PC HDMI Input and Output

[Larry Ford]

Hello,
I have a Yamaha HTR-6090 AV Receiver that I would like to interface to my PC. I would like to play Blue-Ray DVD through my receiver to my TV. I'm also interested in recording TV shows to my Blue-Ray DVD. Another task is to record and play music using my receiver and PC CD player. Could you recommend the PC hardware and connections to reach my goals?

Lost Larry

 

[rwpritchett]

What you are describing is called HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer). Basically, it's a computer that is connected to your TV and home theater to record TV, play music, play movies, stream online content etc.

That said, playing blu-ray from a computer through your TV and receiver is very easy. If you have HDMI inputs on both receiver and TV, then you run HDMI cables from PC->receiver->TV.

Recording TV requires a TV tuner. You can research the different tuners available at this site. I am unaware of any tuners that have HDMI in. Generally they accept either a coax cable and can pull in over-the-air (OTA) HD channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, etc.) or unencrypted clear-QAM digital cable channels. Some newer tuners are coming out that accept a CableCard plus coax cable (for premium digital cable) but they are very expensive and hard to get at the moment. A more complex setup is to continue using your cable/satellite set-top box and use a capture device like this one to record TV, while using an IR blaster to control the set-top box.

For PC hardware suggestions, do you intend to build a system yourself, or purchase a pre-built computer? Also, do you need HD audio (DTS-MA, Dolby-TrueHD) that is found on blu-ray discs or is standard DTS/DD 5.1 surround sufficient?

 

[Larry Ford]

What you are describing is called HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer). Basically, it's a computer that is connected to your TV and home theater to record TV, play music, play movies, stream online content etc.

That said, playing blu-ray from a computer through your TV and receiver is very easy. If you have HDMI inputs on both receiver and TV, then you run HDMI cables from PC->receiver->TV.

Recording TV requires a TV tuner. You can research the different tuners available at this site. I am unaware of any tuners that have HDMI in. Generally they accept either a coax cable and can pull in over-the-air (OTA) HD channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, etc.) or unencrypted clear-QAM digital cable channels. Some newer tuners are coming out that accept a CableCard plus coax cable (for premium digital cable) but they are very expensive and hard to get at the moment. A more complex setup is to continue using your cable/satellite set-top box and use a capture device like this one to record TV, while using an IR blaster to control the set-top box.

For PC hardware suggestions, do you intend to build a system yourself, or purchase a pre-built computer? Also, do you need HD audio (DTS-MA, Dolby-TrueHD) that is found on blu-ray discs or is standard DTS/DD 5.1 surround sufficient?

Thanks for your response, I have considered a Home Theater system. I want to use a desktop PC as a solution, but sound like that may not be possible. Larry