Turn Your Home Theater Into an Art Gallery With Artcast

When you aren't watching television shows and movies, don't settle for a blank screen. Instead of turning off the TV, use it to stream media, such as classic artwork and more, with Artcast. We explain how below.

What Is Artcast?

Artcast is a streaming service that displays art on a TV. It's available on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. The app features over 400 galleries filled with fine art, photography, and videos. The galleries are auto-looped, so you don't have to come back later and restart playback.

The Artcast galleries include classical and contemporary art, nature scenes, historical illustrations and drawings, holiday art, and more.

Artcast charges a monthly subscription fee to use. The price varies by platform. It costs $2.99/month on Roku and Amazon Fire TV and $4.99/month on Apple TV.

How to Set Up Artcast

Here's how to access Artcast on streaming devices.

1. Download and install the Artcast app from your streaming device's respective app store.

   Apple TV
   Amazon
   Roku

2. Choose an available monthly subscription fee ($2.99 to $4.99) option depending on your device and provide any needed login or payment information.

3. Browse the assortment of photo galleries available and starting viewing.

Hands-On With Artcast

Using a Roku to check out Artcast, the paintings and still photographs look excellent on a Samsung 4K UHD TV. The example shown in the below photo is Vincent Van Gogh's Fishing In Spring. The image is supplied in 1080p resolution (if your internet speed supports it), but the Samsung TV performs 4K video upscaling.

Some macroblocking and pixelation issues crop up when playing back video galleries, while photos and paintings look great.

Each gallery is about 40 to 50 minutes long. For still image galleries, each painting or photo displays on the screen for about 60 seconds before moving on to the next image. Also, using the Roku remote control, you can fast forward or reverse to any point in each gallery.

There's no background music provided except for some of the video galleries. However, Apple TV allows you to combine music from your iTunes library with the Artcast displays. Music options for other platforms are forthcoming.

Artcast Pros and Cons

While Artcast is a great app for viewing works of art in your home, it does have drawbacks. We break it all down below.

The Bottom Line

The Artcast app is an interesting option to integrate artwork (both paintings and photos) into a home theater setting, and it adds value to your entertainment experience. Still, you may not want to hand over $3 to $5 a month to do so.

Although Artcast is promoted for TVs, you can have a larger art gallery viewing experience if you connect a Roku to a video projector.

Although 4K provides the best visual experience, the galleries look great at 1080p.