While looking for something to do, and worrying about all the holiday shows and movies that were piling up on our DVR, I decided to bring my desktop computer down to the living room and see what I could do about connecting it to our home theater. I swapped out the older video card (Geforce 6600LE) for a newer model, a Geforce 7600GS, in the hopes of playing a few games at the TV's full resolution via DVI. The motherboard has optical digital audio output and firewire built in, so I can send Dolby Digital Live to the audio receiver and capture the transport stream from the DVR for temporary storage.
With a little tweaking I was up and running, playing Half Life 2 @ 1920x1080, and getting really scared at how immersive the game could be. Wow! I really loved playing it at my desk, but it was nothing like this. I'm literally too scared to play for more than a half hour at a time.
I was able to find instructions and software to capture programs from the DVR and save, view, or burn them to DVD from the HTPC. This is pretty cool in a time when there are so many good shows in HD and our DVR has a relatively small hard disk. While playing shows on the DVR to record them on the PC, I was able to watch the un-aired episodes of Vanished in near-HD quality by pointing my browser to the show's M*Space page. By dropping the display resolution to 1280x720, and expanding the streaming video in the browser, it almost filled the screen.
One of my reasons for wanting a home theater PC is to more easily control our television. One of its weaknesses is that it has no discreet remote-control command to switch it the second HDMI/DVI input. All other inputs can either be selected by their own code, or by toggling through each one in succession. The other weakness is that it ignores anything you tell it to do while it is switching between inputs, which takes a few seconds (we'll call it 4) to do.
The "exciting" new bit about having the PC nearby is that have been able to experiment with the serial port on the TV's back panel. I managed to find a program that would allow me to send commands to the TV, by manually constructing the words required for the TV to pay attention. I was able to send commands to switch between a number of inputs. Just about every function available from the remote control can be duplicated through the RS-232 interface. My Pioneer receiver has serial control, too. I have found a few references to controlling Pioneer components, and that will be the next challenge.
I am starting to see the Infra-Red Light at the End of the Tunnel. My goal is to have a small "not-quite-a-PC" appliance sitting in the entertainment center that can be connected to most of the devices there, that would receive a specific set of commands from my remote for which it responds by changing the TV and receiver's inputs, and be the main interface to the entertainment center's UPS. Until I have that device, I can use the HTPC for the same job, and develop the device using the HTPC. An interesting possibility would be to put the "intelligent" bits into the wireless router (a Linksys WRT54G currently running DD-WRT software) and connect an Ethernet accessed serial controller of some sort to it.
***
Heroes Alert!!!
On Monday night, January 22nd, during a commercial break on Deal or No Deal, there will be a sneak preview of a new and previously unknown Hero. I can't wait!
***
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Saturday, September 16, 2006
O where, o where's my Tivo?!
How long can we last? We don’t know. The Series 3 Tivo is out, and I’m leaving it for the early adopters for the time being. Why?
To put it bluntly, I’m cheap.
It took a large leap for us to justify making the previous home theater purchases, but the only big purchase was the TV, which we all love. None of the other components went beyond $250, and most were well below that. I don’t want to pay $800 + monthly fees for a new DVR unless it can do a whole heck of a lot more. The new Tivo has lots of great features, for which not a day goes by without my longing for each one of them. I want to have a DVR that responds quickly to commands. I want to have more space to store HD recordings longer than 4 days. I want to be able to set up recordings from my PC, so I don’t have to interrupt the show being watched. I want! I Want!
But, not so much that I would spend that kind of money on it. I guess we’ll be waiting a little longer for more HD trickle-down.
When I get over my current case of “poutrage”, I’ll post a few handy links I’ve found for HD and home theater information.
To put it bluntly, I’m cheap.
It took a large leap for us to justify making the previous home theater purchases, but the only big purchase was the TV, which we all love. None of the other components went beyond $250, and most were well below that. I don’t want to pay $800 + monthly fees for a new DVR unless it can do a whole heck of a lot more. The new Tivo has lots of great features, for which not a day goes by without my longing for each one of them. I want to have a DVR that responds quickly to commands. I want to have more space to store HD recordings longer than 4 days. I want to be able to set up recordings from my PC, so I don’t have to interrupt the show being watched. I want! I Want!
But, not so much that I would spend that kind of money on it. I guess we’ll be waiting a little longer for more HD trickle-down.
When I get over my current case of “poutrage”, I’ll post a few handy links I’ve found for HD and home theater information.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Settling in for the show
The ongoing adventure to find the home theater products most suitable for my home & family has come to a happy ending. There will be a few updates on this topic in the future, but the supporting cast has been set in stone for the most part, and will hopefully provide many years of happy viewing. The future of this blog lies will most likely lie in the path of discussion of replacements for our DVD player and DVR.
We are waiting for any definitive information on the forthcoming Series 3 Tivo units. I don’t want to have to pay for it, but it seems to be the best option available if we want to be able to keep up with the next seasons of our favorite shows. I hope it arrives soon, and that somebody comes up with a way for it, via firewire interface, to control my favorite DVD device: the Sony VGP-XL1B2. He have no plans currently to do anything about HD DVD or Blu-Ray discs, as there is still no unified solution and none of the current options offer enough of an appreciable improvement over our cheap upconverting DVD player.
