Display technology has historically improved/changed at a slower rate than signal generation technology. Additionally display technology was significantly higher and slower to decrease cost than most signal generators such as VCRs/DVRs/game consoles/etc. Thus beyond minor commodity signal generation such as a TV receiver it makes sense to separate the two at a component level.
This user behavior has been guided by two past trends: A. in the transition from analog to digital TV signals many display makers separated the TV receiver function; B. by the time makers integrated VCRs the world had moved on to DVD which made the integrated VCR a waste product that could not be disposed of without refreshing the display.
Are the signal generation components of "Smart TVs" similar to the analog TV tuner, slow to change and nearly always needed, or are they like the VCR which was integrated right at a signal generator change?
On the other hand, I suspect that displays are adding more general computing for the purpose of scaling, color representations, decryption, etc even without the components that provide "smart" functions. As a result scaling them to include smart functions as software functions is low hanging fruit. I wonder if display computation architecture is common enough to support a user/hobbyist controlled OS.
This user behavior has been guided by two past trends: A. in the transition from analog to digital TV signals many display makers separated the TV receiver function; B. by the time makers integrated VCRs the world had moved on to DVD which made the integrated VCR a waste product that could not be disposed of without refreshing the display.
Are the signal generation components of "Smart TVs" similar to the analog TV tuner, slow to change and nearly always needed, or are they like the VCR which was integrated right at a signal generator change?
On the other hand, I suspect that displays are adding more general computing for the purpose of scaling, color representations, decryption, etc even without the components that provide "smart" functions. As a result scaling them to include smart functions as software functions is low hanging fruit. I wonder if display computation architecture is common enough to support a user/hobbyist controlled OS.
http://linuxgizmos.com/linux-continues-advance-in-smart-tv-m...