Community Newsletter: Q&A: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center
- 8/1/08 3:04 PM
TVersity Media Server Transcoding ALL- 3IVX MP4 problems
by klugey1 - 8/6/08 1:16 PM In reply to: Use PS3 as a network Media Player - with WMP11 on Vista by klugey1On my Vista Box - WMP11 works fine for any AVI, MPG and most MP4's ripped from personal DVD collection using PS3 template (using HandBrake or Nero Recode). It will play all AVI's (RAW & DIVX)& MPEGs natively, but you have to add a couple of video codecs (FFDSHOW & Haali Media Splitter) to get it to see and play standard MP4 movies.
Both HandBrake and Nero Recode both have an MP4 - PS3 output template making it a snap to rip your collection to your hard drive.
--The Problem--
I also have a bunch of videos that we viewed with AppleTV, but since I found out about the PS3's media playing capability - the Apple TV is going elsewhere. These MP4's are somehow different than the Handbrake and Nero Recode made MP4's. it looks like they use another codec called 3IVX which I guess QuickTime uses. The PS3 simply does not play these video files natively.
-I set up TVersity on an XP box so it didn't mess up my WMP on Vista (Quicktime not loaded on this XP box if that makes a difference). They seem to play fine using Nero Showtime on this XP PC, but when I configured TVersity to transcode everything and stream it to the PS3 the Aspect Ratio is slightly off (for these 3IVX files only - all other MP4's aspect is fine). It is not unbearable, but highly annoying.
I have Configured the FFDSHOW Video sizing to a 16x9 aspect, and I have played around with several of the sizing settings, but none of my changes make any difference. I delete all the Temp files and restart TVersity before trying again, but the skewed aspect remains exactly the same no matter how I change it.
Also, one of the MP4 3IVX videos that is about 2.3 GB has a completely messed up picture, but the sounds seems ok.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Tried it for music - don't go there
by bigfix007 - 7/18/08 8:26 PM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Phil
I have a collection of 800+ CDs and like you thought it would be great to rip them all to my pc and then be able to play anything randomly. Which I did, but was not satisfied with using a pc for many reasons. Basically it is just not convenient.
The brief story...
After ripping my collection several times onto various systems, which is a big job, I found the best solution was a SONOS music system with a NAS (Networked Hard Drive). It is expensive but works extremely well. So forget the price because it is so great to use.
I've had the SONOS system for a year and it is still a delight to use and have recently purchased more units to extend it to other rooms in my house. It is truly brilliant and believe me I am difficult to impress.
I do not have much interest in DVDs so am unable to comment on it much. However I did try an Mvix device and for music it was terrible so I can only guess video would not have been much better. Devices of this type seem to be underdeveloped and must be avoided for now. I sent my Mvix back and got a refund. It was truly awful.
So I think you are best to use one system for music and another for video because a device designed for both is compromised.
Tips: if you do get a SONOS, get a big NAS; rip at highest MP3 or high FLAC. If you are an audiophile and have a good sound system then rip at the highest quality you can.
Sound levelling - this is very important and must be considered before you commence ripping. If using MP3 then I suggest ripping with Windows Media Player and DO NOT use its normalizing setting. Instead download MP3Gain for free and use it to normalize the tracks after ripping. This ensures that if you use the music on any other systems or personal MP3 players, all the tracks will be of a similar volume. Nothing is more annoying than needing to constantly adjust the volume for each track.
Good luck!
Jeff C.
Music center, PC & TV-DVD
by Gerard5819 - 7/26/08 3:17 PM In reply to: Tried it for music - don't go there by bigfix007In theory, it is a grate idea but in practices, I have had a few problems. Windows are always updating there code system to stop multi copies of the music you take from a CD. I am not sure about DVD. The latest version is Windows Media Player Ver:11.0.5. I find backup can be a problem if you require them after a crash, which can be cause by a list of things. You are required with this new player to have all your music on one PC and use this PC to play the music from only. I have found it will not play music that has been ripped from the same CD on another PC. In some ways, it is a good idea, as it stops five or six copies of the same tracks, which can happen with a large collection or multi PC on a network. However, if you want to make a few copies over time on CD, SD or USB, it will not allow you after a certain number. That can be a problem if you lose them, which happens in any house that has kids. Music is one of those thing we listen to time and time again, but Film I think not. Therefore, I would not waste hard disk space on them. Nevertheless, that up to you and it can be done. One of the grate pluses having your CD on your PC is the content is label and update for you automatically if your PC is link to the internet. That to me is worth the afforded. However, on the down side, PC are still to complicated and still on occasionally will locks up which I have never had with a simple CD player.
Not a good idea.
by SultanEmerr - 7/18/08 8:40 PM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The TV will not give you a clear and sharp image as you get from a monitor.
How about this setup?
by chairman_&_president - 7/18/08 10:07 PM In reply to: Not a good idea. by SultanEmerrI am looking at doing the same thing with the following config:
Sony VAIO TP - essentially a sleek PC with Bluray Player and 500GB Storage
Sony or Samsung 1080p LCD
Does anyone have had any experience on this setup?
