Net TVs
Over the past few years we have seen the increased availability of video on the Internet (YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, etc.). Many of these sources now offer this video in (what they call) HD. However, it had been necessary to connect your computer to your TV in order to enjoy this video on your "big screen". This often is a somewhat painful process that ends up reducing the quality of the video.
In previous years, specilized set top boxes (Apple TV, Roku, etc.) appeared that allowed consumers to easily access many these sites on their Televisions. Last year Blu-ray players appeared that incorporated this functionality into these players. This has been followed by many of the sets themselves including this functionality. Most of these TVs & devices are specific to certain services - so it is important to make sure that the TV or device you select has an application to access the service that you are want.
There has been a significant increase in the availability of High Definition programming on the Internet. Much of the programming is on pay services, such as Netflix and Amazon. There have been some observations that cable customers are "cutting the cord" and dropping their cable TV in favor of over the air TV along with accessing other video via the Internet. It will be an interesting development to watch. It will also be interesting to see cable's reaction to this as most people's access to the Internet is via their local cable company (TW in this part of the country). While most cable companies in the US do not impose any sort of usage caps, Time Warner has threatened to do so. Imposing Internet caps and overage charges could be one way for cable to combat "cutting the cord" (or at least to make up for lost revenue).
