Just a quick question on functionality

[mrbaggins]

First off, looks like a great program.

Now, what I want to know is if gbpvr will do what I want... I read the wiki and it seems like it, but I'm new to the whole idea of a home theater.

I have a PC and a laptop. The PC has all of my videos/music on it. It is connected via ethernet to my router. The laptop has nothing on it, bar codecs/programs. When I'm watching stuff, it sits in my living room, connected to a data projector and stereo. It's on wireless .11G from the router.

I'm not interested (currently) in recording video. What I want to know is, can I browse/sort/look at/watch/listen to all my PC media on my laptop. I know I can just share with Windows sharing, but I want a schmick interface, preferably with search/sort/browse options.

Some potential problems... Not all of the files are playable in WMP. Things like .mov, and I have avi's that for some reason sound only works in VLC.

And if gbpvr won't do this, a recommendation on an alternative would be awesome.

[fuzzweed]

the client side of gbpvr (which I think is what you want to run on the laptop) does have limitations on the files it can play

* Streaming Use streaming to access the data on the server. This is the faster method but is only compatible with MPEG2 files. Playback of DivX/AVI recordings or as well as the display of SRT subtitles is not supported.
* File mode Use file sharing to access the data on the server. Slower but more versatile.

The choice of streaming and filesharing will be dependant on your set up and hardware - you'll need to try both to see what will work for you.

It also may (or may not) have some problems with viewing over wireless - client mode is fairly bandwidth intensive. again you'l need to try and see what works.

GBPVR will mostly play anything that works in WMP. VLC has native codecs so is not a good guide to what gbpvr will play. You're avi audio problems probably just need extra codecs adding to your machine so chances are they can be made to work.

If you just want an interface to play networked files have a look at xbmc. not tried it myself, but I think thats kind of it's purpose.

[johnsonx42]

Will GB-PVR even run with no tuner? I know the client mode doesn't have a tuner, but it still wants to talk to a server which needs a tuner.

In any case also, I think the streaming/file sharing question only pertains to live tv and maybe recordings. The video library functions (which is what mr baggins wants) depend on windows file sharing regardless.

As to the question of mrbaggins' troublesome file types, I've got quicktime (.mov files are quicktime right?) playing fine in gb-pvr using ffdshow (I installed it via the k-lite codec pack). It may well handle the .avi files with the sound problem as well.

[johnsonx42]

Ammendment to previous post:

Yes, gb-pvr does seem to run fine with no tuner installed. I just installed on my office computer and pointed Music Library at some MP3's and everything works. I don't think you'd want to put it in client mode though, else it will just try looking for a server.

To make the video library see your media files, you just define the UNC path(s) in config on the Directories tab.

[mrbaggins]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've decided to use xbmc. Seems very nice... been playing with it the last couple days.

I have however bookmarked this site for when I purchase a tuner card, and I will be back.

Thanks again.