Windows 7 creates libraries for images, music and videos to present them to the user in a clear way. In order for the computer to find all the content, however, the user should readjust and add the places where other files are located. This setting can be made using the properties of the library folder.
Picture gallery
It is extremely useful to adapt the media libraries, since the Windows Media Player also accesses them when it presents the available media. The player is the central software in the Windows operating system for the playback of videos and music. It has existed for over ten years and is delivered with Windows 7 in the twelfth version.
Windows Media Player
However, the player can not only access media on the computer. It is also used for external hard disks, disk drives, and servers on the network. The picture and sound signals are then sent to the connected monitor, TV or amplifier.
Windows Media Center
If you have connected your computer to the home network, you have another possibility to play it. In the Windows Media Player, it can use the Send to function to send the media files to another member of the network for playback. This can be a TV, Blu-ray player, radio or amplifier. The only prerequisite: it must be a so-called UPnP renderer.
Codec packs: Support for different media formats
However, Windows Media Center is ideal for use in the living room. This is especially evident on the surface: it takes the entire screen and reminds you more of the menu of a TV or Blu-ray player than that of a computer. Finally, it should also be operable via a cursor cross as a traditional remote control.
Like the Windows Media Player, the Media Center plays videos, images, and photos. However, their presentation is much more adapted to the requirements of the living room. TV series, films and music in the media archive are clearly presented with their covers. Missing title information is collected from the Internet, if desired. In particular, the screen menus during the music playback would inspire and would also be good for hardware players.
If the computer has a TV card for TV reception, the user can watch and record broadcasts, such as the TV, broadcast via DVB-S, DVB-C or DVB-T. An electronic program journal (EPG) is also integrated.
In addition, the user has access to online content. It can be used, for example, the video-on-demand service Maxdome, the ZDF-Mediathek are ready or news from n-tv. In addition, numerous extensions, some of which are very helpful, can be installed. Some of them are shown in the pictures on the left.
But as diverse as the functions of the Windows Media Player and the media center are, there are some limitations: some media formats are not supported. This includes the popular MKV videos. The installation of a codec pack helps. The Win7codecs from Shark007 have proven themselves and can be downloaded free of charge.
Many also access other software players. The free VLC Media Player is mainly used for playing movies because it supports all important media formats. The surface looks more technical.
For music, fans use high-quality audiovisual often foobar2000. The player requires few computational resources and also plays high-resolution files in the FLAC format. The barren surface does not really fit into the living room, but can be a little effort.
Another limitation of Windows Media Player and Center is that you play audio CDs and video DVDs, but not Blu-ray movies. Additional software is required. PowerDVD from Cyberlink or the TotalMedia Theater from Arcsoft help here. Depending on the version selected, both programs allow you to play 3D Blu-ray and convert 2D content to 3D.
VLC Media Player and Co.
In both cases, the user interface is reminiscent of the Windows Media Player and also controls similar functions. This means that you can share movies, music, and photos from your computer or network, and you can be a UPnP network server yourself. In terms of format support, however, they go further than the Windows Media Player and return in the delivery state the most important media files.
The price for the Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater is just under US $ 100. If you want to play 12 Blu-rays with PowerDVD, you must spend at least 70 Euros for the Pro version.
Play Blu-rays
Convenient for the Windows Media Center user is that PowerDVD 12 and the TotalMedia Theater are integrated into the menu structure. This means that you do not need to leave the Media Center to play back Blu-ray discs.
Although Blu-ray is not possible with the XBMC program, the software is a real alternative to the Windows Media Center.
The functionality of XBMC is similar to that of the Windows Media Center, but XBMC is even more beneficial to a community that is programming extensions. This allows you to integrate numerous video online services as well.
XBMC: The free alternative
That brings Windows 8
So it works with the Mac
This year, the successor to Windows 7 will appear. If you want, you can try out a pre-release today for free. The result is a completely revised interface, which is optimized for the touch screen of a Tablet PC. This is because the new operating system is also to run. However, the tile-based menu also offers advantages for use in the living room, as the remote control, a smartphone or a tablet PC can control it.
If a program is installed, it appears, if desired, as a tile on the interface, as one knows it from apps on the smartphone. The arrangement can be changed at will. By clicking on the Desktop desktop, the user gets to a surface that reminds more of Windows 7.
The media junky will be pleased: the on-demand service is facilitated under Windows 8. Behind the music and video tiles are hidden stores, which at the touch of a button and pay for music albums and films from the Internet to the computer. However, nothing has changed in the pre-release on Windows Media Player and the Media Center.
What Windows Media Player is on Windows computers is iTunes on Apple computers - although the Apple software can also be installed on PCs. ITunes also has limitations when it comes to supported media formats. For this, the user can be sure with the software that there are no problems with Apple game partners.
And this is the only way to use Apple's streaming technology, AirPlay, to play music over the network from the AV receiver. The problem with different frame rates, known by Windows PCs, bypasses Apple by playing videos at 60 frames per second. To overcome these hurdles, the already mentioned VLC Media Player helps.
For the playback of films on Blu-ray not only additional software, but also hardware is necessary. Apple always sells its computers without a built-in Blu-ray drive. When movie playback, programs like the Mac Blu-ray Player from Macgo.
Streaming with Windows Media Player & Co.: Streaming via network server: Guide: Is your hardware fit for 3D streaming?
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