another thing to look at is the data transfer rate of a hard drive (i presume thats what context HD is in) is heaps more than a cd or dvd/blue ray so no if you copy it with a 1:1 ratio you will not have any quaility drop at all.

Storage is becoming very cheap now the problem is finding an all in 1 center without using a media center pc which can be slow and cumbersum

Two words: Popcorn Hour.

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

I bought the original model (A100) about 18 months ago when they were first released and haven't looked back.

These babies will play virtually any format you throw at them, and will either play off a local disk you install yourself, or stream through a windows fileshare over your network. Output is composite or HDMI. Amazingly, they also have a built-in BitTorrent client you control from your TV.


Jason.

In the hope of re-invigerating this thread and starting some constructive banta, i submit the following;

I am in the process of building a new place and like so many before me have found their is no commercial off the shelf product to distribute HD content from one point to many around the house. you have clipsal starserve for SD content and several other setups but nothing for HD

an example of what i would like to achieve is:
blue Ray, PVR and Paytv into the one system distributing to say 4 televisions it will be more than that but alas 4 is a round figure.

Looking at equipment availabe I have found the only way I hope to be able to achieve this is with a HDMI distribution mux or switch disting out out to televisions via HDCP complient extenders

has anyone got any info or exeriences with this technology or am I a pioneer in this forum destined to forge a working network and advise everyone?

What I have done in preparation for this is have 600m of cat 6 installed into my house. this is both structured network (because i work in the IT industry) and 2 x runs to each tv with RG6 as most extenders require 2 x cat 5/6 runs to the tv for the extenders

Any info or experiences would be appreciated as I hope to get a cost affective working setup together and working correctly without blowing the budget on items below standard or not required

Here is my take on the above

BR, I don't bother. The time it takes to rip a movie, the size of the files 15~25Gb (movie only), and still not alot of devices able to give trouble free playback for BR.iso

PVR, I like the Beyonwiz, supports SD.iso playback via LAN, (HD via attached drive not a priority for me anyway), able to stream recorded programs to other Beyonwiz units via LAN.

PayTv, pay the extra ~$10/month and have a box installed at each location you wish to use it.

For me video is a personal thing, I mean why would you want multiple TV's if not to be able to watch what you want when you want.

Having your movies stored on quiet NAS drives works well, and no need for power hungry PC's running 24/7, having a decoder box/PVR at every TV allows each to watch what you want.

Having PayTv as a central box then you can only watch the same channel on every TV, hence IMO the requirement to have a box at every location.

no one said anything about ripping BR's into .iso Ive got a vmware esx server and SAN with 10TB of space interfacing the beyonwiz for playback of divx files. I prefer watching BR movies from the real thing DL or ripping is a waste of time. TV series I watch via DL content plus screeners and if i like i purchase.

anyways back on track .. The reason I want to extend everything from one point is that my partner and I will be the full time people to reside in this place .. kids stay every now and then but they dont take charge of the remote, you could get the death penalty for less I dont want dvds' or stb's around the house everywhere we are trying to minimalise so the house does not look like our current place (a techno jungle with wires and crap everywhere)



but keep the constructive stuff coming

Then why would you bother wanting to stream a BR movie? BR players are cheap as chips these days.

as i explained before (the above quote from myself) I just want a tv on the wall with nothing else there. personal preference, open and clean living no wires, no boxes no cabinets!

That's fair enough, but why bother with BR when you won't have the audio to do it justice?

the audio will be there via audio distribution to the faimly room/rumpus and ceiling mounted speakers in bedrooms. the Home theatre will come straight out of the RX-V7 amp. it will do itself justice ..

Rather than ask why I want to do it .. constructive experience or info would be appreciated if you have got it which was the question i originally asked

For what its worth, I stream audio to seven locations throughout, video to four, plus CCTV and FTA to ten (I don't have ten TV's) locations, and two Foxtel Boxes.

Storage is via multiple NAS drives, using Gb LAN all through a Starserve Pro setup.

