Mark's MCE Blog

Blog Status

2008-01-27T14:22:44.8410000-00:00

This blog has now been discontinued, the content shall remain here for future benifit but articles which may no longer be relevant have been removed.

Mark

August 2006 Vista CTP Download

2006-08-28T15:21:38.7840000+01:00

For a limited time (first 100,000 downloads) you can obtain an updated Pre-RC1 build of the Vista beta (5536). Over beta 2 this has a decent performance increase, and a few nice touches in the MCE UI as well such as greater use of the thumbnail facility in My TV. This will also be available via MSDN. If by the time you read this the download limit has been reached, don’t worry RC1 should be coming in the near future.

Public Download: http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/prerc1/en/download.html

Applications Update

2006-07-27T23:23:36.9413750+01:00

If you have not been to my utilites page for a while at http://www.salloway.org.uk/mediacenter/util/index.htm you may notice a couple of new things.

First is a new application called Ident Set which is kind of 'run in compatibility mode for Media Center 200x', as close as you can be by manipulating the ident registry key and IE user agents. There is also an auto detect feature to help you find the correct setting for your machine/tell you what version is actually installed.

Earlier this month I put up a beta version of Configuration Reset 2, no angry emails yet which is always a good sign :) The main inspiration for a new version was Vista, although it will work on Media Center 2005. Ironically the beta I put up had to be restricted from running on Vista due to bugs in the current public version when used with it. In 5472 it was a lot better so I am hoping to get a Vista enabled one out for the public RC1.

The Vista betas of Tuner Priority has been out since about April, however that branch is what I am actively developing from now since it also runs on MCE2005. If you run the final v1.02 MCE2005 version and are told that your OS is not valid AND are not using the English Edition of Media Center, please use the Vista beta version as it contains some localisation fixes also.

Issues fixed in July 2006 Rollup

2006-07-27T22:49:58.0351250+01:00

Following up on my previous post on the July rollup, the KB article containing the change list is now online. The following issues are corrected in this release:

Horizontal white line on screen
When you play a DVD video in Media Center, a horizontal white line appears in some dark areas of the screen. For example, when you press the MORE INFO button on the Media Center remote, a white line appears on the bottom of some menu items. Then, when you close the More Info screen, the white line remains on the screen.

• Media Center may crash when you use ListMaker
When you use the ListMaker sample add-in that is included with the Media Center SDK, and you comment out all media types except Pictures, Media Center may crash.

• Media Center may crash when you open a menu page
When you open a menu page in Media Center, the program may crash. You receive an error message that resembles the following:

Program_name has caused an error and must be closed. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost. Please tell Microsoft about this problem. We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve Program_name. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous. To see what data this error report contains, click here.

• Black screen appears instead of DVD menu
When you try to play a DVD video in Media Center, a black screen appears instead of the DVD menu. This problem may sometimes occur with some DVD videos if the following conditions are true:

• The Media Center screen resolution is set to 720p (High Definition) or to a higher resolution.
• The DVD video is copy-protected by MacroVision.

July 2006 Rollup Download

2006-07-25T19:48:17.6132500+01:00

To be updated:

The latest cumulative update since Update Rollup 2 for Media Center 2005 has been released today. At present there are no details on the bug list as the KB article has not gone live yet, however the download can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=22402573-97aa-41be-8090-2ae905802045&DisplayLang=en

Welcome FilmFour

2006-07-23T13:12:13.5820000+01:00

At 9PM tonight FilmFour will join the Freeview line-up over DVB-T as a Free to Air on channel 31. Last night I was looking through my guide and noticed that my guide data was showing as not available, to my surprise there was actually guide data for it! However because the service name being broadcast on DVB-T and the name in the BDS guide feed don’t match (FilmFour vs. Film4) the connection wasn’t made. I don't think there is much blame to place for this one, the official FilmFour site can't decided which one it is :)

If you need to manually add the guide listings start Media Center

1) Select Settings > TV > Guide > Add Listings to Channel

2) Select ‘FilmFour’ (Channel 31)

3) Select ‘Film4’

4) Select Save

Official Site

Vista Media Center Extender in Europe

2006-07-23T13:01:25.9882500+01:00

So far during the Vista Beta the extender functionality for Xbox 360 has been limited to the US and Canada. However the recently released 5472 build of Vista has opened this up to other regions. Unfortunately you need to be a member of the tech beta or MSDN (en_windows_vista_beta2_July2006CTP_x86_dvd.iso) to get access to this. Currently the next public build that will include the European functionality is RC1.

What happened to Messenger?

2006-07-14T20:37:18.7530000+01:00

In Media Center 2005 a feature called Media Center Messenger was added which incorporated Messengers functionality into overlay windows. If you’ve had a play with the Vista beta’s you might of noticed that the feature has disappeared. The reason for this is that the feature was written to use the API (application programming interface) of Windows Messenger 4.7/5.0. In Vista there is no built in Messenger client, and all the MSN versions of Messenger (until recently, but see closing comment) do not contain the correct API to allow MC to hook in. For the time being this appears to be a lost feature in Vista, even installing Messenger 4.7 will not make it come back. Part of the reason why Windows Messenger got removed in Vista is because no team is actively developing it anymore. Home users get served by MSN, Business have a better client in the form of Office Live Communicator. So the obvious choice might be to hook into the MSN ‘Live’ client instead, however that would mean placing a dependency from a Widows Component on a product that isn’t included with Windows, and very likely doesn’t meet the same bars that are required of Windows components. Never say never, but it’s probably less likely.

