Everyone enjoys the full sized images and loud blare of the home theatre system and adding internet to this device only enhances user experience. Media subscriptions like Netflix, CinemaNow, Amazon Video on-Demand, free Inter radio, Spotify, and Vudu have made this facility all the more alluring. In this techno age, the consumers are spoilt for choices by manufacturers. You can link internet to your home theatre system in a number of ways. Doing this enables you to access files in both audio and video format that have been uploaded on the internet, i.e. you can watch videos and listen on the web via your home theatre system.
1. Set-top Boxes
You can get a media streaming device that can link up with the internet. These are stand alone set top boxes. Such devices can access web information via wireless internet routers, Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Sometimes, they can also access data stored on your home PC. They are also referred to as media extenders, digital media receivers, or media servers. Some of the known brands of streaming devices are; Popcorn Hour C-200, Western Digital Media Player, Apple TV, Logitechâs Squeezebox Wi-Fi music player, and also Sonos Zoneplayer 90 which is a wireless application. With this set up you donât have to bother about keeping the PC near your TV. However, every streaming device has a partnership with different channels. So you will have to take your pick from Flickr, CinemaNow, free Inter radio, Pandora, or Hulu Plus.
2. Connect with Computer
The easiest way to integrate internet with your TV is to connect it to your PC or laptop. For this, your home theater system should have a PC monitor input connection, also known as VGA. The other device you will need is a VGA cable. You can also use a USB-to-HDMI or a VGA-to-HDMI converter to hook up the device with your HDTV. This way you can even view so many VOD services. Also, data stored on your PC can be accessed. However, while using this set up you are relying on your PCâs video card. The quality of images displayed will depend on the quality of the video card on your PC.
3. Get TiVo
With this application you can view videos and webcasts available online. Also, you can listen to free music uploaded on the web. The DVR solution or digital video recorder makes this possible as it can connect to the local area network on your computer. Thus, making it possible to view, record and save online content. The digitized content online can be recorded onto a hard disk and then you can watch it whenever you want. In fact, the latest TiVo Premiere provides connection to You Tube, Rhapsody, Netflix, and Amazon Video On-Demand and can also play music stored on your PC.
4. Blu-Ray
A Blu-ray player enabled with internet connectivity can also be used to integrate internet to your home theater. If your Blu-ray player has a built in Wi-Fi or Ethernet then it can access your home network connection also. And very soon Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray players will flood the market.
5. Gaming Systems
If you are into games then take out your video game consoles and sync them with your home theater system. Among many others, PS3 and Xbox 360 can easily connect to the internet. Xbox LIVE is one of the best choices if youâre going to use internet a lot on your TV.
6. Home Theater Receiver
Built-in internet access on home theater receivers makes accessing online data real easy. You can opt to incorporate internet radio and also audio as well as video streaming devices to this receiver. However, these can be expensive and most are not good at streaming video content.
7. Cable Services
There are numerous cable and satellite services that offer the option of viewing content on your home theater system by streaming it. However, as with all other contraptions, they do not offer access to all channels. In fact, most of them provide their own online content. A few such services are Xfinity by Comcast and TV Apps by DirecTV.
8. Buy an Internet Enabled TV
If you havenât yet purchased a home theater system, the best advice is to buy one that already has facility of accessing online data. Most of the known manufacturers like Samsung, Panasonic and LG are selling televisions that can access internet. Of course, you can view only the channels slotted in by the TV then.
