Not so fast.
The Apple TV he had bought to view his digital video wouldn't support the format of the videos he had stored on his computer. So he had to first convert the files.
"It was definitely cumbersome, and I probably dedicated many more hours than I should have (converting)," says Perez. "All I want to do is show my videos, pictures and music on any TV in the house."
ZeeVee is just one of a number of startup companies that will be introducing set-top boxes or software in the coming weeks that will let consumers see on TV their digital photos, videos and other content from their personal computers or the Internet. While Internet-connected set-top boxes have been available for years, the companies say these latest products are sleeker, more affordable and easier to use. And many of the newer technologies claim to work with far more digital formats that existing devices.
Still, there are limits to these new set-top boxes. There are myriad formats and encryption methods for videos on the Web and on computers, meaning some videos may still not be accessible. And there's plenty of competition in the field, furthering the confusion.
Device makers are trying to tap into a small-but-growing market for Internet-enabled set-top boxes. The number of households with a device enabling Internet video on their TV is expected to increase worldwide to 300 million in 2012 from about 45 million last year, according to IMS Research.
Perhaps more important, they are responding to a desire among consumers to combine activities conducted online with watching television. A 2007 survey from market researcher Yankee Group found that nearly 62 percent of all people surf the Web on their computers while watching TV. But among 13- to 17-year-olds, the percentage is 73 percent; of the viewers between ages 18 and 24, 72 percent surf while watching TV, according to the survey.
Another set-top technology expected to be released this summer is from Icron Technologies Corp. The Burnaby, Canada, company plans to sell a chipset to set-top box manufacturers and others that connects to the computer's high-speed USB port to display the PC screen on a TV set. The box would transmit the data wirelessly or over the electrical wiring in the home. Robert Eisses, chief executive of Icron, says a device using the chipset should sell for about $300.
And a set-top box called the Pod bypasses the PC altogether, for those who mainly want to watch Web video. It will allow viewers to search the Internet and stream online videos directly onto their TV sets. Made by Verismo Networks Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., the Pod is expected to be available in August for $99. Prakash Bhalerao, the start-up's chief executive, says the Pod comes with a program guide and search functions to help viewers find and play almost any video on the Internet.
Instead of set-top hardware, some companies are introducing software that lets viewers use a remote control to easily see their videos when their PC is connected to their television.
A New York-based start-up named Boxee last month started letting consumers download a version of its free software for Apple Inc.'s Macintosh computers. Consumers who download the software and connect their computer to the TV using a special cable can play personal digital content, such as movies and music, as well as see content on the Web. Boxee says its software will be available on PCs running Windows later this year.
Similar to Boxee is OSXBMC, a free, open-source software program designed for Macs. In April, Chris Pirvan, a San Francisco-based engineer, downloaded OSXBMC and installed it onto a Mac mini, a compact and low-cost personal computer that is connected to his TV. Pirvan says he mainly wants to access digital copies of television shows he has stored on a connected storage device as well as Google Inc.'s popular video site YouTube.
Developers of Boxee and OSXBMC, which this month was rebranded Plex, say the programs play more formats than rival products directly from Apple, such as Front Row and Apple TV. Apple declined to comment for this article.
For those who already subscribe to set-top services, expansion to the Internet is on the way. TiVo Inc., which makes digital video recorders, has been steadily adding Web content to its set-top boxes since the start of this year, including YouTube, which it added last week. In March, TiVo released its Desktop Plus software for $25 that when installed on a PC can translate many formats of Internet video to play on TiVo and then send it to the set-top box.
Netflix Inc. and Vudu Inc. both use set-top boxes to stream movies over the Internet to a subscribers' television, but the titles are restricted to the companies' movie databases. This month, Netflix and Microsoft Corp. inked a deal where owners of the Xbox 360 can use the videogame console to stream movies and other programming from the Internet to their TVs.
Research still indicates that the idea of connecting a PC to the TV seems a daunting and cumbersome task for most consumers. According to a 2007 study of 2000 U.S. homes conducted by Parks Associates, a market researcher, just 2.5 percent had a PC connected to a TV in the living room.
That's one of the reasons television manufacturers are making the sets themselves Internet accessible. Companies such as Panasonic Corp. of North America, Sony Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. in recent months have added Web content to their Internet-connected TVs. Panasonic launched a series of flat-panel TVs in May that can access YouTube. Since the start of the year, Sony has added YouTube and CBS to its list of Internet offerings for TV owners.
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