OK, I'm new to HTPC and thought it is time to ask some questions before confusing myself further.
My current setup has a Sky+ box and CRT TV in one room, CRT TV in another room, an XP Desktop PC in a third room, and a NAS connected to the broadband wifi router. There are coaxial TV points in various rooms in the house, served via an 8-way booster. The TVs and PC are obviously old kit and are about to be upgraded. Currently I can only record and playback from the TV attached to the Sky+ box. Also, I will be switching from Sky broadband to BT fibre as soon as I have finished my deliberations, so effectively I have a blank canvas. Whether I will have BT TV or just Freeview HD is undecided; I might even stay with Sky if they make it worth my while – we’ll obviously still have the sky satellite dish and be able to access free channels.
I would like to achieve a unified system whereby I can record from either TV and playback those recordings on either TV - this has brought me to the current point of thinking about HTPC which I believe will provide this and more.
So I am in the market for 2 new TVs and a new PC, but want to make sure I keep my options open when upgrading.
(Probably) silly question time…
I am keen to get some of the new kit before Christmas – one new TV at least – but want to be sure I don’t spoil things by getting something that is not compatible.
Any guidance would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.
PS I forgot to make reference to pause and rewind live TV. We make a lot of use of this feature on Sky+ so would want that on both TVs - would that require functionality on the TV, or is this handled completely from the HTPC?
My current setup has a Sky+ box and CRT TV in one room, CRT TV in another room, an XP Desktop PC in a third room, and a NAS connected to the broadband wifi router. There are coaxial TV points in various rooms in the house, served via an 8-way booster. The TVs and PC are obviously old kit and are about to be upgraded. Currently I can only record and playback from the TV attached to the Sky+ box. Also, I will be switching from Sky broadband to BT fibre as soon as I have finished my deliberations, so effectively I have a blank canvas. Whether I will have BT TV or just Freeview HD is undecided; I might even stay with Sky if they make it worth my while – we’ll obviously still have the sky satellite dish and be able to access free channels.
I would like to achieve a unified system whereby I can record from either TV and playback those recordings on either TV - this has brought me to the current point of thinking about HTPC which I believe will provide this and more.
So I am in the market for 2 new TVs and a new PC, but want to make sure I keep my options open when upgrading.
(Probably) silly question time…
- Does a TV need certain specifications to be compatible with HTPC?
- E.g. must it be a Smart TV; have USB record; etc?
- Can Freetime be serviced via HTPC, or would this need to be on each TV?
- Can HTPC simultaneously drive multiple TVs separately?
- i.e. different channels on different TVs; simultaneously watch and record; watch one recorded programme on one TV while watching a different recorded programme on the other TVs; etc.
- Can HTPC manage Sky, Freeview and FreeSat on the same system?
- i.e. so on any TV, programmes can be selected from any source, and recorded programmes can be seen on any TV regardless of the original recording source?
- Is a dedicated PC required for HTPC?
- The XP is used as a general PC by the family, used mainly for web surfing and some Office apps (Word and PowerPoint) for the kids’ homework. It was expensive and a high spec many years ago…but is long past its prime. Could a new PC be both a general PC and a HTPC, or is that likely to lead to performance and/or other problems?
- How many expansion ports would be needed on the PC for the tuner cards required for satellite and Freeview to enable simultaneous watch and record?
- Can this work over wifi, or is cabling necessary? Is existing coaxial wiring of any use? What about Powerline networking?
- Can DVD players also be added to the HTPC network? Could they be controlled from the media centre menu?
I am keen to get some of the new kit before Christmas – one new TV at least – but want to be sure I don’t spoil things by getting something that is not compatible.
Any guidance would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.
PS I forgot to make reference to pause and rewind live TV. We make a lot of use of this feature on Sky+ so would want that on both TVs - would that require functionality on the TV, or is this handled completely from the HTPC?
Last edited: