SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIEWING AND CONTROLLING A PERSONAL COMPUTER USING A NETWORKED TELEVISION

Presented are systems and methods for controlling a PC from an interactive TV display. The system includes a network which interconnects a TV set-top-box (STB) to a PC. The STB includes a network interface so as to communicate with the network, a remote control receiver, a display controller, and a CPU. A remote control transmits a user's commands to the remote control receiver in the STB, which forwards the commands to a client software application resident in the PC. The client software interprets the commands and causes the PC to perform various programmatic steps. Images of the PC screen display are sent across the network to the STB from the PC by the client software application, where the display controller displays these images on the TV. An interactive virtual mouse, controllable by commands transmitted from the remote control, is superimposed on the images being displayed on the TV.