A televisionaccessory (TV accessory) is an accessory that is used in conjunction with a television (TV) or other compatible display devices and is intended to either improve the user experience or to offer new possibilities of using it.
It is difficult to say when the very first TV accessory was invented or when it hit the consumer market.
The first TV accessory with which owners could actively influence the content displayed on the screen in real time was the Magnavox Odyssey, the first commercial home video game console, released in September 1972 by Magnavox for a list price of $99.95. [1]
One of the first TV accessories that could record TV programs available for consumers was the Clie Pega-VR100K by Sony, released on October 9, 2003, for a list price of $479.99. [2]
As of 2017, TV accessories are a rapidly growing market which is expected to grow even more rapidly in the near future. [3] Some of the most popular manufacturers of TV accessories include Sony, Magnavox, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Samsung, Google as well as many independent third-party suppliers.
A soundbar (also called sound bar or media bar) is a type of loudspeaker that projects audio from a wide enclosure. Soundbars are one of the most popular TV accessories because they are affordable, very easy to install and a relatively large upgrade compared to other accessories, offering much better sound than most integrated TV loudspeakers. [4] [5] [6]
A universal remote is a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of consumer electronics devices.
On May 30, 1985, Philips introduced the first universal remote (U.S. Pat. #4774511) under the Magnavox brand name. [7] In 1985, Robin Rumbolt, William "Russ" McIntyre, and Larry Goodson with North American Philips Consumer Electronics (Magnavox, Sylvania, and Philco) developed the first universal remote control.
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming video delivered over the Internet. Most TVs today are smart TVs, meaning that they can connect to the Internet to use different functions. [8] However, since there are many different TV manufacturers that use different inferfaces for these functions, this may be confusing for some users. [8] A dedicated streaming box like an Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick or PlayStation TV offers a universal user experience across all TV brands. [8] An Android TV box like the Nvidia Shield TV can also run all Android apps on the Play Store and stream PC gaming content to the TV. [9]
An HDMI switch (also known as HDMI switcher or HDMI switching box) is a device that accepts input from multiple HDMI sources and sends the signal you select to your HDTV via an HDMI cable. [10] When they also support USB devices, they are KVM switches.
A home video game console is a type of video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. In contrast to many other TV accessories that improve the user experience, a home video game console offers new possibilities of using a TV, meaning that users of such can not only determine what should be shown on the television screen, but also actively influence it in real time.
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a television or other display devices and controlled with a separate game controller, or handheld consoles, which include their own display unit and controller functions built into the unit and which can be played anywhere. Hybrid consoles combine elements of both home and handheld consoles.
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September 1972 and overseas the following year. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two rectangular controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots and one line of varying height on the screen in monochrome black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. Players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements for each game, and one or two players for each game control their dots with the knobs and buttons on the controller by the rules given for the game. The console cannot generate audio or track scores. The Odyssey console came packaged with dice, paper money, and other board game paraphernalia to accompany the games, while a peripheral controller—the first video game light gun—was sold separately.
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, to a compatible computer monitor, video projector, digital television, or digital audio device. HDMI is a digital replacement for analog video standards.
A home theater PC (HTPC) or media center computer is a convergent device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that focuses on video, photo, audio playback, and sometimes video recording functionality. Since the mid-2000s, other types of consumer electronics, including game consoles and dedicated media devices, have crossed over to manage video and music content. The term "media center" also refers to specialized application software designed to run on standard personal computers.
Digital Living Network Alliance was founded by a group of PC and consumer electronics companies in June 2003 to develop and promote a set of interoperability guidelines for sharing digital media among multimedia devices under the auspices of a certification standard. DLNA certified devices include smartphones, tablets, PCs, TV sets and storage servers.
The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), while the separate Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards are given by its sister organization the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
A video game accessory is a distinct piece of hardware that is required to use a video game console, or one that enriches the video game's play experience. Essentially, video game accessories are everything except the console itself, such as controllers, memory, power adapters (AC), and audio/visual cables. Most video game consoles come with the accessories required to play games out of the box : one A/V cable, one AC cable, and a controller. Memory is usually the most required accessory outside of these, as game data cannot be saved to compact discs. The companies that manufacture video game consoles also make these accessories for replacement purposes as well as improving the overall experience. There is an entire industry of companies that create accessories for consoles as well, called third-party companies. The prices are often lower than those made by the maker of the console (first-party). This is usually achieved by avoiding licensing or using cheaper materials. For the mobile systems like the PlayStation Portable and Game Boy iterations, there are many accessories to make them more usable in mobile environments, such as mobile chargers, lighting to improve visibility, and cases to both protect and help organize the collection of system peripherals to. Newer accessories include many home-made things like mod chips to bypass manufacturing protection or homemade software.
