Project Lounge

Bringing the PC to the world of AV.

By Scott Bartley / Wednesday, July 29 2009

Project Lounge we’ve covered off what kinds of hardware you’re likely to need to build a home theatre PC sans TV tuner. We also looked at operating systems and media centre interfaces that will provide a svelte experience via your TV screen. Up to this point, you may be wondering why we’ve not tackled the issue of live TV. Well, there are numerous reasons. Firstly, now that high definition digital TV is here the HTPC goalposts haven’t just been moved, they’ve been dug up and removed from the stadium altogether. Let us explain.

Plugging in an old school-style analogue tuner to receive traditional (and by traditional we mean those awful, low resolution, non-widescreen, interference-prone broadcasts like we had before Sky Digital and, more recently, Freeview came along) TV via your PC is pretty straight forward. However, the picture looks awful and implementing an electronic programming guide (EPG) requires all manner of fiddling and some legally dicey antics. For those reasons, we’re not even going to touch analogue TV, you’re on your own on that one.

As advocates of technology, we at PC World suggest you fully embrace the wonders of digital TV. Sadly, Sky subscribers have no (legal or easy) way to insert their smartcard into their PC and that of course means we’ll be concentrating solely on building a home theatre PC using Freeview’s digital service. But the decision-making process still isn’t over, now we must choose between Freeview via satellite or Freeview HD via terrestrial (land-based) broadcast towers. While the satellite service is available pretty much nationwide, Freeview HD is restricted to the main population centres (check freeviewnz.tv to see if you’re covered) so your choice may well come down to which you can receive. Naturally, to receive the satellite service you’ll need a dish – any old Sky dish will do. Freeview HD requires the same UHF aerial you’d need for Prime TV, Maori TV or Sky’s old UHF service.

From this point we need to pick a TV tuner and there are plenty to choose from. We’ve certainly not reviewed them all but when choosing a tuner, the key is to find one that matches the service you’re planning to use. Tuners marked with DVB-T will support Freeview HD, while tuners marked DVB-S will work with the satellite service. Some tuners will do both. We’ll be looking at specific models in an upcoming instalment of Project Lounge.

For now, let’s revisit the issue of software in regards to integrating Freeview. Recent developments in the world of operating systems have opened up a world of new possibilities for HTPC builders, specifically the impending release of Microsoft’s Windows 7. Unlike Vista, Windows 7 Media Centre supports Freeview HD out of the box – you won’t need any third party software or finicky registry edits to get glorious high definition broadcasts running sweetly through your HTPC. As far as we’re aware, Windows 7, even in beta and release candidate form (it’s not officially released until October this year), is miles ahead of all other options in terms of ease of use, installation and support. For this reason, Windows 7 should be your first choice. Getting the EPG running isn’t too hard either. And if you want to give it a shot before October, Microsoft have made the release candidate of Windows 7 publically (and legally) available online – a quick internet search should point you in the right direction.

Why not use Vista? It doesn’t work, that’s why. Not when it comes to HTPC at least. Sure, you can get it up and running but you’ll need the patience of a saint, more than a little technical knowhow and a bunch of third party software – and that sounds like too much hard work for our liking.

So stay tuned as we continue our adventures in HTPC-land next month in Project Lounge.