Playing DVDs and Other Video Files
After
setting Windows Media Center as the default DVD player, simply
inserting a DVD into a DVD-ROM drive should result in Media Center
playing the DVD. To go to the DVD menu (where you can change scene
selections, change languages, or choose your DVD’s special features),
press the DVD Menu button on the remote.
You
can change the language, closed captioning, and remote control option
defaults for all DVD playback in the main settings screen in WMC. (Go
to the Start screen and select Tasks, Settings, DVD.)
Viewing TV Shows on Your HDTV or Projector
If
you want to watch your recorded or live TV on something other than your
computer screen, your computer must, obviously, have an output your TV
can accept. Most HDTVs and
many projectors have DVI or VGA connectors. These are the preferred
methods to use to connect the display output of your WMC computer to
your HDTV or projector.
The key to
obtaining the best picture is to choose an output resolution that
corresponds to your HDTV or projector display resolution. HDTV supports
480i/480p at 720×480, 720p at 1280×768, and 1080i/1080p at 1920×1024.
If your projector is not an HDTV projector, you need to refer to your
documentation to determine the best output resolution (usually 640×480,
800×600, or 1024×768) to use for your VGA connection.
The
truly nice feature about using your HDTV, or projector, as the output
of your WMC computer is that your HDTV becomes the primary display of
your computer. If you use a wireless media center keyboard with
built-in trackpad (mouse), you can operate your entire computer from
your couch. This opens up many possibilities for family
entertainment—from using your WMC computer as a DVR, to playing music
from your CD collection, watching DVD movies, playing video games, or
even browsing the Internet.
If your WMC
computer is in one room and your HDTV or projector is in another room,
one easy method to connect them is to use a Microsoft Xbox 360. To
connect your WMC computer and Xbox 360, you need the following:
WMC computer with a wired or wireless network connection
Microsoft Xbox 360 with a wired connection, or the optional wireless network adapter
A network hub for a wired connection, or a wireless access point, router, or hub for a wireless network connection
Optional Xbox 360 Universal remote control
An SDTV with composite inputs or an HDTV with YPbPr inputs
After
you have assembled the required hardware, the next step is to set it
up, connect the various cables, and then configure the software. The
basic process for a wireless network is as follows:
1. | Install the wireless network adapter to the Xbox 360.
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2. | Connect
the Xbox 360 AV HD adapter cable to the Xbox 360, set the Xbox 360
switch to HDTV, and connect the other end of the cable with three RCA
male connectors color-coded green, red, and blue to your HDTV YPbPr
inputs—green to green, red to red, and blue to blue. Then connect the
audio inputs using the other set of color-coded connectors, yellow,
red, and white, to your HDTV audio inputs—red to red and white to
white. Leave the yellow connector unused.
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3. | For
an SDTV with composite inputs, set the Xbox 360 switch to TV and
connect the other end of the cable to your TV’s composite inputs.
Connect yellow to yellow (video), red to red (right audio), and white
to white (left input). If your TV has one audio input, use the red one.
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4. | Set your HDTV to use the YPbPr (component video) inputs. If you use an SDTV, set it to use the composite or monitor input.
Note Optional Xbox AV cables are available with S-Video and VGA connectors. |
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5. | Boot the Xbox 360 and configure the wireless network card to match the settings in your wireless access point, router, or hub.
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6. | Open WMC and go to Start, Tasks, Add Extender, and step through the Extender Setup Wizard.
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At
this point, your Xbox 360 should be live and capable of accessing all
the content on your WMC PC. You can use the Xbox 360 universal remote,
or your WMC remote, to control the displayed Media Center Extender
menus.
Broadcasting TV Shows to Your TV or Projector
Getting
your TV signal to your TV can be a problem if your WMC computer is not
in the same room as your TV or if you do not have a Microsoft Xbox 360.
Your cleanest and clearest signal is over a DVI cable, but these are
expensive—especially in any significant length. No matter which kind of
cable you use (S-Video, composite, component, VGA, or DVI), you’ll
likely end up drilling holes into your house or apartment, or at least
snaking the cable around the room and possibly tacking it around your
baseboards. What a hassle.
Tip
Some short-range TV transmitters have an IR relay built in to them, so check that option first. The RCA job I bought did not. |
If
you’re like me, you’ll want a quick-and-dirty solution, at least as
proof of concept, until you have that free Saturday to venture into the
depths of your crawl space under the house and install the more
permanent wiring. So trek down to your local electronics store (for
example, RadioShack) and purchase a short-range A/V
transmitter/receiver combo designed for this purpose. I bought a set
(RCA brand) for about $100. These transmit and receive composite video
and accompanying stereo audio. You connect the small transmitter box to
the computer’s video and audio outputs, and connect the other
(receiver) module to the TV or projector. The results, in my case,
didn’t look too bad, either. I was surprised. Check the specs on the
package to see how far it can broadcast, and be sure you can return it
if your walls turn out to be too thick; there is metal or some other
signal blockage; too much video or audio noise is introduced by your
microwave oven; or the TV and computer are too far away from each other
for the product to work properly.
Tip
Don’t
confuse the IR blaster that comes with the WMC computer with the IR
receiver that’s typically built in to a little box that has a USB
connector on it. Your little WMC remote control receiver box has two
mini jacks on the back that you can plug IR blasters into. (A blaster
typically has a long, skinny wire and a little IR module on the end.)
You can use blasters to change the channel on external devices, such as
set-top cable boxes or your VCR. Consult your computer’s manual for how
to position the blaster on your set-top box or VCR so that your remote
control keypresses are passed through to those devices. I
originally made the mistake of thinking these little IR pods were
receivers. They are not. Point your remote at them, and they do
nothing. All they do is repeat IR signals received by your IR receiver
module along to another device. For tips about using the set-top box IR
pods, read this URL (despite referencing XP MCE 2005, the setup
information still applies): www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/using/setup/settop.mspx. |
That
leaves one additional issue: the remote control signal. I have my
projector upstairs and my computer downstairs. I wanted to use the WMC
remote. So, how was I going to get the IR signal to the IR receiver on
my WMC computer? Again, the solution was found at the local electronics
store—an IR extender that uses radio frequencies to transmit the IR
signal between rooms.
So, I purchased an
IR remote control extender. Similar to the A/V transmitter, this gadget
has two parts: a transmitter and a receiver. Set up the transmitter
near your TV or projection screen. Put the receiver near your WMC
machine with its IR blaster pointed toward the WMC IR receiver (what
you’d normally point the remote control at). Now, you can use your
remote from the comfort of your recliner. It will relay the signal back
to the computer.
After you get the IR
remote control working and the image coming through to your TV or
projector, you might also have to reduce the size of the WMC window on
your computer screen if you want to see the entire image on your TV or
projector. This can take a little trial and error. The WMC window is
completely sizable, just as any window is, and as you resize the
window, the video image resizes accordingly.
On
my system, I position the WMC window all the way into the upper-left
corner of my computer monitor and then drag the window’s lower-right
corner diagonally until the window fills the projector’s (or TV’s)
image. Because I have my projector in another room, I save myself the
hassle of running back and forth between rooms by temporarily
connecting a small TV monitor that sits beside my computer. I use that
to make this adjustment. Then, I switch the output back to feed the
projector.
Tip
| If you don’t like the WMC video player, the files the WMC DVR creates (they have the extension .dvr-ms
and you can find them in the Recorded TV directory on the drive
specified in the WMC Recorder settings) can also be played by WMP or
other, more feature-rich players, such as BS.player. |
