Smart TV
IPTV on a Samsung or LG smart TV in Ireland
Running everything on the television itself is the tidiest setup: nothing extra plugged in, one remote control. It works well on recent sets and less well on older ones, and this page is about telling those apart before you buy.
- Tizen and webOS
- No extra hardware needed on newer sets
Model years
What to expect from your television by age
Rough guidance based on what we see across Irish homes, not a manufacturer specification.
| Approximate age | Playback | Channel guide | Our advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 onwards | Smooth | Responsive | Use the television on its own. Nothing else needed. |
| 2018 to 2020 | Fine | Noticeably slower to load | Try the television first. Use favourites so you rarely open the full guide. |
| 2015 to 2017 | Usually acceptable | Slow | A streaming stick will transform the experience for a small one-off cost. |
| Before 2015 | Unreliable | Often will not load | Do not rely on the television itself. Use a stick or a box. |
Samsung, running Tizen
- App availability varies by model year and by region, so the store on your set may not match a guide written elsewhere.
- Recent sets handle playback very well once the player is installed.
- Keep the number of installed apps modest; these sets do not have generous storage.
- We tell you which player to use for your specific model rather than a generic name.
LG, running webOS
- Generally straightforward to set up, with a clear store and a workable remote.
- The pointer remote makes entering login details much less painful than a directional pad.
- Older webOS versions can be fussy about which player is available to them.
- Picture handling on recent LG sets is excellent, which shows on fast-moving content.
When to give up on the built-in app: if the guide takes more than about fifteen seconds to open, or the store will not offer a suitable player, stop fighting it. A streaming stick costs less than one month of subscription and solves both problems permanently.
Setup
Installing on the television itself
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Connect the television to your network
Use the 5 GHz band if the router is nearby, or a cable if it is not. Confirm it can open any other streaming app before you go further.
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Open the built-in app store
Search for the player we named in your setup message. If it is not offered on your model, tell us and we will give you the alternative.
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Sign in carefully
Remote-control typing is where most errors happen. Take it slowly, and watch for capital letters and the digit one against a lowercase L.
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Set favourites immediately
On a smart television this matters more than on any other device, because it keeps you out of the slow full guide.
Smart TV questions
Why is my smart TV slower than my phone at the same thing?
Televisions are built to a price and their processors are modest compared with even a mid-range phone. The video itself plays fine; it is the channel guide, with hundreds of entries and artwork, that exposes the difference.
My television will not let me install the player. What now?
Some manufacturers restrict what can be installed on their store, and that varies by model year and region. Where that happens, a streaming stick plugged into the same television sidesteps the problem entirely for a small one-off cost.
Will a firmware update break it?
Occasionally a manufacturer update changes app behaviour. If something stops working after your television updates itself, tell us. That pattern is usually recognisable and we will have seen it on other sets.
Model check
Send us the model number on the back of the television
We will tell you whether to run it on the set itself or add a stick, before you spend anything on either.
Prefer email? Write to [email protected]. We answer 09:00 to 23:00 Irish time.