Jordan O'BrienNetflix has expanded its ‘Recommended TVs’ programme globally, with 2016 being the first year it has launched outside the US. To celebrate the release, the movie and TV streaming service has revealed the first recommended TVs of 2016 – and they come from LG and Sony.
The goal of the Netflix Recommended TV logo is to help people easily identify which devices meet those needs and deliver a superior smart TV experience. Unfortunately for Samsung, while it has improved its smart TV UI heavily in 2016, it doesn’t appear to be enough for Netflix.
What’s more Netflix has revealed that any TV that it recommended in 2015 would no longer meet the stricter criteria required in 2016. Netflix says that its 2016 recommended TVs require more features than ever to make the video streaming experience as pleasurable as possible.
This includes Instant On so that the TV wakes quickly and Internet TV services and smart menu features are ready to use right away, as well as TV Resume, which means when Netflix was the last used app, the TV comes right back to Netflix when turned back on again—just like smartphones and tablets do today. The TVs also need to deliver faster performance and easier access to the most popular services.
The Sony models that made the cut all boast Android TV, the same software used by Philips on its smart TVs. LG on the other hand achieved Netflix’s standards using its own WebOS operating system.
The TVs making the cut are as follows:
LG – C6 | G6 | E6 | UH6100 | UH6300 | UH6500 | UH8500 | UH9500
Sony – X850D | X930D | X940D series
Last year’s recommended TVs came from the likes of Hisense, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp and Vizio – all of which have not yet received a recommendation in 2016.
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