Messages

421

Users / Re: Confusion over current position!

« on: March 23, 2009, 12:32:03 am »

That actually suits me fine as I don't currently have an aerial anyway  I'm sure that a quad LNB will provide enough for my family to go at for the time being!

422

Users / Re: Confusion over current position!

« on: March 23, 2009, 12:10:13 am »

Colin,

My mistake, I missed that part of your explanation. I guess a lot of the confusion comes from the view that most of us who are "not in the know" assuming NTSC=US and PAL=UK. SECAM=France. I guess all the standards get used elsewhere and with different parameters.

The analogy I was trying to make, however, stands and my question has been answered (a PAL tv won't playback an NTSC signal and I was worried that an SD TV when connected to an MD with an HD recording would similarly have "issues"). I now have it clear in my head (thanks to you) that the HD/SD issue when talking about the broadcast, recording and the link between the MD and the core is separate from the one when dealing with the display device and the link between it and the MD.

I was assuming that transcoding would happen on the core, whereas in fact that process (which is really rescaling) happens in real-time on the MD.

So......

If I install some kind of HD reception system in my core, I will be able to watch them on my current SD screens and, when I upgrade some to HD, I will see the benefit. My MCE system and my recordings are future-proofed and that's what I wanted to know 

Thanks, again, for taking the time to respond and clarify this for me.

I need to be VERY clear what I can achieve if I'm going to get the all-important sign-off from the management committee (AKA my good lady wife (chair) and our offspring)

423

Users / Re: Confusion over current position!

« on: March 22, 2009, 10:31:49 pm »

Many thanks to both Colin and Andrew! 

Just one thing, Colin, isn't NTSC 60fps and PAL 50? I thought that both (originally) used the mains frequency as a clock (or I may be mis-informed here!) also, isn't the number of lines different?

Anyhow, TV isn't my specialist area - I'm a network and VoIP person, although I'm gonna have to pick up Asterix

Andrew, useful stuff. If I get a DVB-S card (or cards) I can get freesat HD, right? Is there any way I can get Sky without an HD STB? I don't want to pay the premium for a STB with built in VDR (I believe it's Sky+ right?) to then plug it in to MCE 

I'll keep watching closely for news of the DVB-T / DVB-S integration, although for the time being, I reckon I'm going for a Quad LNB with one feeding a Sky STB attached to an MD (politics) and the other 3 feeding cards in my core.

Do you have recommendations for a good (UK) card and supplier?

TIA

424

Users / Re: Confusion over current position!

« on: March 20, 2009, 01:53:32 am »

Thanks, Colin! A very clear and concise explanation 

I guess I was getting my wires crossed a bit. It makes sense that an HD television can show SD video as it is recent technology which was developed when both were around. I didn't realise that you could send an HD video signal to an SD television and it would work! I assumed it would be like NTSC and PAL completely incompatible!

425

Users / Re: Confusion over current position!

« on: March 20, 2009, 12:38:44 am »

Many thanks for your very rapid response! I will certainly look at VDR and the link you suggested as well.

HD, humm. Well, I want to be able to recieve broadcast HD and record / play it like any other channel. Blu-Ray, as you will see from other postings, I'd like a drive in my main MD, but I'm not sure if that will be to rip or just to use as a player - disks are not that expensive, but I don't want to fill them with loads of ripped movies and would hapily manage without that feature! Being able to stream the content to another MD in the house would be cool though!

Also, if broadcast HD is available, can MCE transcode it to SD easily, preferably in real time? I'm a bit of a novice with the whole HD/SD thing, so forgive me if it's a stupid question. My reason for asking is that I won't (certainly initially) have many HD-capable screens. If I record something on, say, the BBC that is available in both formats, I'm obviously going to want the HD version in case I'm watching on the higher-spec machines, but if I try to watch it on an older SD unit, what will happen?

Many thanks agai for your response 

426

Users / Re: Blu-Ray

« on: March 20, 2009, 12:30:59 am »

If you read my first post, you would see that I have been monitoring the site for some time. The problem is that the Wiki, in particular, has much information that is out of date (like "in the forthcoming 710 release" etc) so it is difficult to work out the current position.

I have deliberately split my questions into several posts to keep things focussed. I find that both here and on other forums, people who post a long series of questions usually prompt a discussion about one of them and then the others get lost.

I appreciate that everyone here is voluntary and peer-support is given out of people's goodwill, however simply having a dig at someone helps nobody and anoys many, not just the OP. Somone doing a search for Blu-Ray will now find this post, see 2 responses, expect that some useful information is to be found and be disappointed.

Are you able to help by posting something constructive?

427

Users / Additional services

« on: March 20, 2009, 12:26:26 am »

Hi,

When I put my MCE core (dedicated) in, I'm going to need it to replace my current fileserver (running Linux). The routing / DNS / DHCP etc are obviously there, but I'm going to need to add additional back-end services like e-mail (probably PostFix) and antiVirus (ClamAV). Squid and Dans Guardian are needed to keep the kids safe (and their parents sane) on the 'net. I also want to use the box to store family documents, should I try to integrate with the MCE users and directory structure, or have a parallel directory / user set for the PC's? I assume Apache is installed for the web admin and I know mySQL is there, so the other bases are more or less covered.

