Possible Issues And Alternatives
Bluetooth has its faults and limitations. It may seem like an attractive option to set up wireless speakers for TV, but it’s not perfect, and other solutions may provide a much better experience:
- Audio Sync: Many Bluetooth TV adapters will support a limited number of devices at a time. Some support two pairs of headphones, so you and someone else can listen at the same time. While you could use this feature to try setting up two Bluetooth speakers, you may run into issues with the audio being out of sync, and you may not get a proper stereo sound unless the speakers are designed to work together specifically for that purpose.
- Audio Quality: Audio quality over Bluetooth is generally not as good as other solutions, like wired connections or other wireless audio types. How much quality is lost depends on the Bluetooth codecs supported both on the transmitting and receiving ends.
- Latency: Depending on the devices you use, there could be significant latency, meaning the audio you hear may lag behind the imagery on TV.
- Wiring: If you’re thinking of using Bluetooth because you want to avoid lots of wires, it’s also worth noting you’ll likely be wiring a Bluetooth transmitter from the back of your TV to somewhere around it where its signal isn’t blocked by the TV. In other words, you’ll still be dealing with wires.
Get Up To Speed On Motion Handling
One of the most challenging aspects of picture performance for LED LCD TVs is motion handling. All manner of frame interpolation is offered, to smooth images and remove film judder, but they come with serious caveats. Aggressive motion control will result in motion artefacts, commonly seen as a smudgy halo around moving objects, the feet on a running football player will flicker unnaturally, galloping horses may appear to have additional legs, and Wimbledon will be played with multiple balls rather than one.
High motion interpolation also leads to a video like sheen. This can make event the most expensive blockbuster look like a cheap telly drama .
Generally speaking these modes, called Intelligent Frame Creation or IFC , Trumotion , Motionflow and Motion Plus , plus a host of others, should be kept well away from their highest settings. Mid is usually a decent compromise for sports and studio based content, while Low or Off is best for movies and movie-like TV dramas .
Many manufacturers allow you to customize motion handling settings with adjustable sliders for blur and judder. This is often the best route to go.
How To Make Your TV Smart
All these services that work through the internet. You can of course access them all on your computer or phone, but lots of smart TVs, games consoles and DVD players will now have apps built in. We recently purchased a Samsung smart TV and it lets us watch iPlayer, Netflix, NOW TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, rental services such as Rakuten and Google Play, and more.
But thats one of the few brands which has all the services. Its more likely that youll only have one or two of these if any. So how do you make sure you can watch the service you want to watch?
Well you dont need to buy a new TV. You can buy a cable to connect your laptop to your TV, but its a pain to have these running across rooms. Its better to buy a smart stick or box which plugs into your current telly.
Over the years Ive used a fair few of them, but before I get into the options available, you need to make sure that your TV is compatible.
How to connect a smart device to your TV
Sorted? Right, here are your main options. Just to be clear, you still need to pay for the streaming subscription each month on top of the cost of the streaming device.
Read Also: Frndly TV On Roku
Your TV Needs A Software Update
If everything is fine with your internet connection, but the TV is excruciatingly slow, check to see if it needs a software update.
Often, software updates will eliminate bugs and enhance performance.
Moreover, the software on your TV becomes obsolete over time and needs to be replaced with more efficient code.
Software updates can also free up space on your TV and make your connections more secure, so regularly updating is crucial if you want your TV to run smoothly.
What The Brightness Setting Actually Does
Unlike brightness on your phone or computer screen, the brightness setting on most televisions actually doesnt control how bright or dim your TV is. Instead, it controls the black levels.
RELATED:How to Get the Best Picture Quality from Your HDTV
Turning up the brightness will make blacks lighterappearing almost gray-ishwhile turning it down will make blacks look darker. This setting is designed to help you calibrate your TV. No matter how much you adjust it, your screen wont actually get brighterso it wont help you see the screen better in a well-lit room.
Also Check: Pay Someone To Mount TV
How To Turn Your TV Into A Smart TV Option : Install Your Streaming Stick
If you choose the , simply plug the stick itself directly into the HDMI port on your TV. Next, assemble the power cable by plugging the USB cable into the power adapter brick, then unfolding the plug from the brick. Now, plug the end of the cable into the port on the side of the stick, and the other end of the cable into an electrical outlet. Finally, change the TVs input to the HDMI channel that matches the slot you used on the back of your TV. Youll then be prompted to press the Play/Pause button on your remote, which pairs the remote with your Fire Stick /TV. Next, select a wireless network and enter the password. Once this is completed, youll be prompted to sign in to your Amazon account. You can then begin using the streaming stick to turn your TV into a smart TV.
