I can almost fully endorse Windows 7 Media Center. The beta DivX mkv splitter shows some real promise, and if it can one day support high bitrate h.264 video and subtitles, then I'd give it full 100% approval. If a person really wants a stable, turn key HTPC that supports every media type well, it seems like you still have to stick to Vista, but Windows 7 has UI and feature improvements that are most welcome.
- Movie Library for Extenders
- Shared Recordings
- TV Pack features are stable
- native h.264 and .m2ts support
For me personally, I think I'm willing to live with a few minor mkv issues in exchange for those improvements. If I was building a box for someone else though, I'd push them towards 3rd party codecs and plugins to get most of those features out of Vista. As third party develops work on tools like a Media Foundation mkv splitter though, then Windows 7 Media Center will be complete.
Showing posts with label 7MC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7MC. Show all posts
May 8, 2009
April 27, 2009
Windows 7 RC Initial Thoughts
Don't really have much to say on Windows 7 RC1 right now. A few quick notes.
#1 Nifty new Themes
#2 Like new 7MC Splash windows and sounds (sounds are rather TiVOish)
#3 mytv Plugin has a few random startup errors, but works. Check out my WebCollection. Wish it was easier to update. the XML export file does not auto replace it seems.
#4 Codec support
This is the big thing. I used to get around the issue I had with xvid and external subs by renaming some of the default audio codec files. For some reason after reading this tip I used that MCDU app to pick FFDshow audio, but it does seem to give an error with some files when trying to play them. Still Win7 is supost to be able to read natively stopped playing, so I undid it. I might try renamignthe file again and see if that allows softsubs for all xvid videos with external subs.
Also, with my Carnivale S2 x264 encoded files, playback with the default MS h.264 coded have some distortions in the bottom 3rd of the video. I ended up using MPC + FFDShow to watch these files over the weekend. I want to generate screen shots somehow becuase that's a big issue...
More later
#1 Nifty new Themes
#2 Like new 7MC Splash windows and sounds (sounds are rather TiVOish)
#3 mytv Plugin has a few random startup errors, but works. Check out my WebCollection. Wish it was easier to update. the XML export file does not auto replace it seems.
#4 Codec support
This is the big thing. I used to get around the issue I had with xvid and external subs by renaming some of the default audio codec files. For some reason after reading this tip I used that MCDU app to pick FFDshow audio, but it does seem to give an error with some files when trying to play them. Still Win7 is supost to be able to read natively stopped playing, so I undid it. I might try renamignthe file again and see if that allows softsubs for all xvid videos with external subs.
Also, with my Carnivale S2 x264 encoded files, playback with the default MS h.264 coded have some distortions in the bottom 3rd of the video. I ended up using MPC + FFDShow to watch these files over the weekend. I want to generate screen shots somehow becuase that's a big issue...
More later
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