Hd Dvr: An Essential Part Of Your Home Theater Pc

As the information becomes more available on the internet, there is a strong drive towards people creating their own Home Theater PC (HTPC) systems. The HTPC system is a setup that integrates HDTV, video and picture viewing music playback into one interface. Growing numbers of HTPC enthusiasts are bringing digital video recorders into their HTPC setup.

Why do people go to the trouble to set up these systems? At first, HTPCs were the playthings of computer enthusiasts who wanted control over their HDTV viewing experience. But the convenience of the systems soon attracted mainstream audiences. As anyone who has had to juggle multiple controllers can attest, a simple single user interface to handle multiple media players is much more enjoyable.

More and more HD DVRs are becoming a standard part of the HTPC. A digital video recorder is any hardware device that records video and stores it on a hard drive for future playback. It can be a unit that you rent from a satellite TV company. In the case of most HTPC is created simply from a hard drive like the one you would buy in any electronics store and the appropriate software.

For DIY HD DVR projects, the more space on the hard drive the better. An hour long TV show can use up 1-2 GB. Also, it is a good idea to have a smaller hard drive for the operating system (100 GB) and a larger separate one for media storage (500GB). This helps the computer run faster, cooler, and more quietly. In fact, it is common to place the hard drive in closet or separate room to cut down on the noise.

Picking the HTPC, application for a home built unit will take some thought but will largely depend on your OS and other system specifications. Some of the top applications on Windows are Windows Media Center, GB-PVR, and BeyondTV. MythTV and Freevo are two open source options that work on Linux. SageTV works on Window, Mac, and Linux.

Setting up the recording unit is one of the easier steps in creating your HTPC. Just physically plug your drive in like a normal hard drive and follow the installation instructions for the software.

If you want to pass these steps, you can rent a digital video recorder from satellite TV company. HD DVRs have features like simultaneous recording, timed programming and more. The rental of a HD DVR unit will vary by location. There are many online resources (forums, chat rooms) dedicated to integrating commercial units like the HD DVR with your own home built HTPC.

Digital Video Recorders are essential to the HDTV entertainment center. You can get them through a satellite TV company or make your own. DIY Home-Theater PCs are not that difficult to make if you already know something about computers. They can also save you money in the end. Either way, installing or building your own digital video recorder is a project almost anyone can do.