How to add Vista Windows Media Centre support for BBC and ITV HD in the UK

Discussion in 'Media Guides' started by InsaneNutter, Jan 24, 2009.

  1. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2007
    Messages:
    12,254
    Likes Received:
    3,724
    Location:
    Yorkshire, England
    How to add Windows Media Centre support for BBC and ITV HD in the UK (Possibly HD channels in other countries too)

    Before you do this it’s worth taking note I have not yet been able to try this, I have done a lot of research in to adding support for BBC and ITV HD support to Windows Media Centre, However I’m yet to purchase a DVB-S2 card and Sky Dish.

    I didn’t plan to post this up until I had done it successfully myself however I was asked if I would post the guide up anyway. If this works please do reply and say so, or point out anything you had to do differently.

    The Windows Media Centre TV Pack 2008 adds support for DVB-S tuners but not the H.264 codec which is required to decode BBC, ITV and other HD channels. However for the 32bit Version of Vista a hacked MSDTVVDEC.DLL has been released with all enable H.264 support.

    If you’re running a 64bit install of Vista you’re out of luck unfortunately, however a 64bit Vista CD Key will work on a 32bit Vista install if you want to format and downgrade.

    For information on how to install the Windows Media Centre 2008 TV pack please see my post here

    DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA)

    Your HTPC’s graphics card must support DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA), from the research I did ATI cards with the latest drivers have better results than Nvidia cards.

    List of cards that support DXVA:

    ATi Radeon HD 4xxx series
    ATi Radeon HD 3xxx series
    ATi Radeon HD 2xxx series

    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2xx series
    NVIDIA GeForce 9xxx series
    NVIDIA GeForce 8xxx series
    NVIDIA GeForce 7xxx series

    Download NVIDIA (x86) Drivers

    How to install the hacked MSDTVVDEC.DLL


    1. Take ownership of the existing file MSDTVVDEC.DLL in Windows/System32 (Right click -> Properties -> Security -> Advanced -> Owner -> Edit then select yourself.​

    2. Give yourself full control over the file (Right click -> Properties -> Security -> Edit then select Users and check the box for Full Control.
    3. Run Command Prompt as administrator. Then type "regsvr32 -u msdtvvdec.dll" and hit Enter.
    4. Rename MSDTVVDEC.DLL to MSDTVVDEC.DLL.BAK
    5. Copy Beta DLL to the system32 folder and type "regsvr32 msdtvvdec.dll" in Command Prompt and hit Enter.

    BBC HD should now work if you have installed the drivers for your DVB-S2 card and searched for channels in Media Centre.

    If you want to get ITV HD working you will need to do a little more, this is because ITV HD is normally accessed via the red button. You will need to set it up as a separate channel in Media Center.

    Another problem is Vista will not see ITV HD when doing a channel scan unless MHEG (the red button) is enabled for DVB-S cards.

    Enabling MHEG

    Use regedit (hold the windows key and press r, then type in regedit) now browse to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\TVConfig.

    Now change the value of "fAllowDvbsMHEG" from 0 to 1.

    Finding ITV HD

    To find ITV HD you need to do a manual satellite scan, you will find this under TV settings > Satelight Transponder Scan > Single Transponder Scan > Transponder Information.

    Enter these values: 11428, 27500, H.

    A few new channels should be found including ITV HD which is 10510
    If this doesn’t work try 11426 and 11427 instead of 11428.

    To rename the channel go to the guide and right click on the 10510 channelm use more info to rename the channel to ITV HD.

    ITV HD should now work when ITV are broadcasting a HD channel, I believe I’ve seen a couple of programs such as The Bill advertised as available in HD.

    Final Notes

    If you have been watching ITV HD then switch to BBC HD the screen *might* go black after a few seconds, if this happens stop live TV and resume it, if that doesn’t work exit media centre and load it up again. Apparently this can occasionally happen.

    If you appear to lose some scheduled recordings after this install the KB957209 hotfix and then go through the TV signal setup again.
     

    Attached Files:

Share This Page