November 17th, 2010
2,865 
0 When you’re on the hunt for a new HD TV, keep an eye out for a new badge: the Windows 7 certified logo. It’s a seal of approval from Microsoft that means the Toshiba telly you’re looking at is a talented media streamer, and that it’s one seriously connected screen. Read on for our guide and we’ll explain to you the benefits, and how to take advantage of them in your living room with fuss free set up.
DLNA explored
That Windows 7 certified badge doesn’t just mean you can connect a PC directly to a supported Toshiba TV - though of course you can. It’s actually a sign that it’s a DLNA 1.5 (Digital Living Network Alliance) friendly display. DLNA gadgets are capable of jumping onto your home network via Ethernet or WiFi and sharing multimedia with each other with the minimum of fuss, so if you’ve got a DLNA TV, you can stream videos straight from your computer to it, or even your phone, even if they’re not plugged into the TV’s HDMI ports.
Play To your TV
There are plenty of DLNA gadgets around these days. What that Windows 7 badge on the Toshiba HD TV you’re eyeing up signifies is that it’s a flatscreen that integrates with the technology Microsoft has built on top of DLNA connectivity. Any other DLNA device will connect without a hitch, but it’s an added level of assurance for those who like an easy setup - which is all of us, surely.
If you’ve got a Windows 7 laptop or PC, you can use a killer feature called Play To to send any media file to a Windows 7 certified TV, without the need for fiddly media server software. All you have to do is right click a song or move, choose Play To, and pick your supported Toshiba TV. So long as it’s on your home network, it’ll show up seamlessly. It means all of those videos you’ve downloaded, and CDs you’ve ripped and archived can be played instantly in another room in your house - seriously convenient if you’ve got speakers hooked up to the TV. Alternatively if you have a Windows 7 Toshiba laptop you can use the Toshiba Media Controller to stream media across devices just as easily.
Windows 7 certified TVs
To earn the coveted badge, TVs have to allow for both wired and wireless net connectivity, so streaming is guaranteed to work wherever you choose to play them in the home.
