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How-to: Build an HD Media Center for under $1000
You probably thought we had all the fun at Engadget HD, but you'd be wrong. Because sometimes the crew over at classic Engadget reaches over and surprises even us. This latest How-To is right up our alley and as extensive as any feature we've done. So click on over and check it out, just be sure you didn't have anything else planned for this afternoon as this is going to take awhile.
Digital transition causing grief for Windows Media Center users
You know we really thought Microsoft learned its lesson back in February when the first wave of the analog channels went dark, but we were wrong. A quick trip to The Green Button shows that the hottest topic this weekend is the fact that any ATSC channel that changed frequencies on Friday, doesn't work anymore. The exact cause isn't known, but what is, is that while anyone who has a $50 digital converter box can just rescan to find the channels at their new home, Media Center users have to go well beyond anything your mom could do to get all the channels back. Our guess is that instead of looking at the PSIP data of discovered channels, Media Center uses guide data to map the frequencies to the channel and this data wasn't updated on Friday. On Vista you'll want to first manually delete the channels in your atscchannels.xml file, then you can add the missing channels via a menu (Settings>TV>Guide>Add Missing Channel) -- Windows 7 users don't need to edit the file first. You will need to know the new frequency when doing this, which you can find on Antennaweb.org. Or you can just wait a few days until Microsoft gets its act together, it isn't like there's anything on TV in the Summer anyways.
Is the future of Windows Media Center with Windows Home Server?
With all the bad news around Windows Media Center this week, many enthusiasts are wondering about the future of Media Center. To say that the past few years have had a few disappointments is an understatement, especially when you think back to the way CableCARD support was implemented and how poorly the Extenders have been supported. Although things look pretty grim for our preferred DVR platform, we're optimistic that things are actually about to get really good in the next year thanks to Windows 7 and some unannounced features and products. Part of the reason we think this is because over the years we've been watching Microsoft develop products that have taken years to catch on and gain dominance. But lets be honest, we're not on the inside and most of what we think will happen is based on rumors and conjecture. With that being said, we've convinced ourselves that the future of Media Center, and the key to wider adoption that we think it deserves, is with Windows Home Server.
Linksys has no plans to add H.264 support to discontinued Extenders
As soon as we heard the official word that Linksys had discontinued the DMA2100 and DMA2200 Extenders for Media Center, we though to ourselves, there goes any hope of a firmware update. But just to be sure we sent a quick email to see if there was any chance H.264 support would be added. As you might expect, when we asked if Linksys would release an update, the answer was "no they will not." Depending on where you live and what provider you have, this could be a big deal. Currently in the UK, no H.264 means no BBC HD, but eventually here in the US it will means no hope of HD from DISH Network or DirecTV. This also excludes those who want to use a Hauppauge HD PVR as well as anyone who has an HD camcorder that uses the codec. We have to say we're very disappointed with the support level from Linksys, even if it is an end-of-life product. We suppose it could be argued that we shouldn't expect new features on a dead product, but I doubt many who need H.264 would agree that this is anything but an update that ensures the device continues to perform its initially intended task.
Automatic commercial skipping comes to Windows 7
When considering any software upgrade it is important to check and make sure all of your other software will work on the new platform; so as expected many have been holding out on testing Windows Media Center on Windows 7 full time because of their hatred of commercials. Thanks to plug-ins like DVRMStoolBox (DTB) automatically skipping commercials in Vista has been a reality for years, but when Microsoft introduced a new SDK and recorded TV format (WTV) in Windows 7, all the old plug-ins ceased to work. Well we're happy to be the ones to tell you that we've been fortunate enough to play with early release versions of DTB and Show Analyzer -- the software that actually finds the commercials -- and they work on Windows 7 perfectly. Once again we can skip commercials without even touching the remote -- and this includes recordings that are still in progress. The bad news is that we have no idea when these updates will be available for mass consumption, but judging by how well they seem to be working, we'd expect 'em sooner rather than later.
