Do you use apps on your smart TV?
Discussion
I have a new LG CX TV coming next week, it is an OLED one with all the built in apps that you would usually expect, like Netflix, Plex, etc...
I saw a post on another site or an article which said something like "Avoid using apps on the smart TV". The stated reason was that the TV didn't have the power or grunt to upscale, and to display certain videos. They recommended using an external device.
I have an external device which I can use and do currently use so no big deal.
But is this correct? Or is it just a bit over the top and the TV apps are fine?
I saw a post on another site or an article which said something like "Avoid using apps on the smart TV". The stated reason was that the TV didn't have the power or grunt to upscale, and to display certain videos. They recommended using an external device.
I have an external device which I can use and do currently use so no big deal.
But is this correct? Or is it just a bit over the top and the TV apps are fine?
The only problem I've had with the TV apps is that after a while mine stopped supporting them/providing updates, so they've gone from my Apps section. Admittedly it's an older Panasonic LCD TV, but I no longer have Youtube and iPlayer, plus I don't think it ever did have Amazon video as an option, only Netflix is still available.
I think Netflix looks better via my Apple TV box, but it's an odd case because I send it through a Lumagen 4k video processor which then downscales 4K to 1080p (I have the 4K option for my projector). It also means I get the Atmos sound track where available, which my older TV could never do anyway.
I think Netflix looks better via my Apple TV box, but it's an odd case because I send it through a Lumagen 4k video processor which then downscales 4K to 1080p (I have the 4K option for my projector). It also means I get the Atmos sound track where available, which my older TV could never do anyway.
Thanks all. I will probably still use an external box as we rarely watch normal TV but I will test out the apps and see how they work,
In regards to a Home Theatre PC, if you mean a media server then I have one actually. I have a Plex server running on Ubuntu. I'm not really into the whole sound/amps thing and trying to get a perfect set up.
The only thing I do want is a sound bar - that is not for volume, it's just for clearness as I have heard they can make quite a big difference. I am looking at the Sonos Beam
In regards to a Home Theatre PC, if you mean a media server then I have one actually. I have a Plex server running on Ubuntu. I'm not really into the whole sound/amps thing and trying to get a perfect set up.
The only thing I do want is a sound bar - that is not for volume, it's just for clearness as I have heard they can make quite a big difference. I am looking at the Sonos Beam
I wouldn't really count Sky's attempt as apps in the same league as those better ones from good TVs, and they're not equivalent to the apps from external devices either.
Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV Box or stick, nVidia Shield; the apps on all of these generally work really well, and they continue working as the companies behind the products are better able to do the updates required to keep stuff going. History shows us that the TV manufacturers aren't as good in this area.
One thing to say for premium TVs is that they get the processing horsepower denied to more midrange tellies. That's one reason why the cheaper sets' apps fail earlier.
Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV Box or stick, nVidia Shield; the apps on all of these generally work really well, and they continue working as the companies behind the products are better able to do the updates required to keep stuff going. History shows us that the TV manufacturers aren't as good in this area.
One thing to say for premium TVs is that they get the processing horsepower denied to more midrange tellies. That's one reason why the cheaper sets' apps fail earlier.
LG os is great, and we use it for 4k iPlayer , rarely tbf. But I use it a lot for Amazon and Netflix.
I run an Nvidia shield as my main source for movies stored locally.
The shield will do Amazon and Netflix but I don't bother as there is no discernible difference between it and the Shield. The TV passes all the digital surround formats back to my Denon via HDMI .
I can even run Plex on the LG TV making the shield totally redundant. Not sure why I don't tbh! Might be atmos or something but I doubt it.
Summary - lg os works brilliantly. That I cannot say about my Samsung TVs. They abandon models very quickly in my experience.
I run an Nvidia shield as my main source for movies stored locally.
The shield will do Amazon and Netflix but I don't bother as there is no discernible difference between it and the Shield. The TV passes all the digital surround formats back to my Denon via HDMI .
I can even run Plex on the LG TV making the shield totally redundant. Not sure why I don't tbh! Might be atmos or something but I doubt it.
Summary - lg os works brilliantly. That I cannot say about my Samsung TVs. They abandon models very quickly in my experience.
redrabbit29 said:
Thanks all. I will probably still use an external box as we rarely watch normal TV but I will test out the apps and see how they work,
In regards to a Home Theatre PC, if you mean a media server then I have one actually. I have a Plex server running on Ubuntu. I'm not really into the whole sound/amps thing and trying to get a perfect set up.
