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Windows 7 Feature Focus: Windows Media Center

Mark Edward Soper — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0500

In Windows 7, Windows Media Center is a more useful tool than ever before for working with audio and visual media. While at first glance, Windows 7's version of WMC doesn't look a whole lot different than its predecessor, it includes many improvements. In this article, we'll focus on improvements in WMC's TV setup process, support for digital broadcast TV, the program guide, Internet TV, WMC access from the desktop, RAW file support for photos, picture and music playback and sports.

Digital Broadcast TV Made Easier

In Windows Vista, ATSC digital over-the-air broadcast TV was handled clumsily. The already-long TV setup process took even longer if you had an ATSC antenna, and after you had set up your digital channels, they were assigned four-digit channel numbers that were located far from their analog counterparts in the program guide. Windows 7 makes the process of setting up and using digital broadcast TV much easier. When you run the Live TV Setup option from the TV menu strip, Windows 7 determines the digital TV channels that are in your area and assigns them .x channel numbers, such as 14.1, 7.2, and so on in the program guide. If you can view all of the digital TV channels Windows 7 assigns, you don't need to do anything else.

However, it's more likely, especially if you use an indoor antenna, that some channels might not provide a strong enough signal to be usable. In Windows 7, you have two ways to optimize your ATSC digital TV experience: Scan for More Channels and Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength. These options are found in Tasks>Settings>TV>TV Signal. Use Scan for More Channels to determine if you can pick up any additional digital TV channels. Next, use Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength to scan the assigned digital TV channels. During this process, adjust your antenna to improve signal strength, and uncheck any channels that are not strong enough to be usable. The channels you deselect are removed from the program guide.

Keep in mind that if you get a better antenna, you can run these wizards again to see if more channels are available to you.

Internet TV Turns 2

You can access Internet TV in three ways in Windows 7:

From your desktop via a gadget
From the Windows Media Center Program Guide
From the Windows Media Center Internet TV options in the Extras menu stripe

Whether you have a TV tuner or not, MSN "channels" are displayed in the Program Guide. Windows 7 now includes a new version of Internet TV, version 2 (beta).

The first time you select Internet TV Beta 2, you are prompted to update your desktop player. Click Update to download and install the 2MB update file. While WMC still includes Internet TV Beta 1.1 (a slightly updated version of the first-generation Internet TV found in Windows Vista's Windows Media Center), Internet TV Beta 2 is the better version to use - if you have a fast enough connection. It offers an interface that puts more emphasis on content than on categories and looks much more like WMC's other media menus, while offering higher resolution video than the original Internet TV.

However, keep in mind that Internet TV is still in beta, and works best with a fast Internet connection: I'd recommend Wireless-N or Gigabit Ethernet. When I tested this feature on my office PCs (connected to a 10/100 Ethernet network), there were a lot of timeouts, and some video clips played, but with scrambled video on my widescreen display.

Opening Media Center Content from Your Desktop

When you start WMC, you will be prompted to install a desktop gadget to access Internet TV on your desktop. Click Yes, and you can launch TV recordings and Internet TV from your desktop by adding the Windows Media Center gadget. When you add the gadget to your desktop, it displays your most recent TV recordings and Internet TV channels. You can specify how many to offer and what categories to display.

Click a category (1), click an item (2), and WMC opens and immediately starts playing the selected content

You can also access WMC content from the Start menu. WMC supports Windows 7's new jump list feature, so when you click Windows Media Center in the Start menu, you can choose from the latest TV recordings or from other recently-view media.

Working with RAW Image Files in Windows Media Center

In Windows Vista, you couldn't view RAW digital camera files from within Windows Media Center. Thankfully, with more and more photographers switching to digital SLR cameras and using RAW files, all you need to do to enable RAW support in Windows 7's version of WMC is to add the appropriate codec for your camera and operating system type (32-bit or 64-bit). For this article, I installed the Ardfry Imaging, LLC 64-bit codec for Canon CR2 RAW files, as Canon does not yet offer a 64-bit codec.

Creating a Slide Show You Can Edit and Reuse

In Windows Vista, the Slide Show feature in Windows Media Center was useful only for a quick review of the current folder or month's photos. In Windows 7, though, you can select the picture files and music files you want, change the order of the files, and create a show you can edit and replay again and again from RAW, JPEG or other supported file types.

The process is quite similar to creating a music playlist. WMC automatically syncs the music and photos for you, and, you can also burn your slide show to DVD.

Viewing Your Favorite Pictures

Windows 7 adds the option to play your favorite pictures. To use this feature, rate your pictures, either in Windows Media Center or other Microsoft apps, such as Windows Media Player or Windows Live Photo Gallery. To rate your photos in WMC, you can right-click the item and select the star rating from the right-click menu.

To finish the process for photos, open Tasks>Settings>Pictures>Favorite Pictures, select the criteria you want to use, and click Save.

To start playback, open Pictures + Videos>Play Favorites. The pictures you selected will be displayed in a screen saver that alternatively scrolls thumbnails of all selected photos in black and white across the screen and periodically zooms in on one photo and displays it in full color (assuming it's a color photo).

Listening to Your Favorite Music

You can also select your favorite music by star ratings or other criteria for playback with Music Favorites. To access the setup menu, open Tasks>Settings>Music>Favorite Music, select the options desired, and save changes. To start playback, open Music>Play Favorites. You can play favorite music and favorite pictures at the same time.

Customizing Sports

Windows Vista's version of WMC offered a strong Sports module, but Windows 7's version one-ups it by enabling you to select how much information you want to display for each league you follow, and now lets you keep an eye on the leading racing leagues: Busch, Truck, Nextel, and IRL.