A universal remote is a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of consumer electronics devices. Low-end universal remotes can only control a set number of devices determined by their manufacturer, while mid- and high-end universal remotes allow the user to program in new control codes to the remote. Many remotes sold with various electronics include universal remote capabilities for other types of devices, which allows the remote to control other devices beyond the device it came with. For example, a VCR remote may be programmed to operate various brands of televisions.
Various accessories for the PlayStation 3 video game console have been produced by Sony and third-party companies. These include controllers, audio and video input devices like microphones, video cameras, and cables for better sound and picture quality.
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its second generation model, it is an HDMI-compliant source device and can only be connected to an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen television through HDMI to function.
A digital media player is a type of consumer electronics device designed for the storage, playback, or viewing of digital media content. They are typically designed to be integrated into a home cinema configuration, and attached to a television and/or AV receiver.
Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) is a consumer electronic specification for a wireless HDTV connectivity throughout the home.
Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) is a feature of HDMI designed to control HDMI connected devices by using only one remote controller; so, individual CEC enabled devices can command and control each other without user intervention, for up to 15 devices. For example, a television set remote controller can also control a set-top box and a DVD player.
UltraViolet was a cloud-based digital rights locker for films and television programs that allowed consumers to store proofs-of-purchase of licensed content in an account to enable playback on different devices using multiple applications from several different streaming services. UltraViolet also allowed users to share access to their library with up to five additional people. UltraViolet was deployed by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), an alliance of 85 companies that includes film studios, retailers, consumer electronics manufacturers, cable television companies, internet service providers (ISPs), internet hosting vendors, and other internet systems and security vendors, with the notable exceptions of Walt Disney Studios, Google, Amazon and Apple.
The eighth generation of video game consoles began in 2012, and consists of four home video game consoles: the Wii U released in 2012, the PlayStation 4 family in 2013, the Xbox One family in 2013, and the Nintendo Switch family in 2017.
Hillcrest Labs was a sensor processing technology company that developed freespace motion-control technology and the first motion-controlled remote for television. Hillcrest also invented the first graphical zoomable interface for television and Kylo, the first Web browser optimized for television. The company, based in Rockville, Maryland, was acquired by CEVA in July 2019.
Google Cast is a proprietary protocol developed by Google for playing Internet-streamed audio/video content on a compatible consumer device. The protocol is used to initiate and control playback of content on digital media players, high-definition televisions, and home audio systems using a mobile device, personal computer, or smart speaker. The protocol was first launched on July 24, 2013, to support Google's first-generation Chromecast player. The Google Cast SDK was released on February 3, 2014, allowing third parties to modify their software to support the protocol. According to Google, over 20,000 Google Cast-ready apps were available as of May 2015. Support for Google Cast has since been integrated into subsequent devices, such as the Nexus Player and other Android TV devices, as well as soundbars, speakers, and later models of the Chromecast. Consumer devices that natively support the protocol are marketed as Chromecast built-in. As of October 2017, over 55 million Chromecasts and Chromecast built-in devices have been sold.
Amazon Fire TV is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connected high-definition television. They also allow users to access local content and to play video games with the included remote control or another game controller, or by using a mobile app remote control on another device.
Electric Jukebox was a digital media player developed by The Electric Jukebox Company. Designed as a dongle, and a "Nintendo Wii style" motion-sensitive controller with a built-in microphone for voice search, the device played music audio content on a high-definition television and home audio system by directly streaming it via Wi-Fi from the Internet.
The Netflix button is a button available on many modern remote controllers, used to directly connect to the popular streaming service Netflix. It was initially implemented in America in 2011. In 2015, the button was added to European remotes. This button sends an infrared (IR) signal to the television and opens up the Netflix app. Many popular TV companies have adopted the Netflix button, including: LG, Samsung, Sony, and Hisense. Some of the TVs have made it to a list that Netflix has dubbed the "Netflix Recommended TVs". These are TVs that have a Netflix button on them which Netflix recommends to their subscribers to get the best viewing experience for their service.