New ShowCenter streams HD DivX files

The ShowCenter 250HD can stream video wirelessly to your TV from your computer

Pinnacle has revealed its brand new ShowCenter 250HD.

A follow-up to the ShowCenter 200, the 250HD is designed to wirelessly stream your videos and music from a PC or a Mac onto your TV - the digital home in action. The best thing, though, is that it can handle high definition content.

The ShowCenter 250HD supports a comprehensive list of video formats too. DivX is the one most people will be hoping for, and good news, the ShowCenter 250HD supports it. As well as DivX, the ShowCenter 250HD can juggle Windows Media Video 9, WMV-DRM, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVI and XviD files.

Plus, on the HD front, it can stream Windows Media Video 9, DivX HD and MPEG-4 file formats with resolutions of up to 1080i. Tthat's not full HD, but it's good enough to look gorgeous on your HD TV. And the wide range of formats will be enough to keep the majority of people very happy indeed.

Stream DivX wirelessly

Like D-Link's awesome DivX Connected device, which launched last month, the ShowCenter 250HD is also a plug-and-play unit which works straight out of the box. Compatible with most common UPnP AV media server applications, it can be used with Windows Vista and XP or Mac OS X, and in most cases, there's no additional software to install.

"The growth in the home theatre and HDTV markets has created the need for a simple, cost-effective solution for linking PC-based digital media to a home entertainment system," said Tanguy Leborgne, Pinnacle Systems' Vice President of worldwide marketing.

"PC users and home entertainment enthusiasts want to be able to have their friends and family join them in viewing their digital media collections on their large-screen home entertainment system, rather than in front of their PC. With Pinnacle ShowCenter 250HD, they can do that and more."

HD-compatible, but no HDMI

There's no HDMI output on the ShowCenter 250HD though, so your best bet when handling HD content it to connect it to your TV using the analogue component port. It also comes with SCART and S-video connections.

And the price? A modest £129.99 when it launches in January. These DivX streamers look likely to be very popular in 2008. Although if you have a PlayStation 3 console, you'll soon be able to stream DivX using your console without the need for any other hardware. And it's rumoured that the Xbox 360 will also be soon getting similar features.

James Rivington

James was part of the TechRadar editorial team for eight years up until 2015 and now works in a senior position for TR's parent company Future. An experienced Content Director with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), E-commerce Optimization, Journalism, Digital Marketing, and Social Media. James can do it all.