How To Live Stream A Roku Doorbell Camera Feed On Your TV (And Why You Might Want To)

The Roku brand is undoubtedly best known for its streaming products, including standalone streaming players and Roku TVs with streaming functionality built in. Did you know, though, that Roku also dabbles in the smart home tech scene? Indeed, Roku offers various smart home products, including a home monitoring security system and various video doorbells. Interestingly, all these products have a degree of compatibility with Roku's primary cash cow, its streaming players and TVs.

For instance, if you have both a Roku Video Doorbell and either a Roku TV or a regular TV with a Roku streaming player plugged in, you can actually stream the feed from your doorbell directly to your TV screen. Typically, a video doorbell is something you would check from your smartphone, and a Roku Video Doorbell can certainly do that, but adding more available screens gives you more flexibility when it comes to quickly checking the feed. If you want to make use of this feature, it's as simple as pressing a few buttons on your Roku TV remote.

Let's say you're sitting at home, waiting for a package to come in the mail. You're on the couch, watching TV when suddenly you hear a distinctive thud from the direction of your front door. You could get up to check, but if you'd rather know whether or not to bother, that's when you'd check your Roku Video Doorbell feed. If you don't have immediate access to your phone, you can instead quickly check the feed on your Roku TV, pausing whatever you're watching for just a moment and getting back to what you were doing if your package isn't there yet.

Besides monitoring for deliveries, a Roku doorbell camera allows you to keep track of your front yard, which can be helpful if you've got kids or pets horsing around out there. Whatever it is you're on the lookout for, the ability to check the feed on your TV just means having another easily accessible avenue instead of having to dig around in the couch cushions for your phone. You can even set up the feed to launch with a Roku remote shortcut for an extra bit of convenience.

Before we can talk about accessing your Roku doorbell feed, there are a few prerequisites we need to cover. First and foremost, only a Roku TV or a TV with a Roku-branded player plugged in can access a Roku doorbell camera feed directly. Additionally, the device in question must be running Roku OS version 11.0 or higher, though Roku recommends having version 11.5 for the best possible viewing experience. Make sure to check for an update in your Roku device's settings if it's out of date. Finally, both the TV or player you're viewing on and the Roku doorbell camera must be registered to the same Roku user account.

With the prerequisites met, you can access the feed via the Roku Cameras channel, available on your Roku device's Home screen. When you open the Roku Cameras channel, any doorbell cameras that have been registered to your account will automatically populate the list. Just select the camera feed you want to see with your remote and press the OK button to bring it onscreen. If you have more than one feed set up, you can quickly cycle between them with the up and down buttons on your remote.

Incidentally, while most Roku doorbells do have intercom functionality, you can't use this feature with a Roku TV. That's something you can only do with the Roku Smart Home mobile app.