Preparing For TV Beyond Windows Vista

2006-06-23T22:41:26.2100000+01:00

Some interesting information has come to light through a PowerPoint presentation that was posted on the Microsoft download site called ‘Preparing For TV Beyond Windows Vista’. It was presented at WinHEC 2006 (Windows Hardware Engineering Conference) by Bernhard Kotzenberg who is a Lead Program Manager in the Windows eHome Division.

Features highlighted as a possibility for the future included

DVB-T and DVB-S/S2 free-to-air and DVB-CI
Hybrid tuners
Merged program guide (PAL/DVB-T/DVB-S)
DVB-T subtitling and DVB Teletext
In-band EPG for DVB services
Interactive TV with MHEG5
Improved service scanning
FM radio station naming and analog TV channel renaming

And a number of similar features for the Japanese ISDB-T and ISDB-S standards (see slides for further details).

As a note DVB-CI is the ‘Common Interface’ standard for Premium TV smartcards rather than support for DVB-C (Digital Cable). In the presentation this was listed in the ‘Europe’ section, although I think the consequences have further reaches than Europe because the DVB standards is what a vast majority of the world has either implemented, is currently trialing or recommended. DVB-T alone is used in over 100 countries worldwide. The following images show this point rather well.

DVB-T Map
DVB-S Map

It is good to see these points being raised, when Media Center 2004 was released I never felt that the DVB-T implementation was complete. Sure it may have been at a technical document level, but compared to what the public might expect after using Freeview it missed a few features (particularly subtitles and interactive).

Annoying Vista Audio

2006-06-10T02:02:43.0145364+01:00

I've been having a little trouble with my sound in Vista over since Beta 2 came out. When it works it is great until there is a crackle and everything goes dead (usually 12-24hrs) which can only be cured by restarting either the Windows Audio Service or the machine. Of course this only happens on the system with the flagship Creative audio card installed, it's my own fault I know :) Curiously as ATi and Nvidia seem to be throwing beta drivers at us, Creative are still providing ones from November 2005 designed for build 5308. We can hope for Vista they actually come up with some decent software that doesn't cause their users to start petitions.

Signup for 360 Extender Beta

2006-06-01T11:53:33.7480000+01:00

Interested in testing the new Vista version of the Extender software for Xbox360 and live in the US?

More Details
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/0530-beabetatester.htm

[This test is now full]

v1 Extenders and Windows Vista

2006-05-31T21:17:55.6930000+01:00

As revealed in the Beta 2 release notes for Windows Vista no current Media Center Extender other than the Xbox 360 will be compatible with Vista Media Center

‘Q: Will my current Media Center Extender be obsolete once Windows Vista PCs are available?

A: As Windows Media Center Edition has reached well over 10M units and become a popular way to PVR TV and download movies, there have been greater demands and requests from content providers (Hollywood Studios, cable and satellite TV providers, and TV industry groups) to make the Windows Media Ecosystem more secure than was present in Windows XP. In Windows Vista, there are new architectural elements present to safeguard the rights of content owners. These architectural elements require associated new elements on the side of Media Center Extenders in order to continue to work in the highly protected environment. Customers of XBOX 360 will have their box updated by Vista automatically. When we get closer to the Windows Vista timeframe we will announce a program to make sure that early adopters who purchased a v1 Media Center Extender (from Linksys or HP) are accommodated. Current XBOX v1 Extender customers are encouraged to upgrade to XBOX 360 if they wish to ensure compatibility with both Windows Vista and Windows Media Center Edition 2005.

What does this mean?

Those with Xbox 360s will be fine (The .xex file that will provide Extender functionality for the Xbox 360 will be updated for Vista);
Those with HP x5400 and Linksys WMCE54AG extenders will need to get new extenders (either an Xbox 360 or a v2 Extender) for use with Vista. There will be a program to accommodate these people announced closer to Vista's launch date. Alternatively, they can continue to use Windows Media Center Edition 2005; and,
Those with Xbox v1 Extenders will need to get new hardware (either an Xbox 360 or a v2 Extender if they want to use Extender functionality with Vista). Alternatively, they can continue to use Windows Media Center Edition 2005.’

Media Player 11 Beta Out

2006-05-17T22:49:38.1160000+01:00

Today Microsoft shipped a test version of Media Player 11 which will be out for Windows XP later this year and ship with Vista. First impressions have been good particularly in the navigation and search because of the new library database. It also fixed the annoying issue I had synchronising content to my SmartPhone where it would end up as a postage stamp in the middle of the screen. It is a little premature for a review, but it’s well worth taking a look at simply because IMO the experience is much better than Media Player 10.

