New house, new set up!

0james0

Not quite in the money saving ethos, but I dint know where else to turn to get good advice! Everyone needs a break from money saving once in a while!

I am in the process of buying a new hosue, the house is a wreck so we will be more or less starting again from scratch. The good news for me is that I now have the perfect chance to link my whole house up how I have always wanted as hiding wires in amongst the new walls should not be an issue.

I actually have a floor plan with details of where I want my electronics to go, it's just the tools I need to make it happen.

In summary, I would like to have my main TV in the lounge linked to my main PC, I want to be able to view on the TV what ever is being viewed on the PC, so essentially a second video and sound output.

I would also like to be able to display the image from my main TV on the second TV in the kitchen diner.

I basically want my PC and two main TV's all interlinked for picture, sound will all run via my AV center.

I'll try post pics up and that will help.

But the main thing I'm here for is to see if anyone has done anything similar and if so what advice would they give/ what is realistcally possible and what isn't!

0james0

0james0

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/696/downstairsentertainment.jpg/

fwor

I've done something similar, but not quite the same functionally. Essentially I have a (relatively) high power media server in a room where I don't care about PC noise, connected to a Gigabit Ethernet switch in the same room, star-wired out to wall sockets in each room where I need a TV.

The media server runs MythTV and has 3 Freeview tuner cards installed, so it can play up to 3 different LiveTV channels to any MythTV client (or any DLNA-compliant TV) anywhere in the house, or record up to 3 programmes at once, or any combination - plus it can play back any recorded programme to any TV in the house at any time. And of course it provides access to the Internet on any TV in the house - though of course that's only practical if you're prepared to have a wireless keyboard in each room.

It gives you the benefit of a PVR in every room, so you can for example pause LiveTV and then skip forward - very useful if you hate watching adverts and broadcasts by political parties.

It's a very flexible system, but note that it's ~not~ designed for broadcast of the same material to all TVs in the house at the same time. If you really do want to do that then I guess you'd need a simpler splitter/amplifier arrangement.

0james0

I really like the sound of that. Although I'd like to run Sky through it, 3 Sky connections may sound excessive, but in truth we have that many from multi rooms anyway.

One day it will all be so simple, minority report esque, you'll be able to swipe AV from one screen to another around the house with ease.

I have some decisions to make, it's clearly possible to achieve mostly what I want, its just going to be a matter of how much I'm willing to spend. I'm also looking into home automation which is dangerously cool.

The choices for it all are too endless, it doesn't make picking the answer very easy for someone like me who loves the gadgets, but has lost touch with his geekier side to stay in the know.

fwor

0james0 wrote: »

The choices for it all are too endless, it doesn't make picking the answer very easy for someone like me who loves the gadgets, but has lost touch with his geekier side to stay in the know.

You're right - there's an endless choice, and new products are coming out every day.

The reason I chose Myth is that I wanted to get away from Microsoft and costly "high-end" products. In software terms, everything about a MythTV setup is free and Open Source, but you have to make the jump to Linux. My installation has been running for about 4 years now with very few problems, and I certainly wouldn't go back to watching a normal TV now.

There are other low-cost solutions that are Windows-based, such as GBPVR/NextPVR, but I don't think they have quite the following that Myth does.

BTW, with Myth you can replace the Freeview tuners with Freesat ones if you're not in a good Freeview reception area and prefer satellite.

0james0

I'll look I into Myth, sounds like something I'd like.

I posted this on a another forum, I'm going to post it again here incase someone see's it and wants to guide me through my electronic conundrum. Just a few points in the right direction will get me, in the right direction again!


I am fortunate enough to be buying a house that is a wreck (ironic I know). Fortunate in the sense that hiding wires will not be an issue and I'm a keen wannabe tech geek. My knowledge is miles away from what it used to be, but I'll still attempt to get stuck in.

I've recently stumbled on home automation and the idea has hooked me. I'll run everything from iPhones/ pads/ pods and wires are fine.

However that is where the ease ends, the choice for what is a new Market for me is huge. I've read a lot, but the more I read, the bigger the choice gets, the more confused I get!

I am also keen to grow my audio visual links around the house, in an attempt to make it seemless to watch anything, from any source on any TV/ monitor in the house. Again I don't really know how, but I'm fairly sure I can do it without too much extra. If there was a way I could link the AV automation with the home automation I'd be over joyed.

Id like to be able to control a few lights (lights not lamps too), up to about 8 of them and maybe a couple plug sockets. Central heating control as well. Everything is being fitted new anyway.

The main items for a renovated house are killing the budget as it is, so money isn't endless, quantity would be sacrificed over cost. Plus I want a new larger bettet TV.

So what I'm after is general advice and almost a shopping list of items to buy so I can price it up. At the moment I have no idea what I need to buy, I want to avoid buying crap I don't need or isn't worth the money.

Any takers?

0james0

I've now seen and love the idea of Myth. Going to look into it, it. Would need to work with Sky. Would it make my Onkyo AV receiver redundant? Or in addition too.

fwor

0james0 wrote: »

I've now seen and love the idea of Myth. Going to look into it, it. Would need to work with Sky. Would it make my Onkyo AV receiver redundant? Or in addition too.

Sorry, but Sky is a "closed system" (the antithesis of what Myth is about). If you want to keep throwing your money in the direction of Murdoch, that's fine, but I'd go Freesat any day, unless you value the Sky packages.

The Onkyo AV box should be just fine if you feed it a digital audio output from your Myth client (or in theory the digital audio out from a DLNA-compatible TV, though I've not tried that yet).

BTW - there are options for Myth and home automation. Just Google "mythtv home automation" and you'll find some - maybe a bit too geeky for me though...

John_Gray

BunShopBandit wrote: »

you can't really go wrong installing copious amounts of CAT5 cable.

Indeed you can - you should be installing the latest available, namely Cat-6a, if you can get it...

0james0

After much hunting last night, I think I have found my solution.

I've decided to simplify everything and I will simply buy a new video card, one with a HDMI output. This can then run through a HDMI splitter, sending the signal from the PC to two seperate TV's, it will also include the sound.

One of the coolest functions of doing it this way is that the video card will also offer the ability to not just mirror the screen, but to split it. So half the screen would be on the PC and the other half in the lounge, you could then flick pages and things between each other using the two screens.

To solve the Sky issue, I will just use a very long composite cable from the main Sky box to the second TV. With another composite out on the second sky box running to the second composite on the second TV.

Lots of wires, but the cost is minimal and it seems to appease everything I want! (although I'm sure some pitfalls will unravel!)