Track down an LCD television that supports media streaming over UPnP.

June 19, 2006 4:29 PM

Does anyone recommend a specific LCD television that will allow streaming over UPnP from a media box, decode DivX, XViD, and other MPEG-4 video formats, and is available in North America (specifically Canada)?

For a number of reasons (specifically space) I'm trying to do away with desktop workstations at home. I'm probably going to pick-up the new MacBook for the dual-boot capabilities and then a Linksys WRTSL54GS router.

Specifics of the router:
- Allows external storage to be shared amongst wired/wireless machines attached to said router. Buy a big Lacie drive and attach it to the USB ports and I've got a cheap NAS device.
- Offers streaming services to devices that support UPnP.
- With aftermarket firmware, wireless can be much more secure and (from what I hear) a lot of the bugs in the Linksys code have been resolved.

Problems:
- My television services (digital cable) are currently run through a dedicated workstation that also doubles as a media server (music, movies etc.).
- Unknown if any LCD televisions that are available in North America support media streaming over UPnP.

I've checked with a few stores and browsed around on the web, but I'm having a hard time tracking one down. So, as an added question -- Am I making this too complicated? It seems like a relatively straightforward plan, but outside advice is always welcome.

posted by purephase to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

You'll probably have more luck if you look for set top box style solutions. DLink has a few that might fit the bill. I've thought about getting a DSM-320 to replace my living room PC.

I'd suggest looking over at avsforum.com for more ideas.
posted by Good Brain at 5:59 PM on June 19, 2006

Response by poster: I was hoping to avoid purchasing another hardware device to make this happen. The router I linked in the question has media streaming capabilities and there appears to be some TV's that support streaming through UPnP. Thanks for the avsforum recommendation, I'll see if I can find any more information there.
posted by purephase at 6:37 PM on June 19, 2006

I was hoping to avoid purchasing another hardware device to make this happen.

Why? I don't mean to second guess, and you certainly don't have to answer. However, in principal, without a good reason to the contrary, separate components is always better. You can change parts one at a time, and separates normally do a better job of whatever they do than an integrated solution. In this case, separates are probably cheaper too.
posted by Chuckles at 8:35 PM on June 19, 2006

I have never heard of an LCD television that supports streaming, but as a better and cheaper option to the DLink box mentioned above, for less than $200 you can have the best media center out there: a modified Xbox + Xbox Media Center. Every format you can imagine is supported, the interface is the slickest I've seen, features and bonuses abound, and it is constantly improved and updated by a passionate and talented community.
These screenshots show it off a little.
Everything you need to know is here and here .
posted by bradn at 8:26 AM on June 20, 2006