5 best Home Theater and Media Center software

If you are looking to turn your big-screen PC or TV into a home theater system or a cheap movie theater, then there are the best free media center apps for you. The home theater and media center software allows people to store, stream, manage and enjoy photos, music and videos with friends and family on the big screen.

Some of these media center tools also have Android and iOS mobile apps, allowing people to stream music and videos directly on their mobile phones or tablets to the theater system. family. However, the features may not be free.

Kodi

1. Instructions for installing and using Kodi on computers
2. Instructions for updating Kodi on Android

Kodi is a great media center application that supports playing music, videos, games and more. Its interface is suitable for all types of TVs and users can play digital media files from local or online storage devices.

Kodi plays all popular music and movie formats, such as MP3, AAC, WAV, etc., and allows you to control your entire media collection. You can also view photos and live TV, as well as do more by using additional utilities.

After the initial settings, you can sit and enjoy your favorite videos or shows. You can also use it to turn on a CD / DVD. The software also includes additional features and utilities such as interfaces, games, screensavers, web interfaces, etc., that enhance the overall user experience.

Advantages:

1. Support more than 20 popular music and movie formats including AAC, MP3, FLAC, OGG and WAV.
2. Streaming content from the most popular online audio / video streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, etc.
3. Allows access to the library with thousands of TV shows, including programs with multiple seasons / episodes.
4. Provide some additional media or features such as Movie Quiz Program (ask a question about a specific movie), Last Episode (show the list of the latest episodes along with the number and name of the episode), etc.
5. Provides a collection of utilities to customize on demand. For example, Navi-X makes all content accessible from live TV, Project Free TV provides sections like calendar and search for easy navigation in collections, etc.

Defect:

1. Initial setup takes a long time due to the addition of additional utilities and other options.
2. Its features and options are slightly more complex than some competitors.
3. It only works in full screen mode, making it impossible to access other applications at the same time.

MediaPortal

MediaPortal is a media solution for your PC, connect directly to your TV, play music, play videos and your favorite movies. The app also lets you record and schedule live TV viewing and even supports Blu-ray readers to watch movies.

You can improve its interface by using thousands of skins and plugins to monitor your HTPC (Home Theater PC), display scores in sports, movie playback time in the place you live, etc. You can stream media and radios to any network that supports HTPC and use the same control remote.

Compared to Kodi, MediaPortal has made progress in controlling media as well as allowing you to access your favorite movies and view them in a customized way. Its plugins can be easily configured in the application and you can enable / disable them anytime you want.

Advantages:

1. Allow remote media access using Android and iOS devices.
2. Provide multiple channel choices (and their program list) from ports like Sky Cinema HD, Sky Sport HD, Kultur HD, etc.
3. Offers a wide range of collections like Titan, aMPed, Avalon HD, Black Glass, etc. to enhance the interface and user experience of MediaPortal.
4. Provide many plugins like News and Information (news media display from the web), Games (providing games that can be played at home), etc.

Defect:

1. Its interface is very slow compared to other home theater applications.
2. It's hard to open custom media (browse and play a video file manually)

Plex

Plex is a media application that can play your favorite music and videos from anywhere, on (almost) any device and provides full control of the media. Supported devices include TVs, computers, mobile devices or tablets and allow for seamless HD quality videos.

The application includes a simple interface that enhances your media organization by adding descriptions, storyline summaries, etc., and even providing suggestions for new content. It allows you to create custom playlists and share your media with others easily.

Plex supports automatic image uploading, can be wirelessly synchronized and can also optimize your media for different devices and screens. Plex ensures encryption of your media content and supports SSL encryption to provide comprehensive data protection.

Advantages:

1. Support almost all music and video file formats.
2. Save any online media in the ' watch later ' list for offline viewing.
3. Compile third party online channels to provide additional content, such as TED Talks, Vimeo, Soundcloud, etc.
4. Allows you to enjoy media content on mobile devices with Mobile Sync feature on mobile devices while you are moving to a location that is not accessible or too far away.

Defect:

1. Sorry, this application does not work with Apple TV.
2. Some of its features are quite advanced, like trailers, mobile device synchronization, cloud synchronization, etc.

Emby

Emby Server automatically converts and plays your favorite videos, as well as your media files, on most devices. It provides an easy-to-use interface and allows you to broadcast live TV shows and organize your media by editing metadata and images, finding subtitles and more.

Emby presents your media beautifully. You can send media content and TV directly to Chromecast easily. Emby also provides control features for parents (free, unlike Plex), which helps you restrict access to your child's media.

It automatically tracks DLNA services on your network to make accessing content and remote control easier. Emby supports cloud synchronization for easy backups (advanced features) and also converts and optimizes content for streaming on any device.

Advantages:

1. Allow online video recording and live TV shows to watch or watch offline later with the management of record library support (like Plex).
2. Provide a variety of plugins such as for Google Drive (content syncing to the cloud), Game Browser - Game browser (allows playing multiple online games), etc.
3. Provide mobile apps to bring your content everywhere, as well as view offline with Emby Mobile Sync (this is a premium feature).

Defect:

1. Is said to be less user friendly than Kodi and Plex.
2. Its older versions lack the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons .
3. Could not identify Chromecast in some cases.

MythTV

MythTV is a digital video recorder and open source media player that allows you to watch and record digital media programs that support HDTV. This player allows to easily rewind, pause and skip options, to seamlessly play any media content.

It supports automatic detection of commercial content and allows to ignore all ads and even use its advanced list editor manually. With MythTV, you can schedule recording and even set parental controls to restrict access to your children.

MythTV can help you manage its functions from the browser itself. Its interface comes with a number of official packages, as well as a third-party theme package that helps you customize the program's user interface according to your mood and requirements.

Advantages:

1. Support most audio / video formats (like other applications mentioned above).
2. Integrate with NES, MAME and other emulators with its MythGameplugin, allowing you to play your favorite classic games directly.
3. Provide some extras such as MythWeather (show weather information in your place), MythFlix (help you manage videos in your NetFlix queue from MythTV), MythMovies (recommend movie showtimes where you live) , etc .
4. MythExtras contains some development tools like Perl Bindings (writing Perl scripts that interact with MythTV) and Python Bindings (writing Python scripts) but it's completely for developers.

Defect:

1. Not a good user interface like the other applications mentioned above.
2. Its ad detection feature may not always work for all types of ads.
3. Does not provide support for mobile devices and online synchronization, unlike other applications.

Kodi and Plex are the two most popular applications because of their excellent user interface and powerful features that suit the needs of everyone, from basic, medium to high-end users. However, that does not mean you should not try the remaining software.

Compare the features of each of these applications with your requirements and choose the one that best suits your needs. Good luck!

See more:

1. 10 improvements of Media Center in Windows 7
2. Windows Media Center 'level' as you like
3. 529 computer tips - Work with Windows Media Center