Tune in every month or half-year for updates! ;^)
We are waiting for any definitive information on the forthcoming Series 3 Tivo units. I don’t want to have to pay for it, but it seems to be the best option available if we want to be able to keep up with the next seasons of our favorite shows. I hope it arrives soon, and that somebody comes up with a way for it, via firewire interface, to control my favorite DVD device: the Sony VGP-XL1B2. He have no plans currently to do anything about HD DVD or Blu-Ray discs, as there is still no unified solution and none of the current options offer enough of an appreciable improvement over our cheap upconverting DVD player.
Tune in every month or half-year for updates! ;^)
Friday, June 30, 2006
It All Falls Together
All of the equipment and associated hardware are here. Most everything that can be is set up on or in the TV stand has been. Here’s the list of equipment, starting from the top:
Television: JVC HD61FH96 $3200
DVD Player: Samsung HD850 $150
Amplifier: Pioneer VSX-815-S $250
DVR: Motorola DCT6412 (Comcast Cable service with Microsoft Software) $10/mo.
Front Speakers/Subwoofer: KLH MP06HT $80
Rear Speakers: Pioneer XW-HT1 $90
TV Stand: South Shore Furniture City Life Classic $215
DVD Storage: Atlantic Oskar Multimedia Storage System $90
Primary Remote Control: URC-8811 $25
Backup Remote Control: URC-6131n $14
All I can say is WOW!!! It has certainly been worth the wait. I love the fact that we were able to build such a great home theater for relatively little money. We’ve been waiting FOREVER for the TV stand to arrive and everything just fits together great now. While I know that the up-conversion process done by the Samsung is not the best possible, it still looks damn fine, and I’m not sure I’ve ever sat and watched cable TV (in this case Discovery HD) for this long without even caring what I was watching. I have always tried not to be too overt of a snooty bastard because I know everyone has their own combination of finance/comfort level & A/V knowledge. Unfortunately, what we have here is a great way to start feeling uncomfortable with sub-par material. Each component has the ability to transparently pass hidden nastiness on to the audience. There are very few shows I can stand to watch in standard definition any more, let alone “zoomed in” to fill the screen. Some of the animated shows are alright, but there are others that already look borderline bad. Two of my favorite shows: The Daily Show with John Stewart, and The Colbert Report can be painful to watch. These shows look like crap on our TV, but the humor (and truthiness) keeps me coming back. We had some friends over a few nights back and someone wanted to watch the Mariners game on Fox Sports. I barely remembered where that channel was, and then immediately regretted it. The picture was just not right. On the other hand, I can honestly say you haven’t lived until you have watched sports in HD. The NBA playoffs, The World Cup, and Baseball on INHD are gorgeous and I never tire of them. From what I’ve heard, we are lucky to have a “local” TV station that broadcasts their news in HD. How come they don’t all do it yet?
While I’m complaining, I need to let TNT-HD have it. They usually have something good on, but you can’t always to tell what you will be getting. Sometimes the movie or TV show are in genuine Hi-Def, and it is wonderful indeed. The bad part is what happens when they don’t get to show a movie in it’s widescreen form. They have to do the same trick my TV does to fill the 16:9 screen with a narrow 4:3 image. While I will say that they do a visibly better job than my TV can (not that it is bad by any means) at stretching the image. What I don’t like is that when they do it, I can’t undo the distortion they add when they stretch the picture. Further, their show listings all say they are in HD, when clearly they are not. I don’t know if anyone else has seen this, but there have been numerous occasions when watching Alias where the voices (and probably everything else) are audibly lower in frequency than they should be. This can get rather distracting. I hope they can get all this fixed. :^)
Anyway, I’ve got links and lots of humble advice for anyone needing help finding the right equipment for their own home theater. I stand by all of the components we have, but know there are others that can be a better fit for other folks. My TV decision was a combination of upkeep price ($200 replacement bulbs really is GOOD), ability to match with a really nice (but still CHEAP) TV stand, and my wife’s desire for “the best picture we can get”. I think we did a good job.
Television: JVC HD61FH96 $3200
DVD Player: Samsung HD850 $150
Amplifier: Pioneer VSX-815-S $250
DVR: Motorola DCT6412 (Comcast Cable service with Microsoft Software) $10/mo.
