44 MAXIMUMPC OCTOBER 2006
HOME THEATER PC HOME THEATER PC HOME THEATER PC HOME THEATER PC
Creative’s DTS-610 encoder is an
unusual product in that it’s absolutely
essential for some people’s home-the-
ater rigs, and it’s entirely superfluous
for others’.9 INSTALL AN IR BLASTER
If you’re using a digital cable box or a satellite tuner,
you’ll need to install an infrared blaster in order to
change channels. This isn’t necessary if you’re making
an analog cable connection or tuning in to over-the-air
broadcasts (including HDTV) using an antenna.
Jon Rhees’ $50 USB-UIRT is one of the least
expensive IR blasters on the market. The IR blaster
bundled with Logitech’s $400 Harmony 890 remote
control isn’t compatible with Beyond TV, but
Logitech’s remote will work with the USB-UIRT; put
them together and you can control just about any
device you own.
Configuring the USB-UIRT is a simple matter of
installing its driver, plugging it into a USB port, and
pointing it at your set-top box’s IR receiver (or plug-
ging in an emitter and gluing it to the set-top box).
We discussed how to teach the USB-UIRT new codes
in the section on installing Beyond TV.
Setting up the Harmony 890 and its IR blaster is only a little more involved: Install Logitech’s software, plug
the remote into a USB port, and retrieve any available software updates from Logitech’s website; repeat this pro-
cess with the wireless extender. The next step is to download the appropriate IR codes from Logitech’s website.The audio and video connections you’ll need to make are fairly basic. If
your video monitor has a DVI or HDMI input, connect it to your videocard
using a DVI-to-DVI cable or a DVI-to-HDMI cable, respectively. If you’re
using a TV monitor that has only analog component inputs, you’ll need
to use the component-video dongle that came with your videocard.
Plug the dongle into the videocard’s analog output and then connect it
to your television using a component video cable.
We’ll assume that you wish to connect your soundcard to your
A/V receiver. If you’ve installed an X-Fi soundcard, your A/V receiver
has an available coaxial digital-audio input, and you don’t intend to
play games on your HTPC, connect the soundcard’s coaxial output to
the receiver’s coaxial input. Audio will stream in the digital domain
and your A/V receiver will handle the decoding duties.
If you do intend to play games, you’ll need to add Creative’s
DTS-610 encoder to the mix. Connect this box to your soundcard
using three, 1/8-inch stereo cables, and connect the DTS-610 to
your A/V receiver’s coaxial or optical digital-audio input.7 MAKE YOUR AUDIO AND VIDEO CONNECTIONS
If you want to tune in standard-defi nition TV from your analog cable system, simply plug the coaxial cable emerging
from the wall to the threaded F connector on your analog TV tuner card. The coaxial cable carries audio and video
information. If you wish to tune in to standard-defi nition over-the-air broadcasts, you’ll need to attach a TV antenna
to this same connector. You’ll use software running on your PC (e.g., Beyond TV) to change the channels on your
tuner card.
If you’d like to receive free over-the-air high-defi nition TV, you’ll need to connect an HDTV antenna to the F con-
nector on a digital TV tuner card. Here again, you’ll use your PC’s software to change channels on the internal tuner.
If you have standard- or high-defi nition digital cable or satellite TV service, you’ll connect the set-top box’s
analog audio and S-Video outputs to an analog TV tuner card’s analog audio and S-Video inputs. The TV tuner and
PVR software will digitize the incoming video and audio signals and record them to your hard drive. In this situation,
you’ll also need to plug an IR blaster into one of the PC’s external USB ports. We’ll tackle that step next.8 HOOK UP YOUR EXTERNAL BOXES
Logitech’s Harmony 890 remote control and IR
blaster couldn’t be easier to install.WHAT ABOUT HIGH-
DEFINITION TV?High-defi nition television is becom-
ing increasingly popular as the pric-
es for HDTV sets and services (cable
and satellite) fall. Unfortunately, the
only way to get HDTV programming
into your home-theater PC is with
an antenna that can pull broadcast
HDTV from the airways.
And there’s plenty of such free
content to be had—provided you
live reasonably close to where it’s
originating. If you live in a rural area
or even in a far-fl ung suburb, you’re
probably out of luck. If you need
digital cable or satellite TV service
to receive HDTV, you’ll be stuck with
the lower-resolution content that
emerges from your set-top box’s S-
Video output.
It’s not that there are no
HDTV tuners for the PC—there are
plenty, including ATI’s brand-new
TV Wonder 650—the problem is
that these tuners have neither
analog (component) nor digital (DVI
or HDMI) inputs, so you can’t feed
them high-def content from your
set-top box. The root of the problem
stems from Hollywood: The bigwigs
running the TV and movie studios
won’t allow the cable and satellite
companies to make such connec-
tions possible.
Microsoft and ATI recently
managed to make some headway
on this front, with the announce-
ment of OCUR (pronounced “oker,”
the acronym stands for Open Cable
Unidirectional Receiver). This device
will fi nally enable digital con-
nections between standard- and
high-defi nition digital-cable set-top
boxes and PCs, but there’s a huge
catch: OCUR can be implemented
only in new complete OEM sys-
tems. Not only can you not install it
yourself, but you can’t even buy the
component unless it’s included in a
new PC. According to Microsoft and
ATI, Hollywood agreed to OCUR only
because Microsoft promised that
its DRM software is unbreakable.
(Yeah, we’re laughing right along
with you.)
Until Hollywood pulls its col-
lective head out of its collective
rectum, you’ll only be able to tune in
over-the-air HDTV on your PC.