High Tech Household

Last month, Brian wrote about his Home Theater PC which he created for streaming web content such as Hulu and YouTube to his television.  I have actively been planning to build my own Home Theater PC for some time, but I had hoped to build in DVR functionality so that I could use my PC as a TiVO-like box, which I could then use to store and burn recordings of shows and movies that I enjoyed.

It turns out that Microsoft Windows Vista included just such functionality through the Windows Media Center, a free Windows extender that allows you to run your media (whether audio, video, or pictures) by use of a remote control, and includes an Electronic Program Guide and ability to DVR, as long as you have a tuner card to which you can connect your incoming TV signal.  However, because of restrictions imposed by the Cable industry, digital cable signals are often scrambled, and require a cable box to be able to change channels.  Most digital cable cards have no ability to descramble these channels, making them useless for any digital cable setup.

CableCard

The only exception has been a device created by ATI, the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, which takes a device known as a CableCard, which can be obtained from your local cable company (FCC regulations require cable companies to provide a free CableCard to cable subscribers upon request).  This card is the same card that would be used with a TiVO, and can also be used in the ATI cable tuner.  However, because of agreements between ATI and the cable industry, the ATI tuner was only sold directly to approved manufacturers for inclusion in new systems, making anyone who wanted to build their own DVR out of luck unless they want to buy a whole new computer.  Additionally, the shows recorded from the ATI tuner were encrypted so that they could only be watched on the machine that they were recorded on, making it impractical to share among multiple devices in your home, as well as causing serious problems if you were forced to rebuild your system.

Yesterday, Microsoft and ATI announced that as part of the release of Windows 7, the ATI card would now be sold retail, so that it could be added to any existing system that met it’s hardware requirements.  Additionally, the encryption restrictions would be removed, so that most shows (with the exception of premium content such as HBO and Pay-Per-View) can now be moved to other devices as needed.  This opens up a whole new avenue in the home media PC, and makes the DVR capabilities of the home theater PC actually a worthwhile enhancement to what can be achieved through a cable-company rented DVR.  I plan on ordering the card and assembling my own media PC following the release of Windows 7, and will chronicle the details here.  Needless to say, this announcement by Microsoft opens up a whole new avenue in creating a family media PC for all of your multi-media needs.