Vista is about to get HDTV and DVB-S/S2 support and possibly Blu ray playback, from inside the OS itself.
Before the end of the year, a large update to Vista's Media Center (codename Fiji) should appear. The update is already out to beta testers and a public release candidate (RC) may be available by September 2008.

There have been 3rd party plugins and hacks for Media Center available for a while that would allow Blu ray discs to be played on 32bit versions of Vista Media Center however, these hacks would not work for the 64bit versions of Vista. Media Center in Vista 64 is a native 64 bit application and, the problem with that is, it requires native 64 bit plugins and codecs.

There were also work around to allow Media Center to work with DVB S/S2 TV cards but not with HDTV channels but, now it's supported directly within the new Media Center update.

Vista also has its own enhanced video rendering engine (EVR) and HD picture quality is simply stunning.

Unfortunately it's difficult to show the picture quality in a screenshot on the forum, but here is a screenshot of BBC HD, on Vista Home Premium 64 bit (fiji update), taken a few minutes ago.

I've read recently that H.264 has been nowhere to be found in the private betas and that it may get pushed back to Windows 7. That means no native Blu-ray support as far as I know. They did say they were adding native QAM support (for us in North America) which will FINALLY allow HD broadcasts for us, as well. Also, the ms-dvr format is history...to be replaced with something else (I forget the name right now) so hopefully utilities like VideoReDo will be updated to handle the new format. I for one can't wait for this update as it'll finally make media center USEFUL to me.

I'm looking forward to the release version too.
I think H.264 must be in there somewhere as this is what BBC HD uses.

Fascinating. I'll see if I can dig up the article on engadget later that said Blu-ray support was being delayed. I hope we do see it. That'd make for a very nice situation I think.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/05...er-until-2010/

Ah, there it is. They were talking about DirectTV in that article, but, if H.264 support has been yanked as they're reporting, then that doesn't look good for BD playback either I would think.

It doesn't make sense to pull H.264 support as that is the standard that is being used for HD transmissions in Europe. Pulling H.264 (now they have it working) would make the whole fiji update pointless.

Yea, I have to agree that it seemed rather odd to me, too. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the finished product looks like. I can't wait to get clear QAM support so I can watch and record directly in media center all my unencrypted HD channels.

Here is the 32 bit version for any one that wishes to try it.
Make a system backup before installing as it cannot be removed.
http://www.geeksmack.net/Windows_Med...2200_(x86).msu

hi Dee,

is there a chance you could test with DVB-S2 too?
BBC HD is on DVB-S, therefore my question.

Hi Chef
I have a fixed dish so only have access to the Astra/Eurobird cluster @ 28 E.
Is there any transmissions on those birds that use DVB-S2?

Hi Dee,

on 28e all DVB-S2 Trp/channels are encrypted, but on 19e we have at least 3 programs in clear on a DVB-S2 transponder.
They are: arte HD, Anixe HD, Astra HD promo channel.
http://www.lyngsat.com/hd/astra19.html

Update
Rumour has it, that the update code is now final and the update will be released via "Windows Update" on the 3rd of September.

The fiji name has gone and MS has apparently settled for the very imaginatively named "Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008" instead.

That's an astonish name .

ROFLMAO on the name. Thanks for the update Dee. Looking forward to checking it out on my new laptop. Hopefully the laptop comes before I get my hands on the update.

Update 2:
This update is already RTM to OEM's, so expect to see new PC's with this update on the streets next month.

Then maybe I'll get lucky and my new laptop will have it already installed. I could hope.