What Can A Home Cinema/Home Theater PC Do? Part 2
The Benefits of Owning an HTPC
In Part 1, we discussed much of what an HTPC can do. As mentioned, this was a two part series so I want to continue that discussion on some additional features and experience that an HTPC can provide.
Amplified Audio
Now, you can even turn your HTPC into a high quality stereo amplifier. With the inclusion 5.1 amplifier card, you can enjoy the complete home theater experience in glorious, booming surround sound. Having a great video experience on your HTPC is one thing, but when you combine great video with a high performance, integrated amplifier, movies explode off the screen and music rattles the walls. I have a specific post coming up on this topic shortly…this one is pretty neat!
Music
Another of my favorite things about an HTPC is the easy access to my music. An HTPC can store some or all of your music library onto the Hard Disk with a simple click of a remote control. No more fumbling around with CDs, just store it to the Hard Drive and then put the CD away as a back up. Sure, this depends on how much music you have vs. how much storage space is available on your system, but it’s a great feature. Imagine, every song you own on one HTPC that can be easily accessed anytime you want.
Store your music library for quick, easy access. Set up playlists, play slideshows, etc. Image courtesy of Microsoft
You can sort/search by artist, album, year and more. In many cases, it will provide the album cover art and album details for you as well. As mentioned previously, you can even have music playing in the background while you are viewing photos from your picture library. It’s a great way to share and re-live your memories.
Internet TV
Now, here is a cool feature that Microsoft has added, Internet TV. Internet TV lets you see trailers for the latest movies playing at the theater or coming out on DVD. It can stream the trailers directly from the web, and it looks great! It will also provide access to some of the top Viral Videos. You can even find news, lifestyle video clips and more. It’s all just a few remote clicks away.
Movie trailers, cast interviews, viral videos, etc. are all available via Internet TV
You want HD content?
There is a great deal of HD content out on the internet. Applications like Hulu, TV MSN TV, Brightcove TV, Joost, etc provide some great, professional level and even broadcast content over the internet. Likewise, the major broadcasts networks make much of their content available online as well. You can find both trailers as well as full length episodes online. You can also find cooking shows, woodworking shows, technology review shows, travel shows, etc. much of it in beautiful Hi-Def. – and best of all, much of it is FREE! Many of these programs are ad based (like regular TV) while other sources of internet content are subscription based.
At this point it time, some 3rd party content does require the use of a keyboard/mouse, but the variety of content out there is amazing. With some of the small thumb size QWERTY keyboards out there, it is very easy to use to get to all of this, rich internet content online. It is also recommended that you have a broadband internet connection to enjoy the best experience with this content.
Note that an HD monitor is required for the full HD viewing experience.
Internet Radio
With an HTPC, you can access thousands of internet radio stations. You can find just about any type of music and genre you could possibly imagine. Programs like Windows Vista® Media Center give you access to thousands of internet radio stations and again, most of it is free with your HTPC.
Thousands of internet radio stations are available at the touch of a button
Extend that Experience
With an HTPC and an extender (like the Microsoft Xbox 360 or other DMA device) you can even access the content on your HTPC on a second or more screens in your home. An extender provides remote access of the content on the HTPC over your home network. Similarly, with the right home network setup, you can access much of the content on an HTPC from your other PCs in the home.
Sports Fan
Stay up to date with all the latest score and stats of favorite team. With an HTPC, you can get quick access to all the latest happenings. Track players and stats for your fantasy sports team, find out the latest scores, find out what teams are playing and even schedule TV recordings.
Syncing to Personal Media Players
Take your content with you. Sync your PMP to your HTPC and you can transcode your favorite content on the HTPC (including recorded TV, etc) to your media player and take it with you when you travel. Cell phones, Personal Media players, handheld game devices are all adding functionality that targets entertainment content. With an HTPC, not only do you have a central box that aggregates your entertainment content, but can easily synch that content to your preferred player device so you can enjoy that content while mobile.
Home Control/Automation
With an HTPC, you can even set it up for Home Automation and Control. There are few competing technologies that enable this type of functionality, but by adding Zigbee, Z-Wave, UPB, etc type devices, you can control heating/air conditioning (HVAC), Alarm Systems, lighting, and more all right from your HTPC. Typically, these devices require some software application support in addition to hardware, however it is rather impressive the type of advanced things you can do with an HTPC.
Control lighting, security, heating/air conditioning, etc. with your HTPC. Image courtesy of Aspen Media Products.
View security cameras from your HTPC. Image courtesy of Aspen Media Products
Some of the things mentioned in this write up require a more advanced type set up and are often better left to a professional installer, however all of it can be done on an HTPC when properly configured, equipped, and installed. In a future segment, we will discuss in more detail the advantages of purchasing a pre-configured system and where you can buy one.
Add a keyboard and mouse and guess what? You have a fully operational PC that can do all the typical PC functions as well.
HTPCs a great way to access and enjoy digital entertainment content and the technology is now much more mature, making these solutions available at an affordable price. All of it controlled with a single remote. There are numerous Plug In type applications available that extend the functionality even further. You can add Weather plug ins to get the local and national weather, Movie Database plug ins to manage your movie/video content, Movie Streaming plug ins to access even more movie content online and much, much more. I will be sharing more on this in an upcoming blog.
Imagine, one HTPC that is your STB, Amplifier, DVD or Blu-ray player, music jukebox, video jukebox, internet TV box that can hold all your vacation videos, photos, music. All-in-one box that is simple to use, remote control operated to meet all your entertainment needs!
Till next time, Happy Trails!
Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
POSTED IN: Home Theater
TAGS: HTPC, Internet TV, Online Video
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COMMENTS: 12
Jay, I have been researching all over the internet trying to find information regarding building my HTPC. I stumbled upon your blog while researching an appropriate graphics card for my HTPC. I am excited to see what my system can do! If there is a way to contact you via e-mail (my e-mail address was listed in order to post this comment) or another way, I’d appreciate it! Thanks!!
@John Holbrook, Hello John, Thank you for the comments. HTPC’s are very exciting products. I use my system daily for just about everything I show in those screen shots. Stay tuned as there are some really cool things I plan on covering here in some upcoming posts. I will see what I can do to get in touch with you. In the meantime, if you have a specific question, feel free to post it here and I will try to answer it. Alternatively, you can find me cruising around on various A/V centric forums discussing HTPCs and related topics.
Regards,
Jay
Jay, here’s the question related to graphics card choice: My 8500 GT Nvidia video card fried and I have been searching for recommendations on a new one. I’m running Vista system in my Gateway GM5478 and wish to use Media Center to stream video and HDTV television via extenders (as you have explained very well in your blog). Through research in various forums and websites, it seems like Nvidia no longer supports some previously supported options earlier available through XP OS such as full screen video mirroring (ability to surf the web using the PC monitor while watching tv, etc. on my HDTV?), enabling overscan adjustment in Vista for lo-res displays, and supporting hardware mpeg acceleration for Vista’s default mpeg codec (maybe this is outdated information and updated cards have these capabilities). I’m not totally understanding all of the above issues but if the ATI cards do not have these issues (I have read where the “full screen video mirroring” issue is not a problem in ATI cards where the “theater mode” is a comparable option) I would be interested in recommendations for an ATI card (or comparable one – I have been considering an Nvidia 9400 GT before doing the above research). I won’t be doing as much gaming but want to get good resolution through my HDTV. Through further research, Nvidia’s 9600GT and 9800GTX as well as AMD’s Radeon HD 4679 and 4850 seem to be good affordable choices. Thanks for your help!!
@John Holbrook, Hello John, I spoke with our GPU team about your question and have the following recommendation. The nV 9400GT is targeted at the value segment and would be comparable to our HD 4500 series products. These boards provide real value for the price. However, for a mainstream/performance target, our recommendation would be the Radeon HD 4670. This is 75w. These cards also have a variable speed fan, low noise when in HTPC mode. Based upon your needs, it appears the ATI Radeon HD 4670 might best fit your needs.
Regards,
Jay
ok Jay, I’m sold on the ATI Radeon HD 4670 for my Gateway GM5478. One more quick question: I see there is a variety of brands – Diamond, Sapphire, etc. Are there capability differences between brands (just trying to decide which one would be best)? Thanks again!
@John Holbrook, Hello John, Generally speaking, you will not find much difference between the functionality of similar models from these vendors. They are all starting with the same silicon chip, so whatever the chip is capable of, the chip is capable of, so to speak. Where these vendors try to differentiate themselves is in board design, cooling, overclocking capabilities, etc. These are all great AMD/ATI partners and each will likely have their own, loyal followers. It might be best to read up on some reviews/shoot outs comparing the same model card from mulitple vendors. Many reviewers will typically do this to give customers a comparrison overview. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Jay
Enjoyed the series about the HTPC. I recently have decided to go the HTPC route using OTA and streaming media from the internet (Netflix, hulu, etc). Will you be doing a series on the types of software you use in addition to media center? I am just trying to get a handle on the products that are out there and software is one of the areas I am most confused about. I really want to be able to stream netflix, watch TV shows from sites like hulu or disney.com, and play regular DVD’s. I also have a tuner card and use media center for my DVR and enjoy it. Thanks for any advice and I look forward to more entries from you.
@William, Hello William. Yes, I do have planned a series of topics on various plugin s/w for media center that can enhance the HTPC value. I will also discuss alternative s/w solutions to media center as well in a future blog. In fact, one of the next blogs will cover the vast amount of online content available today. However, I want to finish off the h/w side first and then move to the s/w side. Stay tuned as there is lots more to discuss on the topic of the HTPC.
Regards,
Jay
I am curious about your security system. I have a custom built HTPC and this was going to be my next step. I see you referenced Aspen Media. I would like to see you post a little more about that topic or provide anything you could about your setup of the security system.
Thank you,
Chad
What are AMD’s plans to support PAP so we have the ability to bitstream uncompressed audio over HDMI without downsampling?
HTPCs are close to great but without this ability Blu-ray viewing is severely gimped.
@John, Hello John, PAP is more of an implementation requirement than an AMD silicon issue.
Basically, there are 2 parts to the equation…
1) S/W support. Currently, as I understand it, all of the major s/w vendors are automatically downsampling the audio stream because they are not operating within the MS protected environment. The Xonar card to get around this has to add a decryption chip onto their audio card design in order to take the audio stream from the player, decrypt it and put it back out. Without special s/w from the players to support this, it would not be possible.
2) H/W implementation. To implement a similar solution as the Xonar cards, the motherboard vendors would need to implement a decryption engine (chip) into their motherboard design so they could take the full bit audio stream from the player (again, s/w needed) and then pass it out the back. It would also require a codec that could handle the PAP requirements. This all adds cost to the platform.
With that said, I can’t help but wonder if the average person would be able to really tell the difference between DD+ or DTS vs. True HD or DTS Master audio.
I am just not sure if the average consumer would be able to tell the difference or not. I think most people can see visual artifacts, etc. but are less in tune with audio differences.
I do believe that good audio makes good video look better. But is there a point where audio is good enough for the masses? Where is the point of diminishing returns? I don’t think traditional PC audio is good enough but is it really the lack of PAP that is holding back the HTPC? I am not so sure about that.
Just some thoughts to ponder.
Regards,
Jay
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