Nothing could be more convincing than an actual first-hand experience. The new TV which we had just bought last week is living example. It's the latest model on the LCD series of a branded Japanese make. Along with all the advanced features, it can be connected to various external devices, including PCs. That made me sat up and took notice right away. To me, such big-name companies do not design new features into their products just by gut feel or guesswork. This TV and PC integration appears to be a potential trend setter.

On the surface, it seems as straightforward as just using the TV as a computer monitor but that would not jive from the angle of practicality and technology. But when you view it as equipping the TV to accept transmission via the computer, it starts to make sense. Yes, large-scale TV through computer must be on the horizon.

The computer can handily supplant the set-top boxes. It has more capability and it does not incur any additional effort or expense. In fact, there is savings to be realized through equipment optimization overall. It would not be long now before TV becomes predominantly accessed through home computers. It's a rare home these days that has no computer with internet access anyway and wouldn't it be novel if TV could come through the computer via the internet too?

Another way the computer can play a part in TV viewing is by functioning as a DVD player. Again, why have a duplicate set of DVD player when you can just cable it out of your computer while having more all-round smart power at it than the dedicated stand-alone DVD player any day.

Perhaps the real breakthrough in the Computer-TV integration is in the inherent internet TV. This form of TV is nothing new but had been literally stuttering due to speed constraints. Not anymore, broadband has cast this handicap into history for good. They are basically Free-To-Air (FTA) Satellite TV streamed through the internet instead of the dish to your computers and there are free and fee-based versions. Each has its merits but both are worthy alternatives to the old way.