Choosing Better Electronics

If you want to have Internet on your TV, an android TV box is one of the most popular solutions. These are little boxes with the Android OS on them to give you features like social media, streaming media, and games on your TV. Most of these boxes come with just a plain UI like the one on your phone and all the basic features you need to enjoy Internet on your TV, but you may want more. There are many things that you can do with a box to make it more of a complete media solution for your TV. Here are some simple DIY hacks that can help you get more out of your Android TV box:

1. Installing A Virtual Media Center To Connect To Home Server

The TV box you get probably will not have media center software on it. In addition, storing media like music and videos on the box can affect its performance. A simple way to connect to home media is by creating a media sever on a desktop or laptop and using the box to access it. There are open source programs for this like Kodi and Plex Media Server that will give you access to all the media in your home and more.

2. Adding Gaming To Your TV Box Using Retro Emulators And PC Controllers

Gaming can be another fun addition to any TV box. You may want to have something more than the games that are available from the app store. Instead, you can add a retro gaming emulator to play all the games from older consoles. There are even some open source games that you can download for free. To play the games, get a PC gaming controller, but make sure it is a model that is compatible with the Android OS.

3. Adding A USB Hub For More Devices, Controls And Content For Your Box

To keep the design of TV boxes small, they often have fewer ports for things like USB connections. You may find that there are not enough ports to connect the devices you want connected to the box. Investing in a USB hub can improve the connection of devices to your TV box. To improve performance, get a USB hub with as a 12-volt power source, this will prevent the USB connection from drawing power from the box and reducing its performance.

Getting the most out of your TV box can easily be achieved with these hacks. If you are ready for a complete media solution for your living room, contact an Android TV box vendor, such as Yiphtach, to get the latest version to start adding personalized features to.