The Underestimated Over-The-Top Device: The PC

Attention Google TV, Apple TV, Boxee, TiVo, XBox, Bravia: It’s no use. Make way for an old-fashioned solution to Internet-connected TV that may be more prevalent than you might assume: the PC.

A new study from TDG Research found some surprising persistence to consumers who link their laptops or desktops to their TV screens as a means of viewing Internet video. It’s a counterintuitive notion to say the least given all the aforementioned players that are attempting more sophisticated, seamless solutions. And when you look at the numbers a little closer, there may not be much to this. One-third of adult broadband users surveyed used some form of PC-to-TV connection at least once a year, TDG found. What that infrequency may suggest more than anything is that every once in a while there’s a video experience that makes the most sense to take in on a bigger screen, like a high-definition film. The research further breaks down the PC-to-TV market into four segments, with just 16.8 percent of them using that solution on a daily basis.