Imagine the convenience of managing your media resources such as videos, photos, music and television right in your computer. You don’t have to turn on your television to watch your favorite show or music player to listen to your favorite tunes. This is all possible with the use of HTPC software. Media Center software is the front end for your Home Theater PC to play movies, music, photos and much more via TV. This list will simplify your task by highlighting the most popular media centers. In this guide, we will share you the best Media Center Softwares for Your HD/UHD TV and top recommended software for improve your TV experience.
You can also refer to >> Top Alternatives for Windows Media Center.
1. Kodi (was XBMC) Media Center
Kodi Media Center was originally designed as a media center interface for the XBOX game console. Today, it has evolved as a powerful media center for Windows, Linux, Android and Mac OS X that is capable of playing most available media file types.
Kodi is a well establish and robust software for more advanced users which many people regards as the best media center available. XBMC has been the foundation for many alternative media centers. The user interface looks very elegant even without any customization.
To get started, read how to customize it with all the bells and whistles.
2. Windows Media Center
The music and music video streamers love having Windows Media Center (WMC) in their home theater PC. You can play music, videos, movies, and anything else you can stream off the net with this one program.
WMC is the most mainstream media center thanks to Microsoft’s advertisement and bundling efforts. There is nothing too technical about Windows Media Center and it plays most media formats out there.
Windows Media Center has been a favorite choice especially for those who enjoy watching and recording live TV. Since releasing Windows 10, Microsoft has left WMC to fade away, so many people need to transition to new media center software.
However, while TV tuner setup is easy on WMC, it is more difficult on others, with many not even supporting cable TV at all.
3. Plex
Plex Home Theater is a true media center alternative for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux, and it is integrated with Plex Media Server; so if you want to sync your media files between several computers and portable devices, then this program will be perfect for you.
The interface is visually stunning and it has an excellent integration with its media server.
You can use Plex Media Server to transcode any media file you have in your library and stream it using a PleXBMC add-on for Kodi.
Click here for a complete guide to Plex Media Server: Blu-rays to Plex | DVD to Plex | iTunes to Xbox via Plex | Plex Problems & Solutions | Best Video Settings for Plex | Yify Videos to Plex
4. Emby
Emby is another great alternative to centrally manage all of your media files and then watch them using the front-end application.
Emby organizes your media files so that it never takes more than a few clicks to find the latest movie or TV show. In addition, you can setup customized views of your library for each member of your family with the ability to pause and resume from different devices.
Emby also has an add-on for Kodi that brings you a super easy way to view your content. Learn> > Kodi Media Servers: Plex vs. Emby With Kodi.
5. NextPVR
NextPVR is probably the best alternative to Windows Media Center to watch and record live TV.
It is easy to setup and supports advanced features such as recording series.
You can use NextPVR as a front-end application, but the user interface is not as stylish as WMC or Kodi, but it is clean and simple.
You can also use NextPVR as a back-end and integrate it with Kodi using a PVR add-on.
6. Media Portal
Another good media center with TV tuner support is Media Portal. Media Portal turns your computer into a highly advanced media center.
It is an open source application similar to Kodi, but the key advantage of this software is that you can turn your PC into a PVR (Personal Video Recorder).
7. MythTV
MythTV is the PVR of the Linux media center. You can record your shows and play them back at any time. It’s a great alternative to TiVo if you keep running out of space for all of your TV shows.
This one is for advanced users that want to set up their home theater computer to link to their television. Once linked, you will be able to record live television programs and store them on your PC. Then you will be able to play them at any time. MythTV has several variations for different Linux distributions such as a Mythbuntu and MythDora.
8. JRiver Media Center
JRiver Media Center is a jukebox-style media center like Windows Media Player or iTunes. However, it comes with a 10-foot interface optimized Theater View, which works perfectly with your HDTV.
The great thing about JRiver is that it supports even the most advanced codecs out of the box, and it is known to playback your music with excellent sound quality. It even comes with Netflix, Hulu and YouTube services integrated, so it is suitable for playing online video content, too. It is a perfect choice for you especially if you are an audiophile and like to play lossless formats of audio such as FLAC, APE, ALAC, WM and WAV files. JRiver costs $49.98.9. Steam Big Picture
Valve’s Steam is the most popular game platform available. Using Steam’s Big Picture mode allows you to buy and launch PC games from your sofa.
When you integrate Steam’s Big Picture mode with Kodi Media Center, you will get a really powerful combination that gives you much more control over your media experience in comparison to any commercial game console.
Click here to learn more how to build your Steam Machine.
10. HDHomeRun DVR
HDHomeRun DVR is SiliconDust company’s attempt to fill in the gap in the DIY DVR market after Microsoft decided not to include Windows Media Center into Windows 10 anymore.
HDHomeRun DVR works with your front-end device and NAS server adding the ability to watch, schedule and record live TV.
It is still in the development phase, and I have not evaluated it myself yet since it is not available in the country I live in.
However, features such as DRM (for protected cable TV shows), Live TV pause, Kodi and Plex integrations will certainly make this DVR software popular in the future.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are several media center software available to choose from. Which media center is the best depends eventually on your needs for the media center. Are you interested in basic DVD playback and music listening capabilities or more advanced ways to play online and high definition video content?
Don’t know how to get started? My recommendation is to get started with Kodi media center and then set up a back-end with Plex Media Server.
Source: http://mymediaexperience.com/top-10-most-popular-media-center-software-for-your-hdtv/
More useful tools for HTPC and HD/UHD TV
Which is the best solution to convert Blu-ray, DVD, video and edit them before streaming to HTPC and HD/UHD TV.
1. Top Blu-ray Ripper: For people who want to transfer Blu-ray movies to HTPC, you may need to roll off disc protection, choose target video format and adjust the best video size/bitrate/frame rate for HTPC and HD/UHD TV.
2. Top DVD Ripper: You cannot miss a DVD to HTPC Converter if you want to move DVD to your HTPC and HD/UHD TV.
3. Top Multi-track BD/DVD Ripper: Not tech-savvy but wanna transfer Blu-ray/DVD for watching with multiple languages on media players via HTPC and HD/UHD TV? Then a Multi-track preserving tool can finish your task within a few simple clicks.
4. Top Ultimate Video Converter: Need an excellent all-in-one solution to convert any media files, including rental or purchased Blu-ray, DVD, HD videos from Camcorders, all standard videos, online YouTube videos, TV shows, movies downloads etc for playing via HTPC? All these can be solved with an easy-to-use video and audio converter.
5. Top DRM Removal: We can’t stream iTunes purchased or rented TV shows to HTPC because of the Apple’s Fairplay DRM protection unless we have a DRM converting tool to strip the iTunes DRM protection, and then do an iTunes m4v to HTPC compatible formats recording without quality loss.
These Pavtube converting tools can help your get out of all compatibility issues for HTPC and HD/UHD TV and other latest mobiles & tablets, such as Roku, Plex, PS4, NAS, Xbox, Galaxy Tab S, iPad Air 3, iPad Mini 4, iPhone 7, Google Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and other devices. (Read Pavtube Softwares Comparison).
Please share with us your review on any of the applications we just mentioned.
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