HD video over wireless...

Anyone doing an HD stuff over-the-air?

I've been kicking around the idea of setting up some sort of a media front
end in the living room for some time. Either putting something together
myself or one of those Media Center PC's. The ready-made Media Center PC's
are starting to look very attractive though, so leaning more towards them.
Plus, I have an XBox360. (The X360 can work as an "extension" to Microsoft
Media PC's.)

I have a closet stuffed with a bunch of fileservers, with about 1.2 TB of
total HDD. They are all headless, out of sight and mind, and do nothing
except spit out files on demand. (They also crunch Boinc/SETI.) I use
them for PC backups, ISO's, MP3's, SD video, ect. Pretty much the standard
stuff. Everything works great over-the-air.

HD video? Haven't tried this yet. 1080i (compressed) requires, what, 25
Mbs for real-time streaming? I have a spare Tri-Mode WAP that I could use
as client hardware. I tried the WAP out, from the intended location, using
a laptop and if 1080i is 25 Mbs, I "think" the pipe is going to be large and
stable enough. (802.11a was giving me a slight advantage over 802.11g, so
I'll be using 802.11a.)

If possible, I'd like to use the Media Center's HDD as "working room" and
the closet fileservers as more "permanent" storage space.

Anyone doing anything like this? Is it possible to stream real-time, or am
I just delusional? If not, how close to real-time might be possible? How
much buffering? As long as you don't have to download entire files first
(they are going to be enormous), I'd be happy.

Thanks!

> I've been kicking around the idea of setting up some sort of a media front
> end in the living room for some time. Either putting something together
> myself or one of those Media Center PC's. The ready-made Media Center PC's

My solution is a PC with tons of disk space, 3 DVB-T tuners and the very
free media software from http://www.gbpvr.com

The solution there is to play out to Hauppauge Media Extenders and they
work just fine but mine are wired.

You're asking a lot to stream HD content wireless, you're going to need
a maxium rate data connection and even then a following wind. Wireless
is great for mobility and unless your TV keeps moving around the house,
i'd recommend wires.

On the other hand, if you've got all the bits already, try it, it might
work for you.

David.

"David Taylor" wrote in message ...
> My solution is a PC with tons of disk space, 3 DVB-T tuners and the very
> free media software from http://www.gbpvr.com
>
> The solution there is to play out to Hauppauge Media Extenders and they
> work just fine but mine are wired.
>
> You're asking a lot to stream HD content wireless, you're going to need
> a maxium rate data connection and even then a following wind. Wireless
> is great for mobility and unless your TV keeps moving around the house,
> i'd recommend wires.
>
> On the other hand, if you've got all the bits already, try it, it might
> work for you.
>
> David.

Just scanned over your references and, wow, that is extremely cool.
Downloaded GBPVR and will play with it later.
Basically, just add the tuners and capture hardware on your PC at your
convienence? Much more flexible than the ready-made boxes..

Hauppauge MediaMVP -- only needed to look at for a few seconds before
deciding that I want one! One of the first things that came to mind was
that it is small enough to fit into a laptop bag. Use the laptop's wireless
to stream stuff from home, away from home. Pretty cool...
Hmm. I have a WAP, small enough to also travel with, that can function as a
client and also has a built-in DHCP server. I wonder if, away from home,
the MediaMVP could also be plugged into this WAP and you could point it
towards your home PC across the internet.

Yeah, after looking at the stuff you pointed out, along with some other
things, I think I'm going to not worry about "HD" for now. Chasing "HD"
network integration would be very $$$ and have to wonder if it would be
really worth it for as little content there is right now. Plus, I'm reading
that even the "HD stuff" is having all sorts of problems meshing into
computer networks. Give it a few years for it all to come together, and
have more content.

LOL, yeah, the more "wireless" stuff you have the more "wires" you seem to
accumulate. I'll see how well the MediaMVP works over the air, but if need
be will just run CAT5 for it. Imagine down the road, wireless probably
wouldn't work well for HD, so will probably be running a Giga-ethernet for
it anyway...

Thanks for the pointed direction! Going to read a bit more on the MediaMVP,
along with similiar products, and probably will have something like that by
next week! A measly $100 is definetly do-able.

Cheers!
-Eric

> Basically, just add the tuners and capture hardware on your PC at your
> convienence? Much more flexible than the ready-made boxes..

Yep, up to 8 tuners.

> Hauppauge MediaMVP -- only needed to look at for a few seconds before
> deciding that I want one! One of the first things that came to mind was
> that it is small enough to fit into a laptop bag. Use the laptop's wireless
> to stream stuff from home, away from home. Pretty cool...
> Hmm. I have a WAP, small enough to also travel with, that can function as a
> client and also has a built-in DHCP server. I wonder if, away from home,
> the MediaMVP could also be plugged into this WAP and you could point it
> towards your home PC across the internet.

No need, you either use Orb (www.orb.com - free) or the just about
finished webstreamer add on to gbpvr.

The MVP runs a variation of VNC and displays the same interface as the
normal gbpvr and whatever skin you want. It's the most WIFE 1.0 friendly
product I have ever bought. I now have 3

Come over to the gbpvr forums for help.

David.

"David Taylor" wrote in message ..

> No need, you either use Orb (www.orb.com - free) or the just about
> finished webstreamer add on to gbpvr.

Works with Orb too? Very cool! I've used Orb in the past with PDA's.

> The MVP runs a variation of VNC and displays the same interface as the
> normal gbpvr and whatever skin you want. It's the most WIFE 1.0 friendly
> product I have ever bought. I now have 3

LOL, three MVP's or three wives? :^)

> Come over to the gbpvr forums for help.
>
> David.

Yep, already been 'lurking' there. I found a local retailer that has a
couple in stock. Going to pick one up tonight or tomorrow after work.

Thanks!

"David Taylor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) d.com....
>
> No need, you either use Orb (www.orb.com - free) or the just about
> finished webstreamer add on to gbpvr.
>
> The MVP runs a variation of VNC and displays the same interface as the
> normal gbpvr and whatever skin you want. It's the most WIFE 1.0 friendly
> product I have ever bought. I now have 3
>
> Come over to the gbpvr forums for help.
>
> David.

Hi,

Thanks for pointing out that MVP. I just picked one up earlier today and
having fun with it. Definetly see picking up at least one more down the
road for another TV.

> Thanks for pointing out that MVP. I just picked one up earlier today and
> having fun with it. Definetly see picking up at least one more down the
> road for another TV.

Use it with gbpvr, it rocks then. The Hauppauge interface is dire by
comparison.

BTW, because this is a wireless thread, are you using the wireless MVP?
Working ok?

David.