How Do You Handle Home Media? 381
carpoolio writes "Yahoo's Tech Tuesday has an interesting series on bridging the PC/home entertainment gap. The solutions are fairly complicated, and very Windows-centric. As I store more media on my PowerBook, I'm finding more ways I can't listen to or view it on my stereo and TV. One example: TiVo Desktop won't stream AAC files - only MP3s - from iTunes to TiVo. That's an easy fix, but still: how do you get stuff off of your computer and onto your TV, stereo, etc.?"
Xbox + XBMC all you need (Score:5, Informative)
Myth(TV) (Score:5, Informative)
My setup (Score:5, Informative)
Video: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/TV out (composite & svideo). A coax line runs composite -> the TV in line of my receiver.
Audio: Audigy 2 card with coax running from the SPDIF connector to the receiver's digital TV in.
To control it all: an ATI Remote Wonder [ati.com] remote control. It works by RF with ~10M of range so the source computer makes its noise in another room.
The Remote Wonder works well under Linux and MacOSX although you may have to google for drivers.
The most obvious solution works just fine. (Score:5, Informative)
1) TV
2) Stereo
3) Wireless Keyboard / Mouse
It works. I'm really not sure what the issue is here.
cables... (Score:1, Informative)
Airport Extreme (Score:5, Informative)
For $130, you can plug it in anywhere in your house, and play anything that iTunes can play from any computer. As a bonus, its also a 802.11g extender and printer server.
MythTV (Score:3, Informative)
In general, you have to deal with two sides of the issue: the format you get your media in, and the formats that your output device can handle. For me, that means I can do just about anything that doesn't have DRM involved. If instead of running your own system directly connected to you media setup, you rely on some consumer electronic solution (TiVo, etc.), you're going to have to deal with the formats accepted by that system. This is one reason a roll-your-own approach is so enticing.
Squeezebox (Score:5, Informative)
I've not conquered the video thing yet. I like the idea of having easy access to the digital media, but I don't like the idea of having a computer in the family room. Computers go in the office, where there's a desk and a proper work environment.
Airpot Express (Score:2, Informative)
I'd love to see something like this that you could use to broadcast Video too, but for that I'll have to wait I guess.
--
Free Flat Screens [freeflatscreens.com] | Free iPod Photo [freephotoipods.com] | It really works! [wired.com]
what i do for video (Score:2, Informative)
+
$60 DVD burner (fits 6 divx movies per dvd):
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4105013?s
+
$80 divx/dvd player:
http://www.divx.com/hardware/detail.php?
=
finally!
mini-itx HTPC / PVR (Score:4, Informative)
That and some ball bearings, and prestone antifreeze...
e.
Very simple. (Score:3, Informative)
Sound-out from all the appliances goes into the PC's line-in port using a $4 RCA-to-miniplug adapter from Radio Shack. The PC spits it out through two sets of Klipsch Promedia 2.1s (the microphone port is rerouted to act as a speaker port thanks to the motherboard software).
Video from the PC/DVD player isn't a problem; the S-Video out jack from the GeForce 5200 card routes that to the TV while sound goes through the Klipsches. This creates some interesting situations; I can mute a DVD and play music over it or watch video footage while I work on it.
Other devices are routed through an S-video/A-V switch into the PC or TV as needed
Re:Building my own DVR... (Score:4, Informative)
one possibility... (Score:3, Informative)
it runs linux, and is hackable:
http://www.visi.com/~erl/
http://sourceforge.n
http://www.dforsyth.net/mvp/s
http://mvpmc.sourceforge.net/idx.php
http://www.shspvr.com/forum/viewforum.ph
http://www.rst38.org.uk/vdr/mediamvp/
Airport Express! (Score:3, Informative)
Not to pick nits. ;)
Re:Xbox + XBMC all you need (Score:3, Informative)
I hardly even turn on my digital cable box and am planning to trade it in because I use the xbox for everything. I have ripped copies of all my "episode dvds" (ie futurama, family guy, x-files) for easy access. And since I have the audio going through my reciever its GREAT for MP3s and movies as well.