Linksys discontinues its Extenders for Media Center
Extenders for Media Center held so much promise only a year ago, but now with one of our favorite Extenders being discontinued it makes us pause and wonder about the future of the model. A small, low powered STB connected to the TV doing all the heavy lifting for our HTPC makes perfect sense as a concept, but in reality when you consider the price vs the feature set, it just doesn't add up. The economic reality is that an Xbox 360 does more for about the same amount of money, so the small footprint and low power usage just wasn't enough to sway consumers to the Linksys extenders. Looking forward we don't know what to expect, with a premier Media Center partner like Niveus publicly stating that it's new Zone product was created because customers didn't accept the limitations of an extender, it really makes us wonder. We still think the extender model has its place, but it seems now that it only makes sense as a feature of another product instead of standing on its own. So in other words, we still have our hopes up for a Blu-ray player with a built in Extender for Media Center, but in the meantime we'll be picking up a couple more DMA2100s before its too late. [Via GeekTonic]
Hands-on with Microsoft's internet tv beta 2, still unwatchable
There's bad quality internet video and then there is really bad internet quality video and there is no doubt that the latest internet tv beta 2 from Microsoft is as bad as we've ever seen. Checking it out we couldn't believe our eyes and tried a number of clips before shaking our head and thinking "are you kidding me?" In some cases the video is presented as 4x3 even though we know the show is available on other sites like Hulu in 16x9, but to make things worse, even when the content is in the original aspect ratio, it is so over-compressed we don't see how anyone could take this serious. The interface is decent enough and does do a good job of integrating well with the rest of the Media Center experience, but we hate to say it but we'd rather see nothing at all then garbage like this. Our favorite internet tv beta 2 feature? The ability to hide it from the guide, and with any luck, forget it even exists.
How to install a CableCARD tuner in your DIY Media Center
Access to premium HD on computers has eluded most for way to long, so as soon as we heard that it was finally possible for anyone to add a CableCARD tuner to just about any Media Center, we just knew we had to try it for ourselves, and more importantly, share with you exactly how to do it. This doesn't really require any hacking, or anything illegal for that matter -- we're not lawyers -- but it isn't cheap. The internal version of the ATI Digital Cable Tuner pictured above can be found new on eBay for about $195, or new from PC vendors like Cannon PC for just under $300. If that doesn't seem like a bad deal to you and you already have an HTPC up to the challenge, then you should join us on our journey to HD bliss by clicking through.
New utility makes any computer's BIOS CableCARD ready
After learning that some were having success adding ATI Digital Cable Tuners to HTPC they built themselves, we knew it was only a matter of time before it would be possible to make it work on any computer, but we have to admit we never thought it would happen this fast. The Green Button forum member DanITman posted some directions and links to everything you need to make ANY Vista or Windows 7 computer support digital cable. The hack is very simple actually, it just uses a modified version of VistaLoader to emulate a Sony OCUR compliant computer's BIOS. The real beauty is that it can easily be installed or uninstalled and if Microsoft were to black list the Sony BIOS, emulating a different BIOS would be trivial. The only potentially unworkable caveat at this point is if you are using an Dell OEM Windows PC using the OEM key, this will break your activation, but hopefully a solution for that will be discovered shortly as well.
DIY'ers successfully build their own CableCARD equipped HTPC
HTPC fans were devastated when it was revealed that only OEM PC builders would have the privilege of building Vista Media Center PCs with CableCARD support, but hope is here: it looks like a few members of The Green Button forum have figured out how to build their own CableCARD ready HTPC. There's two barriers to overcome, which unfortunately still make it more difficult than just picking up an internal or external ATI Digital Cable Tuner, but they're not terrible: would-be system builders just need to score an OCUR tuner product ID number and use a BIOS contains the correct OSFR table. No one's figured out how to tweak just any BIOS yet, but apparently most ASUS P5Q motherboards work fine -- so really you just need to score some used CableCARD tuners off eBay and ask the seller for the PID from their computer. Or you could throw caution to the wind and plug in the generic PID of 263DJ-2Y9YT-6X9G6-W28DB-697TF, which may or may not work. Anyone feeling brave enough to grab a new mobo and CableCARD tuner and give this a shot?
