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What's the Best Way To Get Web Content To My TV?
An anonymous reader writes "It seems like there are a lot of options for getting web content onto our TVs, but which one is the best way to go? Being able to stream videos (especially through sites like Hulu), check out social networking sites, and read news would be awesome to do from my couch. Currently, I hook up my laptop to the TV, which works, but it's annoying, especially if I want to use my laptop while I am watching some videos. Some things that are important to me are: connecting to my HDTV, allowing me view anything I could in a web browser as if I were on my computer, and being easily controlled from the couch. What setups do you guys use, or what would you like to use?"
The top three products at DEMO for surfing the web on your TV were GlideTV, Kylo & Nyoombl. Details here
Then it needs to be a computer hooked to your TV. Just get a wireless keyboard and mouse.
I've been testing these things for work, and I'm very impressed.
Dual core atom w/ hyperthreading actually makes the system very responsive, so it's easier to forget that it's not a "real" CPU, unlike my single-core eeePC that does stutter occasionally.
Also has a decent nVidia 9400 GPU with dedicated RAM, so it actually will give you decent 3D desktop effects (useful for monitoring multiple pieces of content simultaneously), decoding acceleration, etc. under both Windows and Linux.
The price point is pretty good too... many are under $300 if you can provide your own storage... e.g. if you find a usb pendrive linux-based media center that streams everything.
That takes care of pretty flexible hardware... I don't actually have a TV, though, so I haven't really bothered to find media software I liked. But going with a full nettop means it should be pretty straightforward to run all XBMC, Boxee, MythTV, Miro, etc. from one device. Though I guess you'd need to go with Windows to get crappy DRM'd content like Hulu and Netflix (which I've simply just been doing without).
I use an HP "Media Center" PC, running Ubuntu with MythTV and accessed with a Microsoft Remote Keyboard. Two analog tuners for cable, and an HDHomerun hooked to a powered antenna for over the air HD content.
MythTV runs on virtual desktop one, and a web browser on virtual desktop two.
--saint
I replaced my eeebox with an Acer Revo this year. For $200 US you get a small but fully fledged computer that runs Ubuntu just fine. It's a perfect box for xbmc. Firefox works just fine for web to your TV.
Best thing about it is the Nvidia Ion chipset, so you can do full 1080p playback. Biggest disadvantage is the lack of wireless. I added a USB wireless adapter.
For controls, you can use a wireless keyboard. For the XBMC you can use a Microsoft Media Center remote, or there's a decent remote for the iPhone/iPod touch.
I don't have one of those anymore. Well, I do, but it's in the basement. Lately I've been watching everything directly on my computer, because I got tired of the broadcast/cable schedule and prefer on-demand instant gratification (via the internet, or via stored videos on my hard drive).
If I did want to watch something on TV, I'd just use the HDMI out connector.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I just put a PC in the entertainment center beneath my TV, and hook it up. Throw in a wireless keyboard and mouse, and it's an easy setup.
Does all that. Plays Blurays too. And games.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
I pulled out an out dated PC, stuck an ATI all-in-wonder card in it and plugged it into the TV. I've been running Boxee on it for a while now. I like that it has such a variety of "apps" that aggregate videos from Hulu, Netflix, the major networks, as well as plays my DVDs and ripped movies*.
Honestly though, Boxee is still a little rough. The interface is excellent, but it feels a bit laggy at times (although this is an older PC), and their double buffering interface leaves a bit to be desired. I'm sure they'll continue to improve it, but some times I just drop out of Boxee and go to the source site directly.
-Rick
*Legally ripped movies that is. Teething toddlers will chew on anything, even your limited run collectors edition of the LoTR trilogy.
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
http://www.boxee.tv/ has been a pretty decent means of getting various web series onto my TV. Seems to have some issues pulling hulu content though. Does a wonderful job of playing local content too.
The subject pretty much says it all.
Living With a Nerd
I've been using XBMC since.... well, since it first came out for the original XBox. It didn't stream web content though, and to this day it's still a PITA to stream through the modern XBMC, even in Windows.
If you've got a spare Mac (which would be pretty rare), I would highly recommend Plex. Using the Apple remote works beautifully, and it handles Hulu, Netflix, YouTube and anything else you could throw at it. It also does Pandora, which is awesome, since the system is already hooked up to the stereo.
If you're using Linux or Windows, I would go with Boxee. It does all of the Hulu/Netflix/Pandora/ESPN360/etc. content, and has finally become genuinely stable enough for everyday use, even for my mildly non-technical wife, who has to keep TV rolling for 2 kids on demand.
I keep the actual box that does the streaming in the basement to avoid any sort of fan noise, and just run an HDMI cable and a digital audio cable(I use SPDIF, simply because it was the simplest to run and I had stacks of long RCA cables) coming up through the floor and hooked to the flat screen in the living room.
If you also run a long USB cable, you can hook up all kinds of stuff, especially joysticks for emulation :]
Let's see any of the hardware HTPC options out there run ColecoVision :]
Nothing better than a fully capable computer for web access, XBMC, photos, and gaming. Why have a beautiful TV without being able to completely enjoy it?
Have you heard of LinuxMCE, so much more than a toppee...there is a company in the UK that has commercialised the OS and built really sexy devices ... included in the package is the option for home automation.
www.linuxmce.org
www.dianemo.co.uk
SPUT
http://xbmc.org/ turns a linux box into a full-screen media player with good usability. Mine has an old NVidia 6200 card, works great. Add a home theater keyboard http://www.walmart.com/ip/SPEC-01027-Wireless-Mini-Trackball-Keyboard-for-HTPC-by-Ergoguys/13215118 and you're set.
I use Plex and MythTV (+HDHomeRun tuner) on a Mac Mini. It's been very reliable, and I'm happy with everything I can do, including videoconferencing. My only wish is that I could play MythTV recordings from within Plex, but really the latest version of Myth is pretty nice to use. Oh, and that Myth on OSX would do AC3 sound passthrough.
It's worth noting that I almost never browse the web using this setup any more, because most of the websites with interesting content (Hulu, YouTube, Comedy Central) have already been integrated with Plex.
You can see my setup log here: http://public.boonstra.org/MacMiniHTPCSetup.html
samsung has a pretty nice feature for their new flat screen lcd's where you can steam you desktop over a network... would work for a laptop from your couch.
This works well. DVR, stream videos, etc... all with Windows Media Center. Plus what you can't get through windows media center, you can always fire up a browser, and get what you want.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
Mac Mini using the Plex media center front end. Coupled with the Apple remote (or Rowmote Plus if you have an iPhone or Touch) and you're good to go for both web content and saved digital media.
Last time I bought a new PC the old one went into the entertainment center. It isn't huge, isn't loud, and is more flexible than any of the small box setups. I keep a wireless mouse & keyboard in the coffee table drawer, and the PC is in sleep mode when not in use. Very easy to reach in the drawer, smack the space bar to wake it up and start watching Netflix.
I've been using my PS3 and a Keysonic wireless keyboard for TV browsing for a couple of years now. Most of the navigation is done with the dualshock, with the keyboard used only for text entry. Once you get used to the dualshock controls, it's very easy to navigate around pages and quickly zoom in and out to make text readable. Flash video works pretty well, and a big plus is that (as far as I know) there aren't any PS3 viruses, trojans or botnets to worry about.
I bought my parents an Asus eee Box to do the same thing, and that works really well too.
Put together a decent little HTPC. It shouldn't cost you any more than $300 for a decently spec'd mATX board, case, proc, RAM. Get a modern onboard video chipset and all your HD decoding will be handled for you. Throw on one of these Lenovo wireless keyboard/trackball things and you're all set. Add a halfway decent GPU if you want gaming abilities.
Why settle for Boxee, XBMC, Hulu, etc?
I use Windows Media Center 7 with Boxee, XBMC, and Hulu desktop plugins. Who said you can't have best of both worlds?
