I've been shopping for a new TV over the last few weeks, for Christmas, and I can't even express what a chore it is. The problem with all these "Smart TVs" is that they have their own built-in TV OS, with apps and everything, but the software rarely has all the features that one would want: Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and access to a wide variety of apps. Most OS's will have one or two of those things, but not all.
The other problem is that 99% of TVs are utter trash. It's bonkers! How is this a thing?? There are there so many great computer monitors out there, but is it so crazy hard to find a decent TV panel that's run by decent software? A TV is just a monitor with software! But almost universally, the built-in software does annoying crap to the screen that makes all the images look worse than they need to: artificial sharpening, noise reduction, dynamic dimming, etc. It's ridiculous.
Anyway, one thing that's interesting though, is that developers of other streaming boxes (Roku, Fire TV, Android TV) have worked with TV manufacturers to include their software as the OS of the TV. Generally, these TVs are much less of a headache than the TVs that have their own built-in software.
So it got me thinking... what if Apple just partnered with LG or Sony, and included tvOS on a very small number of high-end television sets? Apple would ensure that the TV model meets their standards of excellence first, of course. None of those annoying, picture-ruining "features."
Just a regular TV without nonsense features, and with an OS that actually gives me the stuff I want. That would be freaking amazing. It's a massive market that's totally overlooked by almost every type of TV (aside from maybe the OLEDs, which are generally pretty ok).
I know it's just wishful thinking. But seriously, that would be the dream, and I would buy that TV in a heartbeat.
The other problem is that 99% of TVs are utter trash. It's bonkers! How is this a thing?? There are there so many great computer monitors out there, but is it so crazy hard to find a decent TV panel that's run by decent software? A TV is just a monitor with software! But almost universally, the built-in software does annoying crap to the screen that makes all the images look worse than they need to: artificial sharpening, noise reduction, dynamic dimming, etc. It's ridiculous.
Anyway, one thing that's interesting though, is that developers of other streaming boxes (Roku, Fire TV, Android TV) have worked with TV manufacturers to include their software as the OS of the TV. Generally, these TVs are much less of a headache than the TVs that have their own built-in software.
So it got me thinking... what if Apple just partnered with LG or Sony, and included tvOS on a very small number of high-end television sets? Apple would ensure that the TV model meets their standards of excellence first, of course. None of those annoying, picture-ruining "features."
Just a regular TV without nonsense features, and with an OS that actually gives me the stuff I want. That would be freaking amazing. It's a massive market that's totally overlooked by almost every type of TV (aside from maybe the OLEDs, which are generally pretty ok).
I know it's just wishful thinking. But seriously, that would be the dream, and I would buy that TV in a heartbeat.