What is an NFTs on television and what does it do for you?
What are NFTs
Before we dive into televisions, it is good to first understand broadly what NFTs are. It is a non-fungible token, a unique piece of data that is stored in the blockchain (a kind of digital chain of computers). For example, a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin is also stored in the blockchain, but the difference with an NFT is that the latter is unique. If you sell a Bitcoin and buy a Bitcoin in return, you basically have the same item.
If you buy an NFT, you -and only you- own a digital object. This could be, for example, the YouTube video Charlie Bit My Finger (which was sold digitally as NFT for EUR 620,000), but also one of the monkey pictures of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which is now very popular. Everyone has their own monkey picture and can show online that they own this digital piece of art.
And that’s also the best way to view NFTs: it’s the way to buy digital art. Appropriation is especially important here, because in principle anyone can click on the picture of your monkey with the right mouse button and save it on their computer and use it themselves. The point is that you represent online that you have paid so much money for this NFT. For example, the monkeys are often seen as profile photos on social media. Twitter has even developed a whole new profile picture for it that is hexagonal and with which you can even prove that you are the rightful owner.
NFTs on television
NFTs are booming in popularity with one big company after another doing something with them. While NFTs and cryptocurrency are sometimes confused, they are not the same. They do have a lot to do with each other, because you buy NFTs with cryptocurrencies. These tokens are a very good medium for artists to still sell their art, especially in a time when many lockdowns are taking place. Many artists have therefore started making NFTs in the past period in order to earn (extra) money.
The link with cryptocurrency is clear, but what does an NFT have to do with a TV? Since CES 2022 a lot. During this consumer electronics fair, the first television-based NFT platform was announced by Samsung. This means that NFT technology will be added to Samsung’s televisions. It is therefore not a special device that you buy, but it is added to the future televisions of the South Korean brand.
The idea of using a television for NFTs is because you may want to view the virtual artworks in more ways than just as a profile picture on a social medium. You may want to use your television as a sort of large digital picture frame with your NFT on it as the ‘painting’. Yet there is more. In Samsung’s case, the NFT platform is an app that provides a platform for both buying and trading digital artworks. This is possible in future Micro-LED, Neo QLED and The Frame devices of the brand.
NFTs on television – Samsung and LG
It is still unknown whether Samsung wants to earn money from it itself, or that it lets all the proceeds go to the artists via the app. The app is quite extensive with explanations about the history of NFTs, plus the purchase history of the account. Thanks to the app, the screen settings are automatically adjusted to the NFT.
In return for TheVerge says Samsung: “As the demand for NFTs grows, the need for a solution to the viewing and buying landscape is greater than ever. In 2022, Samsung will introduce the world’s first TV screen-based NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator. It’s a groundbreaking platform that allows you to view, buy and display your favorite art – all in one place.” Samsung has teamed up with Nifty Gateway for this, where more than 6,000 pieces of art from more than 400 artists can be found.
There’s a lot of money going on in the NFT market, so it’s no wonder that big companies want to take advantage of it. Some NFT projects are worth more than a billion euros and some individual NFTs even several millions. In addition to Samsung, LG has also noticed that it is currently a huge hype and that is why it is also jumping on that train with its own NFT platform for its OLED TVs. Further details are not yet known, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t with Samsung and LG stays.