I don't own a standalone DVD player because its 100% unnecesary.
mini-itx + freevo (Score:3, Informative)
I ended up building a mini-itx 2ghz athlon nforce2 machine using a coolermaster case that looked just like a stereo component.
For software I deicded to use gentoo and freevo. [sourceforge.net] For input I have a standard remote, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless game controller.
the box [alexvalentine.org]
on the rack [alexvalentine.org]
playing tapper [alexvalentine.org]
I already have a Tivo so I didn't bother setting up the TV features, but it works great as an all purpose media player.
Media Center (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Xbox + XBMC all you need (Score:2, Informative)
I can even stream shows off my TiVo using the ccxstream searver and TivoX (module for TivoWeb).
It truly is wonderful
Media Center 2005 (Score:3, Informative)
Low tech solution to a high tech problem (Score:3, Informative)
1 x audio
1 x s-vhs-scart
plug into ANY pc setup and you can view what is on your screen on the TV and listen to sound through your stereo.
I have an old ibm thinkpad t21 with a wifi card which sits under my tv and acts as the home media centre.
pretty simple really, and I've been doing it for 7 years!
HTPC is the way to go (Score:2, Informative)
Here's my HTPC (home theater PC) setup:
The core: Athlon XP 2800+, 160GB HD, ATI Radeon 9600, Hauppauge WinDVR-250MCE, DVD-ROM, CDROM
OS: WinXP Pro
Software: PowerDVD 5.0, SageTV 2.1
Network: Netgear Powerline Networking
Video Output: 27" TV, InFocus SP4805 Projector (to 76" screen)
Audio Output: harmon/kardon Dolby Pro-Logic 5.1 system
About the only thing I wish I had was Ethernet (so I don't have to dump movies onto a DVD-RW), but I'm in an old house (circa 1844) and the prospect of running cable just doesn't really jibe. I tried wireless with a repeater, but it kept dropping, so Powerline was the way to go. It's been very solid, with a power cycle needed once a week or so.
I can do just about everything with this machine: watch DVDs (SP4805 projector is just breathtaking) and divxes, listen to MP3s, etc. Sage 2.1 is a fantastic product, great userbase, highly recommended.
Re:Building my own DVR... (Score:3, Informative)
A little linux, and a little wireless (Score:3, Informative)
Two issues with this setup: (1) 2.4Ghz microwave over, and (2) 2.4Ghz cordless phone. You can't make popcorn or talk on the phone and stream the music at the same time! I suppose it's sort of a "mute" feature....
-- Rick
Mac Solution (Score:4, Informative)
1) Audio only. Simple. Use an Airport Express. Setup is easy, it acts as a Wi-Fi access point, and you can stream music from iTunes to the built-in audio out port. Run an RCA stereo adapter cable from the Airport Express to your stereo's inputs and bang - streaming music solution. Price $130.
2) Audio and video. Also simple. Get an EyeHome from Elgato [elgato.com], install the server software on your Mac, and then stream your MP3's, AAC's, DivX movies, MPEG2 movies, etc. to your TV or home theater receiver. Price $200.
I own both of these products, and both are very solid, and great at bridging the media gap between the computer and the TV/stereo.
Brace yourself... (Score:2, Informative)
MythTV obviously does TiVo-like functionality, and it does it extraordinarily well, i might add. MythDVD (using Xine for menu support) for DVDs. My whole music collection is in mp3 format anyway, so MythMusic is fine for me.
I used to have the mp3's all on the MythTV box, but once I got my iPod it seemed silly to have a IEEE1394 connection from the iPod to the WindowsXP box, and a piddling 100Mb/s from the XP box to my iTunes folder, which was just NFS-mounted on the MythTV box. So to facilitate speed in synching, I moved the music folder to the XP box and just mounted the iTunes folder from the MythTV box. Works great.
Oh, and photos and videos, too.
Howski
What I want, videos, dvds, etc... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Myth(TV) (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Xbox + XBMC all you need (Score:3, Informative)
I use Samba on my server to give files to my XBox downstairs.
