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Today I often hear people loosely call their gadgets smartphones, and today a new phenomenon has penetrated the market, people are now buying smart TVs and I really wonder if everyone really understands the technology behind the terminology.
To fully understand the visual technology, I recently visited to Ndodana Tshuma, a local expert with The Game-Zim, a shop that supports and sells high-tech audio-visual gadgets, so that we dig deeper and unravel the mystery behind this latest technology.
According to Wikipedia, a smart TV is a connected TV or hybrid TV that describes a trend of integration of the Internet and Web 2,0 features into television sets and set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence between computers and these television sets/set-top boxes.
This basically means it’s a TV set that has capabilities of connecting to the Internet via wired or wireless means achieving the same results of a smartphone but with much better resolution and picture quality.
Using a basic remote control, one can actually achieve all the basic browsing features and be able to access a wireless connection via WiFi or on Ethernet cable connection in few button clicks.
Interestingly, Mr Tshuma highlighted that smart TVs will be taking over the home entertainment scene and soon we shall be browsing our mails, websites and watching YouTube videos straight from the big screen at home as the technology is slowly penetrating the market.
Smart TVs are also ideal at work environments as they can actually get an internet address and come with an Ethernet port/s to connect them to your network.
Today many workplaces have TV sets at the reception for entertaining guests while the smart TVs can even do more and be part of your network as an output device to publish online content to a group of people.
Speaking on the current High Definition (HD) and 3D (Three-Dimensional) craze, Mr Tshuma said that just because a television has high graphics quality, compliant with HD, it does not automatically mean that it’s a smart TV, neither is it a 3D TV set.
“HD TVs today are loosely referred to as “flat screens” and these are just an entry level to high quality video graphics screens. Even some HD screens when you buy them you should ask the version of that technology and you will be sure that they are just slick yet not powerful,” he added
He highlighted that 3D technology is not even a new technology as today we are now speaking of 4D technology, 3D has been there for close to a decade now yet the uptake has not been as fast in Zimbabwe hence people today are still only talking about flat screens a lot.
With 3D technology, the picture quality and video resolution is so close to real that you are almost part of whatever that you are watching as the video graphics transforms into various visible live frames in transition.
Of course, to be able to view 3D quality, one has to be wearing the actual 3D glasses which are activated through the TV set, which completely changes the visual from the screens.
I had a test run of the 3D glasses and literally saw pictures coming out of the screen or going way back behind the scene as the technology made the moving pictures much more real.
“Without the 3D glasses it is not possible to be able to have the amazing view no matter how smart the TV maybe, the difference is not decodable by the human eye alone but it needs help from the simple 3D glasses”, said Mr Tshuma.
One point also to bear in mind is that 3D technology is complementary, you will need the actual 3D disc, the 3D movie player and the 3D television set, with of course the 3D glasses on which you get free after buying the TV set. The glasses may come in various numbers from five to10 per single TV set and this varies with the brand of the TV set.
Without one of the three aspects, it becomes purely impossible to have or view 3D quality.
On the backdrop of the proliferation of fake electrical gadgets, most people have become victims as they fall prey to imitation products or completely sub-standard gadgets. When asked how to help the buyers distinguish from fake and original TV sets, Mr Tshuma admitted this remained a global challenge.
The only sure way he advised is to urge consumers to buy their devices only from authentic suppliers or authorised dealers, while confirming the product serial number online can also confirm the originality of any product with the manufacturer.
For those who just want the best pick for their video and home entertainment, going straight for the smart television set is a sure shot while the 4D TVs are the best. Well, it all depends with how deep one’s pocket is as well.
An average smart television in Zimbabwe is costing around US$1 500 and as the size goes bigger, the price flies away too!
The writer is an award-winning and founding editor with TechnoMag. More on Tech on www.technomag.co.zw or join us on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/technomagzw and enjoy free airtime quiz games. Email: ictarticles[at]technomag.co.zw
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