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would prefer not to use 6e to hdmi till matrix switchers are cheaper for 8x8 or larger .... will i have any problems doing vga to component i can get hardware converters for 720p and 1080i

Eric

eh... maybe i'll just go with 2 pvr150's with cable feed and ir emitter to the front of the 2 STB's g100 and then have all the other STBs distribute with the rest of the a/v equipment through my ACA-E5 http://www.russoundsphere.com/acae5.html  it has RS-232 control systems so i should have no problem controlling it with linuxmce? correct?


and using the ir receivers in the keypads to control linuxmce MD OSD's in each zone??

Eric

none ive been asking for a recommendation so I can order one and test it... ive seen many some hdmi some component...  I need something that will capture the cable box feed including the cable boxes OSD ie the tv guide and I Have 7 cable boxes and i want to use them all ...either watching live TV or recording scheduled programs...

Which cards would you recommend... that work with linuxmce too

[Quality of picture]

You may just want to compare the Quality of picture you can get with a 1080i or 1080p when directly connected to tv with your HD singal (BD PLAYER or SATBOX) to the picture that gets scaled down to s-video  and goes through that configuration and then rescaled back to HD.



just my 2 cents


Tim

svideo? i dont plan i using any svideo?

Well if you want a totally clutter free environment... and some people do for sure... then centrally locating all MD's & the Core/AV Amps etc is certainly one way to go. We do installations like that sometime when our customers really dont want any equipment other than the screens in each room/zone. We would then use multiple CAT5's to each screen;

- 1 x CAT5 for USB
- 2 x CAT5 for HDMI (using HDMI over CAT5 converters)

Then you would have your MD's in the rack with the Core and use a USB to CAT5 + HDMI to CAT5 transmitter per MD and a CAT5 to USB & a CAT% to HDMI Receiver at each screen. You then can have a small unpowered USB Hub behind each screen and attach your MCE Tranceiver for IR remote control, a wireless keyboard and a USB-RS232 interface into the screen (if it has RS232 control capability). This gives you everything you would have if you distributed the MD's behind/under the screens but does away with the clutter. Downside is a lot more cable to install and a big rack. But if thats a trade off your happy with its works very nicely. Its a testament to how flexible and powerful LinuxMCE is that you can achieve this.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

Andrew Thanks the the information i need...

OKay you got me ...  but your just the person I need to speak with.... I was had no idea about linuxmce before last month... Im stilling the framing process but not for long before we drywall.... SO Nothing is in  stone.... Can you please help me set this up.... Before i get started ...  I was just going with a russound  multi zone multi room system... because of the cost you get all those keypads and the system to do like 12 seperate video source and a bunch of audio zones for like 10,000... all the other system like linuxmce are really like 30,000k or more to do a house my size got alot of quotes so were like 150k so... i kinda wasn't doing anything inot this realm of home automation till I found linuxmce  now...  IM HOOKED... but what would you recommend please if you could build you dream setup...

I have as you must have read everything going to the media closet.... there are many audio zones throughout the house this is why i would like wall keypads... so the house is roughed ...framed and wired I can change anything now ... i have the whole house networked with 6e, was planning to use linuxmce with the voip and some Cisco 7970's and some wifi units too... There are many wall and ceiling speakers in all the rooms for the different audio zones and 6 plasma locations with lol  6e's composites, hdmi's, coaxial's, rgb's you name i got it run back to the media closet...

Ive done most of the installation my self... I still require my house is distribute video and audio to all of my zones and have some basic wall keypads in all the zones i have already run 5e to all the zones for the keypads there are like 10 keypads....

I also plan to use 4 wire thermostats compatible with x10/insteon there are 5 hvac zones

I haven't bought any Av equipment for the new house yet... but i really want to keep everything in the media closet including the media directors...

Please tell me everything... How would you set this up using linuxmce ... I'm still a noob ... but im sold ... but im getting close to my insulation and drywall date... I really need to know what needs to be done now for wiring before we close up... and maybe you can help me with some tips with this set-up later too 


I appreciate any help you might be able to give

Thanks Again

Eric

actually I use these one on each Media director to get them all outputting in HD..... testing another model too but the other has 1080i issues 720 great...

http://www.ambery.com/pcvgtohdcovi.html .... would do hdmi I ran 2 cat6e's that can convert 2 6e into hdmi to all plasmas.... but hdmi matrix switching is a issue for industry right now and it can work for linuxmce but not for all my proprietary systems

but i think VGA to component is best and it still gets 1080i ....

But what are the TV capture cards to get.... dose it not matter since output in HD    HD-5500  or PVR's???

If i have 7 TV cards one in each MD can I watch TV in 4 rooms each on a different channel and each TV using the cable box or fios box with the TV GUIDE?

And then while doing that could 2 other capture cards record my favorite show and my wifes too?  leaving one card free to watch live or record?

Can someone help me with these issues?


Eric

IM currently thinking on changing to Verizon Fios is the  QIP2500-3 STB the standard STB... have u found the solution would be handy for me .... but my question is that i plan to have 7 media directors with 7 tv capture cards for using fios boxes.... what type of tv capture cards are you using ... cause i have not bought mine yet but would like to get good one that work with fios... is IR controlling Multiple STB's with mutiple MD's not an option with verizon?


Thanks

If you need any help ask im currently building my Linuxmce system

Thom,

I want to become a contributing member to LinuxMCE.  The challenge however, is that the original changechannel.py craps out with an error message if you enter 4 digits.  I am not sure how to create a template to send 4 digits to a script that only accepts 3 digits.  I will do some research on how to create the device template. 

Questions
1. To whom should I post the device template once complete?
2. Please advise on how to get around the digit restrictions in changechannel.py

As an FYI, there is a driver issue with pl2303 in the 2.6.22-14 kernel that I still need to address.  Please see http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=7242.0;topicseen

Thanks

Hello, im pretty familiar with with linuxmce now ... i have been building a few test units controlling the MD's with iphone and other wifi orbiters.... Im currently building a whole house audio and video distribution system using russound sphere system... there are 6 plasmas throughout out the house on different zones with russsound  sphere key pads. All of the equipment and wires for everything is in a media closet off the home theatre room that is the 7th media director for the 1080i projector... So all the 6-7MD's and the core will all be in a rack next to the all the other AV equipment for the house.... Most of the house A/V equipment is all source controlled right on the keypads in each zone. I Would like to have a 7 capture cards 1 in each MD connected to the output on all the cable boxes and then IR control all the cable boxs in each zone.....

So I would like to know how I can control all of the AV equipment equipment  in the media closet with a wifi orbiter everything in closet is IR except for xbox controller...which type of PCI tv capture cards are best for my application... They need to be able to communicate with each TV cable box independently and yes I want to use the cable boxes for the TV guides no direct connections without boxes...


Sorry if this is hard to follow...This is a custom set-up so ask anything you need to know..

Thanks