Home Theater PC

A Home Theater PC (HTPC) is a computer that is used to replace components in a home theater system. The general goal in a HTPC is usually to combine most (or all) of a home theater setup into one box. There are lots of advantages to this type of setup.

Advantages

Automation

Having all home theater components in one box allows for a much higher degree of automation to take place between different devices. For example, (using the right components) a motion detector might be setup to look for motion only during DVD or TV playback. If motion is detected it might automatically pause the movie/TV dim up the lights, and play intermission music until the person returns from using the restroom. Another example is if the phone rings to automatically pause the DVD/TV, dim the lights up, and display who’s calling on the screen. This degree of automation is not easily attainable with most normal home theater setups.

Quality

Video output from a HTPC is a much higher resolution than common standard definition home theater components. Upsampling DVD’s to 720p for display on a connected HDTV will give you a picture that rivals far more expensive dedicated home theater equipment. Depending on your equipment, audio can also experience a noticeable quality improvement.

PVR Features

Computer based TiVo-like software generally has no monthly subscription fees. You pay for the software once and never have any other fees. TV shows can generally be set to record on your HTPC from any computer in the world with an Internet connection or even your mobil phone. Recording space can easily be upgraded, and/or shows can be burned to DVD.

One Media Location

No more digging through piles of CD’s that keep getting more and more scratched. Your entire music collection (and DVD collection) can be stored in one place, and easily accessible. Cover Art and song information is usually displayed on the screen. Generally an entire HTPC library is searchable by Artist, Album, Genre, Year, and Track Title.

Other common features of a HTPC might include digital photo albums, weather information, news headlines, whole house lighting/appliance control, caller ID, and the ability to use your current remote for all your HTPC devices.

Disadvantages

Noise

If not built properly a HTPC can be quite noisy. Most of the noise is produced from the fans that are needed to cool the heat producing parts of the computer. The balance between noise and operational temperature needs to be considered to avoid noise or operational problems. Fortunately there are many products designed with quiet operation as a priority.

Setup/Maintenance

Because HTPC’s are far from mainstream, a lot of the commonly used software is not user friendly in respect to the average computer user (difficult to setup, not necessarily difficult to use). Generally, setting up HTPC software seems to be geared for people who are already very comfortable behind a computer. As HTPC’s become more commonplace in the home, software companies will probably pay closer attention to their ease of setting up. If you are not comfortable taking a computer apart, editing XML files, and digging through the registry, then setting up a HTPC might be a bit overwhelming. Once properly set up, they can be easier to use than most component home theatre setups.

List of commonly used HTPC components

• Beyond Media ,
• Beyond TV ,
• FFDSHOW ,
• Girder ,
• HomeSeer ,
• Mediaportal ,
• Meedio Essentials ,
• Meedio Housebot ,
• Meedio TV ,
• MythTV,
• PowerLinc USB ,
• PVR250 ,
• PVR150 ,
• SageTV ,
• Theatretek ,
• USBUIRT ,
• Zoomplayer .