For many people, their collection of electronics has been growing and sprawling out for years, and now they have numerous televisions and monitors in their house, with a separate speaker system for each. If you're one of those people, you may want to consolidate your electronics into a single media center. This media center buying guide will help you determine how to put together a media center that will best meet your entertainment needs.
The term "media center" means different things to different people. Some people want to centralize all of their home theater equipment within their computer, so it acts as the hub for all of their movies, TV, audio and other entertainment. For others, the video game console should do this. And for others, there are stand-alone devices to get this done.
Long have the computer and the television been completely separate. However, this doesn't have to be the case, and your computer can enhance your home theater experience with the right equipment and software.
If you've ever wanted to consolidate your movie collection onto your computer and then stream those movies from your computer to your high-definition television, then you'll want to look into turning your computer into a media center to make this happen. A computer can also act as a digital video recorder (DVR) to record your favorite shows and watch them whenever you want. Look for computer operating systems with media center features to help make things like this happen.
Computers typically require some special accessories to be able to act as a media center. Of course, you can always look for a pre-built media center computer that has everything you need. If, on the other hand, you want to upgrade your current computer system and you're willing and able to install some aftermarket upgrades yourself, then you can buy a few components to turn your computer into a media center.
Video capture card: These cards let you stream video into your computer for it to encode, store and play back later. Look for video capture cards among our selection of video cards to find the video capture card with the interfaces that you need. You'll probably want the card to act as a TV tuner and possibly provide DVR. Some video cards include capture functionality; if you already have a video card that you're happy with, look for a stand-alone video capture card or TV tuner card that meets your needs.
A large hard drive: If there's one thing you can count on when you want to store large amounts of video on your computer, it's that you'll want the largest hard drive you can handle. Video, even after it's been compressed, tends to take large amounts of storage space -- the better quality you want, the more space it will take. You can get away with encoding your video at lower bit-rates to save on storage space, but quality will nearly always suffer. Avoid having to make difficult decisions about reducing bit-rates to save storage space and just get as large of a hard drive as you can.
Sound card: When you use your computer as a media center, you'll want it to have a great sound card; after all, the computer will now be producing the sound to go with your movies and videos. Look for a sound cardthat supports whatever surround sound speaker setup you want for your home theater, if you want to avoid using a surround sound receiver. If you have an existing receiver and speaker system that you want to use, make sure your sound card has a way to output audio to the receiver; TOSLINK connectors are fairly common for carrying multiple channels of audio from one device to another, but others may be available as well.
Some of the latest generation video game consoles can act as a media center as well. In addition to playing games, these systems can store audio and video and play it directly on your TV, or they can stream movies or audio from your computer to your television over your home computer network. If you want to avoid making the large investment in a complete media center PC and you're already considering a video game console, then make sure you factor in media center capabilities when you decide which video game console to buy. Check out our selection of PC and video games for the console you decide on.
If you'd like to avoid some of the costly investments that come with creating a media center PC and you're not really interested in a video game console, check out our selection of video players and recorders to find media player accessories that can store video and movies, transfer it to portable players and more. These great devices can help consolidate some of your sprawling home theater components but without the major investments of a full-fledged media center PC.
Do I need to use a specific operating system on my computer for it to be a media center?
Not necessarily, but operating systems tailored specifically to let your computer act as a media center will be able to do everything you need to turn your computer into a media center PC. Homebrew PC aficionados may be able to piece together all the components to let their computer do anything they want, but if you're less confident in your technical savvy, then you'll definitely want to opt for pre-packaged media center options.
Can I integrate my existing home theater with my computer?
Yes, but make sure you understand exactly what you're trying to achieve. If you want to be able to run your existing video players into your computer, then you'll want a video capture card or a video card with video capture capability. If you want to use your computer as a DVR, make sure your video capture card supports this. If you want to display video to your television, make sure your video card supports the connections that your television has; with high-definition televisions, this has become easier, as many monitors and high-definition TVs nowadays use similar connectors.
Now's a great time to upgrade to Blu-ray
Blu-ray movies and videos offer fantastic video quality and phenomenal surround-sound audio tracks. Make sure your media center includes either a Blu-ray player or a Blu-ray drive for your computer so that you can enjoy these videos. Check out Overstock.com's selection of DVD and CD drives for your computer for a Blu-ray drive.
Get a great high-definition television
If you want the latest gear for your home theater, then make sure you include a high-definition TV. Only high-definition televisions support the 1080p resolution that makes Blu-ray movies look so great. Check out Overstock.com's selection of LCD and plasma televisions and get that centerpiece for your media center or home theater system.
