How Do You Handle Home Media?

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.?"

Comments

Xbox + XBMC all you need

[systimax]

http://www.xboxmediacenter.de

Myth(TV)

[Perrin7]

www.mythtv.org

Re:Myth(TV)

[badasscat]

MythTV is good but it's far too complicated to set up for the average user. And if you want to play DVD's or Windows Media files, you've still gotta install that support separately, which is another headache under Linux.

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.

My setup

[grub]

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 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.

[arbi]

I have a networked computer in my living room with these things plugged into it:

1) TV
2) Stereo
3) Wireless Keyboard / Mouse

It works. I'm really not sure what the issue is here. :P

Airport Extreme

[Gannoc]

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.

Squeezebox

[jallison]

For audio I use a Squeezebox [http://slimdevices.com/]. This is an 802.11 gizmo that allows you to stream music from computer to stereo. Works well.

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.

Media Center

[McFly69]

got a test box of Windows Media Center 2005. Works great with all audio files and even plays/records High Def TV :) It handles hi-def signal from the roof antena and the sat system. Provides Dolby digital optical output directly to my receiver.