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A typical Home theater PC case profile

Wireless HTPC keyboard with additional media center buttons and a trackball

A Home Theater PC (HTPC) or media PC is a convergence device that combines the functions of a personal computer and a media center software application which feature video and music playback, and usually but not always it also has digital video recorder functionality. It normally has a 10-foot user interface and is typically connected to a television or other large-screen computer display, and is often used as a digital photo, music, video player, TV receiver and digital video recorder, and normally controlled with a remote control.

The general goal of an HTPC is usually to combine many or all components of a home theater set-up into a single machine that will be located where the home entertainment system is desired. An HTPC system is typically controlled with a remote control for controlling the main interface, and the GUI normally has a 10-foot user interface design so that it can be comfortably viewed and navigated/controlled from such a distance. An HTPC can either be purchased pre-configured with the required hardware and software needed to add television programming to the PC, or can be cobbled together out of discrete components as is commonly done with Windows Media Center, MediaPortal, MythTV, SageTV, LinuxMCE, or XBMC Media Center based HTPC media center setups.

[edit] HTPC characteristics

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Home theater PC chassis case with front panel and common computer hardware inside.

Beyond functioning as a standard PC, normally HTPC's have some additional characteristics:

[edit] Television connectivity

Standard PC units are usually connected to a CRT or LCD display, while HTPCs are designed to be connected to a television. All HTPCs should feature a TV-out option, using either a HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, Component video, VGA (for some LCD televisions), S-Video, or Composite video output.

[edit] Quiet / minimal noise

A common user complaint with using standard PCs as HTPC units is background noise, especially in quieter film scenes. Most personal computers are designed for maximum performance, while the functions of a HTPC system may not be processor-intensive. Thus, passive cooling systems, low-speed fans, vibration-absorbing elastic mounts for fans and hard drives, and other minimal noise devices are used in place of conventional cooling systems.

Putting the operating system on flash memory and keeping the media on a separate file server elsewhere in the home keeps the noise and heat generated by a hard drive in another location.

[edit] Higher storage capacities

Because of the nature of the HTPC, higher than average capacities are required for HTPC units to allow storage of pictures, music, television shows, videos, and other multimedia. Designed almost as a 'permanent storage' device, space can quickly run out on these devices. Because of restrictions on internal space for hard disc drives and a desire for low noise levels, many HTPC units utilise a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device, or a other type of networked connected file server. Some HTPC units also feature a DVD writer to help users copy and move their media.

[edit] TV tuner cards

A TV tuner card is a computer component that allows television signals to be received by a computer. Most TV tuners also function as video capture cards, allowing them to record television programs onto a hard disk. Several manufacturers build combined TV tuner plus capture cards for PCs. Many such cards offer hardware MPEG encoding to reduce the computing requirements. Some cards are designed for analog TV signals such as standard definition cable or off the air television while others are designed for high definition digital TV.

[edit] Remote control

Integrating a HTPC into a typical living room requires a way of controlling it from a distance. Many TV tuner/capture cards include remote controls for use with the applications included with the card. Software such as Boxee, GB-PVR, SageTV, MediaPortal and Beyond TV support the use of Windows MCE and other remote controls. Another option is an in-air mouse pointer like the Wii Remote, GlideTV Navigator, or Loop Pointer which gives cursor control from a distance. It is also possible to utilize common wireless keyboards and other peripherals to achieve the same effect (though the range may not be as long as a typical remote control).

[edit] Case Design

VIA Infotainment PC case is a typical low-end HTPC design

Cases specifically designed for HTPCs are available, and are meant to look similar to other home theater equipment such as AV receivers and amplifiers. Some HTPC cases are smaller and require the use of micro ATX motherboards. Also, some HTPC cases have a small LCD screen on the front where a user can view music/movie information.

[edit] Comparison with dedicated media devices

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[edit] Advantages

• Cost - Since computer motherboards using chipsets with high-definition capable integrated graphics processors and built-in surround sound sound card have entered the market, the cost of the system can be a fraction of a high-end commercial solution such as TiVo.
• Quality - Video output from a HTPC can rival high-end dedicated playback devices.^[1]
• Features - such as pause live TV, usually a feature of high-end dedicated devices.
• Digital media recorder
• Media server - The HTPC can serve media files to other computers / devices on a network.
• Gaming - Plays any PC game and application within the game or application's system requirements.
• Other media - HTPCs can store photo albums and play other media files.
• Other functions - other functions may include weather forecast, online radio streams, TV schedule, webcam, etc.
• Other software - other software, such as downloading or file serving, can be run, perhaps in the background.
• All-In-One - The features found in a HTPC would usually require more than one dedicated component.

[edit] Disadvantages

• Cost - HTPCs can be expensive when compared to the prospect of renting a DVR box from a cable company.
• Maintenance, Setup - The software in use may require configuration, updates.
• Complexity - HTPCs are more complex than their dedicated counterparts.
• Noise - HTPCs can have fans, which can be noisy.
• Power consumption - HTPCs often use more power than consumer audio/video components.^[2][3]
• Features - May lack proprietary features due to licensing and copyright issues.^[4]

[edit] Software

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HTPC options exist for each of the major operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

[edit] Microsoft Windows

For Microsoft Windows, a common approach is to install a version that contains the Windows Media Center (Home Premium or Ultimate for Vista, or the older Windows XP Media Center Edition). Windows Media Center includes additional software that covers the PVR functions of the proposed HTPC, including free program guide information and automatic program recording. However, Windows MCE does not provide an MPEG2 codec, although one can be purchased from Intel, or is alternatively included when purchasing Intervideo's WinDVD. Other MCE compatible MPEG2 decoders are Nvidia's PureVideo and Sonic's CinePlayer DVD Decoder packages. Windows 7, Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate already include an MPEG2 decoder.

