is there any point in buying a Smart TV?

asdfguy

asdfguy

asdfguy

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I’m thinking of buying a 4K LG TV and I was wondering if there is any point in buying a 4K Smart TV for extra £70. The LG 4K Smart TV has apps like Facebook, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. But is there really any point in having them? I can always plug in my PC via DisplayPort to HDMI at 4K 60hz and watch it through there.

But is there really any advantage to owning a Smart TV?

Any thoughts?
 
yes and no

In your example above that will not work as well as you think it will, the reason being a PC will not allow Netflix or Amazon Prime to play in 4K (it is a copyright thing not because it cannot).

The second problem is all smart TVs are not created equal in fact a very long way from it , some or very good some are very poor. Worse it does not even follow that a more expensive TV will have better smart features.

Smart features can also be updated good or bad during the life of a TV but will usually be missing something that just did not exist when the TV was designed.

I personally prefer an external media player but that does not make the choice any more complicated depending on what you are after.
 
Nowadays I personally wouldn't. For £70 you could get a FireTV which has a dedicated remote, voice search etc and runs all/most apps. You can even put Kodi on it. Or you can save a little and buy a FTV stick for £30 which does almost everything the same.

I don't think TV manufacturers are quite as bothered about performance on their apps, or updating them etc. Compared to a dedicated box.
 
Smart apps and functionally are the least important to me now. PQ & size obviously followed by inputs and response refresh rates. Sound (sound external if it's really important to you and same with a dedicated smart box)
 
Domi said:
yes and no

In your example above that will not work as well as you think it will, the reason being a PC will not allow Netflix or Amazon Prime to play in 4K (it is a copyright thing not because it cannot).

The second problem is all smart TVs are not created equal in fact a very long way from it , some or very good some are very poor. Worse it does not even follow that a more expensive TV will have better smart features.

Smart features can also be updated good or bad during the life of a TV but will usually be missing something that just did not exist when the TV was designed.

I personally prefer an external media player but that does not make the choice any more complicated depending on what you are after.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. But I was able to watch Netflix on my parents 4K TV through DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0. I have a Club3D which can output at 4K 60fps.
 
asdfguy said:
Thanks for your reply. But I was able to watch Netflix on my parents 4K TV through DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0. I have a Club3D which can output at 4K 60fps.
Click to expand...

yes, but was the feed a 4k feed from netflix.

just because your pc is sending a 4k signal to a 4k tv does not mean that the stream you are receiving is 4k.
 
stuman said:
yes, but was the feed a 4k feed from netflix.

just because your pc is sending a 4k signal to a 4k tv does not mean that the stream you are receiving is 4k.
Click to expand...

Yes it was. I have Netflix in UHD and it was defiantly 4K.

Edit: I changed the HDMI input to "PC" in TV settngs. This is to reduce input lag
 
Last edited:
Sadly I suspect you are mistaken.

From Netflix site :

The following devices support Ultra HD streaming when paired with an Ultra HD TV via HDMI Port 1:
•Nvidia Shield
•Roku 4
•TiVo Bolt
•Amazon Fire TV (New Version)
•British Telecom - BT DTRT-4000
•More devices coming soon!

Oh and it does not work for me and I have GTX980 connected to my 4K Panasonic.

I actually use a Nvidia Shield to get amazon prime and Netflix in 4k.

Again it is not the PC cannot do it is Amazon and Netflix will not let it.

Finally I hope I am wrong and this is now working but I suspect not.
 
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