Smart TV-Internet?
 

How does this work?

I have a lap top so does the TV pick up the internet feed from my computer or the WiFi or both?

What happens if the lap top stops working-Does the internet still work on the Smart TV?

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Which specific TV do you have? Is your internet connected directly to your laptop or to a router? Is the router wi-fi capable?

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

The ones I've seen connect to the Internet directly through wifi, but I don't know if they're all like that.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Mine does both. Have it hard wired.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Mine can connect either through wifi or with an ethernet cable. I was thinking of hard wiring it, but so far the wifi connection works flawlessly.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

I don't have a smart TV as of yet but would like too know how it hooks up.

Is the smart TV dependent on a computer so it has internet access?

I can run the computer screen on my current tv with an 18 ft HDMI line( I think that's the length).

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Can't speak for everyone, but I think most smart TVs access the internet either via wifi or ethernet. You don't need a computer. The TV will pick up a wifi signal if you have internet access in your house. The TV has apps, just like a smartphone (but way fewer apps available) so you can access streaming services such as youtube, netflix, hulu, etc. That's about it. I have a Samsung "F" series LED that needs to be hard-wired via ethernet. It just doesn't process wifi fast enough even when I have my router next to it.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Smart TVs are wifi-enabled.

If you don't have a Smart TV, you can replicate the effect by using a Chromecast to stream the signal from your laptop to your TV. Or you could get a device like a Roku that has wifi built in to watch internet shows on your TV.

After years of not having a smart TV, I finally bought one. It is actually nice not to have to switch to another input to watch Netflix. I can just get all the streaming apps right from the TV. I used to have watch from a Blu-Ray player.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Ditto what everyone else is saying. SmartTV can either be wired or wifi. I was using the Chromecast device, but decided it was pretty obsolete, so I just removed it.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

I've had 2 "Smart TVs" and the biggest problem with them is they don't update what they have on them very often- in fact my Sharp got updated ONCE and that was it. So if a new service comes out, it won't be available as an app on my TV. I got a Roku mainly because my equipment setup doesn't allow me to get Dolby Digital Plus out of Netflix or Vudu on my TV (my receiver doesn't have ARC), but it's also brought tons of stuff I'd never be able to get otherwise. Plus if it gets obsolete it's easier to replace the Roku than the whole TV. I actually prefer the older Vudu interface which my TV still has; the Roku and my Blu-Ray player updated to the newer one last year.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

I had a 4.5 year old 50" Panasonic Plasma Tv. I would not call it a smart tv. But it did come with 4 or 5 built in apps. It had Amazon, Netflix, CinemaNow, & one more I think. It passed away in Dec.

Wasn't sure if I wanted to get a smart tv or not. I figure I wait until my SNL got hers from Dell & check it out. But Dell sent her out the wrong model, which was not the Smart tv one. I gave her a Google Nexus Player for Christmas & she is a happy camper.

I decided to buy a 58" Samsung Tv only because of the price. Got it 10 days ago. I hard wired it as I did with the Panny. I was totally disappointed in the Smart TV part. Things were so slow & sluggish. When you first access the Smart Hub function. It would tell me to wait & come back later. It sometimes would take 3-4 minutes before you could connect to any app. But after our local cable company came out to trouble shoot our cable modem which kept on dropping it's signal. It's been full speed ahead. Cable guy said we were not even getting half the speed we should & there was also a problem somewhere with the signal coming from the street. We are now back up past 100mbs. Things fly now on the Smart hub apps. I have about 1gb of space to add apps. I just added the Plex app & can play all my Korean & Japanese dramas I have on my computer & other hard drives hooked up to it.

I still have a Nexus Shield & Player sitting in the closet if I ever need it.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Yeah, Smart TVs aren't worth it. Just buy the best TV you can w/o it and hook up a Roku or whatever. The apps on the Smart TV suck and the interfaces for the popular apps are inferior. I use my Roku over my Smart TV exclusively for Netflix and Amazon now.

Re: Smart TV-Internet?
 

Not sure why this is in TV talk rather then the Home Theater Gear thread, but I guess taken literally it makes sense :lol:

Surprised that many people were unaware of how a Smart TV connects these days, but i suppose that was covered by many already above. Casting to TV's from a laptop, computer, or mobile device is a little different. And agree with others, on my Vizio I wasn't very impressed with the apps. Much easier to use a separate device like a Roku or game console. But I suppose if all you have is a TV and don't want to spend any extra money it's not too terrible.