Hulu is quickly becoming one of the Internet’s most popular and profitable video sites, as it’s one of the only sites supported by multiple major television and movie studios that legally offers the ability to stream high definition content to computers, with only a few commercials per hour of programming breaking up the shows. For this reason, lots of people wonder whether it’s possible to send Hulu to a TV, and there’s good news–it’s certainly possible, and in fact it’s not that hard to do.
Here’s a look at a few ways to get Hulu playing on your television set.
Game Systems – Many of the folks reading this have an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3. If you’re hip to the Hulu craze, chances are fairly good that you’re into gaming at least casually. What you might not have known is that both of these systems support video streaming, and you can even stream Internet videos with the right third party software. Enter PlayOn, a recently introduced program that streams Hulu (along with several other stations like CBS) straight to your TV through your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Simply set up media sharing on your console and install the program on your computer to get it working. You’ll need a fast connection and a very fast computer, since it basically turns your PC into a server, but it’s a great way to easily get shows in very high quality to your television.
Computers – It stands to reason that if you can play something on a computer, you can play it on your television if you’ve got the right video outs. There are a variety of ways to output video from a desktop to a television, but the easiest is a video conversion card with RCA jacks which go right into most television sets. It won’t be digital quality, but it’ll certainly function. Simply hit full-screen and you’ve got Hulu on your TV. However, unless you’re in the habit of moving your computer around regularly, this might require some investment to have a computer sitting next to your TV set at all times.
You can also use the S-Video port on a laptop to send video out to a television, and if you can play Hulu on your laptop, then you can play it on your TV. The cable you need will depend on how your television takes video, but you’ll generally start with a male S-video to something else (hey, sometimes you can just use a standard S-Video cable).
Unfortunately, third party hardware like Apple TV does not currently support Hulu, but it’s certainly capable of running the site. Time will tell if Hulu actually sponsors a way to get its content out to a television set, but until then, using a computer or game system isn’t too much of a hassle.
Do you know of any other ways to get Hulu to a TV? Post in our comments section below.
