[This is the first in series of posts aimed a potential or new Windows Media Center users]
So you have got a nice new 50” high-definition TV and now you want some great looking content to go with it. Included in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Home Ultimate edition is Windows Media Center the ideal application for taking advantage of the hi-def content
What is High Definition Content?
Let start by looking at what HD (High Definition) is and what is the difference between it and SD (Standard Definition) content. Standard Definition normally refers to content to a specification called 480i. The 480 is the number of lines visible on the screen and the “i” means interlaced, that is every other line is displayed each time the screen is drawn. For more information on Interlacing checkout this article on Wikipedia
While this standard was ok for the old CRT TVs of the last 20 years its lack of detail is shown up by the modern large LCD and Plasma displays. When it comes to HD content there are three common standards: 720p, 1080i and 1080p. 720p is 720 lines and the “p” means progressive scan, which is where all the lines are displayed every time the screen is draw. So you get a smooth flicker free display, great for sports events. 1080i is 1080 lines with an interlaced display which is great for movies and finally there is 1080p, 1080 lines drawn every frame and the best format currently available. TV shows and movies will look great in 1080p on a big display
So you want to see this great looking content, what equipment do you need?
First you will need a high resolution display; this could be a LCD or Plasma TV or a PC monitor. When buying a new TV you should look for it supporting a minimum of 720p and if possible 1080p. For monitors check the minimum resolution that the monitor supports, 1280×720 ( which is equivalent to 720p) or even better 1920×1080 (equivalent to 1080p).
CableCARD
HD content is available from a number of sources that Windows Media Center can take advantage of and in my opinion one of the best ways is with a Digital Cable Tuner and CableCard. CableCARD is a security card that when inserted in a slot on the Digital Cable Tuner, decodes the encrypted premium and HD content from digital cable channels. So by using this system you can recorded and watch HD content all from Windows Media Center’s great user interface . One example of a Digital Cable Tuner is ATI TV Wonder™ Digital Cable Tuner, this is an external unit that connects to your PC via USB. You do need a Media Center System that is certified for CableCARD (sometimes called “Windows Vista Digital Cable compatible” and OEMS like Dell, HP and S1Digital offer these systems.
How can you find out if your system is CableCARD ready? Well one way is to look for the Digital Cable Product Identification (PID) that is normally on a sticker on the PC or you could just contact the manufacturer and ask if it’s compatible with CableCARD
You also have to make sure your cable provider supports CableCARD, if they do they will come and install the CableCARD or possibly you could fit it yourself. If you want to recorded from more than one channel at once or watch one channel while recording another you will need a Dual tuner (or two single tuners) and therefore you will need two CableCARDs.
Another way to get HD content on Media Center is get a TV card that support free over the air broadcast TV. There are a number of TV cards on the market that support this standard, such as ATI’s TV Wonder range of TV cards and these can come in the form of PCI cards or USB devices (which are ideal for laptops). These devices can be easier to install that CableCARD as they don’t need any special services enabling from a cable provider, you just need a good TV Antenna to plug in to the TV Card and then you can pickup digital TV signals transmitted over the air. The best thing about this solution is that once you have purchased the TV card there are no addition subscription charges, however not all premium channels are available over the air
The main standards for Over Air digital TV are: ATSC, Clear-QAM and DVB-T (which is mainly used in Europe). Before buying a TV card I would check the format of your local TV signal. In the US the most common signal types are ATSC and Clear-QAM and some TV cards support both formats. Find out more about supported TV signals in Windows Media Center
The EPG (Electronic Program Guide)
Once TV is configured Windows Media Center will download the latest EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data over the internet so you can browse and schedule recordings, normally Media Center downloads 14 days of EPG data. I have to say this is one of my favourite features of Windows Media Center, being able to schedule and never miss an episode of your favourite show is fantastic. You can also search for shows by title or category and set it to record entire series of shows.
Sharing content around the home
The great thing about TV in Media Center is that using Extenders for Windows Media Center you can watch live TV and recorded TV all around the home. You could start watching a recorded TV show in the living room then pause it and resume the playback in the bedroom on an Extender. Extenders are available in a variety of form factors including an Xbox 360, HP’s MediaSmart TV or Linksys and D-Links standalone Extenders.
Adding Blu-ray features
Another way to get HD content in to Windows Media Center is with Blu-ray. Windows Media Center doesn’t natively support Blu-ray playback so you will need third party software to get it working and there are a good selection of applications to choose from such as Cyberlink’s PowerDVD 9 Ultra and Arcsoft’s TotalMedia Theatre which as well as being a standalone application also has a Media Center Plug-in so you don’t have to leave the 10 foot UI of Media Center to playback Blu-ray movies. There are trial version available for many of the Blu-ray applications so you can try then out and see which works best for you.
Digital Downloads
Finally there is another way to get HD content in to Media Center and personally I think is the way of the future and that is digital downloads. We have got used to the concept of digital downloads for music and I can see this trend happening with video too and as broadband speeds increase I think we see more and more HD content coming down via the Internet. Services like CinemaNow and Netflix are starting to offer movie downloads in HD direct to Windows Media Center. You can find these services in the Explore Tile in the Online Media section of Media Center and You can find out more information on these services from Microsoft.com
As you see there are many different ways to get HD content in to Windows Media Center. Media Center is one of the best and most flexible ways of consuming hi-def TV and Movies, it’s simple to configure and best of all it’s built in to Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition.
To find out more on the types of TV services available for Windows Media Center I would recommend looking at this article
In a future piece I will be looking at how to connect all this up and distributing the content around your home
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Windows Home Ultimate edition is Windows Media Center the ideal application for taking advantage of the hi-def content