How to Use Your TV Out of the Box: 5 Creative Ways

1. Learn and develop your child

The TV network is not just news, stupid talk shows, and endless series. On many channels you can find tutorials - for example, lessons with recipes or the secrets of quality repairs, documentaries, travel programs and other useful projects. With them, the TV is easy to turn into an educational platform.

If you have a subscription to an online movie theater with live TV, it will be even easier to find useful shows. It is enough to open the section with channels and click on the category "Educational".

There are also educational programs for children of different ages on TV. And if the device is smart or a smart set-top box is connected to it, you can also download educational applications and games - for example, to pump logic, master counting or a foreign language.

2. Connect to laptop for gaming or work

Connect your devices via an HDMI cable, adjust the image via Display Settings, and you're done! You can play, process photos, write codes - do whatever you want on the second display. Due to the wide diagonal, it will be more comfortable to follow what is happening and notice small details.

HDMI will also help turn an ordinary TV without smart features into a device for watching movies and video hosting. On TV, the picture will be larger and the sound louder.

If the TV supports Wi‑Fi, connecting it to a laptop is real and wireless. It is enough to connect both devices to the Internet and select the “Connect to a wireless display” option in the laptop screen settings.

3. pump the body

Home workout programs are not uncommon on satellite TV. If you don’t want to spend time searching hundreds of channels for content that is convenient for you, try displaying TV lessons from fitness experts on video hosting or turn on a music channel and actively dance for minutes 30.

If there is always not enough time for sports, you can combine it with a fresh series of your favorite series. Run the show on TV, and on your smartphone or laptop, find the right workout. Two screens will help you relax while watching and pump your muscles. But in this case, it is better to choose exercises that do not require much attention and concentration. It is unlikely that you will be able to effectively do yoga or dance to the series, but do squats and swings completely.

4. Manage smart home

If the TV supports a voice assistant, it can receive commands to control outlets, light bulbs, and other smart things in the home. It is enough to call the assistant by name and say the command. You won’t have to break away from watching a movie to turn on the air conditioner or put on the kettle.

A smart TV with an assistant also has other features of smart gadgets. Checking the weather, ordering a taxi, finding the answer to a question on the Internet, arranging a delivery, setting a timer so you don't forget to take the cake out of the oven - the device can handle it all. And the voice assistant can also recommend movies and TV shows: you can rely on it and not rack your brains, leafing through catalogs of streaming services for half an evening.

5. decorate space

If the TV has practically no frames, and the screen transmits the picture with high quality, it will easily play the role of a temporary decor. All you need to do is select a suitable photo or illustration, display it on the screen and leave the TV running in the background. For example, on a birthday, launch a slideshow with pictures of the birthday person, install masterpieces by Ivan Aivazovsky or Claude Monet for dinner by candlelight, and put an image with a decorated Christmas tree on New Year's Eve. Such a picture will definitely not get bored, because at any time it can be replaced with another one.

Another option that will allow you to turn your TV into a decor is background videos. For example, if the device is on a cabinet, you can turn on a video with a burning fireplace: such a visual accompaniment will make even the most ordinary evening cozy. And if it hangs on the wall, open a video that simulates the view from the window and imagine that instead of the stone jungle behind the wall there is a beach or a dense forest.