Audio & Video Setup

I've had many people request assistance with connecting media centers and computers to home stereos and televisions. Experienced with the new Windows Media Centers and to many stereos and tvs to go into. Whether you need to connect your existing tv / stereo or want advice or help procuring new equipment, we can help.

Equipment hook up experienced with, but not limited to: Windows XP Media Center Edition, HDTV, Conventional TV/Stereo.

Audio Hookup

If all you want is to listen to MP3s on your home stereo, your line-out/headphone jack or a FM transmitter will work just fine. If you want to watch DVD/TV, you will probably want to consider using S/PDIF.

Video Hookup

Conventional TV

While I don't recommend conventional television hookup for surfing the web, you can definitely use it for audio/video presentation and recording, providing your video card has a RCA Video out port (Video In/RF Ant required for recording).

HDTV

If you want to surf the web on your tv, you should have a 1080i HDTV with DVI and/or 15pin VGA inputs. Depending on your video card, you should connect the monitor/tv using the DVI (best), 15pin VGA (good), S-Video (good) or Video out (worst) connections. While lower end (720p or less) HDTVs will work, their picture will not be as good when using the computer (fine for video/DVD).

Video Capture/Recording

For video caputre/recording, you basically have 2 choices. If you have around $2,000 you can pickup something like HP Digital Entertainment Center which provides recording, playback and many other advanced features. If you don't have $2,000, you could use a computer with the following:

• Video capture card - Sell for $50 to $300. A good card will have DVI and S-Video outputs.
• S/PDIF 5.1 output (optional) - If all you want is to play music, the standard line-out/headphone jack will probably work just fine. To get digital 5.1 sound, you will require a S/PDIF coaxial or optical output. If you don't have S/PDIF coaxial or optical outputs, you can purchase a USB External 5.1 Sound Card for typically under $100.
• Hard disk space - Video takes a lot of room (4Gb or more for a 2 hour movie). I recommend a hard drive with at least 20Gb free space.
• DVD Burner (optional) - If you want to backup your recordings, you will require a DVD burner. These days, you can pick up a dual layer DVD burner for under $100.