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What can I do with my internet-connected TV?

Our digital TV expert says...

Although the internet is clearly changing the way we watch TV, with services like the BBC iPlayer raking in huge numbers of customers, Brits still love their tellies.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in August 2011, Eric Schmidt, Google chairman, said: “In 2010, UK adults spent as much time watching TV in four days as they did using the web in a month. TV is still clearly winning the competition for attention.”

This is just one reason that manufacturers are now releasing a range of “internet-connected” TV sets let you go online to really make the most of everything the internet and your TV have to offer.

Even internet search giant Google has got in on the act, with plans to launch its Google TV service in the UK from next year.

However, Google TV’s US launch received a lukewarm reception, and as a relatively new service for consumers, internet TV hasn’t quite reached its full potential - yet.

TV apps

Applications that you can install on your TV, in the same way you would on a smartphone or an iPad, really enhance your experience; they open up thousands of movies and TV programmes direct to your TV as well as letting you check your Facebook status or check out some funny cats on YouTube.

This also means that even if you don’t want to sign a contract with a digital TV provider like Sky (www.sky.com) or Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com), you'll still be able to access the latest movies and TV series without having to commit to a monthly fee.

• BBC iPlayer- catch-up on all your favourites from the BBC straight to your TV
• YouTube - choose from millions of clips on the world’s most popular video site. You can also watch “long form” content from more than 80 content providers now, with all of Channel 4’s 4oD catch-up on YouTube for example
• LOVE FiLM - stream thousands of films direct to your TV with a LOVE FiLM subscription
• iTunes - Apple’s iTunes Store offers TV programmes, movies and music videos, with many available in high-definition
• Muzu.tv - music videos, interviews, news and concerts straight to your telly

These are just some of the apps that are available in the UK at the moment - you can also use Twitter, Facebook and Skype on your TV - and once more content providers sign-up there’ll be even more on offer.

For example, in the States you can install Netflix to watch TV shows online, sports footage from NBA Game Time and music from Napster - and Google TV will even offer Android apps on your telly along with the ability to watch a programme while you check football scores on the same screen.

You might find though, that the quality isn’t amazing when watching some types of online videos, such as YouTube clips. You can often improve this by adjusting the aspect ratio settings on your TV, which you can find out how to do in your manufacturer’s manual.

TV that learns

Increasingly, internet TV services are able to “learn” what you want to watch and recommend similar shows, or movies with your favourite actor. This is a big feature of the newVirgin Media TiVo service, which is internet-enabled and allows you to give things a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down”, helping your box to “learn” more about what you like to watch.

You can also incorporate social media into the equation, recommending TV programmes or movies to friends and family.

Cloud access

A big part of internet TV is convergence, and you can often flip between your laptop, your tablet and your TV - and even your mobile phone. These types of services use what is known as the cloud, bringing all your content together wirelessly.

Your broadband connection

Because internet-connected TV services use your home broadband connection to stream content, you need to think about the impact this will have on your download allowance.

Virgin Media’s TiVo service uses a dedicated 10Mb cable line to connect you to the internet, so it is completely separate to your home broadband service. However, you’ll need to make sure you have an appropriate download allowance if you use any other type of internet-connected TV.

A high download allowance or a package with “unlimited downloads” and a generous fair usage policy is best if you want to stream and download a lot of content.

Speed is another issue that you need to think about. To get a decent online TV experience you'll need speeds of at least 2Mb - though this probably still won’t be fast enough for high-definition content.

If you’re using Wi-Fi to connect your TV but are having problems with videos buffering or taking too long to load, try switching back to an ethernet cable. While this might not be as convenient, data travels faster through wires than through the air.

Getting connected

It’s not just internet-connected TVs that let you go online - you can also get Blu-ray players that let you surf the web and install apps in just the same way, or the Apple TV box that streams all your content from your PC to your TV as well as giving you internet access. This lets you upgrade to the very latest technology without having to buy a whole new TV.

Some TVs and Blu-ray players only have the ability to stream content from the web, while others come with a built-in hard drive so you can download and store videos or music, and others might have a USB port or memory card slot so bear this in mind when buying a new device.

You should also think about whether or not your new TV connects via ethernet or Wi-Fi - or both.

TV, broadband and phone packages

Company	Package Name	Channels	Broadband	Home Phone
	Sky Entertainment TV + HD + Sky Broadband Unlimited + Talk Freetime	Get channels like Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic and more
	TV Essential + More Broadband and Calls	70 Freeview channels
	TV: L + Broadband: 30Mb + Phone: M	100 channels including Virgin 1, Sky1, Comedy Central, Bravo and many more

Ask us a question

If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at ourexpert@digitalchoices.co.uk