How To Fix Slow Streaming On An Outdated Smart TV
Generally, if your TV is 5+ years old, youre bound to run into some issues with the most popular streaming platforms.
Over time, apps with smart TV streaming platforms dont want to pay to provide their services to older TVs since there are plenty of newer TVs they wish to promote.
This degradation is expected, and the only real solution is getting a newer TV model. Still, you may be able to free up space by deleting apps as a temporary remedy.
If getting a new TV is out of your price range, you may want to consider purchasing another streaming device such as an Amazon Fire Stick, a Roku, or a Chromecast.
These gadgets will turn any TV into a smart TV, which means that youll never have to worry about being phased out again.
These streaming devices dont usually require any software updates since they work with other devices to stream to your TV, which often means theyll last longer and need fewer data to stream efficiently.
Read Also: Sling TV Tudn
How To Fix A Local Network Problem
If your internet is running slow or starts to cut out a lot, the first thing you can do to solve the problem on your own is to restart your router and modem.
To reboot, unplug your router and modem from the electrical socket and leave them unplugged for at least 30 seconds.
Then, plug them back in and check to see if your internet has sped back up.
If unplugging your router and modem doesnt work, you may want to try to factory reset your router.
Every router model can be factory reset differently, so you may need to look at your users manual or search the internet for instructions on how to factory reset your router.
Still, you should always ensure that you know your routers default password before factory resetting so that you dont get locked out of your internet network.
If rebooting and factory resetting your internet hardware dont work, you may need to upgrade your modem or router.
These devices send out an internet connection, and often, older models cannot broadcast the internet with a strong enough bandwidth for smart TVs.
What Device Turns Your TV Into A Smart TV How To Make My TV Smart
Want to stream movies from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime TV etc but dont have a smart TV? You dont have to invest in an all-new smart TV instead, you could buy yourself a smart digital player!
These internet-connected players hook into your TV, typically via HDMI, and allow you to stream TV series and movies on non-smart TVs!
Moreover, many of the following devices allow you to download and install additional apps on them, thus turning your TV into a smart-TV without having to replace it.
Interested? Great below, lets have a look at 10 devices that can turn a dumb TV into a smart one!
Read Also: How To Set Up Airplay On Vizio TV
Why My Smart TV Is Slow
If your smart TV is running slower than it should, you may have one of four problems.
- Bad internet connection. Your smart TV usually runs slow when you have a lousy internet connection. Your internet might just be overused, out of data, or out of range if this is the case.
- Your TV needs a software update. If your smart TV is slow, you might just need to update your software to the latest version.
- Your TVs memory is full. If you havent cleared your TVs memory in a while, it may just be running slow because it has too much data, like cookies and caches, stored on it.
- Your TV is outdated. Everything gets old, but smart devices age very quickly compared to other electronics. If youve had your TV for several years and it has just started slowing down, your TV may not be compatible with newer software updates.
Customize With A New Skin
At first Kodi looks a bit dull. The blue background is not overly appealing and the navigation bar feels a bit dated. The good news is that the look of Kodi can be easily completely customized in under 5 minutes. This can be done by installing new skins to change the appearance. See below for directions on how to do this. From the home screen scroll with either the mouse or keyboard arrows to System and then pick Setting from the drop down. It should look like this picture:
Once in settings go to appearance and hit enter or click.
The first option will be skin. Hit enter or click on it then click skin again on the next screen.
This will take you to where all of your downloaded skins are. We currently have three total, but if this is your first time on this screen it is likely that you only have the default Confluence theme. If you want to download additional themes, simply click on “Get More” and a list of downloadable themes will be presented. We downloaded two others that we like – AppTV and Nebula.
Note: Nebula is meant for customization. The background pictures can be changed, the title pictures can be changed, and the color scheme can be changed. Overall, we like this theme but we did experience some lag.
Recommended Reading: Local Channels On Apple TV
Other Ways To Make Your TV Smart
- Purchase an HDMI cable and connect it to any modern day laptop, smartphone or tablet. The screen on the device becomes the screen on the TV.
- There are apps that mirror your mobile device screen directly to the TV. For example, you can pair your Samsung Galaxy S6 with your Samsung HDTV.
- A Digital Living Network Alliance certified TV can receive media content from a smartphone as long as it is connected to the same internet router.
