Today, Windows 7 controls my home entertainment experience in my living room. It does so through Windows Media Center. I am using the same setup I blogged about here in 2007 with Windows 7 and it’s an amazing experience. Because of how well it works for me, I wanted to highlight 7 great things you can do with Windows Media Center in Windows 7. Windows 7 can easily be the center of your home entertainment experience just like it is with mine.

#1: Watch Live TV on your Windows 7 PC.

If your Windows 7 PC has a TV tuner, you can use Windows Media Center to watch, pause, and rewind live TV directly on your PC! If you’re Windows 7 PC doesn’t have a TV tuner, you can always add one – they are quite inexpensive.

Windows Media Center in Windows 7 supports High Definition TV (HDTV) capabilities as well. Earlier last month, we announced support for Switched Digital Video (SDV). We also announced that customers will now be able to add a digital cable tuner with CableCARD support to their PC. Previously, digital cable tuners with CableCARD support were only available on new PCs from OEMs that supported the configuration. Digital cable tuners with CableCARD support differ from standard TV tuner cards as they support digital cable through “CableCARDs” rented from your cable provider for digital cable channels. Assuming you have the right subscription, this enables you to access the full line-up of channels offered by your cable provider, including the premium channels.

There are also TV tuner cards that support “over-the-air” HDTV (ATSC) with an antenna as well as Clear QAM.

#2: Turn your Windows 7 PC into a DVR (Digital Video Recorder)!

Windows Media Center lets you schedule recordings of TV shows and movies. You can even schedule to record all instances (new episodes) of your favorite TV show! Windows Media Center also makes it very easy to view all your recorded content.

I talked about HDTV and the use of digital cable tuners with CableCARD support above. Microsoft and CableLabs are working together to allow people with digital cable tuners with CableCARD support more portability with their recorded digital cable TV. Recordings that are marked as “copy freely” (CF) will now be able to play on other PCs and portable devices.

#3: Easily find the TV shows and movies that you want to watch.

Windows Media Center has great search capabilities built-in so you can easily find all your favorite TV shows and movies. This makes it easier to schedule recordings.

#4: Access all your personal media in one place - no matter where it is.

Windows Media Center brings in all your digital media– photos, movies, music, and recorded TV shows – into one place. Windows Media Center also takes advantage of HomeGroup in Windows 7 and allows you to access digital media content from other PCs!

With recorded digital cable TV content marked as CF – you can share this content throughout your home network of Windows 7 PCs using HomeGroup (see #2 above). You can even access it when you are away from home with Remote Media Streaming in Windows 7.

#5: Track your favorite sports, players, and leagues.

If you’re a sports nut, you can use Windows Media Center to track your favorite teams and leagues. Windows Media Center lets you track scores, players, and leagues natively within Windows Media Center. You can also see quickly jump to sports on “now” and check sports coming on “later” in Windows Media Center too.

#6: Access your recorded TV and digital media where you want: on the PC or on the TV.

Windows 7 supports a variety of high end displays including HDTVs. You can connect your PC to your HDTV and use Windows Media Center to watch and view all your media. Of course this works with a standard PC monitor too. But because Windows 7 makes it easy to share your digital media, you can have 1 PC connected to your HDTV in your home for Windows Media Center and bring in content from all PCs on your home network to that single PC connected to your HDTV. You could also use the Extender for Windows Media Center technology built into your Xbox 360 to access the same Windows Media Center menu you are used to using on your PC.

#7: Watch movies and TV episodes instantly from Netflix in Windows Media Center in Windows 7.

Watch streaming “Instant Play” movies and TV shows from Netflix! Also add movies to your DVD queue if “Instant Play” is not available. Full control of your Netflix account right from Windows Media Center!

I hope these 7 great things about Windows Media Center give you some great ideas on how to bring your home entertainment together using Windows 7!

Recording TV Programs:

Our ancient VCR (tape recorder) in the TV room is starting to act up and we are looking around for a replacement. Of course VCR is the technology of the previous century - we should probably get a DVD recorder or, better yet by far, a DVR (digital video recorder).

Enter the brand new computer. It turns out that a computer with a TV tuner card can make a dandy DVR, and this new one with lots of power, high-quality graphics, and Windows Vista Ultimate with Media Center is a perfect candidate.

TV Tuner Card:

I have Windows Vista 64 with Media Center, so I ordered the AverMedia Media Center Upgrade Kit from NewEgg.com, a PCI-E tuner card. I chose that product for its features but even more because of the good recommendations from purchasers on NewEgg.com. The card includes two tuners, one for analog channels (broadcast or cable) and the other for digital (broadcast or cable).

Installation:

I installed it in a PCI-E slot, rebooted, and Windows automatically installed the drivers. There was no need to use the drivers on the included CD-ROM; I’m confident that Windows used appropriate drivers. With the kit also came a remote control and remote receiver, for which Windows also found and installed a driver.

I connected the cable TV signal to the analog tuner, and the included “test” antenna to the digital tuner, and immediately tuned in all of the analog cable channels and eight digital broadcast channels.

I’m not an HDTV enthusiast, at least not yet. I know almost nothing about home-theater PC (HTPC). But this was trivially simple. What we have here is a card that is designed to work specifically with Windows Media Center (MC), a Microsoft software package found on some XP and Vista machines. The card came with no other software except drivers - it would be useless without MC, and MC cannot play or record TV signals without a TV tuner card. They go together hand in glove, and they worked together right out of the box with no coaxing at all.

