Media Center Edition
An optional interface in the Windows XP Pro, Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate versions of Windows that serves as a digital media server. Designed to organize and hold a multimedia collection of music, videos and photos, the output can be viewed and heard on the PC or sent to a local or remote stereo or home theater. PCs sold as "Media Center PCs" have one or more TV tuners and can function as a digital video recorder (see DVR).
The 10-Foot User Interface
Using the mouse or a handheld remote control, the PC can be instantly switched between standard Windows and the Media Center's "10-foot user interface," which offers a simplified control panel that can be viewed from a distance. In practice, millions of Media Center Edition PCs (MCE PCs) are used like ordinary PCs with the MCE interface never turned on. See 10-foot user interface.
A PC and Digital Media Server
Many MCE PCs are designed for the home theater cabinet and come in horizontal cases like A/V equipment. Vendors may enhance the hardware and software and turn the MCE PC into a more specialized and flexible media server.
If the MCE PC is not located near or in the home entertainment rack, it can stream content to Media Center Extenders (digital media hubs) or Xboxes anywhere in the house via a Wi-Fi or wired network (see Media Center Extender). See digital media server and digital media hub.
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| An Enhanced MCE Media Server |
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| Designed for the A/V cabinet, the Denzel Media Server is a greatly enhanced MCE computer from Inteset (www.inteset.com). Functioning as both hub and server with more than a terabyte of RAID 5 storage, this high-end unit includes FM, SDTV and HDTV tuners, DVD recording, a digital video recorder (DVR) and three audio zones. (Image courtesy of Inteset, LLC, www.inteset.com) |