And other physical switchboxes - audio input sources, perhaps 'tape loop' processing sources, speaker outputs... one major difference i've noticed between the last time I looked at LinuxMCE and something like the Crestron type stuff is if I want to use something other than a media source inside the computer itself - DVD drive, TV card, media file.
What i'd like to be able to do is to have the ability to control any combination of cascading switchers for inputs, outputs, processing loops. For instance one touch might connect a a game console through several separate switchboxes (if there are alot of sources a 4 into 1 box isn't enough) to one of three TV's in a room. Processing or amplifier loops would be relevant because of all the new audio formats and such that seem to be out now - I might prefer one receiver to be used for music listening and another for home theater listening, or more than one surround decoder being able to be used depending on source material. I might have three sets of speakers hooked up at different positions and ideally want that a part of the macro. An example being Dolby Atmos and Barco Auro 3D don't use the same speaker positions.
This isn't a gripey-type feature request, i'm just curious if this is on the roadmap, of interest to other people, how hard it would be to implement or add on to existing code, and similar... it's a long term goal, i'm not against learning how to do some script or code eventually or if finances permit hiring someone else to write code beyond me for the eventual 'dream home theater', but whether or how it might be implimented might change other parts of the equation in terms of what hardware to consider.
Ideally i'd just like to modify existing pushbutton electronic switchboxes but perhaps only remote controlled ones would work within the framework for instance. I'm not sure whether MCE needs to talk through some existing controller like a Zwave or IR code or if more homebrew solutions can also be interfaced.
