Re: OT: Windows Media Center / PVR Experience
- From: "Tom Scales" <tjscales@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:03:42 -0400
Well, we finally have a monopoly to blame for something. The CableCard
people. You will be able to get cablecard support in Vista, but ONLY if you
buy a totally new computer. What a ripoff.
In my case, I get every major network over the air. There are, of course,
many OTA tuner choices from all the majors. I can also get unencrypted QAM
channels and also unencrypted channels through Firewire, but both are hacks.
Let's face it, the cable industry just flat haves PVR/DVR systems that they
don't rent you. Talk about abuse of power.
"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:45fc86a8$0$16961$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Agreed, technically Media Center can do it.
The problem is that there are very few HD tuners for media center, and
most of those are ATSC only (e.g. Over-the-air), even the relatively few
HDTV tuners that do exist mostly don't do QAM (HDTV transmitted over cable
systems rather than over the air). Problem is, over-the-air just isn't
good enough. You have, in most places, maybe 4 over the air HD channels
(if that, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox). Whereas most larger cable systems these
days have several dozen HD channels, and some services have 100 to 300 HD
channels. So when I said that "Windows Media Center, for the most part,
is still limited to SD", I know that it's not a literal truth in the
technical sense, but until you can get a media center system with multiple
multi-mode tuners (at least NTSC and QAM, if not NTSC/ATSC/QAM), and until
MS finally gets around to allowing multi-tuner media center systems to
have different channel guides for each tuner, media center won't have
enough versatility to compare favorably with the types of multi-tuner DVR
cable boxes that the better cable companies (and some of the satellite
broadcasters) are offering.
Tom Scales wrote:
Media Center, of course, does support Over the Air HD quite well. I use
a different product, but virtually everything I record is OTA HD.
"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:45fc7760$0$5735$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Re: "Now I know why people are into the new HD Plasma / LCD TV's."
No, you really still don't. You are only closer to knowing.
Re: "I have a taste of what that might be like."
Only a taste.
720P or 1080P HDTV (with a corresponding true HD signal source) on a
large screen (50" or larger) really is pretty spectacular. People who
talk about it without having really seen it don't really understand what
the attraction is. Windows Media Center, for the most part, is still
limited to SD (standard definition). DVDs are all still SD also,
although they are the highest quality SD you can get. But even if
upconverted to HD, it's still upconversion of SD material. While these
can be far better than a typical TV set and VCR, they both still fall
short.
So you have a taste; now go out and get a meal.
It's not that expensive. In 1997, I bought a 50" Hitachi projection TV
for about $1600. It wasn't even their "Ultravision" set (their top of
the line set), it was just one of their standard large-screen models. In
December, I bought a JVC 56" 1080P HDTV for $1,749. 10 years later,
when the dollar is worth a lot less, and there is no comparison, it's
like comparing a Lexus to a horse drawn carriage. You can get some good
720P 50"-plus projection sets down around $1,100 - $1,200. None of
these prices are anything like the $5,000-plus that people were saying
that a good HDTV would cost only 3 or 4 years ago.
[PS - I have a media center system, but I just love the Pioneer 8300HD
cable box that I got from the cable company. Dual tuners, both of them
dual mode (NTSC SD and QAM), with a 160GB hard drive built-in, I can
record and/or watch two different channels at once, in both HD and/or
SD, the quality is fantastic, it has HDMI digital output, and it has
dual tuner PIP (picture in picture) in the cable box itself. The
service is fantastic except that while there are lots of HD channels (3
or 4 dozen), there are still major channels that are not yet
broadcasting in HD. And once you've seen really good HD, you actually
come to resent non-HD material. Our cable company does not charge
ANYTHING more for HD service, although there is a small charge ($4 or $5
per month) to get the dual tuner DVR cable box with the built-in hard
drive. Also, by the way, the cable box has a SATA plug on the back, you
can plug in your own SATA external hard drive to increase the storage
capacity to as much as you like.]
Journey wrote:
I didn't know what I was missing.
I have been using my old 20" TV to watch TV and movies, thinking that
it was better than using my old P4 Windows Media Center PC. I thought
of WMC as something I would only use in a separate window when working
on the computer.
Well, because I recently bought a new desktop, I moved the WMC PC to
the living room and decided to try out the USB TV tuner that had been
sitting on the shelf for about a year to see how well it would work.
I put in the movie "Girl, Interrupted", and ....
WOW
Now I know why people are into the new HD Plasma / LCD TV's. I have a
taste of what that might be like.
Watching a movie on a quality, large display totally transforms the
experience. I notice so many things that I never noticed before.
The main thing I want to share that might help others is the external
USB2 device that I have found to work really well:
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2mcekit.html
It works perfectly with Windows Media Center, has a great remote, and
has a great FM tuner.
Using the remote, I am able to watch live TV, listen to FM, easily
find and set shows to record, find movies using the guide, listen to
my music library, view photos, etc....... Everything is very
intuitive.
Someday I may be able to buy one of the large TVs, but a PC with the
24" display works very well too.
Something I would like to do but don't think is possible is to have
some of my favorite movies stored on a hard drive to be able to view
on demand, rather than put the DVD in the computer.
I have a new appreciation for the talent that goes into producing a
movie when I can experience it so fully.
.
- References:
- OT: Windows Media Center / PVR Experience
- From: Journey
- Re: OT: Windows Media Center / PVR Experience
- From: Barry Watzman
- Re: OT: Windows Media Center / PVR Experience
- From: Tom Scales
- Re: OT: Windows Media Center / PVR Experience
- From: Barry Watzman
- OT: Windows Media Center / PVR Experience
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