Alternatively, a HTPC may be built with the addition of a third party software PVR such as GB-PVR, SageTV or Snapstream's BeyondTV to a Windows PC. SageTV and GB-PVR have integrated placeshifting comparable to the Slingbox, allowing client PCs and the Hauppauge MediaMVP to be connected to the server over the network. Snapstream provides heuristic commercial detection and program recompression. When using a faster CPU, SageTV and Beyond TV can record content from TV capture cards which do not include hardware MPEG2 compression. For a free alternative, GB-PVR and MediaPortal provide full home theatre support and good multi-card DVR capabilities. GB-PVR also has a free client, free mediaMVP client, and free network media playback.

[edit] Linux

For Linux, Mythbuntu is a special derivative of Ubuntu Desktop Edition which uses MythTV, just as XBMC Live is a special derivative of Ubuntu Mobile Edition which uses XBMC Media Center, while LinuxMCE combines MythTV and the Kubuntu distribution. KnoppMyth combines the Knoppix Linux distribution with MythTV, a Linux based software PVR, . Freevo is a popular alternative to MythTV on Linux and similarly has a number of live distributions available notably MegaBox a PPC based linux system for the PlayStation3 that integrates Freevo. SageTV provides commercially supported Linux HTPC software that is compatible with most major Linux distributions. There is also VDR - quite popular software PVR with many available plugins, good performance and HDTV support.

[edit] Mac OS X

For Mac OS X, some HTPC functionality is built into the operating system itself. Specifically, the programs Front Row and Cover Flow, utilized in conjunction with the Apple Remote, let users easily browse through and enjoy any multimedia content stored on their Macs.

Beyond the operating system itself, add-on hardware-plus-software combinations (for adding more full-featured HTPC abilities to any Mac) include Elgato's EyeTV series PVRs, AMD's "ATI Wonder" external USB 2.0 TV-tuners, and various individual devices from third-party manufacturers Miglia, Hauppage, EskapeLabs, Slingbox, and others.

[edit] Portable media player

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A Portable media player (PMP) can be used for portable access to recorded programs, such as for working out at the gym, or for passenger entertainment during long drives. Some devices in this category can be automatically synchronized with a PC.

When using automatic synchronization, or batch converting a directory full of recorded programs to be placed on the PMP, it is useful if the device includes a commercial skip feature. While there have been attempts at automatically detecting commercial breaks, the reliability of those detection algorithms isn't accurate enough to rely upon when converting video content. When moving video to a device which does not include a skip feature, video editing software can be used to remove commercial breaks in the programs on an individual basis.

[edit] HTPC solutions

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Wireless multimedial media center keyboard with trackball

Antec Fusion V2 home theater PC case with VFD display, 5.25" drive bay, volume control and some ports on front and keyboard on top.

Home theater PC keyboard with additional media center buttons.

[edit] Integrated solutions

• HTPC Media Control System

[edit] Stand-alone media management & digital video recording software

• Boxee (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Apple TV)
• EyeTV (Mac OS X)
• Freevo (Linux, Python, free)
• Front Row (software) (Mac OS X, Apple TV)
• GB-PVR (Windows, free)
• J. River Media Center (Windows)
• MediaPortal (Windows, free)
• MythTV (Linux, free)
• Orb (Web/Ajax)
• Plex, a fork of the XBMC code for Mac OS X users.
• SageTV (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
• ShowShifter (Media Center)
• Beyond TV (Windows)
• XBMC (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Xbox game-console, free)

[edit] Operating systems

• MegaBox[1] (Linux, PPC, PS3)
• Piren[2]
• eAR OS (Linux)
• GeeXboX (Linux)
• KnoppMyth (Linux)
• LinuxMCE (Linux)
• Mythbuntu (Linux)
• Mythdora (Linux)
• Windows XP Media Center Edition (Microsoft)
• Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate (Microsoft)
• Windows 7 (Microsoft)
• XBMC Live (Linux)
• ElementOS (Linux + Boxee)

[edit] Hardware

• AppleTV
• ATI Theater Cards
• Grippity - Handheld Control Solutions
• Hauppauge Computer Works WinTV PVR Cards
• HDHomeRun, made by SiliconDust
• iMON IR Remotes
• MCE IR Remotes
• nVidia TV-Tuner Cards (discontinued)
• TechnoTrend TV cards
• Vista View Saber Cards (Analog and Combo)

[edit] System manufacturers

• Alienware
• BodhiBoxes
• Dell
• DPandA
• Gateway
• Hewlett-Packard
• Kinetic UK
• Interact-TV
• NinX Media PCs
• Niveus Media
• Shuttle Inc.
• Sony (VAIO series)
• Splitted-Desktop Systems
• Theatron Media
• Velocity Micro

[edit] See also

• Media center
• Home cinema
• Media server
• Small form factor
• Graphical user interface
• Skin
• Digital media receiver

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 123Macmini - Everything Mac mini, including a DVR/PVR section
• Building a Basic HTPC
• Best Linux HTPC Motherboards
• Differences between HTPC and PC
• DVD Beaver - An introductory article covering pros and cons
• Guide to Building a HD HTPC
• MissingRemote - HTPC/HT News Resource
• Opinion: the HTPC is dead; long live the HTPC
• Ars System Guide: HTPC edition