Netflix really needs to add a “Most Popular” view in their Watch Instantly interface.  It would help me wade through all the crap that is in their streaming catalog.  Luckily a website, Instantwatcher.com, fills that niche for now.

Instantwatcher is a fairly simplistic website.  It provides lists of movies available for streaming through Netflix.  You can sort movies by Most Popular, New & Noteworthy, or even Expiring. If you find yourself wtaching more and more streaming movies and show through Netflix, take a look at Instantwatcher.com to see what you have been missing.

DropBox is a great way to manage multiple media centers.  For someone like me, who runs Windows Media Center on 3 computers, making sure the latest files for Media Browser etc are running on all three computers is a pain.

DropBox does function alot like a shared drive on a server. The program becomes even more useful if you do not have a home server or network drive.  It is your own personal file repository.  You would just download any file you need for your media centers to your Dropbox and then access those files from every computer on your network.

The first 2 GB are free when using Dropbox.  That size should easily handle all of your potential media center related files like Media Browser, Shark Codecs, or an remote control app you want running in the background.

PowerDVD Ultra New Features
Cyberlink was kind enough to provide me with a release candidate version of PowerDVD Ultra 9 to review for this article. From the press materials they provided me, the following features were added to PowerDVD:
• TrueTheater™ Technology up-scales DVD for playback on HD displays
• Cinema Mode provides seamless Blu-ray playback to Microsoft Windows Media Center PCs
• Up-to 8-channel high-definition audio is supported for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound
systems
• FancyView enables easier, more pleasurable navigation of DVD titles, chapters and movie information.
Library features allow information to be stored about both DVD and Blu-ray titles
• MoovieLive.com enables sharing of stored movie information, personal ratings and reviews.

The Good
For me, PowerDVD Ultra 9 offers two main upgrades over version 8: tight integration with Windows Media Center and DVD upconverting through its new TrueTheater settings. Support for HD Audio codecs is once again included, as it was in version 8 (note: hardware is still not available to actually listen to these HD audio codecs and won’t be until Q3 of 2009).
Media Center integration works well. No dropping to the desktop or anything funky like that. The experience is almost seamless. Just don’t hit the “back” button too many times or you will get kicked out of Media Center. Third-party plugins are able to piggyback on to PowerDVD. This means programs like Open Media Library and Media Browser are able to launch ripped movies from the media center UI. Finally.

PowerDVD Ultra had been losing market share in the media center word to TotalMedia Theatre by Arcsoft, mainly because TotalMedia Theatre was integrated better with Windows Media Center. Cyberlink had worked with OEMs like Velocity Micro PC to develop a media center plugin but it was never made available to the public. PowerDVD 9 rectifies this and once again appears to be the top choice for watching Blu-ray movies on a PC.

The Bad
PowerDVD suffers from an odd design choice, the inability to play ripped Blu-ray movies. You have to rip movies as an ISO file and then use a virtual drive to “load” the discs. For media center users, playing digital movies from a hard drive is essential. This has nothing to do with piracy. People just want to organize their movies like they organize their digital music files.
Out of Cyberlink’s control, the copy protection for Blu-ray movies can be a real pain, especially on a computer. You have to have a video AND a monitor that both support HDCP. If you have a monitor or video card older than two years, you are most likely out of luck. I use a 24″ Dell monitor to watch Blu-ray movies on my desktop. I have to use AnyDVD HD to strip out out the content protection since my monitor does not support HDCP.

Moovielive.com also seems kind of pointless. I really am not too interested to see what other PowerDVD users are watching. It seems like everyone is trying to add social networking to their products. Moovielive.com information should be made available though the media center interface.

Conclusion
With Blu-ray drives now easily found for under $100, high definition movies are more attainable than ever for the home theater computer crowd. PowerDVD Ultra 9 is an evolutionary product that should be looked at by any media center user, especially those with Blu-ray drives. If you are just looking for a software DVD player, PowerDVD is overkill, with cheaper options available.

I have been looking for a way to prioritize my tuners in Vista Media Center. Why do I want dictate which tuner is used as the default? Mainly to avoid digital rights management. I currently use the HDHomerun as a QAM tuner to receive unencrypted HD channels on my computer. This tuner allows me to record HD channels with digital rights management.

I ultimately want to get a digital cable tuner (I mean buy a new machine that supports DCTs). Ideally, I want to incorporate the HDHomerun into that system. Digital cable tuners incorporate copy protection into anything they record. The HDHomerun does not. I want the HDHomerun to be the default tuner.

Luckily, there is a small application that sets priorities for you: Media Center Tuner Priority. This app basically shows you a list of your tuners and you set which one should be used first.

With Cyberlink’s PowerDVD Ultra no longer playing hard drive based HD movies from ripped HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, the only way to watch such movies is to “mount” an ISO image of the disc and then watch it using PowerDVD. Not an easy thing to do while in Vista Media Center. MyMounter, brought to you by the makers of MyTV, is a plugin designed to streamline the ISO process with VMC.

