I was lucky enough to attend the Electronic Home Expo (EHX) in Orlando this past weekend. The conference is a dream come true for anyone who is a fan of home theater networks. Home automation and video/audio streaming devices of all price ranges were demonstrated and displayed. Albeit, most of the price ranges were in the high end and something the average middle class person can’t afford.

Here’s a list of my notable highlights from EHX:

1. ControlWare software from Superna was really easy to use and could control multiple home automation protocols. Not to expensive either.
2. The Z-wave Alliance demo room showed off different manufacture’s devices all working together. Some of the other protocols, such as Zigbee are having big problems with interoperability.
3. PMC demo speakers, which cost $120,000 just for the left and right pair. Although a little pricey, the trailer for 300 never sounded so good.
4. Niveus and other HTPC manufactures were showing off their products. Some included CableCard support.
5. Window’s MCE plug-ins were everywhere so it was nice to see Pluto-CI demoing LinuxMCE.
6. Multiple companies showed off their home automation system and how it can be controlled by an HTPC.

Problems with Home Theater Connection

I just purchased a Yamaha RX-V463 AV Receiver to replace a JVC RX-D402 AV Receiver in my home theater system.  The rest of the system consists of a Samsung  HL-R6168W DLP TV and a custom made HTPC running Windows XP Media Center which contains all of my music CDs on the hard drive, a DVD drive , and a Blu-Ray drive.

            All of the connections before and with the Yamaha receiver are via HDMI cables. I have attempted to get the TV to recognize input from my HTPC connected via HDMI through the Yamaha receiver but the TV does not recognize the signals from the new connections at all.

What connections and settings should I employ to connect the HTPC to the TV through the Yamaha receiver?  Thanks for your assistance.

Barry Thompson

It’s been almost three years since I built my first HTPC. Seems so long ago, but back then, dual-core processors were just coming out. Here are the components I bought for my second HTPC:

1. Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz Dual-Core Processor
2. GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Intel P35 Intel Motherboard
3. XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Video Card
4. Western Digital 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB (x2 for RAID-0)
5. Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB
6. Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) SDRAM DDR2 800
7. SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus 650W Power Supply
8. LITE-ON Black 12X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM

I kept my case, DVD writer, and HDTV capture card from my original HTPC, and used them for my second HTPC. The two 250GB drives are for my RAID-O configuration with Window’s XP, while the 500GB drive is used to play around with Ubuntu and LinuxMCE. My last power supply was louder than I would have liked which is why I went with SeaSonic’s power supply. After two month of testing the system, SeaSonic’s power supply is as quiet as all the reviewers say. Last, but not least, is the addition of a Blu-ray drive. So far, the Blu-ray movies I tried with it work, but I am worried about the BS BD+ encryption starting to show up on some movies.

Performance wise, this HTPC screams. I run games such as BioShock and Call of Duty 4 at maximum settings and get no glitches or noticeable frame drops. DVD upscaling with ffdshow is around 40% CPU usage using only one processor. Also, my family and I have found ourselves using the HTPC more with the additional online video content. NBC and ABC have started streaming their shows online, and ABC’s quality is impressive as it looks near HD. Even Netflix started streaming select movies online with high quality video and basically no wait to start. Netflix will also send out Blu-ray movies at no additional charge, which is where the Blu-ray ROM has come in handy.

So far, so good. Hopefully this HTPC will last us another three years.

Our information site, HomeTheaterNetwork.com, has updated its HTPC section to include the top 10 differences between a Home Theater PC (HTPC) and a regular PC. The link above has all the details, but here is a quick list:

1. Case Design
2. Loudness Factor
3. Software
4. Video Outputs
5. Audio Outputs
6. Network Connections
7. HDTV Capture Cards
8. CPU
9. Storage Space
10. Media Ports

I decided to upgrade my first HTPC’s processor from AMD’s Athlon 64 3500+ to the dual-core 4200+ version. I was hoping to see some significant performance increases especially with DVD upscaling using FFdshow. I was not disappointed as my CPU processing load dropped from 60-70 percent usage to 40-45 percent usage while upscaling a DVD. One core was only used which allowes the other core to process other tasks such recording TV shows or transferring files. In the end, not to bad of a performance increase for a mere $70 upgrade. My ffdshow settings are shown here while my upgraded HTPC specs are shown below:

• AMD’s Athlon 64 4200+ CPU (2.2 GHz, dual-core)
• ATI’s Radeon X800 Pro video card
• Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard
• 512MB DDR400 RAM (x2)

FFdshow processing can be a great way to get a $300 DVD player performance on your HTPC. However, the quality of FFdshow processing depends heavily on a HTPC’s processor speed, amount of RAM, motherboard, and video card. Here are the parts in my first HTPC, which was built in early 2005.

