Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Vista Service Pack 1 fixes several items in Media Center. This Service Pack is more an incremental step in the evolution of Media Center and not the next leap in features. Besides a roll-up of hot fixes, SPI adds the following features:

• Adds support to enable new types of Windows Media Center Extenders, such as digital televisions and networked DVD players, to connect to Windows Media Center PCs.
• Enhances the MPEG-2 decoder to support content protection across a user accessible bus on Media Center systems configured with Digital Cable Tuner hardware. This also effectively enables higher levels of hardware decoder acceleration for commercial DVD playback on some hardware.

According to Microsoft’s release notes, here is a list of the over 20 items fixed by SP1:

• Fixes error message when you try to watch live TV in Windows Media Center on a Windows Vista-based computer: “Restricted Content – Display Driver”
• Windows Media Center does not correctly configure a combo TV tuner that supports both ATSC and NTSC signals on a Windows Vista-based computer
• You may not receive audio in the desired language when you use Windows Media Center to view television in Windows Vista
• On a Windows Vista-based computer, DVD movies that are contained in a Niveus Disc Changer are not displayed in Windows Media Center after you click “DVD library”
• You cannot hear the audio in Live TV or on a DVD in Windows Media Center after you wake a computer that is running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate
• When you play a Windows Media High Definition Video DVD in Windows Media Center in Windows Vista, the video may not be synchronized with the audio
• Error message when you configure the Media Center feature or when a scheduled program guide download occurs in Windows Vista: “Windows Media Center Store Update Manager stopped working”
• The screen may be black or the menu screen may be unresponsive in Windows Media Center in Windows Vista
• Error message when you start a Windows Vista-based computer: “Windows Media Center Receiver Service stopped working and was closed”
• The screen of an external monitor is black, or it appears to be broken when the monitor is connected to a Windows Vista-based portable computer that is running Windows Media Center in full-screen mode
• You lose channel listings for some channels and the recordings that you schedule cannot run when you configure Windows Media Center to use a digital TV tuner in Windows Vista
• Error message when you start a Windows Vista-based computer that has more than one TV tuners: “Windows Media Center Receiver Service stopped working and was closed”
• Windows Media Center stops responding when you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from hibernation
• When you watch Live TV or Recorded TV in Windows Media Center on a computer that is running Windows Vista, the picture may appear distorted or pixilated
• Error message when you use Windows Media Center to play music in Windows Vista: “Audio Error: An unknown audio error has occurred”
• When you use an integrated LCD screen to watch a video that uses a 50-Hz PAL signal, the video playback quality may be poor in Windows Media Center on a computer that is running Windows Vista
• When you try to watch live TV on the LA7 channel in Windows Media Center, you hear audio, but you do not see video on a computer that is running Windows Vista
• When you use Windows Media Center to play live TV or a DVD on a Windows Vista-based computer, you cannot hear the audio after you wake the computer from sleep
• The TV screen appears as solid green or as blocky pixels when you use Windows Media Center to watch HDTV content on a Windows Vista-based computer
• After you are prompted to upgrade the DRM components on a Windows Vista-based computer, Windows Media Center cannot perform a security upgrade
• The Manage Discs feature in Windows Media Center stops responding after you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or hibernation