Smart TVs are TVs which connect directly to the internet and while sales of these connected TVs is booming, it seems as if the people buying them don't know what they are buying.

A YouGov survey of the UK's TV habits has revealed that only half (53 percent) of Smart TV owners could tell you what a Smart TV is, while only 25 percent of Smart TV owners have never used it to connect to the internet.

The survey reports that only one third (37 percent) of Britons planning to buy a Smart TV said that connecting to the internet through it was a factor in buying one. The most common reason for intending to buy a Smart TV is simply having a more up-to-date TV - cited by 50 percent of potential purchasers.

Dan Brilot, YouGov's Media Consulting Director: "The 'smart' part of a Smart TV is not yet the main reason people are buying them; it's more about future-proofing their TV set in the same way that lots of people bought HD TVs even before HD channels were available."

Sony currently has a slender lead over Samsung in terms of Smart TV market share. However, like its mobile division overtaking Nokia as the biggest seller of mobile phones in the world, the South Korean firm is likely to top this list very soon, with both companies currently having about one third of the market each.

Another interesting result of the survey reveals that a quarter of those surveyed are planning on buying an Apple television, a product which doesn't yet exist and has not been confirmed by the manufacturer itself.

Having a 25 percent share of the Smart TV market before even launching a product is a pretty big achievement, even for Apple who last week continued its recent trend for announcing record profits.

Apple is said to be preparing to launch an Apple television, or iTV, which will incorporate the features of an Apple TV set top box into a slim and stylish television set.

Brilot said: "Sony is seen as the quality or premium brand favoured by the early tech adopters (late-20 or 30-something men) but Samsung is the brand working the hardest and most successfully to bring Smart TV to the masses through its advertising campaigns as well as leading the way in the availability of apps on the sets."

Brilot added: "Although nine in ten Smart TV owners are satisfied with them, one thing all manufacturers need to focus on is the user interface. This feature has the biggest disparity between importance and performance."

Smart TVs give users access to a range of services and apps, including BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Skype and web browsers plus a host of other on demand TV and movie services.

Samsung Sony