Mac mini, Apple remote, and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. A bit pricey but it pretty much does everything, out of the box, with very little fiddling needed. Just need a few things, like Perian, HandBrake and/or RipIt, Hulu Desktop, Plex if you want, etc.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
There's bit of an investment involved but I use a full blown (Q6600, GTX260) HTPC attached to a 37" 720p LCD via VGA. It's also connected to a 5.1 receiver via an optical link.
I use Gyration products (http://gyration.com/index.php/us/home.html) to control it from my couch. The air mice are very precise, much better than a Wiimote. I would highly recommend them for any HTPC setup.
I also use wireless 360 controllers for any gaming I do on the system.
I use an Apple TV. While it's limited in a number of ways (for example, I can't watch Hulu), I can watch a ton of podcasts with a smooth and sensible UI (which is what the simplistic "TV" viewing experience is all about). I watch TED shows, Hak5, and a number of other podcasts too... so that's an option. Plus I know there are Apple TV hacks out there (which might allow Hulu viewing), but I haven't bothered into looking into them.
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
Anything that isn't a full PC will lack features, which would be incredibly annoying.
A mini wireless keyboard for your lap with a touchpad combined with an airmouse?
TVs should just be PCs already, if it weren't for the fast obsolescence of hardware this would probably be happening already...
isn't the type of PC you connect to the TV, it's your pointing devices. Connect the computer to the PC by wire (HDMI/VGA/DVI...), but you need a wireless pointing device and keyboard whose signal reaches from your couch to the PC. This can be:
- a standard or bluetooth RF keyboard and mouse.
- a bluetooth receiver coupled with a Wiimote, using appropriate software available online.
- a presentation-style pointing device like those used at conferences and so on.
The last two would have the advantage that you wouldn't need a surface for the mouse and could just wave the controller in the air.
I tried to use a laptop that would remote desktop onto my HTPC over the network, but it was too laggy to be comfortable. I might have been able to tweak the settings to reduce the lag, but I've found that a regular wireless KB/Mouse work well, and are less bulky.
As far as the PC hardware goes, if you don't plan to play hardcore games, just about any graphics solution will do. I'm running AMD 785GX integrated graphics on my MB and stream HD just fine. You'll want at least a dual-core and preferably 3 or 4 core processor so your videos don't get chopped by AV scans or by browser pages loading. For memory, I'm running 4 GB. 2 GB might work, but would be pretty much impossible for any kind of gaming.
We are the 198 proof..
I actually currently do this myself.
This is how I set it up:
get a 3.5mm to RCA audio converter from Radio Shack (you can get them for around $4 or $5). Hook that into your main audio out port on your video card. This will get your audio connected directly from your pc to your tv.
Now for the video. You have some choices. If your television is new enough, you should have vga in or dvi in. Hopefully your video card also has dvi out. If you have these options, you are good, get the cable hooked up, and call it a day.
Now if you do not have those options, you can go another route. Buy a cheap video card that has s-video out. You can then either connect the s-video, or if your television is too old for s-video, get a s-video to rca converter from Radio Shack (can get those for dirt cheap), and then you will have the classic red, white, yellow setup to directly connect your pc to a television.
The world is how you make it
If you have any of the current generation console gaming systems (xbox 360, PS3, or Wii) you can use those as a frontend to a Playon server and can stream a vast variety of web content including Hulu, Netflix, Comedy Central (the latest Playon build pulls Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes from Comedy Central since these shows were dropped from Hulu on March 9), and much much more through the use of scripts and plugins.
I've tried xmbc - which was better than plex but for the most part I use the internal DVD player or quicktime - I usually don't stream content but download and save it for playback - that way I can show my favorite pieces easily to guests. I use a remote bluetooth mouse and keyboard to control it. Mostly I can get away with the mouse and I have also tried several remotes that work with the ipod touch. This mini also feeds the whole house with music via iTunes - the key driver here being the ability of my wife to now access any music in the library via her iphone or the ipod touch remote - The scalar in DVD player is very good and allows me to feed the display at its native 1280 X 720 resolution. I use the optical output to feed the surround system with excellent results.
and I'm looking forward to the Netflix streaming disk for the Wii:
http://www.netflix.com/NRDInfo/Wii
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
I use a $40 Philips DVD player that has a USB port on the front. It works with flash keys and external hard drives. I simply drop the shows I want to watch onto a USB key and watch - takes only seconds to set up. The factory on-screen UI is fairly limited, but there's a brilliant hacked version that supports long file names. Similar USB-equipped DVD and Blu-Ray players are made by Samsung and are equally inexpensive. My player will be outdated in a year, and I'll just replace it with an updated equivalent. Makes far more sense than fiddling around with a nettop, PVR software, and dozens of almost-ok atom-tweaked linux variants.
I built a Home Theater PC. Silverstone makes some great looking HTPC cases, I got a black one that matches everything else. Optical drive is CD/DVD/DVD-RW/HD-DVD/BluRay combo, fanless power supply from ThermalTake, 1TB SATA hard disk, 4GB RAM, 1GB nVidia HDMI video card, and wireless LAN (onboard) and I was off to the races. It also doubles as a jukebox (using iTunes). I don't pass TV video through it, so I use the cable company's DVR for that, but I can stream NetFlix, or watch YouTube, or DVDs or BR or HD-DVD (short-lived, I know, but there are still some floating about, and the drive didn't cost any more than a BR-only at the time). Keyboard and mouse duties are handled by a RocketFish RF keyboard and optical mouse. CyberDVD is the DVD/BR playback software (came with the drive - works GREAT).
I've used boxee on win32 with much success, the latest release works pretty well as well as had a plugin feature to add more content and a pretty large community. Its based off xbox media center and runs on pretty much any os. hulu, netflix, youtube, built in browser etc. They also have their own box your can buy (http://www.boxee.tv/box) but i would recommend dropping a few extra bucks into it and just building your own as you will have features that aren't available on their box.
The Slingcatcher from http://www.slingbox.com/go/slingcatcher is pretty good at doing this.
Kriston
ps3 is easy and flexible. And you can install a different OS if you want.
I'd suggest nixing the wireless keyboard and mouse and just use laptops with VNC. These days, just about everyone has at least a cheap netbook or an iPod touch, so everyone can have their own "remote". Now if I could just use the laptop for all of my TV's other functions I'd be pretty happy.
WebTV *grin*
Bark less. Wag more.
Tried that, but the bunny-ears antenna keeps getting in the way. Suggestions?
I'm fairly happy with my Sony Bravia — hooked up to my home network (both Ethernet and WiFi are there), it can go to things YouTube or Netflix directly.
It can also play contents off of your computer, although it is, unfortunately, rather picky... The server must comply with DLNA-standard (not merely UPnP MediaServer). The set of supported formats is rather disappointing too, both for movies, and even for JPEG-pictures. For example, Sony's own software (also found in their digital picture frames) rejects Progressive JPEGs.
But, on balance, the direct access to so many things with the TV's own remote is great...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Recently I finished my basement and so here is my setup. I originally had the PC in one of those small HTPC cases but it would not hold the new Radeon 5770 I bought so I could also use this computer to game on.
Here is a picture: http://picasaweb.google.com/xoltri/BasementReno#5449208554917435106
I don't have an entertainment unit yet to put the PC in. But it is completely silent and obviously it does everything. And playing Modern Warfare 2 on a 52" TV at 1920x1080 with ultra settings blew my mind.
For my other TV upstairs I will probably just get one of those small boxes that connects to the TV and stream stuff off of my NAS. Dlink is coming out with one that looks interesting: http://www.dlink.com/boxeebox
-Xoltri
ADESSO WKB-4000US
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823166047
This thing is great. Isn't bulky, wireless and overall a great product. Not always as responsive as I'd like, but still better than a separate keyboard/mouse.