Microsoft clarifies codec position for Windows 7
Last week it was uncovered that the way 3rd party codecs will work in Windows 7 is going to be different. Microsoft wasn't exactly happy with our interpretation of the events and so we received a nice email today clarifying a few points; like the fact that Windows will "continue to use codecs and other format technologies from third-party companies." This is great and all, but doesn't exactly jive with what the developers of some third party companies are saying. The real point of contention seems to be that in Windows 7, if the video you want to watch is naively supported by Windows, there's no easy way choose a different codec, like the popular ffdshow. Now obviously you'll be able to add support for a codec not already supported by Windows, but that isn't going to be enough for some. That's not to say there isn't a way to override this out of the box behavior, but it isn't like it used to be. But honestly, a part of us understands what Microsoft is trying to do here. Anyone who has ever messed up their direct show filter priority with some hack codec pack knows the pain of re-installing Windows just to get a video to play again. So in a strange way this might actually be a decent compromise. Now if it was down right impossible to override the default codecs, it'd be a different story. But based on the current beta builds floating around the net, that doesn't seem to be the case. The full official response from Microsoft is after the break.
Microsoft restores guide data for ATSC channels in Media Center
We'll say one thing for our friends in Redmond, they might not always be on the ball but they do recovery quickly. Not even 48 hours after we reported the problem of missing guide data for ATSC channels that no longer have an NTSC counterparts, Microsoft came up with a interim fix that should restore guide data to all those pre-TV Pack Windows Media Center users. As we suspected, the issue had something to do with the old analog channel requirement and the root source of the guide data -- you didn't think Microsoft hand coded all that information did you? Evidently one of the sources of data used for both NTSC and ASTC channels dried up, post analog shutoff, and it caught the eHome team off guard. The good news is that all should be restored when your HTPC requests new data and if your like us -- you know the impatient type -- then a quick visit to "Tasks --> Settings --> TV --> Guide --> Get Latest Guide Listings" should do the trick. The full response from Redmond after the break.
Windows Media Center isn't ready for the digital transition
Media Center fans woke up to a rude awakening late last week when they realized that many of their OTA HD channels were missing guide data. After a number of reports at The Green Button -- where Microsoft is usually very receptive to programming data problems -- it become apparent that almost all the channels missing data were the very same ones where the broadcasters stayed on schedule and shut off their analog transmitters in February. We dropped a quick note to Microsoft to see what the deal is, but while we wait for a response we theorized that this might have something to do with the way OTA HD used to work in Windows Media Center Edition. Back in those days you had to have an analog tuner in order to add an HD tuner, so it makes some sense that the two were linked together, at least at some point. Further lending to this theory is the fact that those running the infamous TV Pack aren't affected and nor are those running a Windows 7 Beta -- MS completely rewrote how the tuners work in the newer releases. Now if you'll please excuse us while we go manually schedule all of our recordings, you know, like on an old VCR.
PowerDVD 9 with native Media Center UI goes live
We've given up on waiting for Microsoft to natively support Blu-ray in Windows Media Center, but the good news is that the 3rd parties seem motivated to fill in the gap and the latest player from Cyberlink leap frogs ArcSoft's TotalMedia nicely. Although there are some additional under the hood enhancements -- still no HDMI 1.3 support, but seems to be coming with some sort of "Advanced Pack" -- that are welcomed, the big news in PowerDVD 9 is the Windows Media Center interface. Rather than just add a shortcut to the main menu that launches the application, Cyberlink has done some good work building a native MCML application. It pretty much looks exactly like it did when we filmed it at CES, and for the most part we like it, but we still think it could be a little more like the Media Center UI -- mostly we're referring to the scrub bar. %Gallery-46101%
Windows Media Center gets channel logos, finally
We're a big fan of Windows Media Center around here -- where else can you get a truly multiroom DVR solution after all -- but for whatever reason there are a few glaring missing features that have kept us scratching our heads for years. One item on that list that we can finally check off in Windows 7 is channel logos. Sure, this wasn't as high on our list as dual live buffers or the ability to record the Live TV buffer, but it is a welcomed addition. What we still can't figure out though, is why Microsoft hasn't added this years ago? And even more so, why even now is a 3rd party that got it to work? The good news is that My Channel Logos for 7MC is not only a free plug-in, but open enough that you can add your own logos -- this has some particularly interesting uses for those channels your significant other likes, but you don't.
