On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 09:00:20 +1100 Stephen Kühn disseminated the following:
I end up ripping movies to AVI to view on my network... Quality is high, speed is good.
Your TV has an ethernet port?! You *are* good...
Joe; I realise that you were just kidding with this last post, or being a smarta$$, but if Stephen doesn't mind, I'd like to bring you up to speed.
First, Stephen was saying that he could view his AVI's on his *network*, which means he could view them on other PC's. However, it is not only possible, but the technology is already available to stream multi-media to TV's and DVR/PVR's via networked set-top boxes.
Second, there's a plethora of AGP video cards available (it would seem from your post that they are not available in the GTA however! Grin!), with TV or DVI outputs, which can then be connected to a TV or Plasma Screen.
Once that's done, you can connect the sound output from that PC to your stereo or surround-sound system and Voila! You now have a Home Theater which is actually a PC (which may or may not store the media locally).
In fact, you should also take a look at "Freevo" or "Freevix" so that you can learn about the various "HTPC" (Home Theater Personal Computer) interfaces which are available for Linux.
Hell, even Microsoft has released an add-on for WinBlow$ XP that adds an HTPC interface to a WindowsXP PC to provide all the functionality required.
Personally, I use my laptop (HP ZD7000) for just this purpose. It includes SVHS and Surround-Sound outputs which I connect into my home entertainment system. All of this is networked to my server which is currently storing about 200 ripped movies.
Really, Joe. You've got to stop spending too much time with your head in that large tub of sand in your living room, Dude! You're missing out on all the fun.
While you're at it, you should have a look at the "Via Arena" site to see how a lot of enthusiasts are connecting Car PC's to their home-media networks by wireless connections to update music and video content as well as weather and map information to their car PC systems.
Where ya been hiding for that last year? Kitchener? Etobicoke? Jeesh!
*End of Update*
-- Lanman Registered Linux User #190712 "Putting Microsoft out of business, one PC or Server at a time"
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