Windows 7's version of Windows Media Center builds upon the best features of Windows Vista's version and adds plenty of refinements. It's just one more reason to take a closer look at Microsoft's newest operating system.

ABC Jumps Into the Crowded Internet TV Pool with Veoh Deal

Mark Edward Soper — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:03:29 -0500

ABC Broadens Its Online Presence with Veoh Networks Deal

The New York Times reports today that ABC is the latest TV network to jump into the IPTV pool, making a deal with Veoh Networks to make full episodes of "Lost" seasons 1, 2, and 3 (all in HD streaming, no less!), "Desperate Housewives," and "Ugly Betty," as well as highlight and game highlights from ESPN available.

Although the Internet is becoming crowded with both clips and complete TV shows from TV's past and present, ABC's approach differs from most of its competitors.

Proprietary Player for Better Quality

ABC uses a proprietary player it developed in conjunction with Move Networks, Inc. for both its AOL-hosted and new Veoh-hosted content. This player, which runs on Windows or MacOS and requires the user to install a plug-in, enables ABC to offer some shows, such as "Lost," in full-screen streaming HD.

Streaming HD looks great on a widescreen display, but as you might suspect, it requires a recent PC (dual-core CPU, 128MB of video RAM, 1GB of system RAM, 1300x770 screen resolution) and a 2Mbps or faster Internet connection for best results.

So, how much better does Streaming HD look in full-screen mode? Read on to find out for yourself, and to find out where to find dozens of your favorite TV shows online.

See for Yourself: Streaming HD Versus Web-Based Player

Although you can switch web-based players used by Hulu and other sites to run in full-screen mode, their quality drops, as you can see in this screen capture comparing the ABC/Move Networks streaming HD player (left) and Hulu's web-based player (right), both running in full-screen mode.

More lifelike detail and virtually no compression artifacts make Streaming HD, like broadcast or cable-delivered HDTV, a better-quality TV experience.

Why Are the Networks Going to the Web?

As we've chronicled here from time to time, Internet TV is more than a curiosity: it's become an increasingly important way to reach a media-savvy audience that likes to get its media online as well as via TV. And, as ABC's offering of streaming HD indicates, users are looking for more than a web-based version of Nick at Night vintage TV or a few clips from their favorite TV shows: they're looking for fresh, recent content.

The networks benefit by drawing new viewers to current shows, drawing fans to sample content before buying DVDs of their favorites, and making sure that they're not left out as eyeballs migrate from TV to the web.

You benefit by being able to watch TV on your PC while checking out the episode's details on IMDB TV or TV.com, making sure that you really want to buy that DVD set that's on sale this week at the electronics store, and proving that multi-shirking (the slacker's version of multi-tasking) is better than ever.

Who Pays?

ABC, like other networks, continues to use the verable advertiser-supported ("sponsored by") model for its web-based content, and its player is designed to make skipping the commercials difficult.

Finding Your Favorites Online

In addition to Veoh.com, some other websites to check for the best in TV past and present include Hulu.com, Joost.com, Yahoo!, and AOL.

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(ABC logo courtesy Scotsavage.com; Ugly Betty wallpaper courtesy abc.com; LOST poster courtesy TVCrazy.net; Desperate Housewives wallpaper courtesy Entertainment Wallpaper.com; ESPN logo courtesy championships.wimbledon.org)

Now Playing on Windows Vista Media Center, May 2008 Edition

Mark Soper — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:13:37 -0500

When It Comes to Online Media, the Only Constant Is Change

The Online Media menu in Windows Media Center is the place to go for a constantly changing variety of educational, information, and entertainment content. When you run Windows Media Center and open the Online Media menu, menu options to the right of Explore are limited-time features that change with the seasons.

Back in March, Online Media offered coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four. In April, Online Media put its own satirical spin on the presidential nominating process with its own "The Big Debate" series, pitting pairs of entertainment, celebrity, and pop-culture figures against each other.

That Was Then, So What's On Now?

The current lineup includes:

- Learn How, a series of videos teaching you how to use Windows Media Center
- Extenders, an introduction to the new crop of extenders for Windows Media Center from Logitech, Niveus, and HP (which builds theirs into a TV)
- ACM Awards, featuring stories from the 2008 Academy of Country Music awards show
- NBC Nightly News, bringing you stories from the most current news broadcast

Need More? Internet TV Has It

As we first told you about last fall, Windows Media Center also features Internet TV, accessible through the TV+Videos menu. Miss the story about the 107-year old light bulb still hard at work? How about a real-life Prince Charming and his horse? Seen the rare newborn green boxer puppy? They're all playing on Internet TV now, and they have plenty of company.

Currently, Internet TV features hundreds of TV shows, clips, news stories, teasers, and features from sources as diverse as cable and broadcast TV channels (Showtime and Speed are recent additions); viral videos collected from TV and online sources; satiric and entertaining mashups; self-help videos on gardening, cooking, tech, autos, and other subjects, and much more, as well as election, current affairs, entertainment, and sports news.

By the way, if you missed a limited-time feature in Online Media, it might have a second life somewhere inside the Internet TV menu. For example, "The Big Debate" is now available in the TV series menu.

The only thing missing is an online program guide: there's so much inside the Internet TV menu that you'll be wishing for one similar to the guide Windows Media Center provides for broadcast and cable TV viewing. Just grab your mouse or Windows Media Center remote and start clicking. Between Online Media and Internet TV, you'll find plenty to watch, with no TV tuner needed.

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Mark's currently working on his new book Unleashing Windows Vista Media Center. Get a 'sneak peek' of what's coming here.