Microsoft is about to provide the answer to this problem with its new version of Windows Media Center, the 2005 Edition (MCE 2005). This time, the solution is to equip a Server PC that can send content to terminals in the living room, a bedroom, or even to portable audio players. Until now, solutions of this type have been hybrid ones - with a wireless multimedia receiver, it was possible to send content from the PC to the TV, but for DVD and reception, the source stayed in the living room.

Pinnacle is currently attempting a new strategy with version 1.5 of its Show Center. It lets you put a TV tuner in a PC that can then be piloted from a multimedia receiver in the living room. There's a big drawback, however: the interface. The PC runs under Windows XP, and the interface on the TV is proprietary, so it is difficult to find the right content. With Media Center, Microsoft proposes to move everything to the server, yet to let you pilot everything via a single interface and remote control.