Best-of-Class Next-Gen Windows HTPC features - hardware & software

Next gen features on Windows will 'make or break' the HTPC experience and determine what device controls the living room.

Some of these new functions are hardware related, some are software, and some features (such as internet streaming/download) will be modified by progress in the courts and boardrooms.

This thread will track the progress of new functions and info will be harvested to continually update the first post elements as follows:

Content:

1. Bluray playback from archive/disc
2. DISH content playback
3. DVD-Audio/Legacy media playback
4. FLAC/MKV support
5. Internet streaming/download

Control:

1. Windows 7 MC/Open Source front ends
2. Touch Screen/'Iphone' control of front-ends

Hardware and support systems

1. USB 3.0 Hifi Amps
2. Hardware requirements - including 'gaming'
3. Home media serving - 'fail safe' software and hardware

This will not attempt to be a definitive source of all HTPC info. Rather, this thread will serve as technical 'brain dump' area, link to other threads, and the first post will continually evolve to present the best 'value' mix of hardware and software for the DIY.

Bluray archiving/live playback: In addition to impressive thumbnail/media info support, Mymovies.dk offers software that allows '1 Touch' ripping of bluray drives from within Windows Media Center. Arcsoft TMT 3 and Cyberlink 9 allow playback of Bluray discs. In a fit of corporate scat throwing, Microsoft has enabled burning of Bluray discs, but still does not support playback.

Satellite input: Dish Network's 'Draco' project potentially offers Live and Recorded content viewing from any Windows 7 Media Center machine.

DVD-Audio Legacy media support: DVD-Audio software players include an exciting new project called ShaPlay that could bring DVD-Audio playback from ISO or physical media directly into the front-end. An SACD solution lacks the necessary playback hardware as there are no physical SACD drives available for the PC.

MKV/FLAC codec support: MKV and FLAC top the list of desireable. In addition to the venerable FFMPEG approach with Shark codec packages (32/64 bit), the Divx technology preview (32 bit)also enables MKV support using Microsoft codecs (which brings h.264 gpu acceleration). FLAC requires usage of WMP Tag Support

Win 7 MC/Open-source front-ends: MeediOS and XBMC are great competition for Microsoft's Media center. XBMC will possibly support Bluray archive/playback by year's end and this customizable front-end benefits from the wide codec support offered by FFMPEG.

Home media server software and hardware: convenience and protection are the dominant - and competing - themes. How can media be served to the house, but also be protected from hardware and software corruption? FlexRAID offers impressive 'Snapshot RAID' hardware protection, but does nothing for virus/accidental deletion in it's current form. Can write-access in a windows ecosystem be limited to new file writes? Or is 'read only' folder sharing from a locked-down administrator machine the only viable way to ensure protection?

Internet streaming/downloads: Piratebay defeat aside, 2009-2010 could be the year that the 'old school' distribution mentality succumbs to reality. Everything exists for consumer and artist to be brought closer together via internet distribution, and Bluray/BD-Audio is not 'it'. Netflix is aggressively pushing forward a new delivery model, and companies like Norway's 2L are delivering lossless, multichannel audio via the intertubes.

USB 3.0 amps and other hardware: to date, the PC still has to be tied to the receiver. However, Windows 7 has support for Room Correction, and given the right hardware development on the audio side, an HTPC could potentially displace a lot of hardware in the A/V rack. Goodbye quickly obsolete hardware, hello one box of simplified Hifi goodness (power/ethernet in, audio/video out).

Touch screen/Iphone control: Windows Media center is still based on the 10 foot interface and thus presents problems for touch screen control and Iphone like media selection. The obstacle to touch screen control has not changed: the OS and GPU cards refuse to output the same content at different resolutions (1080p big screen, 720p touch screen). However, XBMC has an excellent Iphone interface and will soon allow a small 10" touchscreen with coverflow media capabilities.

I'm saying sound cards do need to go away...and will. Currently the audio processing chain using a PC sound card with Digital Amplifier Receiver (Class D) is this:

Digital (on PC media/file) -> DAC (on sound card) -> ADC (on amplifier) -> Digital Amplification (on amplifier) -> DAC (on amplifier)

Time to cut out the middle man. Expect the sound card to be history in 2010 when optical interconnect USB 3.0 hits town along with a new class of Direct Digital Feedback amplifiers (ie no more DAC before amplification)

As for the game stuff, programmers don't find it worthy of their coding efforts to use soundcard DSP's just to save a few CPU cycles...

Well, FFMPEG has already added VDPAU (Linux version of DXVA). XBMC now supports this in their Linux release.

As to Windows support, FFMPEG DXVA support always seems to be 'just around the corner'. I agree that it needs to happen...and drivers themselves need to be cleaned up too.

Media Player Classic Home Cinema has DXVA support...wonder why their FFMPEG patch hasn't been accepted yet?

In my experience, set top boxes have their own quirks and frustrations - and offer problems even for the most trivial of functions. For example, how many jokes focus on programming the VCR?

In terms of usability, something like Boxee (5 minute learning curve for fairly advanced functionality) is leagues ahead.

I wonder if the 'PC's are more complicated' is a legacy 'perception issue' - perhaps HTPC's have been 'overpromise, under-deliver'?

Set top boxes have always promised little...it's easy to meet low expectations.

What about when they want to watch their vacation pics on the big screen?

IMO the function set and GUI's of settop boxes are horrible. The only saving grace, and the reason it's 'easy to use', is because the box offers a very limited set of functions. Despite that, a quick browse of settop box forums shows that many users are equally frustrated with these simplistic consumer electronics. The PC no longer has a lock on 'over-promise, under-deliver'

A settop box is the simplest of media access tools. To commend them is akin to saying a single philips screwdriver is the epitome of tool design because there's no little bits to get lost or figure out...sure it works, but I'd rather have a leatherman on my belt.

HTPCs are like a fully loaded toolbox; there's bound to be a bit of a learning curve, but the dedicated user ends up being a very competent digital media handyman. Tool designs can be better, and the toolbox lighter, but in my opinion it's the quality of the media toolbox that must be completely addressed.

Today, with capabilities including FFMPEG/DXVA/CUDA/Open CL, the HTPC makes a great case for audio/video quality. Tomorrow, the same platform will enable innovations like Red Camera's wavelet codecs, 3D playback, and increasingly large array of speakers (10.1 systems and up).

Looking forward, media creation, access, and archiving are going to become increasingly powerful (demanding) and more complex. The HTPC has the resources, flexibility, and user base to enable complex innovations while offering potential to simply.

To contrast consumer electronics with HTPCs, I have an Oppo BDP-83. While the Oppo quality is great, the reality is that I have already found it's limits. To erase those limits means making it more like a PC...which shouldn't be too difficult considering it runs a Linux OS and Java applications at heart.