• AMD’s Athlon 64 3500+ CPU
• ATI’s Radeon X800 Pro video card
• Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard
• 512MB DDR400 RAM (x2)

Here are the FFdshow setting I use: Continue Reading »

My first HTPC started out as a plain old office PC. I was still in the TV on the box days so I didn’t have a home theater. Hence, the “HT” from HTPC had to be dropped. However, I did build the PC with the intensions of connecting it to a HDTV one day. I also built my HTPC-to-be with the intension of placing it in my home theater room so I made sure the case was worthy of displaying. I settled on Cooler Master’s TAC-T01-E1C “Wave Master” which is pictured to the right. HTPC style cases were tempting, but slightly out of my price range. The Wave Master was cheaper, and didn’t look like a standard PC case with its hidden blue LEDs and its curvy shape.

After I picked my case, I started looking for video cards. I didn’t know if my HDTV would have DVI inputs so I made sure I picked a video card with a component output. I picked ATI’s Radeon X800 Pro, which was a pretty fast card three years ago. In fact, it’s still pretty fast today as it plays Half Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Command and Conquer 3 at high graphic levels.

Half Life 2 was also why I went with AMD’s Athlon 64 3500+ processor. All the tests back then showed Half Life 2 performed the best with AMD processors and ATI cards. Can you tell I’m a diehard Half Life fan?

It’s been three years so I don’t remember why I picked Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard, but it does have built-in 5.1 surround sound. Too bad I never got to put them to good use.

I decided to buy a HDTV capture card so I wouldn’t have to look for a HDTV with a built-in tuner. I picked Macro Image Technology’s MyHD MDP-130 capture card because it had built-in hardware encoding. Therefore, I wouldn’t have to slow down my processor speed whenever I was recording a TV show. This is important if you’re recording a HD show and upscaling a DVD at the same time.

I knew DVD viewing would be a primary function of my HTPC so I looked for a quiet DVD-ROM drive. Sony’s 16x DDU1613 did the trick as I have never noticed any sound coming from the DVD drive. To burn DVDs, I bought Sony’s DVD+/-RW 16x DRU710A dual burner.

To speed things up, I went with a RAID 0 configuration. RAID 0 will almost double your hard drives read/write speeds, but the chance of hard drive failure is increased two-fold. I didn’t see this as a problem since I back up my data all the time. To get the RAID 0 configuration, I purchased two of Maxtor’s 200GB SATA hard drives.

For keyboard and mouse, I used Logitech’s Cordless Elite Duo. It’s Bluetooth so I knew I could easily get the 15 feet range I would need.

In summary, here are the computer parts for my first HTPC:

• Cooler Master’s TAC-T01-E1C Wave Master case
• ATI’s Radeon X800 Pro video card
• Macro Image Technology’s MyHD MDP-130 capture card
• AMD’s Athlon 64 3500+ CPU
• Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard
• Sony’s 16x DDU1613 DVD-ROM
• Sony’s DVD+/-RW 16x DRU710A dual burner
• Maxtor’s 200GB SATA hard drive (x2)
• Logitech’s Corless Elite Duo
• Window’s XP
• APEVIA Chameleon ATX-AS550W power supply
• 512MB DDR400 RAM (x2)

A picture of my HTPC with the HDTV I eventually purchased is shown in my Home Theater Room Connections post.

So where does one start when entering the world of Home Theater set-up and getting the proper equipment? What I would like to do is have all my music, movies, entertainment in one location, controllable through a wireless network.

So there is the HTPC, NetGear Digital Entertainer HD, Apple TV, and now I just read the XBOX 360 Elite will do all this for you as well. I’m sure there are others.

Which is the best way to go? One big criteria for me is expandability, or at least knowing that what I invest in today will last and stay current for awhile (if that’s possible). I know technology does not stand still, but it would be nice to know what I buy today won’t be outdated in a week!

My current set-up consists of a Mitsubishi WD52725 Diamond Series 52″ DLP HDTV, an old Kenwood KR-V6050 dolby digital receiver, a new Toshiba D-VR5SU VHS/DVD Player/Recorder, and a Pioneer PD F1007 301 CD JukeBox. The cable HD DVR Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD from BrightHouse. Also a set of Bose 301 speakers. I tried connecting an HDMI cable directly from the DVR to the TV, but only got audio, no video! Currently do not have an HDMI output on my receiver, so I definately think I need to upgrade my receiver to newer technology. Once I do that I think I will add 2 rears and a sub to get the surround experience, which I want to do. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Back to my original question…which way to go as far as having control of all my media wirelessly, and able to play music and videos from my PC.

Thanks in advance!

GK (That’s me in the TV screen taking the photo…)

This Kenwood is ancient, but has been a workhorse. I plan on upgrading this piece with an HDMI ready unit. I’ll use this somewhere else in my home.

This Toshiba is pretty nice, very slow in powering up and opening the DVD platter though, don’t like that about it. Otherwise does just fine…has all the latest connections.

This Pioneer has aslo been a good performer. I want to get away from physical media, I want all my content available from my PC…one source.