Post-WMC solutions

Home Theater PC
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

I'll just cut to the chase: in January of 2020, Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7 and the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for Windows Media Center. The former means the machine could present unpatched security vulnerabilities after Jan. The latter means WMC probably won't do anything for me except play my ripped DVDs. Unless I find a 3rd party EPG source. That is possible. I haven't looked.

Without doing any research at all, I just pulled the trigger on what I guess the replacement hardware is. Imagine that. After 10 full years with this machine, there is finally a well-priced off the shelf solution which provides equivalent functionality.

Amazon has a 500GB 2 tuner and 1TB 4 tuner DVR. They are both $100 off right now. I couldn't resist. I bought the 1TB one for $180.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074J1GPB8/re ... 9Db7ERDB50

That connects to your network, and antenna. So I guess it will live in my great room.

For each client you use Fire TV sticks. They have a new 4K variant of the stick that has more processing power and seems to resolve issues I've read about on the initial stick. That is also on sale for $35.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079QHML21/re ... 9Db9DT2EYC

I got a 3 ft HDMI extension cable since the 3 ports on my TV look to be close together, so I can relocate within 3 feet of that crowded area. They do have an ethernet adapter but we'll see how it does on wifi first. I have a gigabit ethernet switch right below the TV so it's a simple matter if necessary.

Anyway, this all came together just because I happened to look at the Amazon app on my phone. Hope it works out. My Panasonic TV stopped supporting the Amazon app anyway and Youtube finally broke, too. So if the Fire Stick 4K works well enough the only thing I'd use my HTPC for is playing my ripped DVD movies (I have quite a collection). There's nothing else it would do for me. Sniff.
Adam
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by Adam »

kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

I know about that.
Adam
Posts: 2240
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by Adam »

Go on...
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

Well ho-lee shit. This thing has a great tuner. I get stuff I've never gotten since moving here.

I am very impressed so far. This system with a Recast has serious potential for me to leave WMC in the dust after 10 years. Not that I really have a choice.

It detected a total of 30 after I told it I had a "50 mile" antenna. Including subchannels. The only thing in the entire list that had reception issues was ABC 5 Boston. So 28 including subs. Of those I turned off 3 other ones (Spanish and religious). So 25 total including subs. This is a 4 channel tuner, too, so the reception performance is particularly impressive.

Damn the remote even turns off/on my TV and receiver with a single press of power. This is well integrated.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

This is snappy, too.

Installed YouTube. It responds faster than my media center. Which is a 10 year old core 2 duo with 4 gigs of RAM. But still that was my standard so this is great.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

Of course there's a catch. It won't do Dolby Digital vis optical TOSLINK to my recover because essentially DRM. Works fine when signal originates from TV but won't pass through. You have to use HDMI to connect to receiver. My receiver is old and doesn't have HDMI. So no surround from fire stick?? I should check broadcast...
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

I think there is a copy protection bit in the HDMI stream that disables 5.1 on the TOSLINK. Works fine on the TVs Netflix app. It works from WMC which is the same thing but probably no copy protection flag. Sigh.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

I would have to use something like this to get around HDCP.

eSynic 1080P HDMI Audio Extractor HDMI to HDMI + Optical TOSLINK SPDIF + Analog RCA L/R +3.5mm Audio Jack Stereo Audio Video Splitter Converter with Power ON/OFF Switch Support Full HD1080p 3D https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VVTQY8D/re ... aEbHDEDHK0

Really annoying. But the reason I haven't run into this before is because the HDMI inputs I use previously do not use HDCP. Even the Xbox I think worked. But this is the first media device of this type that I've ever used. So I believe this is "normal." Like if I ever bought a Bluray player, I think I would have run into the same issue. Or if I had one of those soundbars which are supposed to take 5.1 input and do something with it - that wouldn't be getting a real 5.1 input. The one weak link. I mean I could upgrade my receiver but it works fine. Grrrr. Well I'll continue using the TV Netflix app for Netflix as that does surround. Anything on the Fire TV won't be surround. Yeah this pisses me off. And part of it is because a lot of people don't realize this is happening so they don't complain.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Post-WMC solutions

Post by kevm14 »

I guess some TVs don't respect the HDCP thing and let it pass through anyway? Or there is some licensing thing means some TVs support all 5.1 pass-through and others do not? So it is possible a different TV would support this. Not happening. Or I could get a modern receiver with HDMI and ARC support, which may require new speakers because this Sony system uses a very high low pass filter setting because the sats are small so the sub gets more mid-bass. The new receiver would need to support that and not send very low frequencies to my satellites. Or I could get a device that pulls the 5.1 out of the HDMI and sends it optically to my receiver. But then I'd have to plug the Fire TV into that, rather than my TV. Not necessarily a huge problem but it means it would hog the only optical input I have on my receiver. And I worry about audio sync...

For now I'll deal with stereo or I guess 2.1. So close yet so far.
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