HTPC options - what to do?

James_M

Hi,

I am struggling to figure out what the best solution for me is. I have

LG Cinema System - I can't recall the model but it is networked and not dissimilar to this.

Synology DS211

Dell Optiplex GX270 (ouch) running XP with 2GB RAM and a Radeon HD 2400 PRO AGP graphics card.

What I need is a simple solution for:
- Media player
- Server
- SAB, Couch Potato etc

The problem is the LG player plays limited formats (no mkv for example), the Synology server only connects via LAN (the front end isnt great compared to XMBC also) and the now ancient PC really struggles when I try to play HD movies via XMBC on it. Its otherwise great for SAB etc.

Am I wasting my time trying to make use of the PC?

Should I just get a Linux/Andoid media device and will that give me a solution?

Any help appreciated

MaceFace

I have one of these between my TV and Synology:
http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/arctic-mc-001-blu-ray-xbmc/4109667

BTW: I do not know this seller, just pointing out the device. Also, you only need a small HDD/SSD to boot from. Could use a USB key but it will be slooooowwww.

Fits all your needs. Plays everything.

Couch Potato, SAB, Media etc on your NAS. Arctic is your player.

James_M

Just thinking, if I run Sab etc on my NAS (currently halfway there) could something like a Doidbox handle it?

Far cheaper but I'm not sure if I am missing something...

28064212

If you can run Sab etc. on the NAS, a Raspberry Pi with OpenElec installed on it would work, and be very cheap

James_M

I was wondering about that but was concerned about how well it handles HD movies.
Its ok for that?

Johnboy1951

James_M wrote: »

I was wondering about that but was concerned about how well it handles HD movies.
Its ok for that?

The Pi does 1080 quite well using Openelec with XBMC ...

James_M

Well, after getting used to openelec on the pi and sab on the diskstation I'm really happy with it.

That brings be to the next stage - TV.

I would love to ditch sky Can anyone give me some advice here? I gather I could hook up a dvb-s tuner to either the diskstation or the pi. Which makes more sense?

Do you think my kit is up to this or should get a separate set top box for TV feed?

Incidentally, the tuners seem pretty pricy. I gather I will also need a dvb-t and antenna for saorview?

Any advice welcome!

neacy69

James_M wrote: »

Well, after getting used to openelec on the pi and sab on the diskstation I'm really happy with it.

That brings be to the next stage - TV.

I would love to ditch sky Can anyone give me some advice here? I gather I could hook up a dvb-s tuner to either the diskstation or the pi. Which makes more sense?

Do you think my kit is up to this or should get a separate set top box for TV feed?

Incidentally, the tuners seem pretty pricy. I gather I will also need a dvb-t and antenna for saorview?

Any advice welcome!

There is a good guide here on how to setup the raspberry to work with XBMC to watch/record live tv. I havent done it myself but seems easy enough to get going with...

Knasher

James_M wrote: »

I would love to ditch sky Can anyone give me some advice here? I gather I could hook up a dvb-s tuner to either the diskstation or the pi. Which makes more sense?

Depends on what you plan on doing. Hooking them up to the PI is much easier than to the diskstation, so if you only plan on watching live tv you are probably better off doing that. If you plan on recording, then you will need to leave the device that records on continuously, so it might be preferable to hook them up to the diskstation. However that probably doesn't contain either software or drivers for controlling tuners, so you would need to add it manually and that complicates matters.

If you are running tuners then make sure your Pi has a decent power supply. I often use mine just powered off the usb port on the TV, but I don't have any extra USB devices plugged into it, you won't get away with that if you're running tuners.

If you would like the ability to record one channel when watching another then that complicates matters again. Each dvb-s channel would require a seperate tuner (generally), and you would need 2 dvb-t tuners to cover all the Irish channels.

James_M wrote: »

Incidentally, the tuners seem pretty pricy. I gather I will also need a dvb-t and antenna for saorview?

You will need a dvb-s2 tuner for satellite (dvb-s2 is the updated spec of dvb-s, and you will need it for receiving HD transmissions.)
You will also need a dvb-t tuner, there is a more expensive dvb-t2 tuners, but that spec is only used in the UK, saorview stuck with dvb-t transmissions and those tuners are much cheaper than the dvb-t2 ones.

Padraig Mor

Knasher wrote: »

Depends on what you plan on doing. Hooking them up to the PI is much easier than to the diskstation, so if you only plan on watching live tv you are probably better off doing that. If you plan on recording, then you will need to leave the device that records on continuously, so it might be preferable to hook them up to the diskstation. However that probably doesn't contain either software or drivers for controlling tuners, so you would need to add it manually and that complicates matters.

The Synology has a number of software packages available to handle tv tuners - TVHeadEnd, DVBLink and Synology's own Video Station (availability will vary by processor in the Diskstation). Maybe more too? Looking into this at the moment with a view to dumping Sky at some stage myself. From my - limited - reading so far, it seems Video Station is likely the least useful. DVBLink may be a bit better than TVHeadEnd, but isn't free (€30) and requires more money spent on EPG providers for best functionality. DVB-T USB tuners can be picked up quite cheap - many are not officially supported but are likely to work anyway. Satellite tuners more expensive. I think you can connect up to 4 tuners to the Diskstation (may be wrong on this).

Seems to me like using the Diskstation will work well, once it is set up properly - but that this may prove quite difficult (or could be a piece of cake!)

James_M

Thanks folks.

this may prove quite difficult (or could be a piece of cake!)

Nice conclusion, Padraig - sums up my view of this project.

@Knasher: Never thought about the possibility of needing 4 tuners :eek:

I think I'll keep my options open and start with a dvb-s2 tuner which will work on both and see which goes better.

I do wonder if I should just grab a combo pvr box but will give this a shot.

Johnboy1951

When selecting tuners I advise keeping in mind any future compatibility with Linux that might be required.
Despite promises some manufacturers have not released drivers for Linux, while others have.

Although I had initially intended to use Blackgold tuners in my HTPC, I bought TBS instead, due to lack of Linux drivers from the manufacturer, despite promises made via email etc etc.

I was glad I did .... especially as I can now run the HTPC using a lightweight Linux OS like Openelec, with TVHeadend backend integrated into it.

The R-Pi with Openelec also can be used on a remote tv connected over LAN (wired) to display LiveTV (DTT & Sat) as well as all stored videos and recordings.


Tuner cards are available with multiple tuners on each ..... dual or quad tuners as required.
Dual DTT tuners will allow all Saorview channels to be available simultaneously

---

provided the tuner cards are capable of providing the full mux output and not just a single channel.
I suppose this is why good tuner cards are costly ....

BTW ..... VLC with HTSP plugin will also play content from the Openelec setup, on any PC on the LAN.
I find XBNC uses less resources for a better user experience, on my laptop.

Just some random thoughts

For me the best set up would be a tuner box with the required number of tuner cards .... say dual dtt and dual sat ....... running Openelec with tvheandend backend and xbmc frontend, and a large capacity HDD for recordings and video storage.

That could be a HTPC sitting under the main TV (with graphics output), or a server box (headless - no graphics out) sitting in a press out of the way.
From that via wired LAN feed as many TV points as you wish in your home ..... and use a R-Pi at each TV with user interface provided by Openelec & XBMC.

..... of course that is just me ......

James_M

Thanks for that Johnboy. Really helpful.

So should I be going for something like this?
VBox Home TV Gateway XTi 3340
They seem quite new but look useful.

Also, I see they use unicable. I presume a combiner would address that rather than needing to change the LNB?

Johnboy1951

I had not come across that device previously, so have no idea how well it works, what kind of EPG it provides, or in what form it saves the recordings ..... DRM protection? .... or indeed whether it is limited in the external HDD it will save to.

Have you seen any pics or explanations of the user interface to it?

One thing to note is that there is a limit of 4 simultaneous users ....... this makes me wonder if each one must take complete control of an individual tuner ........ if so the the 4 could not all watch a DTT channel for instance?

Sorry, because I know nothing of the device I would be asking a lot of questions about its capabilities.
If the answers show it is sufficient for your needs then that is good

James_M

These are good questions I don't know the answer to! And there is v little info around on them.

I've been searching around for something else and am really struggling to find a tuner box that check these boxes.

Any ideas?

James_M

Okaay..

So, as far as I can gather from the cable/TV forums there isn't a box with:
-dual DVB-S(2), dual DVB-T (Saorview, freesat)
- record +
- 7 day channel listing

Am I right in saying I could get a box to just do the basics and feed to the RPi which can provide the EPG, listing, recording using TVHeadEnd or other?

Or am I way off?

Jesus - the dual platform is a real killer

Johnboy1951

James_M wrote: »

Okaay..

So, as far as I can gather from the cable/TV forums there isn't a box with:
-dual DVB-S(2), dual DVB-T (Saorview, freesat)
- record +
- 7 day channel listing

Am I right in saying I could get a box to just do the basics and feed to the RPi which can provide the EPG, listing, recording using TVHeadEnd or other?

Or am I way off?

Jesus - the dual platform is a real killer

I doubt you can do what you appear to have indicated ..... but I am not sure without much greater detail

In order to get Dual Sat and Dual DTT tuners, with the full muxes/transponders made available to all users, a 7 day EPG, central recording repository etc. I built a HTPC with TBS tuners, running Openelc operating system, using tvheadend backend and XBMC front end, with tvheadend managing the EPG and recordings.

It is a much more costly way to go, but about the only way I am sure of getting all the benefits mentioned.

As an example ...... there might be 10 TV channels on a Sat transponder.
One user tunes into one of those channels, thus tying up that tuner ........ BUT, because the whole transponder is made available, any other user can view the same TV channel as the primary user ....... OR any other TV channel on that transponder.

I am aware that this is not always possible with some set ups.
I am unsure exactly why ...... maybe someone will clarify the position ....... but believe it is a function of the tuner card to pass through all channels on a Sat transponder or DTT mux so making them all available to all users.

This is most important for Irish DTT IMO ...... two tuners can thus make ALL Irish TV channels available to all users.

I realise my answer is not what you wished to hear, but the closest you can get (as far as I am aware) from a commercially available device would be one of the Linux based multi-tuner boxes ..... triple tuner or such.

James_M

Thanks again Johnboy. I'm less concerned about feeding to multiple users though