I wasn't asking why, I already stream HD video, and IMO at this point in time I don't feel it is worth the hassle.

This is what my Starserve looks like

[ img ]

Elan Home systems can distribute HD Video (with analogue stereo audio ) using Componenet Video. You'd have to start with something like the S8.6AV (I think it's now called the S86A):

http://www.elanhomesystems.com/productdetail.asp?id=16

... and add their V883 (possibly now called the V85...) Component Video Controller:

http://www.elanhomesystems.com/productdetail.asp?id=29

@tpin70
I have had experience with many HDMI matrix switching system and found them very powerful and affordable. Along as you have the infrastructure in place in terms of running 2 cat5 or cat6 cables to each point (at least). You can have up to 8 sources in and 8 sources is the largest matrix switcher i have used but in most cases you will only need a 4 by 4. It can Run 1080p technology so i personally strongly recommend this product.

Jezza,


Thanks for your reply. I have 600m of cable through the house. each main tv point has 1 x Rg6 and 2 x Cat6 connections at the point. It is all running though 32mm conduit to the points to allow for other cabling ie IR control.

What do you recommend for a matrix controller? I have had a look at a few and read a heap about them. I am at work at the moment but when i get home I will pass the info on the one im looking at. its computer programable via rs-232 port and network controllable 8 x source - 8 by output. I have also not settled on the HDCP compliant extenders with IR, what are your views?

Thanx for the reply Rod, This kit looks very nice as an all in one box but is it HD compliant ?

Not exactly what you mean by HD compliant...

HD video can be sent as Component Video, and this system is a quality Component Video matrix controller/distribution system, so to me that is HD compliant (as far as the video is concerned).

It is only 2 channel (stereo) analogue audio though, so it doesn't distribute 'HD audio' (but then 'HD audio' really is Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA. Dobly Digital and DTS are digital surround sound formats but not necessarily 'HD'.... although this system doesn't do any form of digital audio...).

well my personal preference is for the Lenking Matrix or the Gomax matrix if you want to do ir pass through. The way in which they work is quite easy, what you do is centrally store all your foxtel boxes, BR players, tivo boxes, media centre boxes whatever you want and then you run your cat5/6 cables into the matrix, which comes with a reciever and sender. The sender is used where you store your content boxes (foxtel Br ect) and the receiver is placed with your TV where you have run your 2 cat5/6 cables to (1 for audio and 1 for visual). The reciver has an HDMI input where you put your HDMI cables into your tv and into your extender. Fully HDMI compliant and dolby digital HD audio. This is by far the cheapest solution going around as you can stream all your content from your Hub location to where you have all your TV's and thus you dont need to have all your content boxes at every location. Thats my 2 cents to you guys hope it gives you some sort of idea of the power of matrix switching systems.
Control is my little secret you should really have an IR reciever at each tv point and this will require you to run another cat5 cable. But how do you control everything? Thats where the itouch/iphone comes into play.
oh and another cable should be run to all your TV's for DLNA which will be the future content management system.
Digital Home is coming to a fore in Australia, Intel have been extremely busy.

http://www.intel.com/standards/case/case_dh.htm
This is an interesting article even though its dated 2004 it might seem a long time ago though you must understand Intel have been working on the digital home experience since the early 90's.
Back to work

thanks for the info Jezza you have helped a heap here.

I have another question for You Guru's out there. Does anyone know anything about the "DisplayPort" standard? from what i have read it is an up and comming alternative to HDMI for computers and will have applications with televisions down the track. it will be extendable via fibre connection as the standard cable will only be 2m

Wikipedia has a very good write up and info on it

comments?

If you really want to understand the difference In DisplayPort and HDMI in terms of operation well there is none you have to look at it from the perspective of how developed the two standards. Intel Created HDMI and Apple created DisplayPort for the reason to stop piracy of content. Where they both differentiate can only be seen through really the development of both Standards. On top of this you have to look at the history of both standards and why/who really needs to protect there content (hollywood studios)... These standards are used as a way of protecting High definition content through Encryption processes.