For music, I have playlists that are generated for XMMS, WinAmp and XBMC stored with all of my music. The only downside of this is that I have about 13,000 tracks in my "jukebox" with the following hierarchy:
first character of artist name
and for some reason the scan on the top level directory is pretty slow. Otherwise it's great.
For movies I either use XVid encoded files, SVCD images or DVD images (yes, XBMC can mount the images directly! :-). Since storage is so cheap lately I've just been using DVDShrink to store uncompressed DVD images of the movie only and watch them via XBMC.
I haven't done any slideshow stuff with it yet. I'm sure it's cool though.
I tied it all into my entertainment center and use my Harmony [logitech.com] remote to control it all. The one (very minor) downside is that the XBox needs to be powered on by hand but there are mods to change this behavior out there.
Pat
Old iMac for audio (Score:2, Informative)
A remote would be nice, but I'm too cheap to buy the one that's specifically designed for iTunes. I'd rather find some kind of IR USB dongle that can receive the codes from the remotes I already have on my coffee table, and tie that to iTunes with some applescript. I haven't found one yet. In the mean time, I can just VNC to it from my powerbook, or the other old iMac in my kitchen.
The iMac DV has a VGA port that mirrors the build-in display. Converters are available that go from VGA to svideo. I got one of those for $20 on ebay, but I think I fried it trying to find the right power supply. If that ever works, I'm hoping to use it to show home movies. I already have TiVos, so I don't need tuners in this.
The iMac would be silent but for its aging hard disk. Newer disks are much quieter. This problem will eventually solve itself.
I've said it before (Score:3, Informative)
Re:MythTV you insensitive clod! (Score:2, Informative)
Make sure you do some reading before you make your purchases and consider joining the users mailing list as well. The list is very tolerant of FAQs, you usually will get an answer to even the most frequent of FAQs, but please don't be that guy, do some reading.
Also, remember that MythTV is software, not a consumer electronics device. You will have to configure some things. However, the docs are good and there are pre-built packages for various distros, including but not limited to Xebian (debian Xbox), Fedora Core, debian, etc. in adition to the aforementioned KnoppMyth.
http://www.mythtv.org
Re:Xbox + XBMC all you need (Score:2, Informative)
PC Entertainment System (Score:2, Informative)
I have a PC that I decided to employ as an all-out entertainment hub:
Games: GameCube, X-box, & PS2 are connected to it via a VGA box [lik-sang.com]. In addition to this I've got arcade and console emulators [arcadeathome.com].
TV:Yesterday I bought a Hauppauge PVR-150 [hauppauge.com] $99 - $20 MIR)at MicroCenter [microcenter.com]. I tried out SageTV which downloads my local cable company's TV guide and gives me PVR capabilities.
Music:I use iTunes to organize my music. I have some decent PC speakers, but if I want to listen to some music in the living room, I connect an RCA cable from the line-out jack on my laptop to my stereo system. I share the music wirelessly using iTunes on my PCs with my wireless router.
Of course my PC organizes photos and video files, e-books, etc. In short, my PC handles home media to my satisfaction, saves space, and allows me to modify it to my taste.
Re:Squeezebox (Score:3, Informative)
it kind of rules.
Re:MythTV you insensitive clod! (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, my setup is slightly fubared at the moment. It seems the 6xxx series nVidia drivers dork up the DVI out, no vhold. I'm currently using S-Video until they or I can iron it out.
Re:MythTV you insensitive clod! (Score:2, Informative)
I love my Myth system. Having PVR/Music/Games/etc, all in one clean & integrated interface is great. This is the one time that my wife has asked me to buy more computer parts.
I can record shows from work with MythWeb, or even from my cell phone. Not having a broadcasting company decide when we need to rush home to watch Foo at X time on TV is so nice, we actually end up spending much less time watching TV. Especially since the commercials are all but gone.
