I had toyed with putting this thought in the SS 7 requests thread (here: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=26874) but I thought that this was a bit too far off topic. So I'm posting in a new thread:
I used to use an HTPC hooked up to my TV for all of the wonderful things that HTPC gives you. But there were two inherent problems that I was never able to fully tackle to my satisfaction: 1. I _HATED_ having a PC in my living room... no matter how much I tried to silence it I could still hear it, no matter how pretty I tried to make it, it still looked like a PC, and stuck out like a sore thumb along side my slick A/V devices. 2. Even though the machine gave me all sorts of cool things I could do, I really only used it for music and photos. So the HTPC seemed too much like overkill for the relatively simple things I regularly used it for. So when I began to explore other options, I came across the Squeezebox, and I couldn't be happier as far as my music is concerned (how happy I am that I have gapless playback! I can't believe this was of little concern to the HTPC folk). Plus it looks sexy as hell sitting next to my receiver. But I am left without the ability to view my photos on my TV... SlimServer does eveything I need for music, so I was wondering if there was a similar option for photos. Here's what I'm looking for: - retrieves my photos over my home network, wireless preferred, but not mandatory (ie: a solution that only plays back from a memory card or DVD is not what I'm looking for) - can navigate using an IR remote control. No keyboard or mouse. TV display could be used to browse entire photo collection. - ability to view the pictures using the maximum capabilities of my TV (ie: HD if available, S-Video or composite if my TV is challenged...) and auto scaling to match TV resolution. (scaling could be done on the server side to minimize network bandwitdh usage?) - ability to access this remotely for computer viewing over the internet would be a HUGE bonus I picture a SlimServer / Squeezebox type solution for this, where the server does most of the work and "streams" the media according to the capabilities of the display device (much like streaming to a remote winamp player transcodes to MP3, while streaming the FLAC version to the local squeezebox), while the hardware device sitting beside my TV is JUST for retrieval and display. All organization and management would happen on the server side. Does anyone know of somethiunbg that does what I am looking for? There are networked media players that do this kind of thing, but since I'm only interested in the photo display aspect of them, I was hoping to keep the cost down by only paying for what I need/want. The ability to play music is redundant (nothing beats my SB3) and the ability to play video is something I just won't use (beyond my PVR, I have no desire to watch video files on my TV -- a behaviour I learned when I had the ability with the HTPC). I appreciate any and all suggestions that you may have! - Thanks! -- j.e.f.f ------------------------------------------------------------------------ j.e.f.f's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4346 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=27078 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
