(Kai Uwe Knoth/AP) There's a wealth of video content on the web, but who wants to crowd around a puny computer monitor when there's a perfectly good big-screen, high-definition television across the room?

Getting your HDTV hooked up to the Web makes perfect sense. In addition to the millions of YouTube clips and other standard-definition videos at your disposal, you'd be in a prime position to take advantage of the emerging, streaming HD trend that's sure to be the next frontier in home entertainment.

Before you get started on this project, however, it's important to have reasonable expectations.

The majority of online video is, at the moment, not in high-definition. In most cases, it's not even standard definition. There are exceptions: ABC.com streams Lost in HD; video-sharing site Vimeo has taken aim at YouTube's infamously low-quality clips and offers an HD service.

Just remember that most of the things you're going to be watching now won't take advantage of your HDTV's full resolution. That's O.K, though, because you simply can't beat the sheer volume of on-demand entertainment that can be had.

One way to get the Internet on your HDTV is to set it up as a computer monitor through a direct cable connection. It's important to make sure your computer and HDTV have the right outputs and inputs to make this marriage work.

The most common — and best quality — inputs on HDTVs are for HDMI and component cables. Unfortunately, outputs for these are quite rare on computers. Newer, media-focused computers, such as the Toshiba Qosmio G55 notebook, are beginning to include such connections, but the average user will need to find another solution.

Virtually all computers have a VGA output — it's the blue color-coded cable that's connected your PC to its monitor for many years. It's perfectly capable of supporting high-definition video, and many HDTVs, like those in Panasonic's 850U series, feature VGA inputs.

Many notebooks and laptops also have DVI outputs, which a simple adapter can link up with a TV's HDMI input.

One caveat: Neither VGA nor DVI cables carry audio information. A separate phone-to-phone cable, which connects your computer's audio line-out and your TV's audio input, will be necessary.

Once the cable issues are all sorted out, you must set your computer's screen resolution to match the native resolution of your HDTV (either 1920-by-1,080 pixels for 1080p sets, or 1,280-by-720 pixels for 720p sets). If your computer can't attain such resolutions, it's possible to work around the limitation with special software, but that's venturing into professional territory.

Proper resolution settings ensure your computer's desktop will fill the screen properly. With that squared away, you can browse the Web for videos just as you would normally. If this seems a little too complicated, however, there are some other, less laborious solutions available.

The quickest way to make your HDTV Web-enabled is to purchase an accessory that acts as a bridge between your TV and the Internet. These devices have all the necessary outputs (HDMI) and the right inputs for Internet connections (Ethernet or wi-fi).

Some are relatively straightforward, like the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link ($299 US), which works with Sony high-definition televisions. The Internet Video Link is an Ethernet-enabled box that attaches to the television and provides access to YouTube and a host of online video channels from CBS, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! and others.

Apple TV ($299 US) is meant to be a complete home entertainment solution, providing access to your home network as well as the Internet. (Paul Sakuma/AP) Other devices, known as "digital media receivers," are a little more versatile. Apple TV ($299 US) is meant to be a complete home entertainment solution, providing access to your home network as well as the Internet. Apple TV has a quick route to the iTunes store for rentals or purchases of high-definition TV shows and films. It also has YouTube access and lets you watch photo slide shows from Flickr.

The Sony PlayStation 3 ($399 US) also has digital media receiver capabilities. The PS3 uses wi-fi to connect to the Internet, and though it's not as robust as Apple TV, it's possible to watch online video and get onto the Web through the console's browser.

Hewlett-Packard and Panasonic have taken things a step further by building Web connections right into the HDTV. HP's MediaSmart TVs have integrated Ethernet ports and wireless cards, making it easy to connect to your home network. The MediaSmart interface not only provides a link to YouTube, it also allows you to view all the media content on your computer's hard drive — photos, music and video — on a television.

It's also possible to rent or buy movies in high-definition right from the TV screen. This July, HP will be putting all these features into the HP MediaSmart Connect ($349.99 US), a digital media receiver that can be used with any brand of HDTV.

Panasonic's Viera Cast is a new feature of the brand's higher-end plasma televisions, and it's still in the beginning stages. Currently, Viera Cast provides access to YouTube, Google's Picasa photo sharing service and Bloomberg News. It can be found on the Panasonic TH-46PZ850U ($3,099 US) and TH-50PZ850U ($3,499 US) models, which connect to the Internet via Ethernet cables.

These integrated solutions are perhaps the most exciting, as they signal that television manufacturers understand the allure of Internet-connected HDTVs and are looking for ways to make things easy for consumers.

It's only a matter of time before these features become de rigueur; in the meantime, the quality and availability of online streaming video will only improve. With the right accessories, you can be prepared to take advantage of the Web's wide array of entertainment as it continues to grow and mature.

Michael Patrick Brady is editor of DigitalAdvisor.com , a site dedicated to making shopping online for consumer electronics as easy as possible.