With cinema prices
rising and movies getting easier and easier to watch at home on demand, more
and more people are using home theatre PCs to enhance the experience of
watching TV and movies. A home theatre system allows anyone to create an
incredibly sophisticated setup, which can be customized, tweaked and modified
depending on their personal needs and interests. However, choosing what accessories
to buy for your HTPC isn’t necessarily easy, and that’s why in this week’s
hardware guide we’re looking at a selection of hardware designed to help you
upgrade the capabilities of your home theatre system, however powerful it might
be.
Over the next few
pages we’ll be reviewing several different types of hardware. Here’s what each
of them do and why a good HTPC might need them.
TV tuners: these allow
HTPCs to receive television broadcasts – essential if you want a well-rounded
and high-quality entertainment experience. Internal TV cards take the
processing burden off the CPU, allowing HTPCs to achieve quieter, cooler
running compared to the use of USB-based tuners.
Remote controls: The
center of many a household power-struggle, remote controls are part of what
makes home entertainment so convenient. HTPC remotes tend to be programmable
and multi-use, as well as requiring supporting software and hardware. In some
cases they’re just shrunken keyboards! But they’re also necessary, if only
because you need an easy way to control the myriad technologies at your
disposal.
Speakers: A 5.1
speaker system give cinema-style surround sound as well as floor-shaking bass.
You can’t try to run a home theatre setup without giving the audio the
attention it deserves, and even the most basic 5.1 system should prove a
revelation over a standard stereo speakers.
Projectors: Everyone
knows how an HD television or monitor fits into the HTPC experience, but what
about a projector? Support for the latest high-resolution technologies means
you can use one to get a 3D screen the size of any wall. Not so much home
theatre as theatre at home, but we defy anyone to resist the novelty once
they’re seen one in action.
WinTV NOVA-HD-S2
Home theatre PCs
benefit hugely from the addition of a TV tuner, which allows them to receive
and process broadcast television in hardware just like a normal TV. However,
there’s also a range of benefits to be had on top of that. The alternatives
might be free (online streaming, for example), but even that is still some way
off providing a picture as good as an HD digital signal. And if that’s what you
want, the WinTV Nova-HD-S2 allows any HTPC to get one without the need for a
separate set-top box or decoder.
Specifically, the
Nova-HD-S2 model features a satellite- capable DVB-S/DVB-S2 tuner, which can be
sued in conjunction with any digital dish to receive free HD satellite channels
form across Europe (although it’s worth noting you can’t use it to directly
receive encrypted signals, such as Sky TV, even if you have a subscription).
The card has an F-connector input for the dish and space for a 2.5mm remote
jack, with the necessary sensor and remote control provided as part of the
retail package.
Basic but not too basic.
Satellite-enabled HTPC owners shouldn’t aim any lower.
Internal TV cards are
less popular than they used to be, so it’s a good job that Hauppauge is still
turning them out at some level of quality. The Nova-HD-S2 isn’t its most basic
model, but it is the most basic you’d want to put in an HTPC system if you’re
used to HD television signals. The hardware is compatible with third-party
digital TV applications thanks to BDA-compliant drivers so if you’re
experienced enough to have a preferred software suite it should still work with
this hardware.
Features in the
default WinTV 7 application include time-shifting and PVR recording, as well as
a seven-day EPG, subtitles, video capture and conversion and a variety of other
advanced controls, such as timer and parental restrictions. The picture and
sound quality are fantastic, and although the bundled software takes a while to
scan for available channels, other applications are capable of a much speedier
analysis.
It’s not the most
sophisticated piece of hardware, admittedly. More AV inputs would certainly
have been appreciated, as would certainly have been appreciated, as would some
provision for encrypted signals (which, admittedly, is down to the providers,
not Hauppauge), but if you want to get free HD satellite channels into your
HTPC system, this is a great way to do so.
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Details
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Price: $128
·
Manufacturer: Hauppauge
·
Device type: TV tuner
·
Technologies: PVR, DVB-S, DVB-S2
Ratings
·
Features: 6/10
·
Value: 7/10
·
Overall: 7/10
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WinTV Nova-T 500
One cheaper
alternative to Hauppauge’s high-priced satellite-capable TV tuners is the WinTV
Nova-T 500, which distinguishes itself from other budget TV cards by packing in
not one but two receivers that can be used together or separately. That’s
because they’re both digital – many cards feature one (now-useless) analogue
tuner and one digital, but the WinTV Nova-T 500 is a true dual-digital piece of
hardware.
The obvious advantage
of a dual-tuner card is that you can use one to watch two channels at once, or
watch one while recording another – feature common on any multi-tuner set-top
box. However, something this card also offers is the ability to combine the
signal from two tuners. If you’re getting poor reception, you can plug two
aerials into the back and turn two weak signals into one strong one. It’s a
useful feature for those with indoors aerials, or poor (perhaps rural) signals,
and crucially it’s a capability found almost nowhere else in the consumer
market.
“Reasonably cheap, packed with features
and fantastically compact”
For HTPCs there’s an
obvious advantage in providing a strong and consistent signal (particularly if
you’re recording) although it’s debatable how many people would try to run and
HTPC without a roof-mounted aerial or satellite. Even accounting for that
question mark over it, the WinTV Nova-T 500 still has the benefits of being
reasonably cheap, packed with features and fantastically compact. Again, the
drivers are compatible with other applications and the bundled software is well
made and easy to use. The back plate accommodates two aerial inputs (one for
each tuner), a 2.5mm IR sensor jack for the remote control and not much else,
but as TV cards go, it’s a fine example.
A niche card at the low end of the
market, but an undeniably good one
In fairness, we’re not
entirely convinced it’s a good example for use with an HTPC. Generally, such
systems are aiming to be part of the enthusiast market. The WinTV Nova-T 500,
with support for Freeview broadcasts and little more, is very much a basic
system. Ultimately, it’s doing very little that a Virgin Media or Sky set-top
box can’t, save for recording programs to your computer. If that feels like a
necessary feature, or if the dual-tuner combination mode sways you, it’s worth
picking up- just make sure you think carefully first!
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Details
·
Price: $87.5
·
Manufacturer: Hauppauge
·
Device type: TV tuner
·
Technologies: PVR, DVB-T
Ratings
·
Features: 6/10
·
Value: 7/10
·
Overall: 7/10
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