Similar....
by Commandoclone87 - 7/18/08 10:15 PM In reply to: How about this setup? by chairman_&_presidentI am currently using a similar setup. Depending on which GPU your computer uses, you should be able to connect to your HD Tv with an HDMi or DVI to HDMI cable (I'm not sure about Nvidia's graphics cards, but ATI's HD Series does allow for audio output when using a DVI to HDMI connection)
This will provided you with picture and audio equivalent to that of a PC monitor.
If you are going to be ripping your Blu-ray movies to your pc, I suggest a program called "My Movies" which integrates the Windows Media Center and your Blu-Ray software as well as an upgrade to a TB hard disk space.
I think you better understand the question
by greepit - 7/26/08 11:16 AM In reply to: Not a good idea. by SultanEmerrNot sure what the value of this suggestion is. The person is asking about integration of pc's into home entertainment. Are you saying not to do it because a monitor is better for watching television or movies on? Are you suggesting his entire family sit in front of a desk to watch The Biggest Loser or he has 20 friends over for the super bowl and they gather around the 19 inch samsung?
Not expensive at all...
by Commandoclone87 - 7/18/08 9:47 PM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
With the software and hardware available today, hooking up your pc to tv has never been more user friendly.
Your best option if you are new to a digital theatre setup is to buy a Media Center PC, which is just a computer with extra hard drive space andsometimes extra features such as a wireless keyboard and or mouse, universal remote control and Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate.
Now a PC like that (HP sells some nice ones for under $800) is already mostly configured when you buy it and all you have to do is plug it in and setup the Media Center software included with windows and encode your movies to the hard drive.
If you don't like the options available on an off-the shelf model, your other choice is to buy a cheap machine and perform the upgrades yourself to increase hard drive capacity and other features such as a mid-range graphics card, extra memory, tv tuner and a Blu-Ray drive to turn just about any budget pc into the ultmate media hub.
PC as home entertainment !Grrrr
by raymondo31 - 7/18/08 11:32 PM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Phil , I would not trust my Hard drive as I have lost about a thousand or more of my fotos!!! GRRRrrrr! NEVER to be seen ever again ? Regards (Raymondo across the sea)
Can you say "backup?"
by 8014fr - 7/26/08 9:22 PM In reply to: PC as home entertainment !Grrrr by raymondo31Where was your backup solution? Every hard drive will fail. The only question is when.
its somehow expensive too much problems.
by ikp4success - 7/19/08 12:20 AM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
well to me the cost of getting large memory hard disk to save all those media files is too much and u will need to upgrade ur pc to be able to run large hard disk .The only way to save your cash is to delete any media files u do not need again,and i can't use my television for monitor it just don't make sense ,every gadget has its function and its purpose , and u will realize later, faults ,because of incorect factory or model accessories.
pc as part of home theatre.
by jaywindy - 7/19/08 1:13 AM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Phil.
In short , a pc is the ideal home theatre/ media solution.
However you need to have Xp media centre 2005 or vista premium as a operating system. These both have "media centre" as a software package installed which provides a very user friendly interface to watch all your photos, home videos, music, tv shows, dvd,s. It also has live tv and tv scheduling to record and watch your favourite shows. You can even schedule the pc to turn itself on, record your show and turn itself off again, but that is done via 3rd party software that accompanies your tuner card.
So basically you have a dvd player, dvd hard drive recorder for tv, cd player and photo albulm, all one one interface which you use and access by remote control as you would with seperate stand alone devices.
There isnt actually a lot of difference between a media centre pc and a normal pc. Hardware wise the differences you would be looking at are: A media type pc case ( for looks only) , at tv capture card, media centre remote control and extra hard drives for storage.
You can also increase its userability by installing a blu ray drive to watch blu ray movies. Coming in the next month will be new sound cards ,that will increase the flexibility of sound output from blu ray via a single HDMI cable so that the blu ray audio tracks such a Dolby master audio can be utilised.
So the use and flexibility of a pc as a home theatre component is always getting better, currently i have such a setup and would never go back to seperate devices. Is is simply Brilliant.
Media Centers of the Future...
by Wolfie2k5 - 7/19/08 1:33 AM In reply to: Integrating my computer as part of the entertainment center by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Phil,
Actually, it's not nearly as complicated as it might seem. The key to this lies mostly in the video card included in the computer in question. Most of the better video cards (the ones that aren't bottom of the line, bottom of the barrel) will have at least two, possibly three options for output. Many video cards offer a standard 15 pin VGA connection, an HD DVI (Digital Video Interface) port and possibly an S-VIDEO output port. Some of the higher end cards have eliminated the old standby VGA port and include multiple DVI ports.
The trick to connecting a TV to your video card is to know what both devices are capable of. Most TVs - especially the modern HD sets - have multiple ports - some have VGA, S-Video, Composite, DVI, HDMI, Cable coax, etc... Many older sets have fewer ports - maybe only a coax port for cable, a composite RCA port set for a DVD player and maybe an S-Video port for whatever. You'll need to figure out exactly what you're TV's got and has available. From there, you can work backwards to figure out what kind of video card your PC is going to need.
