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Media Centers
(Last updated in 2012)
Click here for the definitions of Media
Extenders, Digital Media Adapters, (DMAs), Digital Media Receivers
(DMRs), Network Media Receivers and other Portable Digital Devices.
Media
Centers (Home)– (May be known as, or associated with Media
Center PCs, Home Media Centers, Entertainment PCs, Multimedia Home
Entertainment Center, Residential Gateway, Residential
Gateway Device, Home Telecom Center, Digital
Media Center,
Entertainment Gateway, Multimedia Gateway, PC-centric Entertainment
Center, Digital Home Media Center, Home Media Option, Home Media DVR,
Broadband Media Center, Broadband Game Consoles, Entertainment
Consoles, Home Cinema, Home Theater, Hybrid PVR, Personal Media Center,
Television-computer Device, Online TV Content Hubs.)
- Home Media Centers
are
advanced set-top
boxes,
or can be in the form of software. Home media center software typically
is stored on your personal computer and transferred via a connection to
your television and/or other display device. Home Media
Centers
can incorporate PC components and functionality such as memory and a
hard drive. These media centers usually also have DVR
capability.
These
media centers can offer
wireless connections, HDTV reception, remote keypad and/or IVR
capacity, videoconferencing, a VCR, a Web browser, multi-screen
displays, split
screen viewing for TV and the Web, smart card capacity, a
modem for
Internet connections, Interactive
Program
Guide, CD Player, DVD Player, a high quality sound system, home
networking
and security capacity, gaming and content filtering services. A fully
integrated Media Center is one that has all the hardware and software
installed. The device comes with a GUI (graphical user interface) which
is controlled by an air mouse, and/or remote control and if available,
an optional wireless keyboard. Moxi was an award
winning example of such an advanced media center.
A
Home Media Center can be created by adding Media Center software to a
PC or certain other computerized devices. If a particular service
doesn't originally come with the customers media center, it may be
added to their system by downloading software and/or the addition of
other components such as a Digital
Media Adapter (DMA). (A "sidecar"
was an earlier name for something of this nature.) A Digital
Media Receiver (DMR), Media
Extender (Windows
Media Extender), Portable
Media Players or DMA might be used to communicate with your
TV
system.
Sellers of media centers, media servers and integrated digital TVs
might include a free membership to their own entertainment portal. The
buyer of the product could stream content from that portal over the
Internet to their iDTV, media center, etc. This content would be
formatted and otherwise set up (in theory) so the customer can better
enjoy their device.
Windows
Media Center is
included in Windows 7 Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional, and
Enterprise; and in Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate.
Media
Center PC
- (Windows
Media Center, Windows Media Edition, WMC, WME, Windows XP Media Center
Edition, Windows Media Center Edition, Media Center PC, MCE PCs, Living
Room PC.) This media center can integrate
digital entertainment experiences — including live television, DVR
(previously known as PVR), digital music, digital video, DVDs and
photos. This can be done with the use of a remote control. The Media Center PC is
a PC that's
designed to be viewed from across the room, like your TV is. Click
here for more information.
Home
Server - (Home
Media Server, Media Server, Entertainment Gateway, Multimedia Gateway,
Digital Hub, Home Gateway, Gateway Decoder Platform, Home Gateway Media
Centers, Home Media Server, Home Networking Gateway, Home Media
Adapter, Media Adapter, Home Server Software.) - Compared
to a
media center, a home media server (home server) is more oriented to
activities related to home networking. HP's MediaSmart Server was the
first device to use Microsoft’s Windows Home Server software. Click
here for more information.
Integrated
Digital TV (Integrated
TV, iDTV, Advanced High Definition Television) (Associated with Smart
TVs, PCTVs, PC-TVs, PC to TV Signal Converter, Computer Televisions,
Next Generation TVs, Integrated Smart Televisions, TVPCs, Multimedia
Television, Intelligent TV Sets, Full-service Integrated Interactive TVs.)
PC-centric
Entertainment Center
- With a PC-centric Entertainment Center, the Media Center is replaced
and/or controlled by your PC. Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
is a major example of this. (Formerly code-named "Freestyle").
(An example is Microsoft’s
Windows XP Media Center.)
The
Green Button - "The official community based portal to blogs,
articles, and forums about Microsoft media based software."
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