The TV is being forced to change thanks to the Internet, and as you may have guessed, the Americans are leading the way. As the Brits cracked the Enigma code and invented the Harrier jet, our American cousins are coming up with new ways to watch the TV.
As always seems to be the way, the Americans beat the British when it comes to TV, as many Americans are now able to watch “Smart TVs” from Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. They are TVs that will connect to the Internet and download TV shows from one of the many “Catch-up TV” networks. Instead of the TV networks trying to beat the Internet, they have joined them. If you fancy picking up a Smart TV, you will be forced to watch American networks such as ABC iView, although there are a few Australian networks.
What can you watch on a Smart TV?
You may watch ABC iView and see all the shows you can see on Freeview, cable and Sky, except for that you can watch and download from a library. You are not forced to watch the ones that are showing right now. They have installed a bandwidth meter, even though their usage is unmetered on twelve ISPs, including iPrimus and iiNet. If you want to watch TV on demand in your home then a Smart TV is the way to go.
Beating the Internet on hardware
Online playlist control is a big selling point. This selling point is the fuel behind the success of TiVo in America and Sky+ in Britain. So to counter this, the invention and promotion of better hardware has arrived: HD TV, 3D TV and 4K TV. These are TVs that give a better and more exciting viewing experience than the standard LCD Laptop and PC monitor can give, and better than the small screen of a tablet device can ever wish to have. Movies on a 55-inch HD, 3D or 4K screen are always going to beat a mobile device or PC/Laptop screen. If you want something that beats online playlist control, then buy a high tech TV.
They are using cross platform services
An American company, Vudu, has gone the direction of allowing streaming on just about every platform there is. They allow on-demand streaming on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, HDTV, Blu-ray Players, RoKu, Android devices, Mac, PC/laptops and iPads. The only restriction is that the TV show or movie must be out on DVD. This means that your favourite TV shows cannot be seen until they come out on DVD. On the plus side, the DVD need only be out in America (Region 1), since many US TV shows never come out in Europe (Region 2).
The price of TV may fall
Since online providers such as NetFlix, Google, Amazon and YouTube are offering services at such low rates, they are causing a dispute within cable and satellite TV companies. The direct TV companies are asking for more money, and cable and satellite TV rates have risen by almost 7% per year in recent years. The competition and the in-fighting may result in a lowering of traditional TV.
