The history
Back in the year 2000-ish, there are these types of TV in the market
- CRT TV - bulky yet long lasting, kind of like "it just won't malfunction"
- LCD TV - 32 inch is the most affordable at that time
- Plasma TV - expensive, power consumption is said to be higher than LCD
- LED TV - bright, looks good but not affordable, much more expensive than the rest of the TV.
- SMART TV - not born yet or still being engineered in factory?
Hesitate
If you had a non-SMART TV and it is still functioning well, (especially the CRT TV ), yet you are amazed by all those brand new functions offered by SMART TV displayed in the store, such as the ability to connect to internet, stream video, play game, check weather, browse photos and etc., hesitating whether….
“Should I spend another a few thousands of my hard earned money to buy a SMART TV to reward myself?”
“What am I gonna do with the existing TV in the living room? It is still functioning well.”
Android TV box
No worry, there is always an alternative. There is such thing available in the market call the Android TV box. It is in fact almost an exact duplicate of your Android phone, (if you are using Android phone instead of iPhone), just that it doesn’t come with a touchscreen panel nor telco antenna module build in. You just need to power it on, connect its video output through its HDMI-to-HDMI output to your existing TV or use the AV-to-RCA cable to connect it to your CRT TV.
Here is an example of an Android TV box, CS-918. Just search in the internet for the keyword "Android TV box" and you will be overwhelmed with lots of choices.
There are thousands of Android TV box in the market, mostly less than USD100. You are free to choose any of it but just a piece of advice, do choose those Android TV box that come with at least 2GB RAM or higher. Just like those 1GB RAM Android smartphone, insufficient RAM may cause lag in phone’s performance, same goes to Android TV box.
For build in ROM size, 8GB ROM should be the minimum requirement, the higher the better. Do look for those Android box that comes with MicroSD card slot to allow you to expand the local storage.
For easy navigation through the Android TV box system, get yourself a wireless mouse too, despite you can use the remote control that comes with the Android TV box.
SMART TV vs Conventional TV
Here is the story behind the SMART TV. In all those brand new SMART TVs, there is a PCBA module built in that transform it from a conventional LED TV into a SMART TV, enabling it to connect to the internet and made all the “wooo…” and “waah…” happen.
What the Android TV box does is that it does the exact same thing like those PCBA module in the SMART TV, allowing you to connect to the internet and made the same “wooo…” and “waah…” happen on your existing non SMART TV
Through the Android TV box, you can go to Google Play store and download any apps, such as VLC, MxPlayer, Spotify, NetFlix, YouTube and whatever apps you name it and install it. Then, you can play all your favorite contents through the TV box to your existing TV, turning your existing TV into a SMART TV, as simple as that. After all, the name SMART TV is just another bombastic name given to a conventional LED TV with an internet module attached. Of course, TV manufacturer do make improvement to their TV's picture quality up to 4K resolution but normal High Definition is already sufficient. After all, the content played through the TV is more important than the TV resolution itself.
Why Android Box
a. Limited build in software decoder
There are some limitations in SMART TV where it may or may not be able to decode all types of movie format due to its limited build in decoder. On the other hand, using VLC or MxPlayer in the Android TV box, you can play almost any type of movie format that you want. Having format decoder problem? Just search through the Google Play store for the right format decoder and install it into your Android TV box. Doubt that you can do so with those actual SMART TV.
b. Manufacturer proprietary user interface
A lot of people are well trained to use Android system, indirectly through their daily usage of Android phone (except those who are not Android phone user). Therefore, user will have less problem operating Android TV box, compare to the proprietary operating system developed by SMART TV manufacturer.
c. Build in flash life span
You can easily install and uninstall any apps to and from the Android TV box without the worry of wearing out the flash life span. As you may have known, frequent write and erase of the build in flash could reduce the flash life span. If the flash in the Android TV box wear out, just replace the Android TV box, it is cheap. If the build in flash in the SMART TV wear out, don’t think you can replace the PCBA module easily. Anyway, nowadays, the flash life span has increased substantially to withstand many rounds of write and erase, so, less worry of this scenario.
Lastly, after knowing the above mentioned tips, if you still wish to buy a brand new SMART TV, go ahead, just enjoy your shopping and enjoy your new TV.
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