Internet-enabled TVs let you do everything from watch YouTube videos and check the weather to listen to music on Pandora. If you have an HDTV without Internet capability, you can add equipment to your existing set that will let you do many of the same things. There are several options for adding Internet capability to your TV.
Connecting your TV to the Internet
If you love movies and want to get the most out of your HDTV, a Blu-ray player is a must. Many of today's devices have access to Internet content, including YouTube videos, movies from Netflix, and music from Pandora. Internet-enabled Blu-ray players typically don't give you as much online content as an Internet-enabled TV, but they do come with some of the most popular Web widgets and can be purchased for as little as $150.
Most popular video game systems connect to the Internet, giving you access to a variety of online content. The PlayStation 4 is our favorite in this regard. It allows you to download and stream pay-per-view movies and TV shows, as well as content from Netflix. It also has a full web browser that can take you to all of your favorite sites. The Xbox One also offers Netflix streaming. As with most Internet-enabled home theater units (including TVs), video game systems don’t have everything on the Internet, but they do a pretty good job of bringing some of the most popular features to your flat screen.
You can buy a number of standalone boxes that stream web content to your TV. Roku boxes are among the most popular, and can stream movies from a variety of sources, play music from Pandora, show photos from Flickr, and more. NBC even has a Roku app that lets you livestream the Olympics every two years.