In order to use MyMounter, you need the following programs: Daemon Tools, AnyDVD HD, and Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra. Those programs let you rip, mount an image, and watch the movie. Basically, MyMounter scans your files looking for ISO images. Through VMC, you decide which one you want to load. As has always been the case, PowerDVD will be loaded outside of VMC, returning to the VMC interface once the movie is done.

Mounting ISO images has always been popular for gamers, allowing someone to play a game without an actual disc. I would love to see a MyMovies equivalent for video games using MyMounter.
I have not had time to test out this plugin. Once I have, I will post my thoughts.

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

SageTV has been adding all sorts of media center features to its product line, including clear QAM support and HD media extenders. They are completely out-innovating Microsoft. With all the features they are delivering, there is one lingering problem: SageTV does not support digital cable tuners and CableCards (i.e. cannot watch.record premium HD cable content).

Currently, Vista Media Center is the only viable option for digital cable tuners (DCTs). Why is that you might ask? DRM, also known as digital rights management. CableLabs has made life very frustrating for the HTPC enthusiast by requiring all HTPCs with DCTs to be certified.

In order to buy/use a digital cable tuner, I have to purchase a pre-built system from an OEM vendor like HP, Sony, or Velocity Micro PC. Definitely a pain in the butt, not to mention expensive. This layer of DRM essentially has locked you into the Vista Media Center ecosystem.

No OEM is going to sell you a Sage product or BeyondTV product that can use DCTs. It currently does not exist and I will be very surprised if it ever does. HTPCs are definitely a niche market for nerds only. There is no market incentive for HP to offer SageTV on their machines when Vista Media Center is readily available. In order for SageTV to offer suport for DCTs, they have to be approved by CableLabs AND then convince an OEM to include them on their systems.

So what does this mean for Microsoft? Basically, they have a monoply of the digital cable tuner market (not including Tivo since it is not a PC-based solution). How many companies have the ability to deliver DVR software and convince vendors to supply their software? No matter what Microsoft does or how far they lag behind the market, you have to use Vista to watch cable premium content on your computer in HD. No competitor can match them on that important feature. All thanks to DRM. Not innovation or feature-sets, but content protection.

I wonder how much Microsoft has actually fought with CableLabs about its DRM-scheme. Publicly, they appear to be butting heads but privately, Microsoft has a lot to gain by being the only option on the block. Could Microsoft be using the iTunes/iPod model of vendor lock-in?

I am in the process of switching over to capturing shows via Clear QAM. I currently use an indoor antenna and an ASTC tuner card but the reception is just bad enough for me not to want to record anything. Some days the reception is good, some days it is pretty poor. Such reception is fine for the occasional televisions watching but for some reason the occasional stutter really bugs me on a recorded program.

In order to get channels via Clear QAM you need the following items:

1) A QAM tuner like the SiliconDust HDHomeRun ($125). More QAM tuners are hitting the market all the time.

2) A nearby cable TV connection and a splitter. For most people with cable modems near their computer, this should be pretty easy. Take the line going to the cable modem and split it, with one line going to the tuner and one line going to the modem.

3) DVR software. Vista has built in software in Media Center to record TV via QAM. BeyondTV and Sage TV both can record via QAM as well. I currently use BeyondTV.
With the above hardware and software, you can record HD programming wth the following benefits.

• Remove the commercials. This is what separates home theater computers from Tivo and cable DVRs. There are a ton of ways to remove commercials from the recordings. If you are using Vista, try eith LifeExtender or DVRMS Toolbox.
• Encode the file to whatever format you want. This is a personal choice for most people. You can leave the program in its native format or convert it to somehting like DiivX or Xvid.

Recording in HD and removing all the commericals is a great way to archive your favorite shows. Even if you have a high-end CableCard system to record HD cable, Clear QAM offers you the ability to record DRM-free.

Extremetech has an article on how to turn your Xbox 360 into a media extender. As I have mentioned before, the Xbox 360 is the only version 2 media extender to work with Vista’s Media Center.

From the article:

Once you’ve configured the Xbox 360 and your PC, you can share almost any media on your computer right through the usually-superior speakers, video equipment, and other gear that comprises your entertainment system. It’s a great way to show photos to friends, watch digital video that you’ve uploaded from a camcorder, or listen to your favorite tunes. The 360 even ports over playlists from your PC, and you can create your own on the fly.

The article is a good step-by-step of how to setup the Xbox 360. Pretty basic stuff but worth reading nonetheless.

Microsoft has positioned the Xbox 360 as a media center extender for Vista. This means you can control your Vista PC through your Xbox 360, accessing your content wherever there is a 360. The Arcade has no hard drive, but that does not impact its functions as an extender. Most importantly, it still has a a HDMI port.

If you are looking to pair a 360 with your Vista Media Center, look no further than the Arcade.