It should be noted though that the improved library performance does not cross over from Media Player into Media Center. Vista will be the first version of Media Center to take advantage of WMP11 properly because it is being built with it in mind. This beta will only install on the 2005 Edition of Media Center and not 2002 or 2004. You must also pass Windows Genuine Advantage to install it.

Find out more
http://microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

Download
http://microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx

April 2006 Rollup Update (KB914548)

2006-04-25T21:02:45.0370000+01:00

Today Microsoft has released the latests cumulative update for Media Center 2005 Rollup 2.

Incorrect guide data for ATSC minor channels that you have manually added
After you manually add Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) minor channels and install Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition, the minor channels may not have unique guide data associated with them.

ATSC channels move into a five-digit channel range
When you configure a satellite service provider and an over-the-air ATSC, the ATSC channels may move into a five-digit channel range. Because of this problem, you cannot type a channel number by using the Media Center remote control or keyboard.

Delay when you change DVB-T channels
There may be a long delay when you switch between audio-only and TV DVB-T channels.

Teletext bar remains on the screen after you use transport controls
The Teletext bar does not disappear after you use the transport controls when you are recording a program that has Teletext subtitles.

Teletext blinks frequently

Closed captions do not display correctly
Some closed captioning may not display correctly.

Media Center computer is not suspended after you use the TV tuner
After you install Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition, the Media Center Edition computer is not suspended if the tuner has been used.

DVB-T scanning does not work correctly in the Czech edition of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

You receive a "Unsupported File Type" error message when you burn a DVD video
When you try to burn a DVD video by using the Cyberlink PowerDVD MPEG2 decoder, you may receive a "Unsupported File Type" error message. This problem occurs after you install Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. This update adds an additional AC3 decoder to the list of supported decoders.

Tuning information is missing for the 1 MUX on 186 megahertz (MHz) setting in the Italian version of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
The Italian version of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 may be missing tuning information for the 1 MUX on 186 MHz setting. This update also adds the appropriate DVB-T table for Italian versions of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

Download

Updated Tuner Priority for Vista

2006-04-20T23:07:28.6910000+01:00

I've uploaded an updated version of the Tuner Priority application today, there are no major bug fixes in it. The main aim of it was to work with the Vista beta. If you use it please ensure you have completed the configuration of at least 1 set of supported tuners otherwise you may encounter an error due to registry changes. I am holding off until beta 2 so that the Media Center registry is in somewhat more of a final state before I fix that.

Download
http://www.salloway.org.uk/mediacenter/util/index.htm

Jan 2006 Rollup Patch (KB912067)

2006-01-25T20:56:40.0210000-00:00

Microsoft has released another rollup update for Media Center 2005 machines running Update Rollup 2. Specifically this update corrects the following issues as well as those contained in all Rollup Updates since Rollup 2.

Video may stutter after you resume the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005-based computer from standby (S3) or from hibernation (S4).

The Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005-based computer may take five minutes to resume from hibernation. The computer may appear to stop responding and display a black screen during this time.

Media Center may stop responding when you press ALT+TAB.

Video may stop responding in Media Center if the computer is using certain models of dual tuners. This problem occurs when both tuners are being used or when you are using a Media Center Extender for Windows XP Media Center Edition.

You do not receive a signal when you use digital TV in the Taiwan region. With this update, Media Center now supports tuners that produce both analog and digital signals for use in Taiwan. The update does not affect digital and analog tuners in other regions.

Download

Converting DVB-T Radio to MP3

2005-11-20T21:33:29.2330000-00:00

Now that we have DVB-T Radio and recording support in Media Center 2005 UR2 wouldn’t it be good to have it on your MP3 player or Portable Media Center ?

Unfortunately the radio stations are recorded as audio only DVR-MS files, a format which fails to play on a Portable Media Center (after being synced to the My TV folder), and will not sync to a player such as a Creative Muvo because it is not a device that supports video formats (Media Player is set up to expect that this kind of file is TV).

If you want to extract the audio a ‘simple’ way to do it is to use an application called graphedit. This exists as part of the DirectX programmers SDK and can be used to create a graph which opens the dvr-ms file and writes it as an MP3. To do this

1. If you don’t have GraphEdit download a copy here (The latest version from the DirectX 9 SDK is not absolutely required for this)

2. Extract the files to a sensible location (i.e. c:\graphedit rather than your desktop) and register dump.ax by going to Start > Run and entering regsvr32 <path>\dump.ax

3. Run GraphEdit and go to File > Render Media File

4. Navigate to the Recorded TV, for types of file select ‘All Files’ and select the radio DVR-MS file.

5. This will automatically create a graph, since we only care about the Audio select ‘Decrypt/Tag0002, your video decoder (e.g. ‘NVIDIA Video Decoder’), Video Renderer and press delete. Also Select the ‘Default DirectSound Device’ filter and press delete.

6. Select Graph from the menu and select Insert Filter.
7. Expand Audio Compressors and select ‘MPEG Layer-3’ followed by Insert Filter.

8. Move down the filter list and expand ‘DirectShow Filters’, from this group insert ‘Dump’ into the graph (will not exist unless dump.ax is registered). Upon doing this a dialog window will be shown saying ‘select an output file for this filter to use’, select a folder and then call your file Something.mp3, close the filter insert window.

9. Two new filters will now have appeared on your graph called ‘MPEG Layer-3’ and ‘Something.mp3’. Drag from the ‘Audio Output’ pin of your MPEG Audio Decoder (e.g. ‘NVIDIA Audio Decoder’) and connect it to the Input of ‘MPEG Layer-3’.

10. Next connect the output of ‘MPEG Layer-3’ to the Input of ‘Something.mp3’

11. Hit the play button below the options menu to start, depending how large the file is this may take some time.

Now unfortunately the MPEG Layer-3 filter we’ve just used is limited to producing MP3s at a maximum of 56kbit/sec, which unless you are listening to speech isn't really good enough. What we could do is swap out the MPEG Layer-3 filter for something a little less restrictive, such as a version of the LAME MP3 encoder that has a DirectShow interface. Alternatively you can choose another codec entirely provided you have suitable DirectShow filters.

sample.mp3 (75.86 KB)

KB910393 Update for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

2005-11-20T20:57:58.5927500-00:00

Microsoft has released an update for Media Center 2005 machines running Update Rollup 2 to prevent Windows Media Player 10 setup from overwriting digital rights management (DRM) files installed by Update Rollup 2. After the launch of UR2 this led to some users experiencing problems trying to use protected content.

At the time of writing the KB article for this update is not yet live

Download Link KB Article

Microsoft and CableLabs Announce Agreement to Enable High-Definition Digital Cable Programming on Windows-Based PCs

2005-11-16T20:44:53.7020000-00:00

'REDMOND, Wash., and LOUISVILLE, Colo. — Nov. 16, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. and Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs^®) today announced they have reached an agreement that will allow Microsoft and PC manufacturers to bring to market digital-cable-ready Windows^®Media Center-based PCs in the holiday 2006 time frame.

These Media Center PCs, capable of supporting a CableCARD™ module, will allow consumers to enjoy one-way cable programming, including premium high-definition cable content, on their personal computer and throughout the home on compliant network-connected devices, such as Xbox 360™, while protecting cable operators’ investments in high-value content in a digital environment. Microsoft is working closely with CableLabs to document final approval of Windows Media^® Digital Rights Management (DRM) as a content protection technology for OpenCable™ products that receive one-way cable content under the terms of this agreement.

“This agreement is an important milestone for our customers who want access to high-definition digital cable content on their PCs and a major step toward enabling a solution for the delivery of that content,” said Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of the Windows eHome Division at Microsoft.

“The cable industry is very interested in having the PC serve as another means to allow consumers to enjoy cable programming,” said Richard R. Green, president and CEO of CableLabs. “By working with Microsoft and the IT industry, we have come up with a solution to enable consumers to enjoy the wide range of entertainment options they want.”

“This agreement carefully balances the need to preserve the flexibility of the personal computer for consumers with the need for cable operators to be confident that the hardware and software shipped with compliant Media Center PCs will function like a CableCARD-enabled digital television,” said Glenn Britt, chairman of CableLabs and chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable.

The agreement is the culmination of more than two years of extensive evaluation and technical reviews performed by the two entities under the CableLabs OpenCable process to develop specifications and test suites for the new solution.

The specified OpenCable architecture allows for multiple DRM systems to be used in the device and ensures content providers of protected delivery of content to the PC. Microsoft^® Windows Media Digital Rights Management is the first major DRM system to complete the due diligence necessary for approval by CableLabs.

The OpenCable project will continue to play an important role as the new agreement moves forward, allowing the cable industry to work closely with the consumer electronics and IT industries to innovate rapidly on the new specifications developed by Microsoft and CableLabs.

CableLabs will host interoperability events to enable vendors working on products based on these specifications to test products in CableLabs facilities and conduct more formalized certification testing. More information about the OpenCable project is available at http://www.opencable.com.

Media Center PCs deliver advanced computing and easy-to-use integrated digital entertainment experiences. To date, Microsoft has sold more than 4 million Windows XP Media Center Edition licenses, and more than 130 PC manufacturers are offering Media Center PCs around the world. The cable industry supports more than 370 models of digital televisions manufactured by 22 companies that display one-way cable content via CableCARDs.'

Source: www.microsoft.com/presspass

Tweak MCE PowerToy Update

2005-11-07T18:21:08.9006250-00:00

Tweak MCE was a PowerToy released for Media Center 2005 which allowed access to certain settings which are not exposed in the Media Center UI, and otherwise would require manual registry editing to modify. When Update Rollup 2 came out the existing version of Tweak MCE did not recognise it as a supported version of Media Center since the version number changed from v3.0/v3.1 (Update Rollup 1) to v4.0. In addition to supporting Rollup 2 there are a few extra options included in this version for some of the new features such as My DVDs and overscan.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3400190a-511a-4a3a-9b89-524511a76f58&displaylang=en

Creative PMC Owners Beware!

2005-11-07T18:19:19.5250000-00:00

There have been a number of reports of the Creative Portable Media Centers removable battery expanding, becoming lodged within or damaging the player.

Continued at source

Q908250 Update for Media Center 2005 Rollup 2

2005-10-15T18:02:14.0362500+01:00

Along with Rollup 2 Microsoft has also released Q908250 which is mainly an update for the non US technologies used in Media Center (DVB-T/Freeview, Teletext). For DVB-T especially this is a very important update.

The fixes included in this package are:

Electronic Program Guide shows scrambled DVB-T channels.

In regions where the Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting Services (DVB-T) signal is offered, an issue was identified with scrambled channels in the Electronic Program Guide. This issue is fixed by this update. If you download the Electronic Program Guide before you install this update, you may have to apply this update, rescan channels, and then download a new Electronic Program Guide.

DVB-T services are not found.

In regions where the DVB-T signal is offered, an issue was identified where TV services were not found after users selected DVB-T as the signal type. This update resolves this issue.

Teletext subtitles disappear after you use transport controls.

In regions that support Teletext, an issue was discovered where Teletext subtitles disappear when users use transport controls such as pause, fast forward, rewind, or play. This update resolves this issue.

A playback initialization error occurs on resume when you suspend or hibernate a computer that is playing a DVD.

On some computers, when you suspend or hibernate the computer that is playing a DVD, you receive a playback initialization error on resume. This update resolves this issue.

Interoperability with some third-party TV software.

Additional third-party TV software is included with some computers. This update enables third-party TV software to work better with Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

Support for additional optical media drives.

With Update Rollup 908250 installed, Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 supports Matsushita DVD RAM UJ-846s drives.

The Media Center, formerly Codename Emerald

2005-10-14T17:59:36.9260000+01:00

Finally the big day has arrived! This year Microsoft has chosen to go with an update to Media Center 2005 rather than putting out a whole new version and branding it MCE 2006. The update goes under the name ‘Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005’ and is available free to all legally licensed MCE 2005 owners from Windows Update.

This update does put in place some changes for the Xbox 360 specifically but the update as a whole does have quite a lot of scope beyond that. The .net portions of Media Center now run through version 1.1 SP1 of the .net framework rather than 1.0 SP3. This in itself brings speed improvements.

With Rollup 2 Media Center is moving into 20 new countries this year (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and Turkey), with 11 new languages.

In the USA the supported tuner number has been raised to 4 (comprised of two NTSC and two ATSC tuners), however for all other regions this has not been changed.

DVB-T/Freeview Radio is supported in Media Center now, and you can record it as well but on Media Center the radio does not ‘look’ the same. Media Center still does not support MHEG-5 (Standard used for ‘Enhanced Interactive Services’) so Media Center constructs a graph that only connects to the MPEG audio and displays a Media Center ‘Digital Audio Service’ Message on screen. In the UK the radio is delivered as ~64-192kbit. I was actually quite surprised when Hauppauge announced their own DVB-T radio plug-in since I’m sure they were aware of this feature (which is not tuner specific) being present in the update even when they first announced their beta. AC-3 audio over DVB-T is now also supported.

The UK channel exclusion list for DVB-T has been adjusted to remove E4 from the list. After upgrading to Rollup 2, E4 should be detected by simply performing a digital service scan. This avoids the unpleasantness required previously of diving into the registry and manually changing this.

A new power mode called ‘Away Mode’ is also introduced. This relies on support from the motherboards BIOS and as such is not going to be supported by all Media Center PCs (new machines). Essentially Away Mode shuts off audio and video but unlike other power modes it is able to respond to USB events and still perform tasks like recording TV in the background.

The updates to the DVD burning function are quite nice. The major feature being pushed on this is that you can now burn some HDTV shows with Media Center to produce a Standard Definition DVD (Should you have the Sonic Encoders installed). However something I think is probably one of the more useful fixes here is that the Sonic DVD engine should no longer die if it hits a discontinuity in the dvr-ms file (either broadcast related by not receiving data for that specific part of a show, or man made by using dvr-ms editing tools). The number of pictures you can have in a DVD slideshow has been increased from 99 and the ability to add content from other machines has been added.

An optimise feature has been added which will restart key Media Center services at a set time each day if Media Center is not in use. While it does allow better performance if you keep the system running day after day, the very inclusion of such a feature would seem to represent a quick fix to a larger problem in Media Center 2005.

With suitable hardware such as the Niveus Ice Vault a new feature called My DVDs becomes available which allows Media Center to work directly with a DVD Changer. When you then go to My DVDs on the main menu you are shown a list of all the films in your changer with names, cover art and other information which the machine will automatically fetch from the internet in the same way track information is fetched for Audio CDs in WMP.

An open letter to Media Center users from Joe Belfiore

2005-10-14T15:54:56.6920000+01:00

Happy Third Birthday, Windows XP Media Center Edition!

