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HTPC
what's that?.
Well
this confused me when I first set out in 2003. I searched living
room PC, media PC etc but never thought of home theatre PC. Home
theatre to me at the time suggested things like surround sound
and projection TV, so what did this have to do with a PC used
as an entertainment device used in the livingroom.
If
you search media or multimedia you get PC's that paly music and
DVD's but not not specifically in the living room connected to
a TV have the look of a HIFI component or quiet enough without
fans and hard drives spinning away all ready to play games ect.
I use
the term TV as different output device than a computer monitor
where in normal use is located away form the user and could include
a computer monitor but normally a TV, projector, plasma or LCD
device that is used to view programs and films.
So
home theatre becomes to make sense, a PC that is used in home
theatre set-up’s form 14inch to over 300 inch screens. In
its basic form the HTPC normally connects to a TV by
1)
Using a graphics card with a video out connector (not the VGA
connector this can only be used with a PC monitor) either using
the composite / Svideo connections (better quality than composite
as both brightness and colour are seperated throughout so less
bleeding on screen) or component ( ultimate quality as all signals
and individual colour components Red Green Blue are seperated).
In
the basic HTPC mode only the TV is connected to the graphics
card so the graphics card should be set for TV broadcast (normally
this will automatically by the graphics card). Further optimisations
can be made within the graphic card software to obtain excellent
image quality. Nvidia cards have twin view where both tv and
monitor have different settings.
It
is possible to use both a PC monitor and TV at the same time
to display either the same information or become totally separate,
PC monitor to display windows and control software and the TV
to just display video's or pictures. A small touch sensitve
7" monitor acting as a remote looks so cool next to the
lazy boy chair in front of a 42" plasma with 7.1 surround
set up.
2)
Using the audio/speaker out of the sound card or motherboard.
Both
the audio and video from the HTPC are connect into the line in
of the TV the same way as a DVD, video or camcorder, either by
phono, Svideo or scart connections.
If
an AV amp is used in your set-up then it is possible to exploit
surround sound capabilities, either digital optical, coax or even
separate phono connections (more complicated possibly lower quality).
Most new mother boards come with built in 5.1 surround sound (AC97)
if not 7.1but may not include optical or coax out or software
that exploits 5.1. There are PCI sound cards that cost £13
that come with optical/coax out and a free version of DVD playback
software with 5.1 decoding.
For
me the main reason for building a HTPC was as follows:
1) Functions of a HIFI.
I had just purchased a fantastic Sony 7.1 (7X 135Watt) AV amp
with speakers (this also has a built in radio tuner) so wanted
to utilise this fantastic amp and why not. To this I wanted to
add at a minimum a CD player however CD’s can play on a
DVD player so DVD it is. Why bother with CD's anyway convert to
MP3 and store onto hard drive for an online jukebox, no more juggling
CD’s. 1 CD=MP3=32MB of disk space.
2)
Display photo’s
I tend not to print my pictures but take lots of photos and view
on the TV friends and family via connecting the camera. This becomes
difficult to do with archived pictures on the computer in the
study.
3)
To record and play back TV programs.
I previously had a SVHS video recorder so the recordings needed
to be as good if not better quality. I do have a library of archived
films but I mainly used the VCR to time shift, i.e. record a program
and watch it when I want.
The
main problem with VCR is the timer, limited to 8 settings and
maximum of 8 hrs per tape. Another annoyance is with all the video
tapes and logging each program, juggling 60-70 tapes.
How
about an online video juke box, able to get to 40-50 recordings
instantly, along with the program name, program details and even
the actors names.
For
longer term storage burn onto a DVD so the DVD comes into play
again.
4)
Excellent Electronic Program Guide
For recording and obtaining program details, and even looking
out for my favorite programs. Must have unlimited timer additions
and list specific channels.
5)
DVD playback.
I did not have a DVD player and no DVD disks but I needed to be
able to archive films from the hard drive onto DVD for later viewing.
DVD RW would be required.
6)
Connect to the internet
For program guide updates and software updates. Also could then
access online services like net radio or music film streaming.
7)
Connect to a LAN
Wanted to access the media on another PC and also access additional
data storage
So
once the PC is connected to a TV and even better the audio fed
into a surround sound AV amp you have a great audio visual digital
system.