I use a cheap HTPC based off of the Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard with a cheap AMD processor, all packed up in low profile microATX case. To control it, I use a 2.4GHz wireless keyboard with a built in trackball (http://www.adesso.com/en/home/keyboards/91-wkb-3000ub.html). Since the graphics card isn't great, I highly recommend coreAVC codec to view 1080p video, as it results in much nicer playback than any other h264 codecs I've used. I originally purchased this system to use as a netboot LinuxMCE client, but was never particularly happy with LinuxMCE, so converted it to a Win 7 box instead.
If you also run a long USB cable, you can hook up all kinds of stuff, especially joysticks for emulation
An emulator on an HTPC with an optical drive works fine for PlayStation game discs. But emulating classic cartridge-based consoles has one drawback: figuring out how to copy your game cartridges into the PC. Easily available dumpers like the Retrode don't support the ColecoVision yet.
The latest release of MythTV (.23RC1) contains a new plugin called MythNetVision which specifically enables browsing of online videos.
It's still a little rough yet, but is under active development.
but I'm sure a lot of Slashdot readers have at least one old desktop around. All that is really required is a TV with a VGA input, and most new ones have an HDMI cable input as well. If you're lucky that old desktop already has an HDMI cable output on its video card, otherwise go with VGA or buy a cheap HDMI enabled video card. Having a separate media box is very convenient because you never have to disconnect it
As for the couch sitting importance go for a decent Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.
If you get a cheapo, your experience will consist of writhing around the couch trying to get signal before you give up and find a surface closer to the reciever.
I'd rather search for the answers than just ask the questions.
Put the homebrew channel and a media player on a wii. You can watch media files from your network or off a usb drive; you can view web pages, including flash video, using the available web browser; and of course, you can also play games. The price is pretty good, too. The down side is that it's only 480p at best.
What's wrong with a simple box like the WDTV Live?
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Why not both?
Wireless keyboard when you are just watching TV.
Netbook for when you are watching TV and surfing at the same time.
It's not like one makes you unable to do the other.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
I did it the easy way..
I got a $99 lease return PC from Tiger and stuffed it in the stereo cabinet.
I already have a wireless router in the cabinet for the PVR so network access was easy..
Toss in a HDMI capable video card (Nvidia 210 for $40) and it's almost done..
Wireless keyboard and mouse sit on the TV cabinet..
PC runs UltraVNC so I can remote control it from my laptop..
We mostly stream Netflx movies on it.. Sometimes the Kids play games on the big TV from the keyboard/mouse..
If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. --Red Adair
Now if I could just use the laptop for all of my TV's other functions I'd be pretty happy.
If you don't mind experimenting, this looks like it might be an interesting way to get a Windows system to control any IR device... but I have not tried it. http://www.usbuirt.com/
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/learningresources/tv/mediasolution/infolive_usersguide.html I don't think you are talking about the same setup. I believe you can either use a standard cat5/5e/6 cable or one of their infolink wireless usb adapters.
I bought a mac mini just to run Plex, it's just that nice.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Exactly this.
My setup is a Mac mini, DVI-HDMI cable, and optical digital audio, with a wireless keyboard and mouse. It works just like a computer, because it's a computer.
The content lives on an Xserve in another room, hardwired gigabit ethernet to the TV computer. The mini has a 1.66 Core Duo, is about 4 years old, and it doesn't have any problem playing 1080p content.
I'm pretty happy with it.
Roku (http://www.roku.com/) + http://github.com/netguy204/roku_media_server
and more Roku based solutions to be arriving soon, now that Roku has opened up the API. It's not exactly what you're asking for, for now you need actual downloaded files encoded in one of the several formats that Roku supports, but beyond that tiny hurdle, works like a champ!
A little winner...
http://event.asus.com/eeepc/microsites/eeebox/en/
I have a few of these bad boys with wireless keyboards [Toshiba PA3705D] running MythTV clients.
Very small foot print, 21W power requirement, and DVI output for easy connection to your telly!
-Marko
Actually, Netflix does not work at all under linux, including via Boxee. That's a function of Netflix's choice of Sliverlight as its DRM lock-in. Moonlight still isn't there....
Hulu has been a major cat-and-mouse game with Boxee, and on Linux, the game hasn't been going well for Boxee. Most shows won't play through the first commercial break.
I finally gave up with Ubuntu and migrated my Boxee system to WinXP. It's a single-processor Amd Athlon 3200 XP, which typically renders video fine. In XP, Hulu and Netflix run poorly through Boxee with consistent choppiness. Running Hulu and Netflix through a web browser on the system works fine.
I really like Boxee and will likely upgrade to a multi-core processor as people using that architecture aren't encountering the same performance issues.
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
I got a mac mini for $600 and a wireless keyboard and mouse for $75 (old style apple keyboard, cheap wireless mouse) and a $20 lapboard to set them on. I use it for hulu and browsing, and my wife uses iPhoto to upload photos to social networking sites. For netflix we use an xbox because that's the only way you can get netflix in HD afaik. I've tried playon and boxee and other things, but if you want a browser you need a regular old computer.
I'd nix the VNC and go with Synergy. I use it between my Linux based DVR and my laptop when I want to used both. Works with Windows and between Windows and Linux
--- Keep the choice with the user..
I built a portable MAME box to connect to my TV, finally figured out it's also great for watching videos and DVDs from as well.
It's here if you want to see it.
For networking, I got some of those PowerLine network adapters, that communicate using your home's AC wiring. I couldn't use wireless because it was too far away from my access point, and there was a bathroom in the way (lots of pipes I suppose).
Then I installed VNC on the thing, and now I can just load videos to it, start the video and by the time I walk into the other room, the video has started.
"They said I probly shouldn't fly with just one eye," "I am Bender. Please insert girder."
I use a popcorn hour with a hard drive installed in it. It plays pretty much every media format and has totally replaced cable TV for me for about the last 8 months or so.
My biggest issue, is that most wireless keyboard options suck, and/or are overly priced. BTC had a nice living room keyboard, wasn't successful because it was big, but it's the only one I've actually liked. The Logitech ones aren't bad, just a bit pricey. Also, range never works nearly as well as advertised. I've been a fan of the HTPC route though. Boxee is probably my favorite software, I've also used MCE and Media Portal. It's nice having a full PC and being able to open a browser when needed. I'd suggest a >= 42" screen at 1080P, and a browser with a decent zoom functionality, as reading from the couch sometimes isn't so easy. Overall it works well, as long as the media companies hold back Hulu from being included in the likes of Boxee it won't work so great in that type of interface.
PlayOn and others bridge the gap a bit, but nothing is as good as actually just having a computer in the living room. It's pretty easy to setup a Micro-ATX AMD/ATI 785G or better Motherboard, with a low-ish power dual core CPU that can handle pretty much all video, and some moderate gaming and emulation, without too much noise. The Atom-330 + ION is close, but not quite enough. I do think the software has some catching up to do, but it's definitely getting there. I'm hoping the hardware going into the Boxee Box will work out well myself.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
1. Wireless Keyboards and mice don't reach very far, despite what the name suggests. If you're looking to sit more than 10 feet away from your TV, you'll need a booster or a Blue tooth Mouse/Keyboard combo.
2. Blue tooth combos suck, they constantly lose connection, aren't very responsive, and the mouse can occasionally flip out while trying to use it. In essence, it sucks.
3. No TV box will do everything your browser,hard-drive, ram, video-card,keyboard,mouse, and dvd-rom will do. Make some compromises, or be prepared to spend thousands of dollars.
| - | - |
the Crestron ADMS does all that and more, plus it can control everything else in the house (lights, remote rooms, IP Dishwasher etc..)
As others have pointed out, a Zotac ION board is plenty capable of decoding 1080p content and working as a real computer as well. As a bonus, the board plus a hard drive will draw about 18w when idle and around 25-30 when watching something. It fits in a package smaller than Stephen King's latest novel. The board, the hard drive, the enclosure and power supply run around $300-$400.
On mine, I run Ubuntu and use XBMC. I have an external 2TB hard drive connected that stores content. For controls, I use a Logitech DiNovo Mini wireless keyboard + touchpad.
http://www.hometheaternetwork.com/
Great content, diagramming, etc...
