Stream Your Video

I’m a big fan of watching movies and television shows on my computer. I’m an even bigger fan of watching them on my nice HD television that dwarfs my computer monitor. Finding a way to watch them on my television was easier than I thought, and it absolutely rocks. This post isn’t an advertisement. I know lots of people are aware of these programs already, I’m just trying to share a bit of info for those who were lost like me.

There are a few different options to stream video content from your PC to your console, but I’ve only tried two and I’ve stuck with one, so that’s what I’ll chat about.

The first is called TVersity. This is a free program that lets you share a ton of different video formats over your network. Both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 (among other things) can pick this up and stream the video for you to your television. The quality’s surprisingly good and it’s easy to use although it is a bit limited in the feature range. You can get this running smoothly on a PSP or iPhone which if this is what you’re looking for may make this the top choice. I ran this for quite a while before I found the next program.

PlayOn. Now this isn’t 100% free. While there is a trial version of the application, it does require registration and a fee after 14 days. The upside is that unlike TVersity it supports quite a bit more and has a few bonus additions. Like Hulu? You can stream it through PlayOn. Enjoy Netflix but don’t have an Xbox 360 to use their streaming capability? PlayOn will let you stream to your PS3. Amazon’s VOD service is being implemented. Free plugins have added streaming support for AdultSwim, the Cartoon Network and South Park Central to name a few. Every South Park episode for free at any time and it’s legal. Very cool. It also has support for more video formats than TVersity including MKV and Flash. Honestly, this is the easier $40 I’ve dropped in a long time. It’s freaking stellar.

Both will let you stream your music collection. If you have an amazing stereo hook-up at your TV stand this may be something to check out. I have terrible speakers, so that’s not a big deal although a cool idea.

If you have an original Xbox and don’t mind a little bit of work you can convert the whole thing to a media server that will do most of this. Check out XBMC for the easiest and by far snazziest way to get this done.

TVersity’s great if you’re on a budget and just want to stream your Divx, Xvid or WMV flicks or television shows from your PC. If you’re looking for a bit more definitely give PlayOn a trial run. Wii users take heart, these are being worked on for you too!

Add comment August 11th, 2009