In the earlier days of computer technology and networking, it was enough just to get your computers and your printers to talk to one another. But today's connected world demands capabilities that were unheard of just a few short years ago, capabilities that extend the power of your PC to other devices, such as your TV, beyond the home office. When you install a digital media adapter you can help to make this experience a reality.

What can a digital media adapter do for you? Want to send the video, music, games, and other content from your PC throughout the house? With a digital media adapter on your home network, you can connect to your computer and do things like play MP3s on your stereo system or watch YouTube on your big-screen TV. Of course, the adapter you choose must provide connections that are compatible with both your network and the TV, stereo, or other equipment you are using.

Wired or wireless? Most digital media adapters support both wireless and wired operation. Wireless connections are useful if it's inconvenient or impossible to run cables, but wired connections will often provide better performance, with easier setup and operation. If you want to use wireless, consider using 802.11n–the latest wireless networking technology for the home, which is discussed in the article "Build a Home Network."

A word on terminology. The computer and consumer electronics industries usually use the term "digital media adapter" to refer to any device that allows content from a PC to be streamed to a different piece of equipment, such as a TV or stereo system. But you might hear other terms as well. Many different companies make these devices (as well as software-based equivalents), to work with different combinations of computer operating systems and consumer electronics equipment. For example, Microsoft coined the term "Media Center Extender," for use with its Windows Media Center* in Windows Vista* and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005*. It's still a digital media adapter, but some documentation will call it a Media Center Extender if your setup includes one or more computers running these versions of Windows*.

Choosing equipment. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, consider using a Media Center Extender from Microsoft's list of recommended equipment. To view the list, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenterextender and navigate to the Featured Products page. In addition to choosing the right network and device connections, make sure the Media Center Extenders you buy support the specific capabilities you want, such as:

• The specific versions of Windows your network uses
• High-definition (HD) TV video signals
• Sound features you plan to use, like 5:1 surround sound
• Video-encoding/decoding technologies for online content, like DivX, XviD, and H.264 (if these terms mean nothing to you, don't worry)

Of course, options for digital media adapters include a variety of products that are not specifically recommended by Microsoft. Of course, options for digital media adapters include a variety of products that may not be specifically recommended by Microsoft. These devices have different features so make sure you are buying one that has the features you are interested in. For sharing media between computers, software-based digital media adapters are also available, which can be very cost-effective compared to hardware devices while still providing rich features.

Whatever product choice you make, one more thing–don't forget to buy cables!

Set it all up. Windows Media Center makes it very easy to set up extenders on your network (if you're not using Windows Media Center, the steps will be similar, but in all cases you should follow the instructions provided with the digital media adapter/Media Center Extender):

1. Connect the TV, stereo, or other device to the adapter/extender.
2. Connect the adapter/extender to your network using the configuration software provided with the adapter/extender.
3. Your computer will detect the adapter/extender and request a code that was given to you during setup. Enter the code into your computer, and you're ready to go.

For software-only digital media adapters, it's even simpler—just install the software on your networked computers according to the manufacturer's instructions.

For more information about setting up extenders for Windows Media Center, see Microsoft's Windows Media Center Extender FAQ.

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