There are more than enough smart TV offers. But how do you know whether television is a smart TV and which services it supports explicitly? Here are some helpful hints.

How Do I Know If I Have A Smart TV?

The strongest indication that your TV is Internet-ready is the presence of a network socket on the back of your TV set. Usually, this is labeled as ‘LAN’.

Connect the television with a cable via this socket to the identical socket on your router. The other option is to connect the television to the network via ‘WLAN’ (Wireless LAN) / ‘WiFi’. 

To do this, open the menu of your TV set and set the appropriate option. In both cases, make sure that the TV and smartphone are on the same network.

Most TVs that have such a function appear in Nero Streaming Player as a playback device (‘Play to’).

You can also use the DLNA product search to confirm whether your TV is a DLNA certified product: https://spirespark.com/dlna/products/. You can search by manufacturer, product type, or device classes and functions.

The packaging usually only contains references to individual apps and services such as YouTube. This is mainly because the offers are constantly evolving. New services are added, others are discontinued or no longer supported by the TV manufacturer. 

Therefore, the providers are relatively sparing with specific information about which apps are currently available. Besides, additional apps can be downloaded from shops based on the iTunes Store and Android Markets. 

Some apps are chargeable. Others are free. On some televisions, however, the number of apps only changes when the firmware is updated.

Samsung

Various logos and names can tell whether television is Smart TV-capable: Samsung, for example, uses the term “Smart TV” directly, with the actual user interface being referred to as “Smart Hub.” 

It offers a rich collection of apps as well as a fully functional web browser, including Flash.

Panasonic, Sony, and LG

At Panasonic, pay attention to the note “Viera Cast”. Sony televisions are now almost all “smart”, here “Bravia Internet Widgets” refers to the ability. 

Smart LG televisions today usually bear the “Smart TV” logo and allow apps to be reloaded easily via an integrated shop. Simpler models have a “Netcast” logo and have to make do with a reduced range of features, bringing Maxdome, Skype, YouTube, Picasa, and a weather app under one roof.

Philips and Loewe

You can recognize Philips televisions with Internet applications by the “Net TV” logo. Sharp marks its Internet-enabled models with the label “Aquos Net +”. At Loewe, it is helpful to take a look at the datasheets.

Many televisions show their extended media functions, including Internet under the term “Media +,” but only the better models (for example, with the “DR +” option) also have a web browser and HbbTV (see box ) to offer.

Is my TV old if my smart TV apps are slow?

Anyone who has connected their television to the Internet and often uses pre-installed apps such as Netflix, the ARD, and ZDF media libraries or Amazon Video will quickly notice the old devices. As a rule, new versions of the operating systems are released every year. 

Older versions are no longer necessarily supplied with app updates. Samsung has been using its Tizen operating system for many televisions since 2015, and the apps are optimized accordingly. 

If you only take the smart functions as a benchmark, television could be considered out of date after 4 or 5 years. However, the image quality of the devices is still good, and with steaming sticks, you can easily upgrade current and smooth running apps at any time for just under 30 dollars. 
The Smart Hub on older devices is very sluggish today, there are only a few apps left, and they start very slowly – also because the processors in the TV are no longer up to date.

The same applies here. If fast apps are essential to you, then you should get a more up-to-date model. If it doesn’t bother you and the apps still work, even older models still do.