2005-10-08, 11:23 AM
I have been watching both this and the Hauppauge Forums for some time now as I am planning to rejig the lounge and TV viewing. I thought that I would share my plans, invite commets and keep you posted as to what works (for me) and what doesn't. GBPVR will be part of the plans, but there are still undecided items and theories to be tried.
It's a big project and so will take me quite some time to achieve everything. The macro plan is:
1. Transfer all old analogue media to digital to allow analogue facilites to be discarded eventually. My music collection is complete. I am now starting on the VHS and 8mm, which includes precious footage of the family growing up. I bought a PVR150 to assist me in this and have got over the hurdles with that and am on the way.
It will probabaly take several months of careful capture and trimming to get it right. I am keeping the MPEG2 files (not DVD) but storing them on Data DVD. Later I might put them back on line.
2. Get overall plan of room and facilities approved by family. Mostly OK, but some principles still need to be sold (the technical ones).
3. Find and select furniture (!) to be able to give pleasing effect and hold the equipment - which thankfully is reducing.
4. Progess technical design and figure out all those details to WAF standard. The basic idea is that all current TV/Video/Audio kit goes. It will be replaced by a flat Panel (contender is Sharp LC37GD7E, which has a Freeview tuner built in and would be easy for live TV, also has DVI for the computer) and a single machine which will do PVR functions including record TV, play recorded programmes and other files (including DVD), play MP3 (ripping probably elsewhere on the network) and photos. Computer is most likely a custom built box with two DVBT tuners inside and needs to be quiet. It will be networked to other machines around the house including another server where they can mutually back up stuff.
5. Try out ideas on existing spare kit.
6. Decorate room, buy furniture, build and install the real thing.
7. Enhance to taste.
Obviously a lot to do, but you need something over the winter.
Some unresolved things (by no means comprehensive):
a) Speakers. I don't yet know what I will go for here, nor how I will drive them. Will I rely on the Sharp (if selected) or go the full n.1 where n>=5. Will the main driver be the computer or the Sharp (it has SPDIF in and out). There is WAF input here.
b) Control. I sort of like the idea of a full wireless keyboard to be able to use any application but there seems to be a leaning towards remote controls in the applications and forums. I notice that GBPVR has some gaps in mouse support (e.g. scheduling a manual recording is clearly a keystroke/remote process) and this could be a deciding factor.
c) TV/Screen. I have toyed with the idea of a small auxilliary LCD (on a second DVI) in addition to the TV (full screen) for controlling things or just viewing other applications at the same time. I haven't tested if anything can do this but it would require the control bit to be separate from the screen bit (like Nero). This could be quite cool as you web surf without disturbing the TV.
d) GBPVR will almost certainly be the recording agent but I am not yet sure whether it will be the the main or only viewer.
I would wecome comments, but obviously plans are still fluid and a lot of experiments to be done, decisions to be made and work to do.
Mel.
It's a big project and so will take me quite some time to achieve everything. The macro plan is:
1. Transfer all old analogue media to digital to allow analogue facilites to be discarded eventually. My music collection is complete. I am now starting on the VHS and 8mm, which includes precious footage of the family growing up. I bought a PVR150 to assist me in this and have got over the hurdles with that and am on the way.
It will probabaly take several months of careful capture and trimming to get it right. I am keeping the MPEG2 files (not DVD) but storing them on Data DVD. Later I might put them back on line.2. Get overall plan of room and facilities approved by family. Mostly OK, but some principles still need to be sold (the technical ones).
3. Find and select furniture (!) to be able to give pleasing effect and hold the equipment - which thankfully is reducing.
4. Progess technical design and figure out all those details to WAF standard. The basic idea is that all current TV/Video/Audio kit goes. It will be replaced by a flat Panel (contender is Sharp LC37GD7E, which has a Freeview tuner built in and would be easy for live TV, also has DVI for the computer) and a single machine which will do PVR functions including record TV, play recorded programmes and other files (including DVD), play MP3 (ripping probably elsewhere on the network) and photos. Computer is most likely a custom built box with two DVBT tuners inside and needs to be quiet. It will be networked to other machines around the house including another server where they can mutually back up stuff.
5. Try out ideas on existing spare kit.
6. Decorate room, buy furniture, build and install the real thing.
7. Enhance to taste.
Obviously a lot to do, but you need something over the winter.
Some unresolved things (by no means comprehensive):
a) Speakers. I don't yet know what I will go for here, nor how I will drive them. Will I rely on the Sharp (if selected) or go the full n.1 where n>=5. Will the main driver be the computer or the Sharp (it has SPDIF in and out). There is WAF input here.
b) Control. I sort of like the idea of a full wireless keyboard to be able to use any application but there seems to be a leaning towards remote controls in the applications and forums. I notice that GBPVR has some gaps in mouse support (e.g. scheduling a manual recording is clearly a keystroke/remote process) and this could be a deciding factor.
c) TV/Screen. I have toyed with the idea of a small auxilliary LCD (on a second DVI) in addition to the TV (full screen) for controlling things or just viewing other applications at the same time. I haven't tested if anything can do this but it would require the control bit to be separate from the screen bit (like Nero). This could be quite cool as you web surf without disturbing the TV.
d) GBPVR will almost certainly be the recording agent but I am not yet sure whether it will be the the main or only viewer.
I would wecome comments, but obviously plans are still fluid and a lot of experiments to be done, decisions to be made and work to do.
Mel.