So, dont feel like youre missing out on the fun if you dont own a smart TV. You can get connected quite easily, in many different ways, at a cheap cost and enjoy all the benefits of a smart TV on your old TV set.
Be smart and make your TV smart!
What Are TV Streaming Services
If youre not familiar with Amazon Prime, Netflix or NOW TV, theyre all Video On Demand . That means you watch the content when you want, rather than at set times. Its exactly how BBC iPlayer works, yet you pay a monthly subscription to access them.
I subscribe to all three most months, depending on whats on. Both Amazon Prime and Netflix have some great programmes that are exclusive to those platforms such as Stranger Things The Sinner , Preacher and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel , as well as classics to rewatch.
Meanwhile NOW TV is a far cheaper way to watch Sky programmes I enjoy such as Westworld , Modern Family and The Walking Dead . At £7 a month for an Entertainment Pass its less than half the price of a contract with Sky or Virgin.
You can read more about all three paid services in my article .
The free streaming options are catch-up services for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, though both iPlayer and All 4 have exclusive shows you cant watch via Freeview.
You May Like: Does Sanyo TV Have Screen Mirroring
How To Convert Your Hdtv Into A Smart TV
You have an HDTV, dont you? At this moment, you regret your purchase decision because everyone else in your neighborhood might get smart TVs or your friends fantastic smart TV allures you.
In this article, I am going to help you turn your usual TV into a smart one. You can use different methods for this. So without further ado, lets get into the meat of this post.
Can You Turn A Regular TV Into A Smart TV
The magic of a smart TV is all in the software. There is no easy way to change the software on a regular TV and make it smart. However, many peripherals can be plugged into a TV with an HDMI port to turn the TV into a smart TV, even if it is a regular one. Luckily, there are quite a few options on the market that will easily allow you to convert TV to smart TV.
Got an old iPhone or Android? Get the highest price for your device guaranteed here.
Don’t Miss: Samsung S8 Cast To TV
The Benefit Of Smart TVs
The main benefit of a smart TV is access to many channels that offer TV programs, movies, and music without the need to connect a TV antenna or subscribe to a cable/satellite service. Also, some smart TVs provide web browsing, gaming, and access to compatible media content stored on your computer.
Although smart TVs also can receive TV programming via antenna or cable/satellite, Vizio has actually taken the bold step of eliminating built-in tuners and antenna/cable connections on most of its sets in favor of its built-in streaming platform as an all-encompassing replacement.
Amazon Fire TV Stick With Alexa Voice Remote At Rs 3999
The gives a complete smart TV experience with support for Alexa-powered voice remote control. You can access all popular streaming apps along with YouTube. Its advised that you opt for the affordable non-4K variant of Fire TV Stick for your old TV. The Fire TV Stick connects via the HDMI port of the TV.
You May Like: Can You Get Philo On Vizio Smart TV
Check For An Hdmi Port To Make Your TV Smart
Many streaming devices require an HDMI port to connect to the TV and show the images on the screen. Although many TVs have HDMI ports now, some older TVs may not have an HDMI port. People with these older TVs may still connect their streaming device to TVs with AV cords, which feature three ports in red, white, and yellow each. Many electronics retailers sell converters for people who need them. However, if you are looking for a new TV, check for HDMI ports ahead of time. HDMI ports should be labeled as such around the place the cord plugs in. Additionally, if you want to connect your computer to your TV, find out how you can make your computer fit your TV screen.
Connect The TV To The Internet
Note: If you do not consent to the Smart Hub Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, you will not be able to use apps and some of the Smart Features on your smart TV.
To use apps, stream videos, or use other services, your TV needs to have an internet connection, whether it’s wireless or wired.
Wireless network
To select a wireless network for your smart TV, select Wireless and then select the name of your wireless network. If your network is secured, enter the password and then select Done.
Your TV will attempt to connect to your network and access the Samsung servers. After the wireless connection is established, select OK. Then, review the Smart Hub Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, select I Agree to all, and then select OK.
Wired network
You can also connect to a wired network if you prefer. Connect an ethernet cable to your One Connect Box or the back of your TV, and then select Wired. Your TV will attempt to connect to your network. When the connection is complete, your TV will access the Samsung servers select OK.
Review the Smart Hub Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, and then select I Agree to all. Next, select OK.
If your TV does not see your wireless network, or is having trouble connecting to the internet, you can skip for now, and check out our troubleshooting guides.
You May Like: How To Connect An Oculus Quest To A TV