Home Entertainment – HTPC

Taken some images of my home theatre PC (HTPC). You can get to know more about HTPC from here . I’ve been spending some time modding the system to get a better GUI ( Graphic User Interface ) and adding some add-on software and plug-in . The system itself act as my home entertainment center , playing various multimedia format such as rmvb,avi,mpeg,mp4,mp3,wma,jpeg,png,gif and etc. Those are common format for video , music and images. And not to forget it will play DVD and CD as well . I will upgrade the DVD player to Blu-Ray player unit in near future so that I can play the Blu-Ray disc as well.

“I can watch live TV channel and paused the channel when ever I needed and record my favorite TV program while I’m not at home.”

Having a HTPC is just like having a computer right in your living room. The HTPC is controlled by a remote control so you wouldn’t see any keyboard or mouse attached to the HTPC unit. But incase you need one you can always get a wireless keyboard / mouse just to do some internet surfing and chatting. You still can use the remote control but with keyboard you can type faster.

Back to the stories, my HTPC was setup to deliver a true home entertainment for the whole family. I can watch live TV channel and paused the channel when ever I needed and record my favorite TV program while I’m not at home. But bare in mind , you will need minimum hard disk storage to do that. If you know the way , you can even remote access your HTPC to record TV channel program that you forget to record while on the road. The HTPC is also modded to have it’s own local TV Guide fully updated every day. Now you can have your own TV Guide like what ASTRO is having without subscribe to ASTRO. The TV Guide is useful when you set your future TV program recording. For your info , the TV Guide is my favorite feature from the HTPC. This is a must have hack or mod if you are owning a HTPC as well.

Beside enjoying my music collection and movie collection , I also play my favorite soccer game ( Pro Evolution Soccer ) right from my HTPC. Just plug in a USB joystick and you are good to go. It’s just like having a XBOX 360 in your living room. You can also play a slideshow of your photo collection from the HTPC. So now you don’t need to bring out all the dusty photo album out when some friends or relatives come to have a visit.

I keep all the multimedia files inside my other file/backup server and run through gigabit pipeline. In English this means that I store my media files at a server , and both my server and HTPC are connected using a network cabling system that can transfer data at 1Gb/second. The server’s storage capacity is 2Tb and it have a backup solution system that will prevent data loss when hardware failure happen. There are so much you can do with a server and I will write something briefly about the server that I built from scratch in the near future.

So below are my setup and some images of the HTPC.

System specification:-

• Processor : Intel E2200 ( Codename : Allendale ).
• Graphic : Nvidia chipset with HDMI output and 1Gb memory.
• Memory : 2Gb DDR II.
• Sound : Onboard 5.1.
• Hard disk : 320Gb Sata.
• Casing : Micro-ITX Multimedia casing ( From local store ).
• Speaker : ENZO 6000 – Home Theatre Multimedia Speakers (5.1 surround sound system).
• Hauppauge TV Card with remote control.
• Phillips 42” Full HD LCD TV.

Software and plug-in/add-on:-

• Windows Media Center ( Windows 7 Ultimate ).
• K-Lite Codec Mega Pack.
• Movie Browser.
• Media Master Center.
• Heatwave.
• MediaMonkey.
• Daemon tools.
• Bonjour.
• DVD Library.
• DVDFab.
• MCE NetCam.

Future upgrade:-

• Dolby Digital sound card ( with digital out ).
• Dolby Digital Receiver (Amplifier).
• True Dolby Digital home surround speaker system.
• Dlink IP-cam.
• Blu-Ray player.
• Extra memory RAM.

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