Front Speakers/Subwoofer: KLH MP06HT $80
Rear Speakers: Pioneer XW-HT1 $90
TV Stand: South Shore Furniture City Life Classic $215
DVD Storage: Atlantic Oskar Multimedia Storage System $90
Primary Remote Control: URC-8811 $25
Backup Remote Control: URC-6131n $14
All I can say is WOW!!! It has certainly been worth the wait. I love the fact that we were able to build such a great home theater for relatively little money. We’ve been waiting FOREVER for the TV stand to arrive and everything just fits together great now. While I know that the up-conversion process done by the Samsung is not the best possible, it still looks damn fine, and I’m not sure I’ve ever sat and watched cable TV (in this case Discovery HD) for this long without even caring what I was watching. I have always tried not to be too overt of a snooty bastard because I know everyone has their own combination of finance/comfort level & A/V knowledge. Unfortunately, what we have here is a great way to start feeling uncomfortable with sub-par material. Each component has the ability to transparently pass hidden nastiness on to the audience. There are very few shows I can stand to watch in standard definition any more, let alone “zoomed in” to fill the screen. Some of the animated shows are alright, but there are others that already look borderline bad. Two of my favorite shows: The Daily Show with John Stewart, and The Colbert Report can be painful to watch. These shows look like crap on our TV, but the humor (and truthiness) keeps me coming back. We had some friends over a few nights back and someone wanted to watch the Mariners game on Fox Sports. I barely remembered where that channel was, and then immediately regretted it. The picture was just not right. On the other hand, I can honestly say you haven’t lived until you have watched sports in HD. The NBA playoffs, The World Cup, and Baseball on INHD are gorgeous and I never tire of them. From what I’ve heard, we are lucky to have a “local” TV station that broadcasts their news in HD. How come they don’t all do it yet?
While I’m complaining, I need to let TNT-HD have it. They usually have something good on, but you can’t always to tell what you will be getting. Sometimes the movie or TV show are in genuine Hi-Def, and it is wonderful indeed. The bad part is what happens when they don’t get to show a movie in it’s widescreen form. They have to do the same trick my TV does to fill the 16:9 screen with a narrow 4:3 image. While I will say that they do a visibly better job than my TV can (not that it is bad by any means) at stretching the image. What I don’t like is that when they do it, I can’t undo the distortion they add when they stretch the picture. Further, their show listings all say they are in HD, when clearly they are not. I don’t know if anyone else has seen this, but there have been numerous occasions when watching Alias where the voices (and probably everything else) are audibly lower in frequency than they should be. This can get rather distracting. I hope they can get all this fixed. :^)
Anyway, I’ve got links and lots of humble advice for anyone needing help finding the right equipment for their own home theater. I stand by all of the components we have, but know there are others that can be a better fit for other folks. My TV decision was a combination of upkeep price ($200 replacement bulbs really is GOOD), ability to match with a really nice (but still CHEAP) TV stand, and my wife’s desire for “the best picture we can get”. I think we did a good job.
Monday, May 22, 2006
The TV has Arrived!!
We’re halfway there, at least for the moment! I was going to hold off on posting the results until both items arrived, but thanks to a certain party who has somehow found my blog I feel somehow obligated to add something here in the interim.
The TV has finally arrived, and it is really nice. I’m especially pleased by the way the screen handles light sources from behind and beside the seating area. No matter what kind of lighting situation I have tried to throw at it, we could always see a beautiful clear picture. Because the JVC is such a hulking dark monolith when turned off, we are looking for some way of obscuring the black hole when not in use. My wife wants to find some type of cabinet or hutch we can encapsulate it in, which I don’t mind the idea of either. We paid a few extra dollars up front for the (still not delivered) TV stand so that we wouldn’t have to pay any penalty (restocking fee or shipping) if we decided we didn’t want it. I really want this stand though, as I think it will look really good under this TV, and I don’t want to wait any longer than I have to. I’ve got the left, center, and right speakers sitting on the floor waiting to be installed over the TV, and getting a different TV stand means the vertical center of the TV may change such that the speakers will [gasp!] look poorly placed.
I had a moment of inspiration this afternoon when I realized that we could use a pair of curtains to close away the entertainment system. They would be of the type that attaches to the ceiling like they use in hospitals to divide rooms. I think they would look really good, but the wife still has to be convinced. Other areas where these curtains would be advantageous are sound absorption (the TV’s cooling fan is easily audible during quiet moments) and wire management (to conceal the wires for the speakers overhead).
I’m off to look for some alternative cabinets. Later!!
The TV has finally arrived, and it is really nice. I’m especially pleased by the way the screen handles light sources from behind and beside the seating area. No matter what kind of lighting situation I have tried to throw at it, we could always see a beautiful clear picture. Because the JVC is such a hulking dark monolith when turned off, we are looking for some way of obscuring the black hole when not in use. My wife wants to find some type of cabinet or hutch we can encapsulate it in, which I don’t mind the idea of either. We paid a few extra dollars up front for the (still not delivered) TV stand so that we wouldn’t have to pay any penalty (restocking fee or shipping) if we decided we didn’t want it. I really want this stand though, as I think it will look really good under this TV, and I don’t want to wait any longer than I have to. I’ve got the left, center, and right speakers sitting on the floor waiting to be installed over the TV, and getting a different TV stand means the vertical center of the TV may change such that the speakers will [gasp!] look poorly placed.
I had a moment of inspiration this afternoon when I realized that we could use a pair of curtains to close away the entertainment system. They would be of the type that attaches to the ceiling like they use in hospitals to divide rooms. I think they would look really good, but the wife still has to be convinced. Other areas where these curtains would be advantageous are sound absorption (the TV’s cooling fan is easily audible during quiet moments) and wire management (to conceal the wires for the speakers overhead).
I’m off to look for some alternative cabinets. Later!!
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