The only thing I do want is a sound bar - that is not for volume, it's just for clearness as I have heard they can make quite a big difference. I am looking at the Sonos Beam
I have a Yamaha YSP 2700 which I'd recommend. Sounds brilliant for just a soundbar.In regards to a Home Theatre PC, if you mean a media server then I have one actually. I have a Plex server running on Ubuntu. I'm not really into the whole sound/amps thing and trying to get a perfect set up.
The only thing I do want is a sound bar - that is not for volume, it's just for clearness as I have heard they can make quite a big difference. I am looking at the Sonos Beam
Jamescrs said:
I use the apps on my Samsung TV daily, Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus are the main ones.
Every so often an app will freeze and I have to reboot by holding the standby button down for 2-3 seconds which reboots the TV but otherwise its a really good system.
To answer the OP's original question, I used to find TV apps slow and clunky so always used an external device of some sort. These days they are much better and I use them as the primary interface on a 3 year old Pannny and a 2 year old Samsung. I was very skeptical to start with but they are both fine and have never crashed (unlike the Noku dongle I use on my other TV, oddly enough).Every so often an app will freeze and I have to reboot by holding the standby button down for 2-3 seconds which reboots the TV but otherwise its a really good system.
Use the apps on the TV, all are fine, get a nice alert when the washing machine has finished, not that the washing machine plays a tune for 15 minutes and 49 seconds and is in no way annoying as hell.
Only gripe is I can't seem to get atmos out of the sonos arc with disney+ but netflix is fine (samsung btw)
Other than that everything is peachy.
Only gripe is I can't seem to get atmos out of the sonos arc with disney+ but netflix is fine (samsung btw)
Other than that everything is peachy.
Sheets Tabuer said:
Use the apps on the TV, all are fine, get a nice alert when the washing machine has finished, not that the washing machine plays a tune for 15 minutes and 49 seconds and is in no way annoying as hell.
Only gripe is I can't seem to get atmos out of the sonos arc with disney+ but netflix is fine (samsung btw)
Other than that everything is peachy.
I have a Yamaha amp on the Panasonic set up running 5.1 and all the audio processing has worked for me (no Atmos though so can't comment on that).Only gripe is I can't seem to get atmos out of the sonos arc with disney+ but netflix is fine (samsung btw)
Other than that everything is peachy.
I used to use the tv apps on my Samsung tv, Netflix, YouTube and rakuten.
To my eye, and this is very subjective, the 4K hdr picture and even the standard hd picture on Netflix through the tv app is better than through the Netflix sky app.
YouTube was much easier to use through the tv app than sky app, but this isn’t a problem now as sky links to my phone and I can control YouTube through that. Spotify through sky is the same now.
Rakuten Was really used as an alternative to sky store, films on there were always offered in uhd when strangely not uhd on sky and also at least £1.50+ cheaper. Again subjective but the sound seemed better through rakuten.
Then for some reason and it seems a know fault, the sound from my tv to Dali soundbar kept dropping out every minute. Couldn’t find any fix, but loads of people with the same problem with Samsung/Dali. Now running the sound through sky q box rather than the tv. So unless I unplug it all, sound is through sky. Using all their apps now. Not convinced the picture and sound are as good as the tv apps. Also by linking my sky and Netflix account I think I save about £5 a month.
To my eye, and this is very subjective, the 4K hdr picture and even the standard hd picture on Netflix through the tv app is better than through the Netflix sky app.
YouTube was much easier to use through the tv app than sky app, but this isn’t a problem now as sky links to my phone and I can control YouTube through that. Spotify through sky is the same now.
Rakuten Was really used as an alternative to sky store, films on there were always offered in uhd when strangely not uhd on sky and also at least £1.50+ cheaper. Again subjective but the sound seemed better through rakuten.
Then for some reason and it seems a know fault, the sound from my tv to Dali soundbar kept dropping out every minute. Couldn’t find any fix, but loads of people with the same problem with Samsung/Dali. Now running the sound through sky q box rather than the tv. So unless I unplug it all, sound is through sky. Using all their apps now. Not convinced the picture and sound are as good as the tv apps. Also by linking my sky and Netflix account I think I save about £5 a month.
I have used the built-in apps on my CX for the last year without any issue until a few days ago where it started buffering on a 4K rip streaming from my local plex server (hard wired Ethernet). It turns out the 100mbps ethernet interface on the TV wasn't quite enough so I ended up plugging in a previously redundant shield which solved the problem.
I've also read online that a £10 USB to gig ethernet adapter plugged into the TV will allow you to get round the issue, with the HEVC decoder in the TV maxing out at about 140Mbps.
I could use wifi but would rather avoid it.
I've also read online that a £10 USB to gig ethernet adapter plugged into the TV will allow you to get round the issue, with the HEVC decoder in the TV maxing out at about 140Mbps.
I could use wifi but would rather avoid it.
Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff