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February 1, 2010
• Vol.7 Issue 2 Page(s) 51 in print issue | |
Essential Things To Know Using Your PC With Your Home Theater | |
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Q. How can a computer enhance my home theater? A. You’ll have access to your computer’s videos, audio files, and photos in your living room. Web browsing and DVD/CD/BD (Blu-ray Disc) playback are additional bonuses. Q. What could my home theater offer my PC? A. In most cases, a TV provides a bigger screen than a computer monitor. Your home theater’s sound system may also output better audio than your PC’s speakers. Q. What are some of the ways I can link my computer to my home theater? A. You can connect the PC directly to your TV and audio system, or you can use a media extender or game console to access computer content across your network. Q. What’s a media extender? A. This device connects to your TV and audio system to access media files stored on a PC or the Internet using a wired or wireless network. Q. What is an HTPC? A. A home-theater PC is a desktop computer with a wide, low case that resembles A/V equipment. It’s made for use in a home theater rather than an office. An HTPC may have a remote and media player software that can be used from across a room. Q. How do I control an HTPC? A. It uses a compatible remote to navigate media player software. For Web browsing and PC maintenance, you may prefer to use a wireless keyboard with a trackpad. Q. Can a laptop work as a home-theater PC? A. In many cases, yes. A notebook capable of BD (Blu-ray Disc) playback is especially suitable. However, some models can’t output BD movies or other high-def content to a TV. Q. What hardware requirements should an HTPC meet? A. It should support hardware acceleration of high-def video. It should also have quiet fans, a high-capacity hard drive, and combined audio/video output over HDMI. Q. How is a PC better than an Internet-enabled home-theater device? A. A computer can access more services, such as Hulu, Flickr, and Amazon Video-On-Demand, than set-top boxes, game consoles, BD players, and TVs with online service access can. Q. How should I route the computer’s video output to the TV? A. Run an HDMI or DVI cable to the TV’s video input. You may need to adjust the display settings to copy the PC’s screen to the TV. Q. How do I make my receiver decode the audio instead of my PC? A. Set the computer to send the digital audio to the receiver as a bitstream. For HD audio, use HDMI. Q. How can I send analog audio to powered speakers or an older receiver? A. Run analog cables from the PC’s audio outputs or headphone jack to the speakers’ or receiver’s input(s). |
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