Bits & Bytes

We are continuing with our Entertainment theme this week.   We talked about music, now we are going to shift our focus to movies.

There are quite a few movie sites on the net.  We are going to focus on just a few here.  First, once again, are some things look for.  Are you going to rent or buy movies?  Do you want to watch them just once or keep them forever?  What quality would you like them in?  Different stores have different answers to those questions.  Here’s a quick run down:

netflix.com

I’m a Netflix subscriber and I love it.  Not only do we get DVD’s delivered to us, there’s a decent library online you can stream to your computer.  There aren’t many new releases, but if you like classic movies like I do, you will find plenty to watch.  There are lots of TV shows also!  The online movies are included with most subscriptions.

vongo.com

I used to be a Vongo member, but I gave it up when I switched to Netflix.  Vongo is a service from Stars, the cable movie network.  Anything that is on the Stars network you can watch online with your monthly membership.  Other movies can be watched via pay-per-view with various costs.

Amazon.com

Once again, Amazon is a GREAT pick for buying or renting movies online.  They offer plenty of movies to choose from to either buy or rent.  Check out the “Amazon Unboxed” store with the link on the far right.

cinemanow.com

Cinemanow.com is another good place to rent or purchase movies.  The bonus with their site is that they have a Media Center addition that will allow you to rent movies from the Media Center interface we talked about last week.  They also have lots of TV shows and other content as well.

If you have questions about anything we talked about this week, please email us at bits@pc-er.com.  We’d love to hear from you!

Today we are going to start a series on entertainment.  Today’s show is going to focus on Home Theater PC’s or HTPC for short.

Computers are more and more becoming an integral part of a home entertainment system. This week we are going to share some of the ways you can use what’s out there today in your home theater setup, as well as what’s coming down the road.

In simple terms, an HTPC is like a TiVo on Steriods.  You can use it as a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) but it also does much, much more!

The hardware required for a typical HTPC is about the same for a normal midrange system with a few exceptions.  First, if you are going to use the DVR functions, you will need some sort of TV tuners.  We will get into that in more detail in a minute.  You also need LOTS of storage space.  The more storage space, the more recording time, and the more things you can have ready to go on your system, like downloaded or ripped movies.  You also need a decent video card, preferably one that is HDCP compliant.

What is HDCP?

HDCP is a standard developed by Intel for protecting content as it goes from device to device.  (HDCP stands for High-Definition Content Protection)  HDCP uses a “key” that is passed between devices that allows high-def content to be passed between them.  For example, Blu-Ray requires HDCP.  If you have a Blu-Ray drive and your computer has an HDCP compliant video card and it is connected to an HDCP monitor, the content will be relayed to these devices and everything will be peachy.  However, if even one of these devices is not HDCP compliant, the device will not pass on the content.  This is to prevent the content from being copied.

HTPC Software Options

There are quite a few options availabe for DVR software.  We will talk about a few of them here.  First the free ones:

MythTV

MythTV is an open source DVR platform that runs on Linux.  MythTV has many modules you can download to enhance the HTPC experience.  It has a couple of downfalls, however.  The only HD TV support is over the air, so if you live where you can’t get HD signals over the air (and here in Anderson there are a couple of stations we can’t get with a regular anntenna) you will miss out on HD.  Also no premium channels or cable channels are available in HD that way.  Find out more at http://www.mythtv.com.

MediaPortal

MediaPortal is another open source system, but this one runs on Windows.  It is not as popular as MythTV, but it does have some add-ons that have been built for it.  It has the same limitations as mentioned above for MythTV.  Check it out at http://www.team-mediaportal.com.

SageTV

SageTV is a commercial application.  It cost about $80.  They have Windows and Linux versions.  The good thing about SageTV is that it has extenders available.  These are boxes that can be connect via a network and display content from the computer running SageTV.  Not a bad system, however the same HD limitations apply.  http://www.sagetv.com is their site.

Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center is the most popular of the software DVRs.  MC comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition, and a newer version ships with Vista Home Premium or Ultimate versions.  Media Center is the only one of the DVR programs out now that can utilize cable cards (more on this below) so you can have HD content from your cable provider.  There is also a card for DirecTV that is currently being developed by Microsoft and DirecTV.

TV Tuners

There are several types of TV Tuners out right now:

• Analog TV Tuners
  • Record TV over standard cable (cable with no cable box)
  • Record TV shows individually or by series
  • Record by keyword
• Digital OTA Tuners
  • Record HDTV from an antenna
• Digital Cable TV Tuners
  • Record TV that would usually require a cable box
  • Can record digital cable HD channels!!
  • Has to be a CableLabs certified computer (only a few companies make these as of today)
• DirecTV!!!
  • Coming sometime soon - who knows when?
  • Will act as a satellite receiver for your computer!

So there’s HTPC’s in a nutshell.  Email us at bits@pc-er.com if you want more information over the coming weeks and we will answer your questions on the air!