| Enhancing The Windows Media Center Experience |  |
| Articles - Featured Guides | |
| Written by Hasan Niyazi - Edited by Olin Coles | |
| Monday, 05 October 2009 | |
Enhancing The Windows Media Center ExperienceThe proliferation of multimedia audio and video formats, including Blu-Ray, and an increasing array of TV and web based services have made the home theatre personal computer (HTPC) a powerful convergence device. With the imminent release of Microsoft's Windows 7 Operating System, Benchmark Reviews explores the evolution of the Windows HTPC Platform. We will also examine the efforts of a global community of users and premium developers, who have used Microsoft's product to showcase their skills and highlight their passion to make the PC a core component of the home entertainment setup. Windows Media Center – History and EvolutionThe Microsoft Windows HTPC platform, Windows Media Center (WMC), was first released as a restricted OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) edition of Windows XP in 2002. It introduced a TV friendly ’10-foot’ interface which allowed consumers to utilise their pc as a Personal Video Recorder(PVR) and digital media player, using a custom infrared remote control. The original 2002 platform has since undergone a slow but steady evolution. In 2005, still within the framework of the Windows XP operating system, Windows Media Center 2005 was released, notably adding digital tv (DVB-T) support as well as the ability to use the Xbox platform as a ‘Media Center Extender’ (MCX). This allowed Xbox owners to access their HTPC via their console device, essentially allowing it to be ‘extended’ into another room. This functionality continued between Vista/Windows7 and the Xbox 360. Earlier in 2009 MCX Partners Linksys and Hewlett Packard (HP) confirmed discontinuation of their MCX products, raising speculation about the future of these devices. At present, there has been no indication from Microsoft about the future of MCX hardware. 
The baby/azure blue WMC 2005 InterfaceWMC 2005 attracted a large user base, and was taken on board by many mainstream OEMs such as HP, Dell, Acer, Asus, Sony et al, with each of these releasing ‘dedicated’ media center pcs, complete with TV tuner and remote. This 2005 edition also saw the advent of DIY htpcs, as this edition was made available to public system builders. Since this, a large Media Center community has grown globally, attracting casual system tweakers and premium software developers alike. 
The Hewlett Packard z500 Digital Entertainment CenterWMC 2005 has reached the end of its support cycle, though does retain a proportion of dedicated users. In late 2006, Windows Vista was released to manufacturing following a development cycle lasting over 7 years (Project Longhorn). There was no longer a dedicated ‘Media Center Edition’ and instead the ‘Home Premium’ and ‘Ultimate’ Editions of Vista shipped with WMC as a built in feature. Vista’s Media Center (VMC) maintained the core functionalities of its 2005 predecessor, but also included native MPEG-2 support, primarily used for digital TV and DVD Playback. Another key step forward was the new scope development of quality plugins using the Windows Media Center Software Development Kit (SDK). This allowed programmers to create applications that integrated seamlessly within the VMC interface. Some of the most notable plugin applications will be outlined later in this article. 
Vista Media Center Opted for a more naval shade of blueIn 2008, Microsoft sought to expand VMCs capabilities, and began the beta phase of ‘Project Fiji’. This moniker was dropped after the Fijian Government expressed discontent at the use of this title, and eventually was released as Media Center TV Pack 2008. This update to VMC was to include DVBS (Satellite TV), Inband Guide functionality (EIT), heterogenous tuner support as well as the inclusion of MHEG-5 digital interactivity options - allowing closed captioning within digital TV. 
Following the infamous “Mojave Experiment” , Microsoft’s decision to rapidly advance towards Windows 7 resulted in the fact that TV Pack never became a fully fledged update for VMC. TV Pack was eventually released to restricted OEMs, and soon after became a hot item on p2p sites as curious VMC users eagerly tried the update the vast majority of them were denied. Responding quickly to the ire this generated in the community, It was soon announced that all of TV Pack 2008 features would be included in Windows 7. In July 2009, Windows 7 was released to manufacturing. Microsoft’s “new” operating system is based on a point revision of the Vista NT 6.0 Kernel, and hence shares many similarities with its predecessor. This extends to its Media Center component, which is included in the Premium, Professional and Ultimate versions. Windows 7 Media Center (7MC) delivers all of the features provided with the elusive TV Pack Update for Vista, and adds MPEG-4 support, enabling default playback of many popular MPEG-4 file types without the need to install additional codecs. 7MC is now being used as the HTPC operating system of choice by many users formerly on Vista or WMC 2005. Due to the underlying similarities between Vista and Windows 7, driver support for many tuners has been positive – with the vista drivers being applicable in many cases. 