Comments?

Thanks 

428

Users / Blu-Ray

« on: March 20, 2009, 12:22:46 am »

Are there any Blu-Ray drives that are currently supported? I'd like to put one in the MD in my living room when I install.

Thanks 

429

Users / Satellite cards

« on: March 20, 2009, 12:21:38 am »

Hi,

I currently have a Sky STB and a single LNB dish. I'm planning on putting in MCE and having a dedicated core. For family political reasons, I intend to leave the STB where it is and connect it via an MD to the system for the subscription stuff. I then plan to upgrade to a quad LNB and have three tuners in the core for all the free channels.

Can anyone see any problems with a setup like this? What cards would you suggest (I would like to be able to get HD channels, if possible, even if I can't use them immediately.)? What specification of core (note, NOT hybrid) would be required - I'm guessing my main issues will be disk space and LAN speed. I have 1Gb POE in the house, so hopefully that won't be a limiting factor! Disks are also getting cheaper, so I figured 1Tb or so for now and then add more as the price drops. How much RAM? Some posts suggest 2Gb is plenty. Processor?

Thanks 

430

Users / Confusion over current position!

« on: March 20, 2009, 12:16:01 am »

Hi,

I'm still to actually get my system installed, but spend a considerable amount of time surfing the site and planning my rig when I have both the time and money (at the same time!) to put it together.

I am somewhat confused about versions of the components and features supported, though. What version of Myth is being used? I ask because the latest version does cool things like linking in to IPTV and allowing you to pull off all the channels multiplexed onto a single transponder with only one sat tuner card.


Also, is HD supported or not? I've seen lots of posts asking questions about hardware and fixing HD, which would imply that it is, but I'm sure I've stumbled across pages saying "not yet" as well.

I have other questions, but will put them into other threads 

Thanks!

431

Users / Re: why does mainboard choice matter so much? (core)

« on: February 27, 2009, 01:13:24 pm »

I'm about to take the plunge, but am struggling to decide on exact equipment.

I'm planning to have a dedicated core, which I want to build myself. I already have a rack-mount case but need an ARX motherboard, CPU etc. (I have a PIII motherboard lying around, but I'm guessing I should avoid this). I'm on a VERY limited budget, so what would you folks suggest? I'm not a highly experienced PC spec-and-build er, although I have put systems together before.

I'm pretty sure I want to go LinuxMCE, although I don't need the automation (yet) so just MythTV is also tempting. One thing I nothiced is thet Myth allows you to create additional back-end devices for transcoding and / or recording. Thise power up using WOL when required and then power down again when they have finished. Can I do this with MCE? This would allow me to have a server "farm" which is easier to upgrade / add resources to.

I have some other questions too, but will start a separate thread for those

TIA

432

Users / Re: Hooking in music & my iPod

« on: July 24, 2007, 03:58:32 pm »

Thanks :-)

Unfortunately, whilst I can cope with that, it gives a very low WAF!

Any plans to more closely integrate protable devices (like iPods) into MCE? What I'd like to be abel to do is to is pretty much the same as I can in iTunes, but with a shared media library (shared both across users and across machines). I.E. set up playlists and then either play them on an MD or send to my iPod.

Paul

433

Users / Re: Hooking in music & my iPod

« on: July 24, 2007, 02:21:13 pm »

Thanks for the rapid reply!

Sorry to appear thick, here, but does thast mean I have to copy the music files (MP3's or whatever) to the iPod as though it were a removable disk, or will MCE recognise the iPod as a removable media player and allow me to upload a playlist?

Paul

434

Users / Hooking in music & my iPod

« on: July 24, 2007, 01:32:10 pm »

Hi,

I had just about settled on using LinuxMCE in my home when my wife bought us each an iPod shuffle for use at the gym.

I've installed iTunes and hit a load of "issues" which I suspect, if the iPod were integrated into MCE, would simply go away.

First up, I'm not really that interested in downloading music from the 'net (at least not at the moment!), more in ripping my CD collection.

The problem I have with iTunes is that we each have a PC and are busily ripping our CDs so we can bung them on our iPods. A lot of these are ending up being ripped by both of us! I know iTunes can share music, but you can't put music from someone else's iTunes on your iPod. Also, I can't see her music unless iTunes is running on her machine. I want it on the server!

So.....

How much is music playback integrated into Pluto? Can I rip my entire CD collection into the app, set up playlists, play back from any Media Director and also upload to the iPod? Can any / all of this be done now? If not, what are the plans for the future?

Many thanks,

Paul

435

Users / Re: Myth / Pluto / LinuxMCE choice - advice needed

« on: May 07, 2007, 10:16:26 am »

Thank you for the thoughts. I apprecite what you say about network booting the front ends, although I'm sure I've seen a plugin on the wiki somewhere and even if not, I'm not scared to hack about to get that working!

I'm aware that Pluto & LinuxMCE  use Myth, thet's how I discovered them. My concern is, I guess, that there seems to be a HUGE number of postings both here and on the Pluto forums that suggest that it's all very unstable at the moment. Ultimately, I'm sure I will go with one or the other (I'll keep an eye on both!) but I am trying to survey the opinions of those more experienced than me with all this on the relative stability of the systems.

Paul