According to the statistics revealed by market research firm The NPD Group on Wednesday, an increasing number of people now prefer to use their television sets to watch online video content rather than their personal computers (PCs).

With the NPD's latest `Digital Video Outlook' report showing that the installation of millions of Internet-connected TVs is altering the way in which streaming video is accessed and viewed by consumers, the firm said in the report that TV sets have surpassed PCs for the first time to emerge as the "primary screen for viewing paid and free video streamed from the Web."

Going by the NPD data, based on two separate surveys involving 11,200 participants, the percentage of consumers who mostly use TV for watching online video content has witnessed an increase from 33 percent in 2011 to 45 percent this year; while those using PCs has plunged from 48 percent to 31 percent.

Commenting on the figures, NPD said that the shift towards TV as the primary screen for viewing online content is apparently an upshot of the "rapid adoption" of Internet-connected TVs, which give the consumers a direct access to Netflix and other online services via TV apps.

Noting that the increasing use of Internet-connected TVs is an indication of the "maturing" of online video, Russ Crupnick - SVP of industry analysis at NPD - said: "As more households obtain and connect TVs to the Web, we predict increased trial and engagement for video distribution services."