayer Standard Definition streams on your Samsung (Not HD as I know those are great)

BBC iPlayer Standard Definition is perfect...we haven't told it to use HD as SD is fine on the TV.

^^ Year, I checked the file size of ITV and it is considerably smaller for the same length show as the BBC's SD, so ITV is pretty much delivering sub-SD.

It still looks ok on my 40" screen, but I can understand it looking worse on your 55".

One thing though, it does seem to be platform-wide, so it's not just the ITV App on the Samsung. ITV deliver the poorer quality on all mediums. My guess is they originally only saw the on-demand service as something for portable platforms like laptops and smart phones. It's only relatively recent in the on-demand world that people are moving from these portable devices to the big screen.

This is one of the advantages of the license fee I guess. The BBC is funded by this, and consequently it is ahead of the game - pretty much at a global level too from what I can see (and I watch TV via VPN's from all around the world). They have the budget to offer their services in HD, whilst ITV who only gets funds from advertising (which is a dwindling income these days) has to wait until they see profits before they bother.

Of course I shouldn't justify them too much, as I also want to watch their catchup in HD ;O)