Will Windows Media Center Provide The Bridge To Total Home Theater PC Control?

I know, that’s a pretty breathless chunk of hyperbole right there, isn’t it?  But it might be true–check this out.

See, as most of us have known for some time now, it’s not exactly tough to hook up a PC to an LCD television.  If you don’t use the HDMI inputs, then you’ve probably got a PC input ready to go.  Older televisions can even get in on the action by way of an S-video port.  But where most people seem to have a blockage (most people that aren’t home theater buffs like ourselves) is in using that PC as a full featured home theater device.  That may all change now.  Dig the word:

Unlike other options—set-top boxes and fancy Blu-ray players—it uses your home computer as the video streaming device, meaning you can add services, browse robustly and even record video like a DVR by patching your cable or satellite TV through your PC. And again, it’s all wireless.

Because the extra hardware you need (i.e., the “extender”) is just a wireless dummy, you’re not sinking money into some soon-to-be-obsolete gizmo, and you’re not limiting yourself to just one service (Hulu and Netflix almost never appear side-by-side on streaming devices.) Your Netflix, your Hulu, your TiVo, even your channel guide gets better when it’s all replaced by a Windows 7 PC.

This is the kind of thing a LOT of people needed to hear.  And it poses the distinct possibility that the home theater PC may well wind up mainstream, and that’s just entirely too awesome.