PCs For Dummies® Windows®, 7 Edition

Chapter 26. Video on the PC

In This Chapter

• Understanding video on the computer

• Watching video

• Connecting a video camera

• Creating your own movies

• Using Windows Media Center

• Recording programs

• Creating a video DVD

• Managing your TV recordings

It's not that odd to consider that a computer can be used to watch videos or television. Way back in the early days, prehistoric computers traditionally used TV sets as their monitors. I remember programming for hours watching a TV set hooked up to a Commodore 64, and then all the money I spent on "artificial tears" to service my dried, fuzzed-out eyeballs. Man, those were the days.

Watching video on your PC today isn't that unusual. As part of its job as the hub of your 21st century digital life, the computer is home to the videos you watch on the Internet, videos you create, and even good old-fashioned television. It's called video on the PC, the subject of this chapter.

PC Movies

Forget jamming that Super 8 cartridge into the camera or hanging a pale bed sheet on a wall: Today's home movies are all digital. They begin their life in a digital camera, are stored on digital media cards, and eventually wind up on the computer. They're shared via the Internet. Doing all that stuff is as easy as ever, thanks to the power of the computer and the information in this section.

Storing video in Windows

A special place exists in your PC's storage system for video. It's the Videos or My Videos folder. That's the location where any videos you add to the computer are ...