Skype on TV Skype on Samsung TVs

The Skype application sits among the other web-based widgets on the Samsung Internet@TV menu

To use the Skype application that is available through some Samsung TVs, you'll need to buy the Freetalk HD TALK-7180 webcam, which costs around £150.

The magnetic camera is easy to set up and the USB cable is long enough for you to be able to position the camera anywhere along the top of the TV while it's plugged into one of the TV's USB ports.

Once connected, accessing the Skype application automatically detects the camera, unfortunately it's not possible to check the camera's quality or positioning until you make a live skype video call.

The settings of the camera can't be tinkered with manually, so brightness, saturation and white balance are all automatically configured.

We looked at this feature on the C8000. Read the Samsung C8000 review here.

Audio and video quality

Both the audio and video quality of a Skype call were good, although the speed of your broadband connection will also be a major influence. At 1280x720 resolution the camera qualifies as HD, however we didn't find it to be a good as the Panasonic Skype service that we looked at.

Users are able to watch regular TV while remaining logged onto Skype and accept any incoming calls

The microphone has automatic gain control, which helps it to pick up speech - even at a distance. The adjustments were quite harsh, however, and sentences had an abrupt ending when the gain seemed to be reduced too quickly. This gave conversations a slightly unnatural sound and was somewhat distracting.

The volume of the TV isn't restricted to reduce feedback during a call as it was on the Panasonic, however, it automatically reduces when any feedback occurs.

Find out more about internet on TVs in our IPTV report.

Receiving a Skype call

Users are able to remain logged into their Skype accounts so they continue watching regular TV and be alerted to any incoming calls. When receiving a call, the options are to take the video call, take an audio-only call or to reject the call.

Pros: Easy connection and set up, nice design

Cons: Camera quality isn't great, no manual camera adjustments, harsh automatic gain control, only compatible with Samsung TVs with Skype feature