With connected TV penetration now topping 20 percent worldwide, according...

Internet, according to a report from NPD DisplaySearch. Many of the technical hurdles of connected TV have been solved, and next phases will focus on consumer behavior -- including how people want to interact with their TVs -- the value of apps and whether consumers are willing to pay for services, DisplaySearch said. The U.S., at 40 percent penetration, trails Western Europe at almost 50 percent and China at just over 45 percent, according to DisplaySearch. “Penetration has been low in North America, despite the success of internet-based entertainment,” DisplaySearch said. North American consumers want “large but minimally featured sets,” a pattern that followed U.S. adoption of 3D and LED backlight TVs as well, it said. The most valued connected functions for TVs are video-related and offer “lean-back entertainment very much like TV viewing,” DisplaySearch said. Those apps need to be different from those for mobile devices and need to focus on viewing from a distance instead of location-based applications, it said. The most popular apps either directly access content to watch, or they complement viewing by providing context or more depth to TV content, it said. Connected TVs will also require adapted user interfaces to “interact with a screen on the other side of the room” that doesn’t have a touch screen, DisplaySearch said. It could lead to an “arms race” of new interface solutions, or the need might be filled by tablet or smartphone apps, it said.