Liveright
@comcast.net
| Internet PC Set Top box for internet access to HD TV
I just got a large HD TV and will be looking to getting internet content on it. The obvious way to do it is to attach a standard PC/MAC to it and use it as a 19xx X 1080 monitor. On the other hand:
1) What are the specs that I need for this system so that I can
. Browse the web,
. Playback DVD's, or BlueRay's,
. Play Flash, NetFlix, Joost, Hulu ...
. Have reasonable life,
... and what ever I might need?
I obviously want a small, quiet, cheap, system, AppleTV?, MacMini?, DYO Silent PC?, Atom powered NetBook?, Older PC?..., running MacOS?, Windows XP?, LINUX?...
. CPU Speed, Memory ...?
. OS that can playback the proper formats?
. Other specs?
2) Is there any reasonable expectation that either the Sony KDL-46w5100 or the Motorola DCX-3400 (from ComCast) will be "upgraded" at a reasonable cost to support the InterNet or just as bundled services? or perhaps one of the other set-top boxes is better than a PC.
3) Any other thoughts as to how best to drive the High Definition TV to surf and show InterNet content? |
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drjim
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Torrance, CA
clubs: | Go over to the AVSForums and check out their Home Theater PC section.
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. |
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mll
join:2000-08-09
Palo Alto, CA
| THANKS... my first glance is that they do have a great discussion on building a PC for Media control,
»www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre···14239742 ,
~$350.00 - $700.00 for the core hardware. I will be now investigating whether I can purchase an older system to support that function, an Apple Mini, a High end NetBook formatted system, or a small NoteBook might be competitive given that the OS, Keyboard, DVD/Bluray reader... are not included, as I see it in their prices.
It looks as though I will be looking at: »www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php to see which other CPU's are comparative to the systems that they suggest. and »www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php to see the graphic speeds. |
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Speakeasy
| reply to Liveright
I bought an AppleTV because the Boxee hack for it allowed access to sites outside the Apple realm. AppleTV is really only meant to hit an iTunes server and YouTube. With Boxee, it was great as I could watch a lot of shows via Hulu.
Then they stopped that action.
I've no explored hacking it since and it sits pretty much unused on top of the AV stack.
Unless the ATV can be mod'd to work more like an actual computer, I wouldn't go that route. A Mac Mini would be my next best option so far.
However, there was just a recent article somewhere about a 'nettop' (netbook but more a desktop version) being used with XMBC as a solid media center solution....however, not sure that incorporates a TV Tuner. If you'll use your TV connection/STB for TV and the computer for everything except TV, that could be a nice solution.
KM
--
Don't Lie - Be Kind - Realize your Potential |
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asjamias
join:2003-11-20
Memphis, TN | reply to Liveright
or this...
»lifehacker.com/5391308/build-a-s···he-cheap |
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btB
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to Liveright
In my opinion, those media player software solutions are not ideal because streaming websites are designed for computers. So the media player software has to have some script to view video on those sites. If I am not mistaken, Hulu does everything in its power to block distribution this way. Can you even get ESPN360 through some media center software? If you are into p2ptv, I doubt that would work either. On the other hand Netflix is integrated in Windows 7's Media Center, so at least you know that would work. Anyway it might not be elegant, but it seems to me that there are less hassles watching videos if you simply used a relatively modern small footprint PC running Windows. |
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mll
join:2000-08-09
Palo Alto, CA
| I think I agree and will probably be getting a new NetBook with the NVIDIA card to get 1920*1020 displays, e.g. the HP »www.nvidia.com/object/io_1253076938342.html , though I will also ask the DIYO people what they think of this underpowered type of system. |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| reply to Liveright
FWIW: I'm just using an XP "Acer Aspire One" netbook for hooking up to my LCD TV. I then do most of my watching using FireFox. Allows me to watch places like Hulu on my 32" LCD TV.
Pros:
It's reasonably cheap. I got my first "Acer Aspire One" shortly after they hit the market, and still only paid around $350 for it. However, I recently picked up a second one (on clearance at Walmart) for around $250.
It already comes with Windows XP (home), so you have the OS built in.
It mostly has enough memory and CPU to watch video sites (although some "HD" stuff is marginal).
The thing is QUIET, since it is a very small netbook with no optical drives in it. The biggest noise is it's small hard drive, and even that is pretty quiet.
You can simply run it with the top/display closed (you do need to change the Windows "power saving" settings to do this) with: 1) The external video hooked up to the LCD TV's VGA input, 2) The "headphones jack" hooked up to the TV's stereo sound input, 3) A USB mouse or trackball (with a USB cable extension cord), and 4) a USB keyboard (again with a USB extension).
Cons:
No optical drive (so you need to display your DVDs on other devices).
While it is cheap to increase the RAM to 1.5gig (from one gig) the process is a PITA to do (I know, I've done it on one of the two machines).
CPU is marginal for some CPU intensive video sites, especially with the anti-virus sucking some of the CPU up. This has sometimes resulted in video/audio jitter. However, usually pausing the video and then restarting helps. Also, lowering the "video quality" in flash (essentially Adobe flash speak for less deblocking on the video stream) does make a huge difference in video display speeds (on sites making heavy usage of Adobe flash video).
The mouse (a trackball in my case) and keyboard both are connected by long USB cables. This means that there is a wire between you and the TV. I suspect that a wireless keyboard and mouse would solve this problem (I haven't tried that yet), but you would have to be sure to get one with a decent range (to make sure the signal goes all the way between your TV and your viewing location). |
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mll
join:2000-08-09
Palo Alto, CA | Thanks...
This encourages me to get the HP. It is a standard NetBook, but they have added the Nivida card, ~$50.00 so that it can do some of the HD Video display easier. |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| said by mll  :Thanks... This encourages me to get the HP. It is a standard NetBook, but they have added the Nivida card, ~$50.00 so that it can do some of the HD Video display easier. Should work fine. And since it sounds like it is a higher end laptop than my Acer, it likely will work even better for you than my Acer works for me.
One thing you will want to do though, is to make sure you set the laptop's video settings (resolution) to as close to the native resolution of your TV (usually either 720 for cheaper HD sets, or 1080 for higher end sets) as your video card will manage (even if, as is likely, your video card has the ability to run at a higher resolution). Doing this will not only maximize the video quality on the TV (by driving it from the PC at the same resolution as a normal HDTV signal), but it will (if/when that native resolution is lower than the maximum your video card could generate) also save some CPU that can be used to better render the video.
NOTE: With many (most?) laptops, you have three options for video display: 1) Internal display only, 2) Both displays active and displaying the same picture, and 3) External Display only, with the internal display blank.
However, you should always pick option #3 (the external VGA port only) when hooking up to an HDTV. The problem with option #2 (both displays, which you might be tempted to pick), is that it limits you to only those few video modes that are available/valid on BOTH displays. So if (as is moderately likely) the native HDTV resolution is not a valid option for your internal laptop display, you won't be able to set that resolution when displaying on both displays. However, if you set your video to just the VGA "external" display, you then can do any resolution that both the video card and your external display/TV support (even if/when that display option is not valid on the laptop's internal display). |
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