It is the definitive source for all things related to home theater and home automation.
Opinion:=TMyOpinion.Create(Me);
Mac Mini (with dvi to hdmi cable) + Logitech DiNovo keyboard is the combo I use. Even if you don't like Mac OS X the hardware is fantastic for this role, nice, compact, quiet and plenty powerful for all your TV computing needs.
The best route for maximum flexiability is a Media PC. Any PC will work, and any flavor of OS. I've used Windows and Mac PC's extensively. I haven't tried a Linux box yet, but I see no reason why those wouldn't serve just as well.
For Windows, nVidia drivers will give you overscan options out of the box. ATI isn't quite as user friendly (or it wasn't the last time I used their drivers, but that may have changed. The ones that do are excellent for clipping off the overscan so you get a nice edge to edge picture. If you want to do the tweaking at the driver/monitor level, PowerStrip is an excellent first place to start for PC for tweaking video frequencies and overscan/underscan.
For Mac, you'll want to look at SwitchResX which doe the same thing on the Mac side.
I'm sure folks can chime in on the Linux side of the equation.
For software, on the PC, I didn't do a lot of streaming, but I'd suggest starting with Plex, Hulu Desktop, and Boxbee for your web needs. Any browser will of course also work for the web content, but the one's with the 'full screen' option work best. For PC hardware, try to find a sound solution with either HDMI out (with Audio Support), or 5.1 optical out.
For Mac, I'd suggest the same software. Plex is especially handy since it will convert AAC to AC3 on the fly, meaning you get multi-channel AC3 output to your tuner without any special tools or tweaks needed. For hardware, all macs come with a TOSLINK Fiber/Analog dual combo port, so you can just pipe out optical digital audio on just about any Mac.
My logitech dinovo keyboard works great all the time from across the room. Of course it's not a full size keyboard, but for a TV computer (A Dell Zino), it's fine. I'm not writing a novel or anything on it
http://bit.ly/c8FfUK it's like 170 bucks about? Anything else like this that works on a strictly software basis for the video out from a desktop?
I recently got a new laptop, so I attached my old one to my tv via vga (unfortunately no hdmi on this laptop). i use the program synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/) to allow the mouse and keyboard of my new laptop to control the one hooked up to the tv. works nicely for playing things on hulu.
Nothing beats a: Popcorn Hour device. It integrates into your home network and is great for getting media off of your PCs to your TV - wherever your network is it is. It doesn't handle DRM well but hey if your files are DRM'd your doing it wrong ;) It is a Linux device that integrates fine with Windows stuff that is what it is meant for but being Linux it also handles all your Linux systems, it supports NFS and even has Linux versions of the media servers to run on your Linux box.
Shh.
Your PC can stream media to your PS3, you don't have to mess with codecs and you get a Blu-Ray player to boot!
If you have a TIVO... definitely check out StreamBaby. It stream just about any codec known and even .MKV containers. You can also setup hidden and password them... you know for you pron collection.
But won't Homebrew Channel break once new games start to require that the system be updated to Wii Menu 4.3 or 5.0 or the like?
I built a Home Theater PC out of a Dell Optiplex (it was free from work) running Windows XP Media Center Edition, with a wireless keyboard and a Monster remote control. I can control the cursor with the remote and I could probably enter alphanumerics with it too if I bothered to set it up like that.
I use it for Netflix "watch instantly" movies and Youtube. I don't do much web reading because it's just hard to read text from my couch.
Your HTPC would need a video card with an HDMI out port. You'd want digital sound out too if you are serious about watching vidoes on it.
"If it's real, then it gets more interesting the closer you examine it. If it's not real, just the opposite is true." -
Try Boxee. Its based on XBMC, but has a lot of built-in internet TV "channels" that let you use Hulu, CBS, ESPN360, Netflix, Youtube, etc...
I'm using it on a fairly old laptop hooked up to my TV; its great.
Is there any device that could map a networked PC's drive live to something you stick into the DVD player's USB port? Playing on the DVD player the data on the PC's drive, filling the PC's drive from the network.
I have a cheap HP triple core AMD system running Windows 7.0 64 with an Nvidia 9500 card outputting 1080p to my TV and digital audio to the receiver. I used to use my 360 with media center streaming from the PC but having an actual computer hooked up to the TV is much better. Wireless keyboard and mouse, couch, and a beer. I'm set.
An HTPC, no question about it. Just be prepared to curse at cable and satellite providers for not having an easy way (or in some cases, a way at all) for receiving HD content to your HTPC natively.
I built one a couple of years ago and would definitely do it again. I can game, watch HD DVD's or BluRay discs, stream ISOs of my DVDs from my home server - you name it, from my couch. I have a 42" 1080p TV with a DTS 5.1 setup and it's actually a pretty good set up.
i keep the mac mini set at 720p most of the time, but switch to 1080p for photos. the tivo can upconvert everything to 1080p, but i keep everything at native. the connections are both HDMI.
I have a Dell Zino attached to my television. It's an AMD / ATI system with 3GB of memory. I have zero problems with it, though it did cost a fair amount, and it's a small form factor. Normally I would be interested in something with a slot loading drive but my dogs are often in the same room and their regular filth would be bad news for a slot loading optical drive. I like the tray even though I rarely use it.
It also has lots of USB (front and back) HDMI, eSATA, card reader on the front ... fairly nice little box.
My friends use their XBox 360s and PS3s for watching DIVX files and a little bit of web surfing but I haven't gotten on the latest console train yet (no games I'm interested in).
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
I don't understand why people always over think this. My main PC is simply connected to my LN46A650 which does nothing more than become my monitor. Go wireless with keyboard and mouse, get a laser mouse that works pretty much any surface. Just get a good enough TV that won't give you difficulty reading text. The only time I ever use a regular computer setup is when I need 3 displays for intense multitasking (i.e. coding + db + productivity apps). I never understood why people half ass their dream and use these dinky HTPCs, gaming consoles, or other garbage in lieu if a real machine that can do everything and anything you'd ever want it to.
Mmmmm XBMC on ARM...... No fans and almost no power. But might have to wait for something with a little more kick then the beagleboard though.... Currently use XBMC on the desktop's TV out as the desktop is in the living room anyway.
Check out a drobo from data robotics if you are looking to stream multiple content sources as once without a loss in the framerate quality.
I'm about to expand it from all on one system..to breaking it into its client server components and have one big machine in my office out of the way with tons of drive space, and use it to feed smaller boxes by each tv/stereo in the house. I'm looking to maybe get the little Acer Revo for each front end box. It looks nice and small and quiet, and I think I'm reading if you use VDPAU on it...you can use it to view HD.
I don't have wireless keyboard/mouse yet, but will add those on...wired isn't bothering me right now since I'm running off a HD projector so projector, computer and controls are all near me on the couch so, no wires running around with this setup.
When I set up the front end boxes with flat panel tvs, I'll do wireless then. But that is what I watch tv through...and just alt-tab to do real computer stuff. If I'm in the middle of a live show, I hit pause, do computer...then back, but most of the time with a DVR, I RARELY watch live tv anymore...I just don't like fscking with the commercials.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I've tried MythTV, XBMC on a PC, Roku, etc. I finally settled on XBMC running on Apple TV. The install is 5 minutes. Streams media fine off my server, plays just about everything I've thrown at the box, and is simple enough that my kids are watching it almost exclusively. I'd highly recommend if you want something simple / plug-and-play. Pick up a used Apple TV on eBay, or watch for 40GB refurb units from Apple ($149 last time I bought one). Only downside is that it may not have enough horsepower to run full HD.
Good luck!
I have had an Apple TV for more than a year. The interface is beautiful and indeed I use the thing for most of my TV viewing, and for playing music. But:
There is something wrong with Apple's wifi network stack. On a Mac this is no problem because if your wireless connection stops responding (can happen even with a strong signal) you just stop Airport and restart it: this takes maybe five seconds. People with Macs do this without even thinking. I have noticed that it happens in my home a-lot and I am wondering if it related to interference in my neighborhood. I have a recent model Belkin 802.11n/g router, but before that I had a recent model Cisco/Linksys router and I trashed it because of the problems that I describe - and which switching to the Belkin did not fix.