An open letter to Media Center users, customers and partners

Joe Belfiore, General Manager, Windows XP Media Center

'My son just turned two years old. For his entire life, the TV set in our family room has been a magic box that constantly offers him reminders of his childhood — a photo slide show of his cousin Serena visiting from Florida; “The Hoppity Song,” perfect for jumping and dancing at a button-press; videos that Dad took of him first walking, or swimming, or even being a goofball and kissing his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. Sometimes in the middle of the night when he wakes up, my wife or I sleepily bring him into our bedroom and let him watch a video to calm him down — he long ago learned which icon next to the My Videos folder on the screen he should point to so that we would cue up the right one, completely on demand.

Alexander will never know a world without being completely surrounded by digital images of his life, or where every TV set in the house doesn’t instantly give him access to the music he wants to listen to — any song in the world — or the TV show he wants to watch, someday even any show in the world. And thanks to all of you who have worked with our team at Microsoft to make this vision a reality, there are 4 million households right now around the world that will enjoy the same “digital life” that my family does every day.

This month, Windows^® XP Media Center Edition turns three years old. It was just three short years ago that the first PCs became available in the U.S., Canada and Korea with Media Center Edition and since then a HUGE amount of terrific stuff has happened with Media Center — and I am writing this letter to say an enormous, resounding THANK YOU to all the enthusiastic users and highly engaged partners who have been part of the community which is making this happen. (Shoot, in some parts of Europe and Asia, Media Center isn’t even two yet!)

2005 has been a giant year for Media Center:

· 130 PC manufacturers and more than 7,000 system builders around the world are shipping PCs with Windows XP Media Center Edition, with prices that range from more than $5,000 to under $500, in form factors that you can carry, that you can put next to your TV or that you might keep in a closet. These PCs have a huge range of features, from a terabyte or more of storage to learning remote controls, DVD changers, “instant-on” capability and support for voice control. The innovation is staggering.

· Media Center Extender has hit its stride and is about to explode. Linksys and HP have both successfully introduced the concept of an inexpensive and quiet device that gets you all the value of Media Center in every room of your house, and on Nov. 22 Xbox 360™ will be launched around the world to enable the world’s first integrated, high-fidelity, high-definition extender experience to end up in the hands of literally MILLIONS and MILLIONS of consumers. Undoubtedly, we will look back at this as the “Year of Media Center and Xbox 360.”

· More than 40 companies are offering hundreds of hardware products designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition. These include TV tuners, wireless networking equipment, keyboards, remote controls, portable video players and much more. All these things are designed to work specifically with Media Center Edition and to let people upgrade and add on to their experience.

· More than 75 companies around the world are offering terrific on-demand content, services and applications for Media Center through Online Spotlight, written to the world’s best platform for “10- foot” experiences designed to be displayed on TV and navigated with a remote control. These services deliver engaging scenarios ranging from MTV Overdrive’s new music videos on demand to Discovery Channel’s previews of upcoming shows. Other services providers in the U.S. include America Online Inc., Discovery Channel, Fox Sports, Movielink LLC, MSN^®, Napster LLC and more. And Online Spotlight is now available in many countries around the world where Media Center is shipping. Did you realize that in 2004, ABC Enhanced TV won an Emmy Award (for Advanced Media Technology) for the Media Center version of its hit show “Celebrity Mole: Yucatan ”? Interactive TV is actually happening today on the Media Center platform — not bad for a platform that is just three years old.

And, besides these large companies, a thriving community of individual developers is also creating cool add-ons, such as support for eBay auctions, Netflix rentals and Skype phone calls all on your TV set; remote-control software that runs on your cell phone which allows you to control Media Center Edition, contacts, e-mail, weather, traffic, lottery results and much, much more. (Check out http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/mediacenter or search for “Media Center” on Download.com to explore the possibilities.) It’s amazing to all of us working on the software how far these folks have taken it, and you can bet we’ll keep working to make this platform better and better so that the innovation continues to grow.

· We’ve had terrific collaboration with broadcasters and other folks in the TV industry, and some of the results from these collaborations have already started to become visible. In Europe just a few weeks ago, we announced an alliance with Nagra, one of the world’s leading producers of conditional access technology that’s used by cable and satellite operators to protect premium digital TV broadcasts. Together with Nagra and Canal+ Group (a French satellite service), we demonstrated a tuner device that enables Media Center to deliver protected digital content not just on the Media Center PC but also to extender devices around the home network. This technology isn’t yet ready to be shipped in products you can buy, but the prototype device gives you a glimpse of a near-future where Media Center works with these types of services. In the here and now, of course, this fall’s update to Media Center Edition includes support for high-definition (HD) over-the-air broadcast in the U.S. (with dual-HD tuners), and can enable you to watch that HDTV on your Xbox 360!

It’s very exciting for me to look around at all the enthusiasm out there for Media Center, and once again I say thank you. There’s something special about the PC industry and the fact that it openly encourages partners of all kinds to innovate and ship creative solutions — it’s hard to keep up with! There’s definitely a buzz within the development team at Microsoft as, every day, posts from blogs are forwarded around our group — maybe something about the next cool new Media Center PC, or the latest speculation or wishes about features in the next year’s upcoming release. (I’m personally a fan of Thomas Hawk and Ian Dixon — thanks for your ideas and suggestions!) We love hearing from all of you and are doing our best to listen and keep the right new features coming.