Setting it all up...
You can actually buy an off the shelf Media Center PC that comes with Vista Home Premium or Ultimate - you'll need one of these two versions if you're buying a new computer as they are the only ones that come with the modern version of Windows Media Center for Vista. Most of these computers also come with a remote control - so you can access the box from the comfort of your couch.
If you've already got a computer collecting dust, you could also buy a few upgrade components (like a video card, a remote control interface, etc...) as needed to make your own. You can simply use PowerDVD, WinDVD, Windows Media Player or other programs that can access files on your hard drive OR, if you really want to get deep into it, you can get a tuner card such as a Hauppauge WinTV card and a copy of BeyondTV (or something similar) and turn the media center computer into a DVR as well. Hauppauge offers both Standard Def and High Def models with single or dual tuners.
And, of course, you'll need at least one, if not two LARGE hard drives - preferably 1 Terabyte or larger (each). That way, you're not likely to run out of room unless you've got a HUGE collection. Remember, standard DVDs in their native format take up anywhere from 4 GB to 8 GB in size. If you want to keep ALL of the stuff on the DVD - i.e. the menus and bonus features, etc... you'll probably want to keep the DVD in it's native format instead of reducing it to some other format. Bear in mind that converting to other formats may reduce the quality of the video and audio noticably.
So... In short, it IS possible, and it IS easy enough to do with the right components and software.
Now comes the sticky wicket... You mentioned you would like to put all your media on your hard drive and make the DVD cases vanish from your shelves...
While you CAN, IN THEORY, do all of this, it isn't legal if you purchase (or rent) a copy of a movie, rip the contents of the DVD onto your hard drive and then dispose of/return it. The MPAA frowns heavily on the practice and should they come across your monster system, fully loaded with movies, CDs and the like, they would quite literally soil their shorts - that is, before they sent in their crack legal team to sue you into oblivion.
Note: SOME people claim that as part of "fair use", you have a right to back up a copy of your media, in case some disaster should happen... Of course, you still need a copy of the original media. Obviously, the MPAA and the RIAA would tend to vehemently disagree with this point of view. You would likely still get sued, but, you'd stand a better chance of having the case thrown out if you have the original media in it's original packaging. So much for clearing the shelves...
On a more positive note... I've found that BeyondTV and a tuner card makes for a pretty darn good DVR.. Better, in many ways, than TIVO or some of the other DVRs on the market. BeyondTV (www.snapstream.com) offers up a free programming guide in addition to the software you get to record your shows and skip the gawd awful commercials. And the best part of it all - it does NOT automatically delete content, unless you're running out of room and you've flagged a show as disposable in a low free space situation. You can record an entire season of a given show and have your own commercial free full season marathon at your leisure with the ability to pause, rewind and stop should you get an overdose of that show.
There is one important consideration as far as tuner cards are concerned. Most of your older stock tuners will connect to standard cable and will function without a cable box. This will generally give you channels 2 - 125 (or channel 99 on many cable systems). To get higher channels - especially HD channels, you'll need a tuner card that can handle the job AND you will probably require a "CableCard" from your provider. You'll want to check out the availability with your cable provider before you invest in the tuner card. Without a CableCard, you will require an actual cable box and be limited to only recording ONE program on ONE channel at a given time.
The bottom line: Yes, a PC can make a very potent component for your entertainment center. But keep in mind, there are still some legal issues that haven't been 100% resolved as yet.
As long as your media center box is NOT connected to the Internet and you're NOT sharing any media, and you're not bragging about the awesome new system you've put together in public, you should be fine.
Your mileage will likely vary...
No way to MP3's
by CRod67 - 7/25/08 10:56 PM In reply to: Media Centers of the Future... by Wolfie2k5I've never gotten good quality music from my cd's to hard drive's or MP3 players. The reason is your music has to be compressed which really compromises the quality of your music. While MP3 players are ok for people out there working out or whatnot, for true audiophiles like myself, I'd rather not. Your best bet is to purchase a large capicity CD player. They have them now that hold up to 500 CD's. Load all your cds and you'll be set with all your music right at your fingertips and you won't have no degredation in sound quality.
I'm also not happy with my pc desktop on my 42" plasma. The picture quality isn't that great and it's just not very convienent in my opinion. I don't surf the net that much to want to sit on my couch and surf on my tv. I use my pc for PC stuff and I use my 300 disc CD player, PS3, Plasma HDTV and Surround Sound set up for music and movies. Everything works perfectly with no problems.
That's your best bet.
The Human Ear
by peacemarauder - 7/26/08 5:19 AM In reply to: No way to MP3's by CRod67The human ear cannot hear the difference between wav and mp3. What you are hearing is the difference in the sound engineering, some are better than others. It has nothing to do with the format. Other issues could be with the hardware or software itself, it could be a poor design.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