But the Apple TV does not have an easily accessible wifi on/off function or even a power on/off function and I have found that the wireless stack does not have the ability to recover when it has a problem. For example, if my wifi router loses its own internet connection (e.g, by unplugging the cable going into it) but then the connection is restored, the wireless Apple TV will think it can't get to the Internet and you have to restart it. (It does not recover from this state on its own.) I end up unplugging the Apple TV maybe once a day, because the thing has no on/off switch. Also, if it is downloading or uploading something it swamps the network and you can't do anything else.
The Apple TV is managed from iTunes on your Mac, so you really need to have a Mac (I do). The Apple TV often spontaneously disappears from iTunes and you have to try restarting iTunes and/or the Apple TV (sometimes several times) to get it to show up again.
Lastly, the Apple TV is not a media server: it is a media cache and viewer. The content on it actually lives on your Mac. So you had better have lots of storage space on your Mac. To save space on my Mac I manually copy the video files from iTunes's folder to a network drive, then delete those shows in iTunes and empty my trash. The shows then disappear from the Apple TV the next time it syncs. I wish that iTunes had an interface feature for archiving files to another drive but it does not as far as I know.
I wish they would make the thing more reliable because the functionality is fantastic. I especially love watching YouTube on it, except that it frequently loses its wifi connection somehow (even thought the signal is strong). The thing doesn't stream, technically, but for practical purposes it does, because you can start watching an HD show within moments of renting or purchasing it. I really enjoy watching 24 on it, commercial free (but $2.99 for an HD episode, $1.99 for SD). It does not usually have a wifi problem while I am watching a show: only when a show completes and then I try to watch another. I can't figure out why this would be, but I cannot tell you how many times I have had to unplug the thing and re-plug after a show in order to watch another show. Maybe it works better with an Apple wifi router - I don't know.
If you use it with a hard ethernet line it would probably not have these problems, but I have not tried that.
Ever tried PS3MediaServer? I've never heard of Playon.
Hivemind harvest in progress..
I use a Mac Mini with a wireless keyboard. I have installed the Front Row plugins for Hulu and Boxee. Boxee has a NetFlix plugin and a plugin for Clickr. That covers all my bases.
Get BOXEE... it rules.. http://www.boxee.tv/
I just bought an old IBM ThinkPad T42 for about $150 and plugged the VGA into my LCD Flatscreen.
Got an 1/8" to RCA cable from radio shack and plugged that into my tuner.
Got a cheap wireless mouse and keyboard.
And voila! I can't watch TV anymore because my wife is too busy updating her Facebook account from the living room.
Yes, ION-based nettops seem very ideal as MythTV frontends, I just ordered an Asus EB1501. I did consider the Revo as well, but S/PDIF out and an integrated DVD drive were among my requirements - if you don't need them then certainly the Revo (or similiar nettops, there are many models to choose from) fit the bill. VDPAU on ION offers hardware accelerated MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 AVC, so playing back even 1080p material shouldn't be an issue. ION doesn't support MPEG 4 ASP (XviD/DivX), but there's hardly a need for it; even my way-older-than-ancient PIII@700 MHz laptop will happily play those.
I just bought a new gaming PC. I took my old PC and hooked it up to my TV.
The TV is a giant projection TV I got from my father-in-law when he upgraded to LCD TVs. It has an HDMI port on it.
I got a cable to convert DVI to HDMI and used that to go from the PC to the TV, and another cable that takes stereo out from my PC and coverts it into left and right RCA for the sound input on the TV.
For Christmas, at the company party, I won a Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse, and VX3000 Life Cam kit. Unfortunately the wireless range on the mouse and keyboard is not good enough to reach to the couch.
Other than that, it works great.
We can surf the web and watch Netflix "Watch Now" or other web content on the big-screen TV. Plus I can watch ripped movies (from my own collection, of course) right from my PC.
We just canceled cable TV because we never watch it anymore. I just have the cable for internet access.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
http://www.google.com/products?q=asrock%20330&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wf
HDMI out, check
Linux Support, check
Low Power, check
H.264 playback, check
I don't think one needs to even spend $1,000 any more. perhaps comprimise with the blue tooth, but not drop thousand of $.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
You need a TV that complies with the DLNA DMR spec and your computer needs to be a DMP. That's what Windows Media Server is trying to be, and XBox sort of thinks it is. The cost of DLNA certification (to get that sticker on the box) is high enough to keep the free software people out of the business model but there is plenty of uncertified software out there.
I built a fairly simple computer with a low-wattage Athlon X2 on a Micro-ATX motherboard. I put a fanless Radeon HD 3450 in as well as a BD drive and put OEM Windows 7 Home Premium on it. I control it with a wireless media keyboard w/ trackball
... "I read part of it all the way through." -- Movie Mogul Sam Goldwyn (and some slashdot readers)
If you're gonna stick a regular PC with a desktop OS into your TV cabinet, go with Ubuntu (or whatever Linux distro you like) + VLC + Firefox. Much cheaper, VLC plays everything right off the bat, and the HTPC won't get pwned by a virus or deactivated because a NIC came unseated.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I have been using the roku hd-xr for about two months now, and I'm fairly happy with it. 802.11n works fine, netflix looks 'ok', etc. I mostly use it for playing pandora (with the annual membership to avoid ads). I haven't tried the amazon video on demand though.
It is really nice to not have to interact with a computer at all (not counting loading the netflix queue from my laptop now and then) when I want to watch tv or listen to music.
Tried various solution, this one just fits, full PC, small, built in BT works nice with Logitech BT keyboards. You also have option of installing XBMC or Boxee
Disclaimer: I am no Mac fanboy, this is the only mac I have in the house :)
Print it out and tape it to your tube.
Change the paper often enough and the picture looks like it is moving!
I have a quad-core Mac Pro connected to my 36" HDTV with HDMI-DVI. This way I can utilize everything on my computer on the big screen; great for editing large detailed photos, watching movies, Hulu, etc. Plus, with four 1-TB hard drives, I was able to rid myself of a large space-hogging collection of physical media and move to all digital. However, HDTV screens are not really optimized for documents, and reading, so I use my Air for that kind of work.
Has anyone hacked the Bravia to run Linux on it?
I have a Mac mini plugged into my LCD TV and use the bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Works great. I do not save anything from TV to computer I only play files I either downloaded or created from the internet. Netflix works perfectly as well as every other video site.
http://www.boxee.tv/box Coming in May there will be a Boxee Box for about $200 that streams content via wireless or wired connection with several output options for your TV. Quite the cool setup with a remote that has a keyboard like a slider phone. I hope it lives up to the hype. I'll definitely be getting one.
There was an interesting article in the NY Times a few months ago about this..
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/personaltech/10basics.html
The author mentions all the gadgets he had previously hooked up, but threw them aside and now has a Mac Mini, wireless mouse and a Microsoft Xbox hooked up to his television. He also mentiones Boxee, Hulu and Joost.com. There is also a picture of his wife operating a wireless mouse called the Loop.
1. File -> Print.
2. Scotch tape.
windows 7 wmc is pretty much the best
I have my old E4600 (2.4Ghz dual core), ECS G33T-M2, 2GB DDR2 ATI 4550, 1TB hard drive, HVR-1250, a DVD drive and window 7 media center has Mrs approved easy interface for recording stuff plays netflix stream hulu integration w/ wmc7 (with 3rd party plug in)
obviously some people may not want to go windows for whatever reasons but for my needs (netflix) and not pissing my wife off too much with a overly complicated or fragile solution it is working great.
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
How about live sports in a place where antenna coverage is spotty at best? I love that the NCAA puts the tourney on the web, but that's not the norm for pro sports, or College football.