Granted, setup can be a trial (This was my first time setting up a 'media' linux box), but no more than I would expect any setup that would include all the different facets involved. Distribution choice probably affects this too. (Gentoo preaching saved for a later post.) Not to mention, once one thing is working, it's far too tempting to include even more nifty gadgets, so setup seems to be a never-ending process. Caller ID notification is next on my list, and there's discussion of a new MythRecipie on the devel list that looks like it will compliment my ever-expanding Good Eats [altonbrown.com] colletion...
Re:Myth(TV) (Score:5, Informative)
I'm sure a lot of people will take the "I did it, therefore it's easy enough for my mom to do it" tack, but that's just not the case. Obviously MythTV has fans and I guess I'm one of them, but even I, with 20 years of experience building and maintaining computers, could not get MythTV doing everything I wanted it to do before giving up. And the way I feel is, if it takes me that long just to get something working, and if I still can't get it to do everything I want it to do, then it's not worth dealing with.
Right now I run Windows XP on a server that's hooked up to my Dolby Digital receiver through S-video (both in and out) and optical audio out. I'd use component if my TV supported component, but it doesn't so I don't worry about it. Anyway, I've got it set to login automatically, and I've also get it set up to use magic packet as well as remote desktop connections so even though I leave that PC off most of the time (for various reasons), I can activate it from anywhere and immediately start either playing through the home theater system or streaming to another PC.
Software-wise, I use Media Portal when I'm sitting in front of my TV, an OSS app for Windows that's similar to MythTV but works well "out of the box". It looks great, it runs great, and it plays pretty much every format that you've got a codec for on your machine already - which, if you're like most Windows users, is pretty much all of them anyway. The experience is not unlike running Windows Media Center. In fact, I'm not sure what I can do with Media Center that I can't do with Media Portal, and they look very, very similar. I also have this PC set up as a TiVo server, so I can use that as a front end as well (though I generally don't, but I've tried it out since they made the HMO free).
I can watch DVD's with this PC, any movie format you can name, I could watch TV if I wanted to set that up, and since I have all my music stored in MP3 format (why the originala submitter is using DRM-protected AAC is beyond me), I have no problems whatsoever playing music through Media Portal, streaming it to another PC using iTunes or whatever other app I want, or streaming it to my TiVo.
In short, I can do pretty much anything, and apart from the costs of Windows and the hardware (which is mostly comprised of second-hand parts from old PC's), I haven't spent a dime on anything. I'd peg the total cost including Windows, a new capture card, and a new hard drive at less than $200.
Could you build a functional Myth box cheaper? Maybe. Could you mod an Xbox and build a server for it cheaper? I doubt it. But my solution was much easier to set up and is easier to use than either of these other solutions anyway (my wife can use it, and she knows nothing about computers). And I have to spend zero time maintaining it or adding features or upgrades. It just works, and I can play all of my media files without problem anywhere in the house.
I will say that I make a point of completely avoiding any DRM protection at the source, which makes things a lot easier. I'd advise everybody to do this. Instead of buying Apple's AAC files, buy CD's and rip them to MP3 (or Ogg if you prefer, but MP3 has greater hardware and software support, which I think is important). If you rip a DVD, make sure to strip the Macrovision and CSS, which most DVD rippers will do (go ahead and violate the DMCA - the DMCA violates fair use laws as it is). There are lots of ways to avoid DRM and this will help you avoid headaches later.
Re:Soldered, solderless, or softmod? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Xbox + XBMC all you need (Score:3, Informative)
Even better is the LCD support [heo.biz] offered by the XBOX. If you're not scared to use a dremel, you get headless operation too.
Re:Mac Solution (Score:3, Informative)
I actually don't store my music, video files, or photos on my PowerBook either, because it wouldn't hold a fraction of my library. I have an iMac G4 that acts as a fileserver on my home network, with a LaCie 1TB external drive attached. The external drive holds all of my digital media files, and the EyeHome server software is installed on this machine to stream media to the EyeHome in my living room.
I have network shares setup that I mount from my PowerBook and the other iMac that serves as my workstation, so that I can access my music, videos, and photos from any machine on the network. This works fine for both iTunes and iPhoto, and I can stream music from any machine to the Airport Express in my den.