Every year we spend more time on the Internet and less time watching TV and this trend isn’t slowing down. The younger demographic typically spends even more time on the Internet than watching TV. There are a lot of contributing factors including the plethora of Internet devices, the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, and the amazing growth of excellent content. When at home why not view some of that content on your best viewing device – your big flat screen TV? Especially when watching videos or films, why huddle around your computer, tablet, or Smartphone? There are many simple ways to stream that content to your TV. Here is a Reader’s Digest description of a few of them.
Smart TV’s
If you have a Smart TV, then you can media stream on it without any other devices. More and more of the newer TV models (and sales) are Smart TV’s because the demand for streaming continues to grow. If you have a Smart TV are you taking full advantage of it? Most will not only allow you to stream from the Internet but also from your computer, tablet, flash drives, and more so you can see your home videos and photos and other content that might not be on their Smart platform.
If you don’t have a Smart TV, here are some excellent devices that will make it Smart to do Internet Streaming and more.
Game Consoles
Most ardent gamers know that their game consoles will do a lot more than play video games. PS4 and XBOX One are not only a gaming devices but also blu-ray players and Internet Streaming devices. The Internet streaming capabilities are excellent as Sony and Microsoft have expanded their Game Consoles to be full entertainment units. Their Smart platforms are impressive with the ability to manage your entire entertainment experience, and stream an unlimited amount of content.
Blu-Ray
Just like the game consoles above are Blu-Ray players and more, Blu-Ray players have evolved to be much more. I recently did a on a number of excellent Blu-Ray players that are all Internet streaming devices. There are so many excellent choices and some are even 3D Blu-Ray players that will do 2D to 3D conversion so you can take full advantage if you have a 3D HDTV.
Streaming Boxes
The big names in streaming boxes are and Apple, but there are a lot of other excellent streaming boxes to choose from. Brand names like , Panasonic, Western Digital, Philips, and D-Link; to name a few. Streaming boxes are typically very small (fit in the palm of your hand), very inexpensive, and easy to set up. They typically come with full Wi-Fi connectivity as well as an Ethernet connection in order to get to the Internet. Depending on the box you choose will determine the features, but all of them give you access to wide variety of content like Netflix, YouTube, CinemaNow and lots of specialty channels, games, sports, news, etc. In addition they typically stream personal content from your computer, tablet, or Smartphone.
Computer
Using your computer is possibly the simplest way to stream on to your TV. Regardless of what kind of TV you have you should be able to find a way to easily connect your computer to your TV. Connecting to your TV depends on the type of output connections your computer has and input connections that your TV has. Most new computers now come with an HDMI or mini-HDMI connection so you could just use an HDMI cable. Most computers (except Apple) also have a VGA connection as do a lot of HDTV’s so using a VGA cable makes it easy. Whatever you have, you should be able to find a converter that works. For instance, you can get a converter that takes a VGA connection from your computer to an HDMI TV connection. Apple also has a lot of cable converters available for different devices.
Simplicity
If you aren’t familiar with Internet or Media “Streaming” and it sounds too complicated, there is no reason at all to be intimidated. The setup of any of these boxes with your TV is extremely simple. You just use one of the HDMI or other connections on your TV and hook it to your computer, game console, Blu-ray player or streaming box and that box easily connects into your home Internet network either using WiFi or directly through an Ethernet cable. All the devices have clear and simple instructions on how to find the Internet content and play it on your TV. You have just dramatically increased the usefulness of your TV.
If you are still not sure, Geek Squad can help. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. There are all sorts of other wonderful things you can do like use your TV for Skype video calls, surf the Internet, play games, and more. Enjoy!