Build your own HTPC with hdmi, add a tv tuner+mce remote, dvd or blu-ray player, wireless keyboard and Windows 7. Ditch Cable/Satellite. Add Netflix ($9/mo). This gives you a browser, OTA tv, streaming movies via Netflix or HULU. I spent $400 on mine which was the equivalent of 5 months of Comcast SD. But you get so much more than Comcast could ever provide (unless you require sports). I do have a 12mb FTTN connection, doubt it would work that well w/o at least 7. Netflix would likely downgrade your streaming video quality. What I will miss is Le Tour. Though I can buy the DVD in a nicely edited 13 hour package for $90 and flip it on Ebay after I tire of it.
I use realvnc (www.realvnc.com) and a laptop to control a LAN connected generic XP box with a versatile video card (HDMI, SVCD, XVGA, etc) output. Cheap and works fine.
Many of the newest top of the line TV out there now have a network port and support streaming of video from a web sites and internet access. Some already claim full youtub, Hulu, netflixs, and amazon video support. Once HTML5 catches on it will be better integrated into the TVs. You an also stream movies and audio from your file server. If all goes well you can give up your cable/satellite service and just have your internet connection (and all controlled and filtered by google if you like).
With just being in the top of the line TVs they should become standard features in about 2-3 years.
Even if you do need S/PDIF, there are some USB->S/PDIF dongles from Turtle Beach at around $30. As for the DVD drive, I recently purchased an external slim drive for my Revo, but that may not be the option everyone wants (it's toploading, so it has to sit on top of everything else.)
My UID is prime... is yours?
If you have a Tivo, check out StreamBaby. It will stream all ffdshow compatible codecs, including .mkv files. You also have the ability to create hidden and password protects folders.
I bought a Drobo to serve video and I had to return it. Even with four WD Caviar Green 1.5 TB drives in it, the Drobo simply could not serve up SD content fast enough. The video was constantly freezing and hiccuping at SD, and on HD it was unwatchable.
I had to return it and bought a Promise DS-4600 DAS enclosure and am now running RAID-10 on it instead. It works like a champ, and it was the same price as the Drobo.
The Drobo is probably fine as a backup solution but it sucked for use with my DVR software.
I can see the fnords!
I frequently use my iPod Touch to access movies. It works pretty well although the interface is not what I expect from Apple. Slightly better than using a laptop in that it's very portable. Archos looks like it may be well suited to the task if you don't mind Android.
Roku works pretty well for streaming media. Just recently they've started allowing open access to creating your own channels. I have one that lets me access my videos and music on my NAS (has a web server built-in) or laptops. I've been toying with making a channel that gives me access to Hulu until they get around to making their own channel. If you are a programmer you can do alot with this little $80 box.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Sure, external sound cards and drives are an option - but I plan to attach mine to the back of the TV with the included VESA mount kit so I prefer to have as few external devices as possible. Naturally this isn't an option for people with wall-mounted TVs, so it depends on your setup.
Running a real OS using HDMI. Simple easy and the most configurable.
I use linux so I can do whatever I want, but if you want to have to set the region on your dvd drive or other MPAA control of your computer feel free to use windows.
Transmission + Automatic automatically downloads my shows, XBMC automatically looks up their information and the iPhone XBMC app makes browsing and playing shows simply beautiful. As an added bonus I can use Air Video to watch the shows on my phone whether at home via WiFi or anywhere else via 3G. I don't watch much web video but Boxee is decent for that if necessary. Jaadu VNC for iPhone makes a great catch-all remote. iTunes and iPhone Remote for music.
If you're using Linux...why not just do Xforwarding? ssh into the box and run what you need over Xwindows...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
The content lives on an Xserve in another room, hardwired gigabit ethernet to the TV computer. The mini has a 1.66 Core Duo, is about 4 years old, and it doesn't have any problem playing 1080p content."
Interesting...I'd been looking into using a Mac mini..but had heard it had trouble with HD content at the 1080p level. Maybe this was on older models.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
man, this article is so full of fail.
Be seeing you...
Mac Mini ($599) + wireless keyboard ($69) and magic mouse ($69) + DVI to HDMI cable from newegg ($15?).
Sort of pricey, but, its a lot better than ps3+playOn (tried it, read the forums for all the support woes).
I'm not a big mac fan, but I have to admit, it's pretty slick. It runs boxee nicely, which will be great when they get all the bugs worked out. ESPN 360 for out of market games (though quality is lacking.) Plus, now we have itunes goodness hooked up the main stereo.
Buy a TV that is internet capable and has support for all the latest applications built in. Then mount it on a wall and mount a router behind it that is placed in bridging mode. I used D-Link DAP 1522 and the mothership router is a DIR-615. Knowing what I know from experience, I would get a DAP 1525 and a DIR-655. The DIR-615 suffers some firmware issues and has to be reboot periodically. Connect the TV to that and it will have internet. You can get a 42" Sony Bravia for about $700 that has internet capability. It will probably be cheaper now that 3d TV's are announced. Anyway, the TV's update their own firmware and then download a boat load of applications including YouTube and NetFlix. Personally, it is a blast to have friends over and everyone pulls up funny YouTube videos. Chics are impressed with NetFlix, especially when you can pull up a romantic comedy and settle down on the couch :) I recommend this way because everything is accessible through your simple TV remote that comes with the TV. How about that. When's the last time you used the factory TV remote for anything.....
I have been using a Mac Mini for several years now. As mentioned by another poster, Plex is a great companion for this setup. We do, occasionally buy things off of iTunes. More often than not we access Netflix's live streaming of movies and TV series. We do through the PS3 instead of the web site though because it seems to produce better quality and good buffering. We also have an HD antenna, which allows us to pick up about a dozen local stations. Note, the Mac Mini also doubles as a shared file server and hosts our Time Machine backups.
I have two ways: streaming directly to the PS3 and dual screen via PC.
I stream downloaded content via my wired router directly to my PS3 via PS3 Media Server (that's the name of the free software) through my projector. This consists of video podcasts which play natively, as do AVIs, MPEGs, WMVs, MKVs converted with MKV2VOB or on the fly with PS3 Media Server, etc. Some people have had mixed success with wireless streaming, but I've never tried it. Wired streaming works without any stutters with 720p with an old machine under quite heavy load, and 1080p content with a moderately priced PC under very heavy load (read: transcoding another video). The setup is rock solid: the only time I've had it drop during watching a movie in the two years I've had the setup was when the electricity in the entire building went down. Hmm might be time to get a UPS :) The PS3 is connected to my AV Receiver with HDMI, which feeds to my projector via another HDMI cable. All Monoprice - no, I don't work for them but am very happy customer.
For streamed content (Youtube, GTTV, Pure Pwnage (when it streamed), etc.) I have to rely on a dual DVI out from my GPU. I take it to my AV Receiver with a Monoprice DVI-to-HDMI cable - don't waste your money on Monster Cable Snake Oil. Audio goes via Soundblaster Xtreme Gamer SomethingSomething with their proprietary analog cables (should have known better to not get Creative shit). In fairness it works fine for 5.1 audio, should work up to 7.1 if you have the speakers. At the time I set it up (2 years ago) there was no way to get digital surround out for movies AND games from a PC, doubt things have changed since due to DRM lockdown, so that's why I have analog out. From the AV Receiver the video goes to the same projector via HDMI, and directly to the speakers.
Win7 with the latest ATI drivers has a very robust dual screen support which works well with default settings, and looks great with minor tweaking. This consists of merely setting the native resolution for the projector - it doesn't matter for video since it is done via overlay, but makes the Win UI look nicer. If you connect your PC directly directly to the projector or TV it should communicate its resolution to the PC - but since I have the AV Receiver as the middleman this doesn't happen. No biggie, set it once and the driver remembers it for the next time.
