Nowadays most of us have an ever growing collection of movies and video files stored on our computers. While the storage of our video files and movies on our PC’s is certainly easier than storing 100’s of VHS video tapes, DVD’s or Blu-ray’s it does generate the problem of being able to watch the movies that are stored on out PC computers on our TV’s.
Well, streaming video from your PC to your TV is nowhere near as difficult as you might think. It is actually quite easy to setup and does not really require much in the way of technical computer knowledge.
This guide will show you how to stream video from your PC to your TV.
When it comes to streaming video or movies from your PC to your television you are going to need to decide which is the way you are going to connect the two together. There are several ways to connect your computer to your television and most of them depend upon the location of your PC and the location of your TV.
Streaming Over a Network Connection.
Like most people it is most likely that your PC and your TV are in different rooms of your house which means you will need to connect them through the use of a network connection either wired (Ethernet) or wireless.
If you do not have a home network then you will need to set one up. If you have the time and money the best way to go is by installing a proper wired connection using Ethernet cable. This is the fastest way of transferring data between machines which is important especially if the video or movies you are streaming happen to be in high definition. Another option is to create a home network with the use of a special system which uses the existent power lines that go around your house. This will transmit data from your computer to the nearest electrical socket and then through the electrical cables in your house and then to each and every electrical socket in your house. This system can be bought from Amazon.
You can also use a wireless connection to stream video and movies from your PC to your TV. Wireless streaming does work but it is worth mentioning that is not the most reliable or fastest method especially if you are streaming high definition content.
Media Streamer.
A media streamer is quite simply a device that you streams video from your PC and displays it on your TV. It connects to your PC through a wired Ethernet connection or a wireless connection and then connects to your TV in the same way that you connect a DVD player or Blu-ray player. Instead of going to a DVD menu and selecting play you navigate to the menu of the streamer, select the movie or video file you wish to play and it will then play on your TV.
Amazon
Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
Most of the latest video games consoles including Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 actually double as DVD players and Blu-ray players. They are also able to stream movies directly from your PC to your TV. This is why you have probably heard of people asking how to stream video from your PC to your Xbox 360.
Both consoles can be connected to either a wired or wireless network and in turn connected to your PC. It is also possible with these consoles to stream movies directly from the internet and services such as Netflix or Lovefilm.
Network Enabled TV.
The latest television sets that are hitting the shelves lately are known as smart TV’s. These TV’s have the ability to connect to a network through a wired or wireless connection and can stream movies and video files directly from your Pc or your network hard drive. Such TV’s also offer streaming services from services such as Netflix and Lovefilm and have the ability to surf the internet and access sites such as YouTube.
Connecting Your PC Directly to your TV.
If your PC and your TV or in the same room and close to each other you may wish to connect your PC directly to your TV in a similar way to which you connect your DVD or Blu-ray player to your TV.
This is a pretty easy task and can be done by using certain ports on the rear of your TV to certain ports on the rear of your PC.
Examples of how this is done are as follows :-
- HDMI to HDMI
- DVI to HDMI
- Phono to S-Video
- S-Video to S-Video
- VGA to VGA
If you choose to connect your PC to your TV in this way when it comes to streaming the video to your TV it is a simple case of playing the video file on your PC and selecting the correct source on the TV and hey presto.
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