There’s no question – it’s all about size, and the value of what’s inside.  We’re talking about the new generation of TVs.

Each year TV manufacturers show off their latest innovations at the beginning of Fall, which should be just in time for the all-important holiday shopping season.  Innovations are desperately needed.

LGs schlauer Fernseher (Image)

Schlaufernseher: Smart-TV bei LG-Pressekonferenz auf der IFA 2012 / (c) TechFever Network/Raphael Jahn

The consumer electronic industry is under a lot of pressure.  Although major sporting events like the European Football Championships and the London Olympics provided the TV industry with positive momentum, the business has become very rough.  This is because the margins in the TV industry are extremely low.

Industry giants and pioneers from the far east like Panasonic, Sony, Sharp and Toshiba are under a massive amount of pressure.  It’s no different for the Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips, which subcontracted its TV production earlier this year in a joint venture with TP Vision.

New devices and features should now be the focus.  First, there’s an attempt to make the largest displays possible.  By now, companies such as Sharp, Sony and Samsung have 80-inch displays in the program, an 84-inch (Sony) and even a 90-inch TV, which Sharp has just presented.  With that comes the guarantee of a cinema-feeling in the living room.

Considered one of the greatest hopes on the other hand, is the Smart TV.  Listing the most popular buzzwords of the last year – “Full HD” and “3D”, “Smart TV” is now one of the most important industry terms.  The new clever TVs should work to entice customers to buy with improved technology, new devices and a transition to multi-media televisions.

This is because it’s becoming increasingly more important for a TV to have online access via LAN or WLAN.  One of the main attractions of a multimedia TV are its TV apps which connect the device to Youtube or online games and can provide specially-prepared news or weather reports.  Aside from that, viewers can sit comfortably on the sofa and log into social networks such as Facebook or Twitter.

The small app add-ons can be activated directly by pressing a button on the remote control.

“Content is King”

Online media libraries offered by TV stations are especially popular as TV apps.  This has been underlined by ZDF’s (German television station) online media library, which has received over 440 million hits over the last 12 months – an increase of 30%.

Either way, the mantra “Content is King” will apply for the further success of Smart TVs.  The experts all agree that success will be dependant on offered content.

Along with information and video-on-demand services, the largest potential will be especially attributed to 3D film offerings.  An additional major trending subject of the season is VoIP.  Video conferencing over popular service providers like Skype is now also possible for couch potatoes using Smart TV, whose integrated webcams and microphones make it possible.

According to studies, there is already a Smart TV in one in every 5 households in Germany.  This trend is increasing due to the fact that prices are falling rapidly, much to the chagrin of hard-hit manufacturers.

This applies not only to Smart TVs, but also especially to large TVs as well. And
next to the LCD and Plasma TVs there looms another growing trend – OLEDs.  With new OLED technology, TVs in the future will become even more slim and sharp.  The first models have already been presented by Samsung and LG at the IFA in Berlin.

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