Against a backdrop of evolving TV and movie viewing habits, Nielsen has conducted a comparative study on how and what Netflix and Hulu users are watching.

The just-released results from the March 2011 study on two of the industry’s biggest names show some telling discrepancies on how users of all ages are engaging with content.

For instance, 50% of Netflix users tune in to content on their TVs via a game console (Wii, PS3 or Xbox Live), while roughly 90% of Hulu users watch directly on their computers. Only 42% of Netflix users report watching on their computers.

One-fifth of Hulu users and 14% of Netflix users also report that they stream by connecting their computer to the TV. Other over-the-top, internet-enabled devices, such as Roku Box, Google TV and Apple TV, were also cited as means for connecting with Hulu and Netflix.

Hulu and Netflix users also trend toward different content types. Roughly 73% of Hulu users view primarily TV shows, compared to 11% of Netflix users. On the flipside, more than half of Netflix users watch primarily movies, while 9% of Hulu users say the same. Interestingly, only 3% of Netflix users and 1% of Hulu subscribers report viewing content directly on their iPads.