The Xbox 360™ and PlayStation® 3 are known for their sharp HD video and enveloping surround sound. They bring gaming to a whole new level by turning video games into an intense, interactive and visually pleasing experience. But did you know that these consoles also boast some cool networking capabilities? They can let you access music, movies, and photos on your PC and "stream" them to your game console.

"Streaming" means continually sending data from one place to another. In this case, the data is being streamed over a wired or wireless Internet connection from your computer to your game console. The streamed data doesn't take up precious hard drive space on your game console, and you won't have to keep updating your console every time you add something to your media library. You can enjoy your music on your home theater system, or view movies and photos that you have stored on your computer on your large high-def TV.

If you have a Windows® PC with Windows Media Player 11, then you're already equipped with the software you need to send compatible music, photo, and video files to your Xbox 360.

But getting your computer to "talk" to your game console and share media can be more involved than simply setting up the console and your computer. In this article, we'll cover the basics of steaming to the 360 and the PS3, and as well as some key features to look for when selecting the necessary software.

Getting started

To begin, you'll need a network connection, your game console (connected to your TV), and some software that will allow your computer to talk to your game console. If you have a wireless router set up, have your network name available as well as your password, if you have one. You should also make sure that your game console and the operating system on your computer are both up to date with any recent firmware downloads. If you're not sure, see the developer's site to find out when the last firmware update was released, or run a quick check for updates on your computer.

Before we get started, keep in mind that you won't be able to stream copy-protected music that you may have purchased from some online music stores, like iTunes®.

Is this a project for you?
You don't have to be completely computer savvy to stream music to your console. As long as you're comfortable with common computer tasks, like setting up a wireless network and managing basic security settings, this should be a project you can handle.

What to expect

Sony's PlayStation 3 isn't just a great Blu-ray player and gaming console — it can also stream movies, music, and photos from your computer.

The basic steps for downloading and detecting software are very similar for both consoles. We've listed a basic run-through below so you know what's involved. See the section on choosing software for tips on finding and selecting software that's compatible with your computer's operating system and your game console. Once you've chosen some specific software, the developer's site should have more detailed, step-by-step instructions to help you.

First, connect your computer and your game console to your wireless network or to your router via Ethernet cable. If it's your first time connecting your console to your wireless network, you'll need to go into your console's settings and select the name of your wireless network. If your network is encrypted, you'll also need to enter your password.

Once you've installed the computer software you chose, you may need to go into the program's settings and select an option that allows the program to share media. If you're asked where you want to share your media to, you should click on the console's name or a symbol that looks like your console. This lets your console access music, movies, and photos stored on your computer through the software you've chosen.

Remember that once you download any piece of software on to your computer, you'll need to scan for media using the program so that it can populate your media library. Depending on how much media you have and what kind of operating system you're running on your computer, this might take a while.

Finally, you'll want to confirm that everything is working. Go to one of the media icons on your console and try to play or view a song, movie, or photo stored on your computer.

On the Xbox 360, you'll need to select "My Xbox," select "Music Library," then "Computer." (For pictures or videos, you would select "Picture Library" or "Video Library," respectively, as the intermediate step.) Follow the prompts, then select your computer and the shared media name. Find the music, movies, or pictures that you want to play or view, and then select "Play."

On the PS3, scroll over to the category that you want to play media from — either movies, music, or photos. Click on the icon that says "Search for media servers." After a few seconds, the name of the software you're using should pop up. Select it, and then scroll through your music, movie, and photo titles, and choose which file you want to play or view.

You'll only have to go through these setup steps once — as long as your computer is on, your media should always appear on your console. Also, it's important to note that game consoles can only stream and play content from a server, like your computer — they can't stream content to other players.

Choosing software

There are a range of programs available for Mac OS, Windows, and Linux users. A simple online search will show you what's available. Read each software developer's site carefully to see if their software is compatible with your operating system. Above all, be sure you go with a reputable company, and read some reviews if you can.

Because there are so many options out there, we knew we couldn't test all of them. So we picked a few of the most popular and gave them a try. Many of the programs we found are free or come with a free trial period to help you decide if you like it before you buy it. Others might have a small one-time fee of $20-$40.

Is it compatible with your operating system?
No matter your computer's operating system, you'll have a good selection of software to choose from. Connect360 was developed for Mac OS users, and streams media very smoothly to the Xbox 360. Medialink was developed by the same company, and works well for Mac OS users who want to stream media to the PS3. Windows Media Player 11 is the easiest choice for Windows users on the Xbox 360, since it's included with the operating system. Thanks to a recent update, it will also work with the PS3 for users running Vista or XP — although it didn't work as smoothly for us with the PS3 as with the Xbox 360.

TVersity is another good option for Windows users, and it has support for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. TwonkyMedia was the most versatile of the software that we tried — it has downloads available for Mac OS, Windows, and Linux users, and will work with both the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

What kinds of media does the software support?
Be aware that some programs only stream certain types of media or only support certain features. For example, TVersity and TwonkyMedia worked well when we wanted to play music, view images, or watch movies. But when sharing music from an iTunes® library, they did not support album art. Connect360 and Medialink, which are designed to work with Apple software, did support album art downloaded from the iTunes store. And WMP 11, when used with Vista, only played music files that were supported by the console — it couldn't "transcode" media (see below).

Can the software transcode media?
"Transcoding" lets you play a number of file formats that your game console may not natively support. It involves decoding the original data, and then re-encoding it on the fly into a different format that can be played by your console. So if the software you're looking at can't transcode certain types of media that the console won't play on its own, then you won't be able to listen to or view that media on your game console.

Check the software developer's site to see if it will transcode media, and if so, what types of media it can transcode. You can also check out the chart below for a general idea of which file types the 360 and the PS3 should play without transcoding.

Troubleshooting common hang-ups

My computer is slow or is taking a long time to update the music library.
It may take a while when you're adding media to your software's library, depending on the speed of your computer, the number of media files you're adding, and the size of the files you're adding. It might also take a few minutes for your game console to display all of the music and data files being streamed from your computer. So don't get discouraged if the process takes longer than you expected.

My console can't "see" my computer.
A firewall acts as a filter to control the data flowing to and from your computer. Your firewall may prevent the software you download from working properly, so you may need to tweak your firewall settings to allow certain sharing capabilities in order to stream media.

Some of my music isn't showing up, or the names aren't displaying properly.
You may have some problems playing certain kinds of media. Double check to make sure that the console supports the format that you're trying to play, or that the software can transcode the format.

In some cases, the files may just need to be renamed if the names are too long or if the characters aren't supported by the console or the software. For example, if you have an album by an Indian or Russian artist, chances are that either the console or the software cannot display the characters in that language. Use only the characters on your keyboard to be safe. You can also consult the developer's site for troubleshooting issues.

What to do if you're still having problems
Most software developers offer some kind of online support should you have a problem. FAQs and troubleshooting pages are good places to start. If that doesn't solve your problem, try searching through the computing forums available on the developer's site or on independent sites, like AVS forum.

Don't be afraid to try a few different programs until you find one that you like. Once you do find the right software, remember to pay attention to automatic update alerts from the software provider and from your console's manufacturer. They may support more audio/video formats and offer improved functionality in the future.