The real reason why the Media Center TV pack update was OEM only?
One thing we know for sure is that the entire way Microsoft handled the TV Pack (code named Fiji) update was not well received by the enthusiast community. The primary reason for the disgust was the fact that the TV Pack update was OEM only (ie the likes of Dell and HP only), meaning those on the outside looking in felt slighted. The overall feeling seemed to be that Microsoft was once again pandering to the big OEMs -- like in the case of the original MCE or Digital Cable Tuners -- while leaving the build-your-own HTPC crowd on the sidelines. But here we are six months later and to our knowledge no OEMs are actually shipping Windows Media Center PCs with the TV Pack installed and we think we know why. At first we have to admit we had no clue what was going on, but then recently Microsoft proudly announced that unlike Windows Beta's before it, Windows 7 was only going to have one beta before going straight to release candidate 1 (RC1). %Gallery-29109%
Hulu on its way to Windows Media Center via SecondRun.tv
promising There's no question that the hottest new video site these days is Hulu and every media streamer and HTPC software around it trying to get in on the action by offering a way to access the fast amount of Hollywood content on bigger screens. The latest in the mix is Windows Media Center via a plug-in called SecondRun.tv. Before you get too excited though, it should be noted it's still in a private beta, but the screen shots do look promising. Now if only the video and sound quality of Hulu wasn't completely unbearable on a 60-inch HDTV with surround sound.
Automatic commercial skipping is a go for Media Center in Windows 7
There were plenty of people upset -- including us -- when they discovered that they could no longer automatically skip commercials after upgrading their Vista Media Center with the TV Pack. Well we're very pleased to let you know that our assertion that Microsoft broke our favorite third party application on purposed, was unfounded. You see we recently got the word from the developer behind DVRMSToolBox that the Windows 7 Media Center SDK was in hand and that it won't be long before we'll be able to can skip commercials without ever picking up the remote -- nice.
Video: Cyberlink's native Media Center Blu-ray player
At this point most aren't happy with Microsoft's progress of adding new features to Windows Media Center, but lucky for Blu-ray fans there are other companies willing to pick up the slack. The first to create Blu-ray software that tried to focus on the Media Center crowd was ArcSoft with its TotalMedia Theater, but although it was better than anything else out there, it is far from seamless. Competition is good and at Microsoft's booth we got to see a demo of the new Cyberlink PowerDVD Media Center player. It was far and away more seamless than the older PowerDVD and although it was very Media Center like, it still wasn't the same -- the most obvious difference is the scrub bar, which looks nothing like the Media Center scrub bar. This is an early version and is far from snappy. You can see in the video there are some pretty long delays when loading the disc, but to be fair it was tested on a netbook. Ultimately we liked it more than TotalMedia Theater, but we still long for native Blu-ray playback.
Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Adapter review
One of the reasons why Microsoft's Media Center is so attractive is because of the extender functionality. It allows you to enjoy just about all the same content in every room of your house, without the need to buy more than one HTPC. But with variety sometimes brings hard choices, so this motivated us to start a quest to find the best Media Center Extender. While the Xbox 360 is the obvious choice for most, it isn't the best solution for everyone. So we started out by comparing it to every extender out there. But since our initial shoot out, a few more Extenders have made their way to market, and the most recent addition is the Samsung MediaLive Media Adapter. At first glance it seems that this is the perfect solution for anyone with a Samsung TV, and while the tight integration, great price, and diminutive size is attractive, you'll have to click though to find out why we're still on the hunt for the perfect Windows Media Center Extender. %Gallery-38727%
