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IETV: One more screen size to consider

posted by Video

More than a year ago, we blogged about the emergence of Internet-enabled televisions (IETVs). New data has surfaced since then, so we thought we'd give you an update.

Investment banking firm Piper Jaffray estimates that out of the 220 million flat-panel TVs that will be sold in 2012, 106 million (48 percent) will actually be connected to the Internet. Another statistic from Parks Associates, also quoted by Mashable, says the number of high-definition television sets shipping with an Internet connection will rise to 76 percent by 2015. There are also rumors that Apple is working on a TV set to launch sometime in 2012. This could possibly bring iOS applications to TV sets.

TVs can be connected to the Internet a number of ways. It could have a built-in connection (either Wi-Fi or Ethernet), it could come through a Blu-ray player, gaming console or a dedicated over-the-top (OTT) box such as Roku, Boxee or Apple TV. We've noticed that more devices are now shipping with Wi-Fi capabilities, increasing the chance for consumers to actually connect them considering they are unlikely to have access to a wired connection near their TV sets.

Within those platforms, content can be delivered two ways: dedicated widgets (like the Yahoo! Connected TV platform that comes on with some name-brand sets) or with a built-in Web browser. Just as with mobile, marketers will have to make decisions on where to invest money on this platform: widgets (like apps), optimized websites or both. Here are some points on each:

Dedicated widgets

Good for a specific task like social interaction while watching other TV programming. This can also be e-commerce. For example, a consumer could be watching a sitcom and an alert comes up giving them a link to purchase the dress being worn by the lead actress directly from their couch.
Limited audience due to their somewhat proprietary nature. For example, if you create a Yahoo! TV widget, it wouldn't work on Boxee.
Although specific to platforms, the coding behind them utilizes common Web standards.

Optimized website

In theory, these can reach a broader audience because most of the browsers on the devices are based on WebKit standards (the same used by iOS, Android, Safari, Firefox, etc.) and don't require the user to browse a "store" to find and install your widget.
At the moment, fewer devices are shipping with full browsers than widget capabilities.
Can be thought of as another screen size when developing your new website (desktop, mobile, tablet, TV).

Considerations
If you go the optimized-website route, special design considerations need to be made to ensure a good user experience. The term "10-foot experience" refers to the practice of creating an interface that can be viewed from 10-feet-away and primarily with the D-pad on a remote.

Just as with mobile, you need to consider that users won't be reading everything on your website on their TV. Ironically, your largest and smallest screens will probably have the least information. Consider the main points of information people would be looking for in this environment. This will be specific to your business, but could likely include video because consumers would have a great, high-quality screen to experience it on. Other considerations regarding color usage, font sizes and proper margins (to compensate for over-scan) should also be made.

YouTube Screenshot

While most marketers probably aren't ready to jump into this new platform yet, with those stats we think they should at least keep it on their radar, especially on the B2C side. At thunder::tech, we are keeping an eye on this growing new screen size in regards to how it will fit into the marketing mix moving forward.

About the author:
Matt Stevens is the manager of multimedia services and a graphic designer at thunder::tech. When he doesn't have a camera on his shoulder, he's probably swimming, biking or running (aka training for a triathlon). He also considers himself a proud "tree hugger."

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