Cabling and getting all audio channels to come from the right speaker, and setting up Logitech Harmony One remote was a MAJOR PITA, but now all I have to do is choose "PS3" or "PC video" on my Harmony and hit play. Hint for moving: take photos of the back of your AV Receiver and PC to remind you where the cables went. I haven't gone through the trouble of setting up a PC remote for the Harmony as I rarely stream content to the big screen. I much prefer the streamlined PS3 UI, and sitting on the couch for any longer clips and shows is better than the PC screen experience. Well worth the afternoon it takes to setup and expense.
Final note: if you're serious about movies and image quality, get a Spyder3 screen calibration puck (or similar) and download the free HCFR software. An afternoon spent calibrating will give you gorgeous colors from a consumer-grade projector or a TV - the difference is huge!
"We have an A-Bomb...what more do you want, mermaids?" --I.I. Rabi, speaking in defense of Robert Oppenheimer
First let me state that I really like windows media center for windows 7. ok so here is what I use. I bought a Nettop pc modded it and hooked it up as a HTCP here is the details. here is the computer I started with http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5384442&CatId=2313 the First thing I did was to replace the Hdd with a 1Tb Barracuda with 3 partitions 2 50 GB and the rest on the third it now dual boots WIndows 7 Home Premium 32 bit and Mythbuntu 32 bit each on a 50 GB drive, the remaining partition is used for media storage. it is hooked up via the HDMI to my 54 in visio lcd. I use a wireless key board with a track pad(like a laptop) for navigation and the screen is so big it is easily viewed from my recliner. her eit the key board http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5645706&CatId=537
there are 10 types of people in this world, those who read binary and those who don't. which are you!
get a second laptop for $~400 that has HDMI out. get a wireless keyboard and mouse for ~$30. you are done. i say laptop just because it's quiet and energy efficient. could also be a mini-style desktop. you might even be able to find a slightly out of date desktop gathering dust in the corner of a friend or family's house that could do the job.
the problem with any other solution is that it's going to cost more, and it's not going to cover everything you want to do. a PC, by it's very nature is generic. it can run flash sites like hulu. you can do youtube. netflix. otherwise browse the web. play music. CDs. DVDs. plug in external storage. access remote media drives. and so on. plus, if you really need a second computer, it's there.
tivo is probably the best dedicated device. it's DVR, plus netflix, youtube, amazon video, rhapsody. can play media from remote file servers. and of course it's a cable TV tuner (mine has dual cable cards). you cannot arbitrarily browse the web with it, you can't access hulu, and it can't play DVDs.
I have an entire blog on this at http://diywebtv.blogspot.com
I wish Flash (in browsers) have an option to do fullscreen overlay on TVs like I can do with video files with various software players. I currently use an ATI Radeon 4870 and its Catalyst driver to do the fullscren overlay to TV. It's nice.
With Flash, I have to use extended screen to my old CRT TV (only 640x480) and video is a choppy on it and doesn't fit all the way. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Regarding the Mini and 1080p: After reading your post, I turned to the machine next to me, which is a Mac Mini 2.53GHz with 4GB of RAM, and tested a 1080p trailer from Apple's website. It plays back fine, with only a little slurring at the very beginning. Your mileage may vary.
stripShow - Where WordPress meets webcomics
Have you checked out Kylo? It's a new browser that came out this week and it's made for TV. It's a full-blown browser built with Mozilla gecko and has full (flash) plugin support. The UI is optimized for the 10 foot experience (bigger buttons/text) and is designed for use with any pointing device (mouse, trackpad, in air pointer etc) http://kylo.tv/
Xforwarding has it's uses, but Synergy lets one easily control two computers with one keyboard and mouse, which is what I need in this situation. I can easily use the MCPC as an extension to my laptop similar to my duel monitored desktop. The MC normally runs XBMC, but if I'm working on my laptop in the den, I can exit XBMC, use it as a computer and have access to Firefox and documentation while still haveing full use of my laptops screen (and resources) for my main application. Synergy allows cut and paste of text between the two computers as well.
--- Keep the choice with the user..
Although I can't speak as to setting yourself up with a laptop (as I only have a desktop), I was looking for a setup exactly as described - using the TV as a monitor on which I can watch media, browse, play games, and whatnot - while still maintaining a secondary monitor on which to perform more meticulous tasks that I can't see on the TV. My desktop is setup with a dual DVI-out graphics card (Nvidia GTS 250 to be exact), with one DVI to HDMI running to the television, and a second 15' DVI to DVI running to a monitor which I have on a station next to my sofa. I'm a little obsessive, and as such have a Logitech Revolution wireless keyboard/mouse combo which works fantastically for controlling things from around my apartment, and a wired keyboard/mouse for when I'm stationary. Since DVI to HDMI doesn't support sound, I routed sound to my stereo receiver via R/L audio cables and an adapter - this could support up to as many speakers as your sound card/receiver can support. On the software/OS end of things I'm running Win7, with the secondary monitor as primary. Furthermore, you can support as many monitors as you have ports on your graphics card(s). 2 graphics cards = 4 monitors :O
Hope this helps a bit - I've used this setup for over 8 months now and it is FANTASTIC!
I've been planning to update my MPEG4 DVD player.
Like the original poster, I want to add web access this time. I've been playing around with an old laptop w/VGA running to the TV, but it's too slow for any HD content... I'm leaning towards a slim HTPC. I realized that those slim computer cases are about the same size as the VCR and other classic stereo components.
Ditto. I also use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I can control things well from the couch. It can output pretty much whatever video format you need short of NTSC/S-Video (at least on newer Minis which dropped those ancient formats). For that I just got a cheap $30 VGA to S-Video downconverter which is powered off one of the USB ports. :) Of course my old copy of 4x4 Evolution looks nice as well. :)
I also have an eyeTV USB digital TV tuner connected to a simple $30 antenna in the attic which gets high-def on many channels and canceled cable (at least the non-broadband internet part). Has all the usual stuff like EPG, DVR and sharing out the recorded files for various devices over the network. We just don't watch much tv so basic abc/cbs/nbc/pbs etc was just fine for occasional live events. High-def images from the olympics were really nice and many channels have the 5.1 audio as well. Everything else is movies or streaming video from youtube or hulu. I just search youtube for robots or construction trucks and the boys get all excited.
Most folks don't realize that Macs for quite a few years now ship with digital audio output in their headphone jack so all you do is get a mini-TOS-Link to whatever your home theatre optical input is cable. I picked up one cheap on newegg, plugged it in and instant great sound off the Mac.
I also got a nice wireless USB game controller to run SDLMame along with the mamepgui frontend. Want to be sure my boys learn their up/down/left/right the correct way - by playing classic video games
RipIt really works well so I don't have to keep hunting down the 20 Trucks DVD on the bookshelf every time the boys want to watch or worry that it might get scratched/mangled. Just put a folder in the Movies folder named Twenty Trucks, drop the video_ts from Ripit in there along with a picture called Preview.jpg and FrontRow works just fine.
Loaded up the CD library into iTunes and then loaded the free iPhone remote app to control it from anywhere via wifi. I can also use the old Apple remote I had laying around from a laptop or the eyeTV includes another remote. Bad part with the eyeTV is the receiver is actually on the USB dongle itself, usually hanging down behind the mini, and doesn't make use of the mini's IR receiver on the front. The eyeTV also has an FM Tuner but I don't make much use of it. Nice to pull that signal off the attic antenna though so it is clear when I do pull it in.
We also threw our digital camera images in iPhoto which seems to make it more accessible than dragging out the old laptop anytime we want to show a group of friends.
In general everything just works and there is enough free/OSS stuff out there to address anything Apple didn't already put in the box. I bought the machine for this purpose so I got max RAM and CPU since the thing is a pain to crack open later. I skimped on the hard drive since I can always plop an external firewire drive on it when the built-in drive gets full.
I put icons to all the major apps on the desktop and set the image size to max making nice big clickable targets when not using Frontrow. My wife finds that easy to use and easier than the multi-input multi-remote setup we had before. The old DVD player is going to a worthy charity.
Now I just need that high def projector and a motorized screen with 12v trigger so it all wakes up together
I can't believe I'm not seeing more Boxee setups. I have had mine running great for a few months now, next month it will pay for itself.