It’s not very often that a “professional job” gets to be as exciting as mine has been — I know that I’m very fortunate to be at the center of an incredibly exciting time in history, working on a product and technology that I’m very proud of, and — in particular — surrounded by the support of a wide array of talented and capable partners and users here in our Media Center community. It blows my mind that we’ve seen Media Center go from 0 to 4 million in just three short years. (Consider this: According to Strategy Analytics, in the first three years, only 2 million stand-alone DVRs were sold worldwide!)

As I look forward to the future, I can’t help but be excited about the terrific stuff we have in mind and in store for all of you. Our team is already hard at work on the Media Center software that will be part of Windows Vista™, and I’m certain you’re going to love it. It won’t be TOO long until you’ll get to see screenshots, demos and beta releases — so sit tight, and once again I’ll say THANK YOU for all the work and support in these years.

Happy Birthday, MEDIA CENTER EDITION!

Joe Belfiore
General Manager, Windows XP Media Center'

Xbox 360/Media Center Extender Pics

2005-08-25T03:58:00.8290000+01:00

bit-tech.net is currently hosting a number of pictures of the Xbox360 from this weeks Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco .

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/08/24/xbox_360_media_center

Xbox 360 Pricing Announced

2005-08-20T21:25:23.7120000+01:00

This week Microsoft has made an official announcement about the pricing and details of the packages that will be on offer. This time around there is a base Xbox 360 Core System ($299.99 U.S./€299.99/£209.99), and also a premium package ($399.99 U.S./€399.99/£279.99)

“This premium edition — distinguished by signature metallic detailing on the console itself — comes fully loaded for the ultimate gaming experience, with components and accessories that would cost more than $200 if sold separately:

Xbox 360 console. Sexy styling that packs a punch — three powerful core processors are poised to pump out 720p/1080i output, 16x9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound and DVD playback right out of the box.

• Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20 GB). 20 GB and detachable, the hard drive allows gamers to store their games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace.

• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller. Hassle-free high-performance precision wireless gaming features the Xbox® Guide Button for quick access to digital movies, music and games libraries as well as a range and battery life of up to 30 feet and 30 hours of life on two AA batteries.

• Xbox 360 Faceplate. The removable Faceplate comes in stylish “chill” (white) and can be swapped out with custom Faceplates to reflect gamers’ personalities or decor.

• Xbox 360 Headset. This lets gamers strategize with teammates or trash-talk opponents while playing games on Xbox Live.

• Xbox 360 Component HD-AV Cable. This connects gamers to the world of Xbox 360 games and graphics through high-definition and standard-definition connections.

• Xbox Live Silver membership. With this, gamers can chat with friends online, send and receive voice and text messages, and access new content from Xbox Live Marketplace demos such as trailers and casual games from Xbox Live Arcade .

• A bonus Media Remote: Included for a limited time, the integrated control center for the entire digital experience lets consumers play DVDs, movies and music, as well as access their Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005-based PC's controls with a single remote.

The Xbox 360 Core System comes standard with what consumers need to jump right into next-generation games and media, and is fully expandable to the complete Xbox 360 experience:

• Xbox 360 console. As with the premium edition, three powerful core processors pump out 720p/1080i output, 16x9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound and DVD playback right out of the box.

• Xbox 360 Controller. This wired controller features an extended nine-foot cable and a comfortable, enhanced ergonomic design.

• Xbox 360 Faceplate. Like no other console before, the Xbox 360 console allows customization and a removable Faceplate that comes in stylish “chill” (white), which can be swapped out with other custom Faceplates to reflect gamers’ personalities or decor.

• Xbox 360 Standard AV Cable. This connects gamers to the world of Xbox 360, delivering great next-generation graphics and games using standard-definition connections. “

For more details see:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/aug05/08-17EuropeNA360PricePR.mspx
http://www.xbox.com/en-gb/cultureSelectLanding.htm

The Xbox 360 in addition to being a games console can also act as a Media Center Extender which allows you to stream standard and HDTV television, videos, movies, music, and photos from your Media Center 2005 PC. All Xbox 360 consoles will come with this feature out of the box (though core does not include a remote control). If you don’t have a Media Center 2005 machine (or have more than one PC) it will be possible to access photo’s and music stored on other Windows XP machines through the Xbox’s ‘Media Blade’. The Xbox 360 Extender requires an update to Media Center which will be available free for Media Center 2005 owners to download before the end of the year.

Cyberlink announces Media Center software encoder

2005-08-20T21:14:20.0410000+01:00

“CyberLink Corp., a leading developer in providing integrated solutions for the Digital Home, announced the development of an MPEG-2 software encoder plug-in for the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE) and its upcoming Update Rollup 2 version. This plug-in drastically reduces costs for tuner card manufacturers by avoiding reliance on hardware chipsets when recording TV content with MPEG-2 video and audio quality.