The Windows 7 Media Center interface... also blueHaving delved into the history of the platform, let us now examine key components of WMC itself. Popular enhancements and plugins for specific contexts will be described as we go along. DVRMS and WTV : DRM Meets TVMicrosoft’s Proprietary recorded TV formats are known as DVRMS and WTV. These are MPEG-2 audio/video files wrapped in a DRM (Digital Rights Management) and advanced metadata (eg. program info etc) layer that results in files that can only be played from within a Windows PC. Third party applications now exist which can convert these files to standard MPEG-2 files, for archiving and editing purposes. The WTV format was introduced in the ‘TV Pack’ upgrade to Windows Vista. Whilst there is not a wealth of information on the intricacies of this format - an update to metadata and copy protection mechanisms (primarily for pay tv) remain the most obvious reasons for the change. From a DRM perspective, some broadcasters have been reported to transmit particular programs that simply cannot be recorded, or implemented some macro restrictions that made file conversion and distribution difficult. From reports gathered, these restrictions are more prevalent in cable tv setups, but have been found to apply to some FTA HD broadcasts in different nations. It must be stated that the great majority of Free to Air broadcasts do not carry inbuilt copy protection flags. The most significant DRM implication simply is the file format itself. Both DVRMS and WTV require post processing in other tools, be they Windows own encoding apps or third party programs. DVRMS has been around long enough for a healthy selection of tools to exist, though this is not the case for WTV. During the Windows 7 beta phase, the disadvantages created by the format change as far as content sharing between Vista and Windows 7 PCs resulted in the inclusion of an internal WTV>DVRMS converter. This can be accessed simply by right clicking a WTV file and selecting ‘Convert to DVRMS’ This is heavily used at present due to the relatively small amount of applications that can deal with WTV directly. Windows Media Center and The EPGAvailable in many modern PVRs is EPG (Electronic Program Guide) functionality. It allows users to schedule recordings, including series programming. Gone are the days of scanning through a paper TV guide and setting your VHS to record your favourite show – or for those without programmable VCRs – there was hopefully a reliable Grandparent on Aunt that fulfilled this role. With an EPG, scanning the guide and setting recordings can be done from the comfort of the couch, with a few simple remote clicks. EPG has been an integral part of WMC since its earliest form. Unfortunately, it is not a freely accessible to all users depending on their location. In nations such as the U.S, Microsoft works with guide licensees to provide guide listings via the web. Other Territories now have access to Inband scheduling broadcast by the providers themselves. This has only been enabled in Media Center since Vista TV Pack. Electronic Program Guide ApplicationsRemote SchedulingIn the earlier days of WMC, a remote scheduling functionality was made available directly from Microsoft. This tapered off towards the end of the WMC 2005 life cycle, and came to be replaced by the highly popular third party plugin called WebGuide. Created by Doug Berret, it provided web and network based remote scheduling, as well as audio and video streaming functionality. The latter of these were not as robust to allow a completely remote WMC experience, but the remote scheduling functionality is still used to this day by many 2005 and Vista WMC users. Creator Doug Berret has since been employed by Microsoft and is working on a Live Mesh Webguide application. 
Big Screen AppsAmong the most polished add-ons available for WMC are the Big Screen apps family. Authored by Australian developer Niall Ginsbourg, they offer a variety of enhancements for WMC, with apps focusing on Weather, Photos, RSS/News and Contacts integration. These are all available as trialware from bigscreenglobal.com. Highly recommended for Vista and 7MC users alike. 
Of particular interest to current and prospective Windows 7 users is Big Screen EPG. To date, it is the only Window 7 application that will allow loading of xml guide listings, as well as a range of other advanced guide customisations not available in WMC. This application is available in a free (lite) form and as paid subscription allowing access to its full array of functions.
epgStream: xmltvdownload and guide service proxyThe hard work of the crew from epgStream.net brought EPG to WMC 2005 and Vista users with the release of their custom EPG tools. Used the world over, their applications allow xml guide data to be loaded into the Media Center EPG. Custom xml guide data is often used in contexts where MS Provided or Inband guide data does not exist. Another common use is for HTPCs using the "Analogue Hole" method of capturing pay tv. Whilst epgStream are yet to release their Windows 7 client, their xmltvdownload application works well in tandem with the aforementioned Big Screen EPG for Windows 7. Aesthetic EnhancmenentsCustom Menus & ThemesSince its very earliest version, WMC has provided little variety as far as the look and colours of the Media Center Interface. The default theme has been an ever darkening shade of blue. Two high contrast themes are also available , which not surprisingly are quiet under utilised. Theme customisation has been occurring since WMC 2005, and continues to this day. Applications to allow users to visually tweak Media Center have since been ever present. Users of Vista and Windows7 have recently been treated to Media Center Studio, a comprehensive application which allows not only customisation of fonts, colors and backgrounds, but also direct manipulation of the menu items. This freeware application is currently in open beta and can be downloaded from adventmediacenter.com.
Anything but blue! A custom Windows 7 Media Center themeAnother great site for Windows 7 specific themes is theme7mc.com.
Media Center Studio : Helps you gives Media Center a much needed makeoverEPG Logos:Windows 7 introduced the use of channel logos to the EPG. Whilst logos are not supplied by Microsoft , they can be easily inserted with applications such as Big Screen EPG or My Channel Logos. The latter is a freeware app more suited to those who simply want to add logos, and includes a growing list of preconfigured logos which can be selected to autopopulate the EPG on installation. For channels and countries not covered in its list, the application allows use of custom made logos – there is even a how-to provided on mychannellogos.com for those from regions not represented.
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