Smart TVs with inbuilt superior music hamper soundbar industry: Report

As Smart TVs come of age, key original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are using Dolby, DTS and other audio enhancement technologies in their products to bring holistic immersive experiences to users, according to a new report.

As the inbuilt audio quality has been significantly enhanced, the perceived need to add a soundbar is gradually declining as the buyers are not asking queries about soundbar integration with the Smart TV they intent to purchase, at the volumes they would do in the past, according to market research firm Techarc.

"It is in the interest of Smart TV OEMs to enhance inbuilt audio quality complementing the screen experience as that would reduce the desire and need to add a soundbar, which is often purchased from a very fragmented market where a check on standardisation and quality control becomes an uphill task," said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst.

An inferior addition of soundbar to a great quality Smart TV will result in overall dissatisfaction as the user would not be able to make distinction between the standalone Smart TV immersive quality and the overall experience delivered after adding a soundbar, he explained.

Display and audio can be seen as the two main attributes of the Smart TV which define a positive experience for users in the country

"Among the display and audio, the gap between expectations and experience for display is narrowing as the OEMs have already been working on the display panel which is today able to deliver millions of colours as well as ultra-high-definition picture quality," said the report.

Smart TV OEMs are now, not only adding a greater number of speakers or the speaker output power, but also enhancing the audio experience through enhancements like Dolby and DTS.