#Hdtv mediacenter 1080p
#Hdtv mediacenter Pc
#Hdtv mediacenter tv
#Hdtv mediacenter windows

One caveat: I've stuck exclusively and intentionally with analog cable. If you're interested in a home theater PC, all you need is the following: And at $120 for the OEM Home Premium edition, it's a flat-out bargain for a better-than-Tivo experience- without all those onerous monthly fees.

#Hdtv mediacenter tv

There's no longer any need to rely on questionable, expensive third-party DVD playback apps.ĭid I mention burning TV shows to DVD is now included out of the box, too? As far as I'm concerned, Media Center is the killer app for Vista. It even works with my SPDIF out for Dolby Digital sound playback.

#Hdtv mediacenter windows

So Vista's Media Center, unlike the one in Windows XP, is fully usable after a clean install. I can now continue watching my program in the background while navigating the main menu, too.Īnother big quality of life improvement in Vista's Media Center is that a DVD codec is included right out of the box. It's more of a pop-up style menu, which can be accessed at any time through the big green MCE button. The main menu no longer stops whatever I'm doing and zaps me back to a flat menu screen. There's also a new popup Mini-Guide (not pictured) which lets you browse nearby channels without obscuring playback. The program guide- which is completely free, no monthly charges whatsoever- now overlays the live video as a transparency. I love the new 'play all' shuffle mode, too. Displaying, searching, scrolling- it's all nearly instantaneous now. And the music library is dramatically faster. Like videos, much better use of horizontal screen real estate I can see dozens of albums at once. Under Vista's Media Center, my 60+ GB music library is now a pleasure to navigate. Recorded shows are now displayed as a linear timeline with a graphic still, rather than plain text in a list. The default UI makes better use of the horizontal, widescreen arrangements most home theater setups will have. It's faster, it's prettier, and it's thoroughly improved in every way. Vista's Media Center is a vast improvement over XP's Media Center. This weekend I took the plunge and upgraded my HTPC from Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to Windows Vista Home Premium. But that's probably another 8-12 months out.

1 TB storage (dual 500 GB low-noise SATA drives)Įventually I want to plop an internal HD-DVD drive in this machine once prices and configurations stabilize.

Hauppauge PVR-500 MCE dual tuner (highly recommended).

#Hdtv mediacenter Pc

I've slowly been upgrading my Home Theater PC over the last two years in anticipation of the shift to Vista: I've been a huge MCE enthusiast since the original version was released in 2003, so I was greatly looking forward to the Vista edition of Media Center. The media center is a HDMI 1.3 certified scaler.As far as I'm concerned, Windows Media Center is one of the best- if not the best- applications Microsoft has ever created. The Home Theater Media Center will convert standard definition, high definition and PC signals from your DVD player, HD-DVD player, Blu-ray Disc player, HD DVR, game console, or PC to any output resolution up to 1080p. The switch is a REAL Instant (True Zero Second Latency Switching Even at Different Resolutions with No Any Black Screen) HDMI Switch Scaler with Dual Outputs, PIP and Audio Delay.

#Hdtv mediacenter 1080p

The Home Theater Media Center is capable of switching between 6, 1-VGA HDMI sources, scaling all the sources to very high resolutions up to 1080p and also convert all analog and digital inputs to one HDMI output. The Home Theater Media Center is one of the greatest video scaler's available on today's market.