So, as previously mentioned, we got a nice new TV last week – an LG 32LH5000 full HD (1080p) with 100Hz refresh rate as well… and it is lovely! The quality of the picture is superb and the sound quality, especially compared to our old set that whistled all the while, is brilliant (although not as good as a dedicated 5.1 or 7.1 system would be – that’s my next major upgrade but don’t tell the missus 
)
To really make the most of it though we needed to get access to all the files stored on the central server – yeah, the tele does have USB and DivX support but that’s clumsy and relies on copying files. So, I got hold of a PC along with a nice ATI Radeon HD4670 graphics card (with HDMI port supporting video and audio) and built a Media Centre PC using Windows Vista.
After a couple of days tweaking it and getting it just right we now have a great, quiet, system sat next to the tv which we are all getting used to and using for watching nice videos etc – some of which are either 720p or even 1080p quality
The one tip that I came across that has proven really great is that you can give your videos their own picture image in the Video Library, rather than the arbritary snapshot that MCE sets up for you (and slows the system down when generating) – there are two ways of doing this:
1) Put each video in a seperate folder and put an image in that folder called folder.jpg – this is a standard tip for use within Windows anyway but then creates the thumbnail based upon the folder image. Nice, but a pain in the rear having to put everything in folders etc.
The best option, imho, is
2) Save a file with the exact same filename as the video (but obviously with a jpg extension) in the same folder as the video and then this gets used by MCE. No need for seperate folders and the Video library then looks really good.
So, about 15 minutes in google to download DVD covers or images from programmes etc and our Media Center started to look really neat.
I also added in a freebie Weather add-in for MCE but can’t remember what it’s called right now so I’ll add that in later.