Between Boxee's TV shows, my HD tuners recording over the air, and Netflix Streaming there isn't a single show I used to get via cable that I can't watch directly through Boxee now. In addition, there's cool stuff I've found through Boxee like EarthTouch and Revision3.
Here is the setup:
HD antenna in my upstairs bedroom, using the existing coaxial in my house to get the signal to the basement ($40)
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650-Digital-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0027FGW3K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666138&sr=8-2
HDHomerun network capture card ($120)
http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-HDHR-US-Definition-Television/dp/B0010Y414Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666182&sr=1-1
GB-PVR on a Windows machine or MythTV on Linux/Mac to record up to two shows at once (free)
1 TB networked USB drive to store recorded/burned/downloaded shows/movies ($100)
http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-Prestige-Desktop-External-34275/dp/B001D7REJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666279&sr=1-1
Existing windows/mac/linux box to run Boxee on (free to cheap). I found it pretty simple to hook up my Macbook Pro but am looking forward to the Boxee Box coming out soon.
If you have an iphone/touch you can use it as a networked controller for Boxee, which is cool and seems to impress people. Having pandora on the TV is also really nice. Since I'm running on the Macbook I can pick up and move it upstairs at any time, and the whole system is available from any networked computer in our house with Boxee installed. And to top it all off I can get live HD TV on any of those computers because the HD Homerun is networked!
Anyway it's ****ing awesome. : )
All this for $260 and starting next month I will be saving approximately $60/month on cable bills.
My wife and I decided that we are going to be canceling our directv soon. We wanted to be able to watch sites like Hulu, YouTube, etc. After trying unsuccessfully for a couple of days to get TVersity and PlayOn to stream Hulu to our brand new PS3, I decided to stop dealing with those hassles and just get a mac mini with Bluetooth keyboard and magic mouse. I was able to get it up and running quickly and we were watching hulu in a matter of minutes after unpacking it. I am so impressed by how easy it was, that we will be getting a couple more mac minis for the other TVs in the house. I've since installed Boxee on it to browse videos from various sites on the net in one convenient place. I will also be picking up an apple remote this weekend for it.
-- Tyree
I also use a Mac mini on my HDTV — 2ghz Core 2 Duo with 4gb RAM. I have yet to encounter any media that it can't play perfectly fine. And it's silent for all intents and purposes, which makes it ideal as an always-on appliance.
Wait for this to come out:
http://www.dlink.com/boxeebox
It has the best remote I've ever seen for an HTPC. If you don't need live TV from DVB-T/S/C, or recording, but just would like to browse online content, then this is perfect.
It also plays anything it can scan on your hooked up network devices. And, if you live in the US and get Hulu, it's perfect. It also functions like a social network.
MY TV is in the basement collecting dust. Lately I've been watching everything directly on my computer, because I got tired of the broadcast/cable schedule and prefer on-demand instant gratification (via the internet, or via stored videos on my hard drive).
If I did want to watch something on TV, I'd just use the HDMI out connector.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Great article! and thx for sharing..
I'm using a VGA cable hooked up to my TV from an old laptop running Ubuntu with a wireless mouse. Since I don't have a wireless keyboard, I just made ButtonBoard (http://www.buttonboard.com) my Mozilla homepage. This allows me to do basic surfing and searching by using my wireless mouse to type. I can also use ButtonBoard to type small bits of text that I copy into forms on other tabs. For anything else, I used toolbar shortcuts in Mozilla. I know this is low tech, but it works and takes all of 1 minute to hook up the VGA cable and wireless mouse.
Get a $400 laptop with HDMI, and then pick up a $100 wireless keyboard + mouse combo with a range that's at least 30 feet. If you can wait a few years, this price will drop even more. Personally, I use a Mac Mini because, when I bought it, Windows 7 wasn't out.
No, I will not work for your startup
I have a crappy laptop with a broken screen and missing a battery, hooked up to my 32" flatscreen and 500GB external HD. It's also got a USB wireless mouse and a WiFi card. Mostly I leave it on a random playlist of my movies and TV shows, but with the wireless mouse I can manipulate it from the couch.
For optimal comment enjoyment, take red pill now.
It's coming, there are several competing standards including one from Intel. Pretty soon you'll just beam it from your laptop/netbook/ipad/wristwatch/whatever to your television.
I have alogitech keyboard & mouse that wirks just fine - I had to look around a bit & read the specs but eventually found one that has a 33 foot range - it works from further back than is actually possible to read the screen - I usually use it from about 5 meters away, with a 42" plasma HD TV. I had to use a USB cable extender so that the USB transmitter dongle was on the front of the PC instead of behind it, as the metal case seemed to interfere with the signal, but other than that small hitch it works fine. I use the mouse/keybard on it mabey 8 - 16 hours a week and havent had to replace the batteries since I got it July last year.
THe exact model I have is Pro 2400 cordless desktop Keyboard/mouse. Note that this is not bluetooth - it uses it's own proprietary wireless dongle that is in a similar 2,4 Ghz range.
The biggest problem I encountered with my set up is that I couldn't actually use the screen very effectively at 1920x1040 resolution - fonts etc were too small. My elderly 5 year old PC with 1G ram and an ATI 7600 that I had hooked up to it works ok with it though - but you will definitely want to scale your desktop fonts up.
Also VGA will not go to the full res if you do want to use 1920x1040 - you need to use an HDMI cable.
I tried out Popcorn hour: lacked support for some formats that I had a lot of, interface sucked in some areas.
I have an Xbox360: doesn't support many formats.
My dad has a PS3: doesn't support many open source formats.
Consoles generally have some interface/usability issues.
Consumer Media players generally don't support everything you need and have bad interfaces.
I've come to the conclusion that the only solution is a real computer plugged into your sound system and TV. Wireless to access your router, have a USB disk or preferably a home server with central storage like I have. Then you can run Linux on it and have support for any format on the planet, run XBMC if you want a pretty interface.
The only problem is, that you really want a small box, like an Eeebox or Mac Mini or some such, but they are not exactly cheap, even if they are relatively cheap compared to normal desktops. If you have 3 TVs in the house it means getting 3 Eeeboxes, and the cost adds up! Not forgetting the administration 'cost' of patching the OS on all your boxes. If you only have one main TV it's not really an issue and having a computer makes things quite future proof software wise.
Ideally, I would like a 'broadcast' solution with one PC broadcasting to a small inexpensive wireless receiver plugged into each TV.
"Everyone knows that vi vi vi is the number of the beast" -- Richard Stallman
Plug it into a computer with a fast broadband connection, a good graphics card, and a sound card. Either that or buy a Roku. Any questions?
Assuming your TV has a VGA and/or DVI input, why not just use a PC w/ a wireless kb & mouse? I use an older laptop that stays on all the time. It runs Windows XP w/ Google Chrome for web, VLC for video and Winamp for audio. The power usage of a laptop w/ its screen turned off is minimal, so it doesn't bother me that it stays on all the time, plus it can do anything a regular PC can do, since it *is* a regular PC. If you don't have VGA or DVI inputs, buy a better TV :), or you could try something like an original Xbox w/ XBMC. I use one in my bedroom for streaming audio and video content from my main PC. It's great for those functions, and the interface is really simple so the wife can use it too, which is a plus. It doesn't have a useful web browser though, so it's probably not what you're looking for.
We just launched our search engine and aggregator site for higher quality video content on the web under http://www.tvbookmark.info/ There is also a version of the site optimized to be used in the living room on a TV, with bigger font sizes and UI elements. You can navigate through the TV version complete with the arrow keys of your keyboard, which makes it more usable from a far distance than using the mouse. What works well e.g., is using one of the newer remote apps for smartphones, so you can use your smartphone as a remote to navigate through the site on your computer. Thought, this would be maybe useful, cause it's still kind of a pain to browse the "normal" desktop web on a TV. If this is interesting for you, just check out the url above, site is mainly to discover news content, but also indexes shows and documentaries from various sources.