HP just announced an upgrade that should bring all of the entertainment that the computer has to offer to MediaSmart TV owners.
The upgrade is adding a spiffy feature to the web-enabled 1080p LCD line—the ability to hook up to PCs with Microsoft’s Media Center Extender. That means that users will also be able to snag content on those Vista PCs, to view on the HDTV.
In other words, you can go big (and bright) with pictures, videos and music, as well as online services and on-demand TV.
“Consumers everywhere want new ways to discover, enjoy and share digital entertainment and HP is making this opportunity real,” said Carlos Montalvo, vice president of marketing and services, Connected Entertainment Business, HP. “With the ability to use a premium HDTV to easily access on-demand web and personal media from any PC in the home, there’s never been a more fun time to hang out in the living room with friends and family.”
The firmware update is being offer to owners of MediaSmart TV models SL4278 and SL4778, and will be part of newer sets.
Extender for Windows Media Center will also be included in HP’s upcoming MediaSmart Connect product, which should be available later this year.
Ah I see. Yes, having the extender built into the TV would be a definite change. This could allow a clean design with no apparent external hookups if you do not have your TV hooked up to anything else (like amp, receiver, dvd player, etc.). My own system has a flat panel in a beautiful huge cabinet, and I do have a number of peripherals hooked up (Satellite/PVR, DVD player, HTPC, Wii, etc.)
Hey Scott: I am not entirely sure about the older models, but the new TVs will have Extender for Windows Media Center built into the TV… so there’s no real hook up. It can be done wired over a network or wireless. I guess they just want to make the option available to people that already bought the TV as well.
I missed how this is any different from hooking up any digital television to a home theater pc??? I have a htpc hooked up to my Samsung 1080p and can watch movies, play music through the XP MCE interface (among others), view pictures, play pc games, surf the web, etc… and so can many other people out there with their htpc setups. All I needed in addition to the pc was a less than $5 DVI - HDMI adapter and an HDMI cable. What am I missing?
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Rocky, Maybe I can suggest some glasses for you. Blu Ray will always look and… 
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I have the 47” mediasmart HP TV. It’s great b/c it sits in my bedroom and I can stream over the 802.11 N 5Ghz connection without having to run ethernet cable or powerline networking. I watch all the avi/divx/h.264 movies I download. It’s great.