Performance:

• The quality of the analog cable programs is better than my desktop TV, and they have equal signals off the same splitter.
• The quality of the digital programs is stunning.
• MC and the tuner immediately detected and cataloged every useful analog cable channel.
• Using a tiny “test” antenna supplied with the kit, the system detected all of the major local broadcast stations. That test antenna is all I need.
• MC can play one program from one tuner while recording another program from the other tuner.
• With MC not running, the computer’s CPU usage is 1% to 2%. With MC playing a program it is about 20%, and with MC both playing and recording it is about 25%.
• The card’s tuner chips felt warm to the touch, but not hot.
• I ran a CPU exercise program called HeavyLoad while MC was playing and recording, and the program played without a hitch with CPU usage bumping up between 90% and 100%. Nothing overheated.

Features I’d like to have:

• The documentation was nonexistent. I have no idea how some of the included parts are even supposed to be used.
• It has no FM tuner, which would be very nice with MC.
• Though there are two tuners on the card, MC will not show picture-in-picture.
• The tuner is capable of playing QAM (unencrypted digital cable signals) but MC will not take advantage that capability.

Bottom Line:

It works exactly as advertised and I’m glad to have it. I wonder if we should just build another, cheaper computer and dedicate it to DVR as a replacement for the VCR. Still expensive I guess.

An alternative is to rent the DVR from our cable provider Comcast, which would require us to upgrade the cable from Standard to Digital, and the rental plus the upgrade would cost us $16.00/month or about $200.00/year. At that rate we coud pay for an $800 computer in four years … hmmm.

Windows Media Center Program Manager Charlie Owen highlights that this year Windows Media Center celebrates its 5th anniversary on September 3rd . With Windows Media Center’s upcoming birthday, Ed Bott decided to take the opportunity to celebrate the Read More……(read more)

Windows Media Center Program Manager Charlie Owen highlights that this year Windows Media Center celebrates its 5th anniversary on September 3rd. With Windows Media Center’s upcoming birthday, Ed Bott decided to take the opportunity to celebrate the event by writing about how Windows Media Center has taken over his living room.  Ed takes three pages to describe setting up Windows Media Center in his living room and his experiences using it. Ed’s goal was to turn Windows Media Center into a centralized hub for all his digital photos, music and video - consolidating his data into a single digital entertainment point within his house. Those interested in Ed’s specs and pricing for his Windows Media Center set up - he’s posted them here. I’m going to follow in celebrating Windows Media Center’s 5 year anniversary just like Ed by posting about my very own Windows Media Center set-up I have in my living room.

My Windows Media Center PC is a custom PC by Velocity Micro called CineMagix Grand Theater Entertainment System specifically for Windows Media Center. It is currently running Windows Vista Home Premium with the following specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2.13GHz
• 2 GB DDR2 PC5300 DDR667
• ATI Radeon X1950
• ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner (for Digital CableCard features)
• Integrated Intel High Definition 7.1 Channel Sound, with Optical and Coaxial Digital Outputs
• 2 x 250GB Seagate 7200.10 16MB Cache SATA/300
• Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter

The PC cost $2,215 and currently rates a 5.1 on the Windows Experience Index. As noted above, my Windows Media Center PC has CableCard abilities. Through Comcast (who supplies me with the CableCard), I have ability to watch and record HD content through my ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner. I plan on covering my experience with CableCard and recording HD content through Windows Media Center in a later post but it is absolutely amazing. I was able to completely ditch the digital cable box supplied by Comcast replacing it with my Windows Media Center PC.

   

Connected to my Windows Media Center PC is my 42-inch LG HDTV. It fully supports 1080p (1920×1080 screen resolutions) which is what my Windows Media Center PC is running at. The HDTV essentially is the monitor for my Windows Media Center PC.

Just like Ed, I use the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000. This keyboard is perfect for Windows Media Center. It is light, thin, and has some great quick-access buttons for launching essential Windows Media Center features like the Guide and play controls. For a complete review of the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 - Andre Da Costa has an excellent review on his blog.

I also have a second Windows Media Center PC - my main desktop PC in my office (the one with the dual monitors you’ve seen in all my videos). It currently runs with an ATI TV Wonder 650. When I’m working, I have Windows Media Center running on the second monitor. The ATI TV Wonder 650 is capable of over-the-air HDTV but unfortunately I don’t have the proper antenna to get this capability. But I have the ability to watch and record standard definition TV.

So to continue the celebration of Windows Media Center’s upcoming birthday - tell me about your Windows Media Center set-up. How do you have Windows Media Center running in your home? I’m really interested in hearing about other people’s set-ups.  

Today, across the world, Live Earth is taking place - a huge concert for “a climate in crisis”. This event is bringing together 2 billion people across the world with performances by over 150 musicians and presented by MSN. Unfortunately I was unable to make it to any of the live concerts myself but I have the next best thing to being there in person. Connected to a 42-inch LG HDTV (which is Energy Star compliant) is a Digital Cable Card Home Entertainment PC from Velocity Micro. Companies such as Velocity Micro, HP, and others are beginning to ship PC’s capable of HDTV with Windows Vista using Windows Media Center. These PC’s come with a special HD tuner with a slot for a special card called a CableCard. These CableCards enable HD capabilities through your digital cable service and are available through your digital cable providers (for example I received my CableCard from Comcast).

Through my digital cable package I have with Comcast, I get several HD channels that work wonderfully with my Digital Cable Card PC and Windows Vista. Today, UHD - the Universal HD channel - is broadcasting Live Earth in HD all day as the concerts take place across the world.

Here is a video I shot of the Foo Fighters playing in London to show the setup I currently have running:

Video: Live Earth in HD on Windows Media Center

In the coming weeks, I plan to cover very extensively the HD capabilities and scenarios that Windows Vista supports which include the use of CableCards for HDTV content with Windows Media Center. I plan to dive real deep with explaining how it all works together with Windows Vista.

Now - off to replace all my old incandescent light bulbs with new fluorescent light bulbs.