I have been a big fan of watching online TV for years. I use it on my laptop and stream on my iPad. But what i still don’t do, is stream anything on my big, main TV set. And thinking about it, that is the crux of why internet TV does’nt work for me.

Lets be clear, i love streaming TV, it just doesnt seem to quite work on my TV set, somethings not right. When i finish work for the day, and when im ready to relax. I do not sit in front of my laptop and i do not sit on a chair with my iPad in front of me. Instead, i sit where most people do, in my lounge in front of my 55 inch 3DLG TV and watch cable and DVR recordings.

Strangely, my streaming consumtion tends to happen when i am not in my lounge, and therefore not in the place i do my serious TV watching.

When i watch online content i may be sitting in bed while my partner is watching something else, or catching up on a show while im between chores around the house.

It’s almost like my watching of internet TV happens when i dont have time to truly relax, and be in my most comfortable place.

Of course my LG TV is a so called ‘Smart TV’. It has streaming capabilities, i can access a number of channels and options, but it just feels so wrong. I tried to watch a simple Youtube video, but i have to navigate using a weird remote controlled online keyboard that takes at least ten times as long to use as on my PC. Then when i finally press play video, that little round thing that tells me it’s buffering starts, and carries on, and on…Until i just give up and go back to ‘normal TV’.

Also, to get to streaming TV, i have to select an option on the TV remote then navigate a strange page full of icons and apps. I can see how a regular TV watcher would be freaked out by this.

There is supposed to be a convergance, internet and TV are supposed to become a seamless ‘one’. But they arent. I still know where my normal TV ends and the internet starts, and it’s not right, it doesnt fit..yet.

For a TV set that incorporates the internet to truly work, i think that 2 things need to happen.

1. The streaming has to be instant, or nearly instant. People (me included) just dont have the patience to wait.

2. The available channels need to be incorporated better into the set navigation. I almost want to choose channel 1, channel, 2, netflix, channel 3, youtube. So streaming TV becomes an integral part of the TV set, rather than feeling like an add-on.

So my ideal set would have a chaanel menu and then an on-demand menu where i can choose TV shows and movies by name or genre. Currently internet TV feels right on a laptop or iPad, but feels wrong on a TV set.

Get the balance right, and the streaming speeds right and i think that it will really take off. Looks like this year may be when it finally happens, but for now and for me. Internet TV still doesnt quite work.

Incoming TV searches:

netflix doesnt work on smart tv

Related News:

1. Dish Network Looking To Offer Internet TV Service
2. Where Is Internet TV Heading In 2011?
3. Why The Time For Internet TV To Explode Is Now
4. Networks Pulling Out Of Hulu Because It Doesnt Pay
5. Sony Looking At Offering An Internet TV Service