The major trend in the consumer PC market is the ability to record live TV content. Previously, TV tuner cards utilized hardware encoding due to insufficient chipset speed and computing power, which curtailed demand and lowered margins for manufacturers and system integrators. However, CyberLink has developed an alternative and cost-effective solution for hardware manufacturers and system integrators the MPEG-2 video and audio software encoder plug-in for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. This software solution drastically reduces the dependency on costly hardware encoding chipsets.

As computing power increases, reliance on powerful, quality, but yet inexpensive software applications and encoders - such as CyberLink's MPEG-2 encoding solution - will exponentially increase," said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. "CyberLink's expertise and specialization in digital video software technology puts us at the forefront of digital TV recording and playback technology, ensuring our OEM partners have the most cost-effective yet quality solutions for adapting to the industry's current and foreseeable demands. End users will also greatly benefit from the superb reliability and performance of CyberLink's MPEG-2 software encoder."

It will be interesting to see how well Cyberlink’s encoder actually works in practice and what their minimum system requirements are. Pricing on this will be an interesting angle. If you buy a TV card for ~£40; and then buy this encoder which will probably be in the £10-20 range (I'd expect, price TBA) …you are approaching the cost of a Hauppauge WinTV PVR150 hardware encoder card. Personally I would consider the £10-20 extra for a hardware encoder money well spent, but I can see why this would be attractive to system builders. Particularly so if you could reasonable handle dual tuners (since it defiantly would be cheaper than a hardware solution).

DVR-MS Playback on Windows Server 2003

2005-07-30T22:55:27.0331250+01:00

This is the fruit of an IM conversation between Jonathan Maltz, myself and Corey Gouker late last week. Jon uses Server 2003 as his main desktop and until now had been forced to watch his files in a Virtual PC of Windows XP. When you ask people about playing back dvr-ms files on Server 2003 most of the time you get an answer that its just not going to work, or that something needed to support it is missing in the kernel which isn't true. All you need is 3 DLL files and a direct show MPEG2 video decoder.

Due to licensing issues I do not include the required DLL files, you must collect sbe.dll, sbeio.dll and encdec.dll from your own XP SP2/Media Center system. These can be found in C:\windows\system32. Copy these into the servers system32 folder and register sbe.dll and encdec.dll with regsvr32 or copy them all to the same folder as the dvr.bat file and run it, you should then see messages sucessfully registering 2 files.

Notes to remember:
This is not endorsed by Microsoft, use at own risk, may not work
The Windows Audio Service is disabled by default on 2003 Enterprise Edition
You should set the hardware acceleration of your display adapter to Full.

mcesrv.JPG (65.24 KB)
dvr1.zip (.18 KB)

The Media Center Keyboard

2005-07-13T21:01:42.9411250+01:00

Now this does look kind of cool. Coming in September Microsoft are planning to release a 3-in-1 keyboard for Windows XP Media Center 2005. It combines a 116 key keyboard, with the functions of the Media Center remote and a thumb mouse. In addition to this it is also able to control the volume and power of a TV Set.

> >

As expected you also have the short cut keys for Media Center functions which appear on the remotes such a My Music, Live TV and More Information. The Media Center ‘remote keys’ on the left and right side of the keyboard will also light up when one is pressed to provided easy access in low light conditions. A key lock is also included to prevent inadvertent keystrokes when it is not in use (which helps to avoid draining the 4 AA batteries needed to power it). The Media Center Keyboard works at a distance of up to 30ft over IR, using the existing* Media Center Infrared Receivers used today for the remote controls.

The expected retail price around $105 USD (equivalent to £60GBP/87 EUR), although BestBuy are currently listing it at $99.99 upon release.

* To use this keyboard you will need a PC running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and a Media Center Infrared Receiver which has been updated with KB888795. This keyboard cannot be used with a Media Center Extender, which is a bit of a shame really as the intended usage areas for these products do overlap.

Microsoft Hardware Homepage:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=040

Large Image:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/images/gallery/hardware/RemoteKeyboard_lg.jpg

Nova-T Driver update to support Hauppauge DVB-T Radio

2005-07-13T19:27:15.3160000+01:00

Thanks to David for dropping me a line to say that the latest version of the Nova-T (model 909) driver now includes support for Hauppauge’s Media Center DVB-T Radio plug-in. For more details on this driver see http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=709

Hauppauge DVB-T Radio Plug-in (April 2005)

Media Center chat moves to a new time

2005-06-29T05:38:11.0377500+01:00

The monthly Expertzone Media Center Chat hosted on the third Thursday of every month by members of Microsoft’s ehome team and the Media Center MVPs, is moving to a new time slot of 11am pacific time (7PM UK). If you have a question we’d be honored to have you join us for the next chat on July 21^st. Hopefully this makes it a bit more accessible to people who are outside of the United States as previously due to the time difference the chat began at midnight in most parts of Europe.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/chatroom.aspx

Time in other locations:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2005&month=7&day=21&hour=11&min=0&sec=0&p1=234