Streaming your PC games to a television is not a new concept, but you generally have to have a set-top-box doohickey plugged into the set.

Now though, Valve's Steam service is trialling a direct Smart TV application that can play compatible games stored in your Steam Library on Samsung TVs.

There are caveats. At present, the Steam Link app is only in beta form at present, so might be a bit flakey. It is also currently only available to owners of 2016 and 2017 Samsung Smart TVs in the US. There is no indication yet as to whether it will be rolled out further.

But the idea is sound. The app can stream games over a home network, directly to the set in 1080p and at 60fps. Plans are also afoot to add 4K streaming in future.

You also need a Steam controller as that's the only gamepad supported at the minute. There are plans to add support for additional controllers in future.

It is recommended that you use a wired connection to your network from the TV (and host PC). It should work on 5GHz wireless connections, but even that might drop resolution or frame rate at times.

The beta version of the Steam Link app is available on the US version of the Samsung Smart Hub. Give it a whirl and let us know how it works out for you.