How to make full use of the Smart TV

[kirsty1975]

Hi All,

I recently bought a Samsung 5600 Smart TV 40". I am not sure if I am using it to the full potential. Do we have anyone else in the forum using the same model and can suggest me on how I can make full use of SMART TV.

I am crrently using it for Facebook, but it does not show the home page very nicely like on my laptop. Also, the size of the still picture on the TV is very small, not sure how can i make it big. Another one is that where do i find Angry Birds game for TV? I am searched on Samsung APP but can't find.

Please do suggest if there are other exciting stuff I can do with this TV besides waching movies from USB/ Wathcing TV :-(.

Thanks

 

[kirsty1975]

105 views and no reply :-(. Has to be some problem with the question.

 

[drkavint]

applications like
1. how to tie tie?
2.you tube is good...
other than it , i feel nothing is worthy... tv very slow..
use laptop/ pc..
i use / prefer pc with hdmi/ graphic card minimum 1gb ddr3..

 

[ranjeetrain]

It will take you a bit of time that a lot of things marketing guys put on the brochures and promo flyrs are plain gimmick. But don't worry, you will accept the truth slowly

Hint: Take the "SMART" features of the TV as a bragging right!

 

[Bravia850]

We watched 2-3 movies on youtube on our tv. That's the only SMART feature we used.

 

[viper08]

1.Be Smart and get Dumb Tvs.
2.Connect your powerful Net PC/Laptop via HDMI
3.Full Internet in front of you. No shortfalls.
4.Be Smarter than TV

 

[bhadydy]

DLNA feature enables you to watch movies, play songs, view pictures on your computer wireless.

 

[noknor]

I have a Panasonic Viera "smart tv", do not remember the model number. I did not fall for the smart tv features they were marketing, I bought it because the picture looked good compared to the other tvs that were on display.
There were a few things that I wanted a tv to have, led lcd because they are less bulky than lcd, full hd capability and a couple of hdmi ports. I think thats all that is needed.

You can connect your laptop/desktop pc via the hdmi port and you have the smartest tv ever built. There are some conditions though like for example your pc graphics card must be full hd capable, have wifi unless you do not mind having a long ethernet cable running around etc(those are the two things that I can think of).

At the end of the day "Smart TV" is just a marketing gimmick. It all depends on how smart we are.

@kristy1975 - A more exciting thing to do would be to get a PS3 or an XBOX. There are some games out there that would be extremely good on a 40inch tv.

 

[kvandhi]

I was watching couple of HD videos and movies using Internet (youtube)

I dont see anything apart from Smart tv. Even browsing the net is very slow in samsung smart tv.s

 

[drkavint]

105 views and no reply :-(. Has to be some problem with the question.

happy to see a small trigger of my reply has got u tons of views and replies..
hope ur happy...

 

[naman]

Hi All,

I recently bought a Samsung 5600 Smart TV 40". I am not sure if I am using it to the full potential. Do we have anyone else in the forum using the same model and can suggest me on how I can make full use of SMART TV.

I am crrently using it for Facebook, but it does not show the home page very nicely like on my laptop. Also, the size of the still picture on the TV is very small, not sure how can i make it big. Another one is that where do i find Angry Birds game for TV? I am searched on Samsung APP but can't find.

Please do suggest if there are other exciting stuff I can do with this TV besides waching movies from USB/ Wathcing TV :-(.

Thanks

The sad truth is that Smart TV interface and applications are pretty feeble compared to PC's and Smartphones. The only feature I found worth recognizing is the DLNA compliance these TV's have.

 

[EthenHunt]

true..never used any other smart tv features apart from dlna.

Know Your Apps: Angry Birds
-> Says Angry Birds is Available in Select 2012 Models. No mention about the models though.

 

[kholi_pankaj]

I came to this thread expecting some guide to get the best out of a Smart TV!

@Kirsty1975 - AFAIK, Samsung offers the Angry Birds app only in gesture controlled versions of the TV. How else will you play it? LG Smart TVs are also offering the Angry Birds app on their models - but they have their so called ""Magic Remote"" to control the birds with!

 

[Dirac]

Agreed that smart tv should not be the criteria to buy a tv, any media player(not to mention a laptop with hdmi OUT) will do the same things.

But..
1) Having a long HDMI cable from the laptop connected to the TV is irksome and a lengthy HDMI is costly/prone to signal degradation.


Smart phones like my Galaxy S has an app available for free, called iMediashare, that can send stored videos/photos to the TV using DLNA.

2) The latest TVs have good builtin internal scalers optimized for playing Youtube videos on the TV screen. Undoubtedly, Youtube videos played directly from my 50ST50 are superior in quality than when using a laptop connection.

But one thing I hate in these TVs is that the Youtube search engines are not effective as the one on the Youtube site.

3) The main advantage of a Smart TV in my opinion is the availability of the remote control application on the smart phone. It is very easy to type text on the phone than on the TV.

4) The gesture controls on Samsung smart tvs is denounced by everybody as a gimmick. This could be true. But imagine the fun you can have , at least sometimes, waving and talking to your TV!

5) Integrated Skype is also a good thing in my opinion because the entire family could sit before the TV and connect to their friends/relatives.

Overall, I feel 2d picture quality is paramount followed by 3d, followed definely by the Smart features of a TV.

Thanks.

 

[Indizen]

1.Be Smart and get Dumb Tvs.
2.Connect your powerful Net PC/Laptop via HDMI
3.Full Internet in front of you. No shortfalls.
4.Be Smarter than TV

Hi
Can I use the HDMI port on my TV to connect to my desktop PC?
How?
Can I then browse the net on the TV, or just use it as a monitor?

 

[mbhangui]

IMHO the smart features are painful to use. I am comparing with the experience you get in a PC, Apple TV. Like FM noknor, I too got a panasonic plasma only for the PQ. So far I have used just the youtube (maybe twice). All other features look like as if Panasonic employed a school dropout to program the firmware.

Even the DLNA implementation is good for nothing on the Panasonic. Just few formats can be played natively. So I end up using XBMC on my pc or Airvideo app on my ipad.

 

[ranjeetrain]

A real smart person would buy a dumb TV and add a media player to it, making it smarter than the smartest TV available right now. Sadly, there are many buyer who are less smart than the TV they are buying

 

[just4kix]

The OP disappeared.

SmartTV/Smart apps is all hogwash. Never used any smart app.

a) Browsing is painful
b) YouTube is slow and dithers a lot. Need at least 4 mbps connection that I do not think is worth paying for.
c) Facebook? Nah!

The only smart feature I use sometimes (read "rarely") is DLNA. I find it better to plug in the HDD to my BDP and watch.

 

[viper08]

Hi
Can I use the HDMI port on my TV to connect to my desktop PC?
How?
Can I then browse the net on the TV, or just use it as a monitor?

Sure.You can. Provided your PC has HDMI/DVI video out. Else simply connect VGA(monitor out) to PC input of your tv, but it's not digital signal.

I am using my 10 year old LG CRT for Skype/video call and youtube videos through S-video and headphone out of my laptop and use wireless mouse as remote control to navigate. I can even type everything through built in virtual keyborad in windows. Combo works fantastic but obviously lacks details of FHD (max 1280 x 800) and espcially reading out smaller text