A step-by-step guide to home movies

1

THE

BASICS

Here are some things you need to know before you take the leap. And be sure to check the movie service fine print, because technical requirements vary.

THE COMPUTER

Your PC must be running the Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system and needs generous amounts of storage: about 1 gigabyte of RAM and at least 5 gigabytes of free hard-disk space. Individual movie services may demand specific software – the Windows Media Player, the Adobe Flash Player or a current version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, for instance. As for AppleTV, it works with PCs or Macs running OS X version 10.3.9 or later and with iTunes version 7.6 or later.

THE INTERNET

CONNECTION

A high-speed cable or DSL connection is a must. Some movie services say they can work with connection speeds as low as 300 kilobits per second (that’s 300,000 bits of information a second), but if you’re interested in downloading a high-definition film, you’ll need speeds of at least 1 megabit (or a million bits) per second. The more bits, the faster the download and the better the experience.

THE HOME

NETWORK

With a wireless network, you can access the Internet and download movies to a device connected to the TV. Look for a router that uses at least the 802.11g network standard (but note that the newer 802.11n offers up to 12 times the performance and three times the range). If you’ve got a large house, consider a new type of networking setup developed by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, a group of technology companies. It delivers high-speed network access over residential power lines.

THE DEVICES

To move a movie from a PC to a TV you may want one of these: AppleTV, VUDU, Xbox 360 game console, Series 2 or 3 TiVo or the Linksys Media Center Extender (which can also fetch music, video and photos off computers running Windows Vista Premium or Ultimate).

THE SERVICES

Right now you can order and watch movies on-demand from half a dozen major online services. You’ll be able to buy or rent many of the same flicks you’d find lined up on the back wall of a Blockbuster store, although the selection varies by service. The companies offer a broader selection of independent and niche films.

THE TELEVISION

If you don’t want to buy a device to watch downloaded movies, no sweat: You can connect your computer directly to your TV. In most cases, this can be accomplished in part through S-video connection ports, which are on most televisions and computers. S-video transfers only the video image, so you will also need to connect the audio-out port on your computer to external speakers or to a home stereo system. Some computers come with standard component video cables for video and audio, allowing you to connect your computer to the TV in the same way you would connect a VCR or video camera.