OT: Computer & TV

[MarkBarbieri]

While listening to the radio this morning, they were making fun of the perennial theme of the Consumer Eletronics Show - the "connected house." One of the people in the discussion made the comment that neither he nor anyone in his neighborhood had a computer hooked up to their TV and that the practice was still way out in geek-land. I don't have a TV in the house that isn't hooked up to a computer, but them I'm pretty far out in geek-land.

So do you have a computer hooked up to any of your TVs? If so, why? If not, why not?

I use ours primarily for movie playback. They are mostly cheap, low power computers that allow you to select a movie, TV show, collection of shorts, or a slideshow and watch it. Those all are stored on servers on the network.

I don't generally use the computers as DVRs as I find that dedicated DVRs do the job better and more reliably.

 

[Anewman]

I have two TVs(actually tunerless LCD moniters) hooked upto PCs with HDTV tuners, used for general TV viewing and TIVO like functions.

Also I find that the PCs upscale better than any DVD player I have seen, so we play(and maybe backup) standard DVDs through them.

In addition the MAIN TV we have a Xbox 360 that streams some of the content from one of the PCs.

 

[jann1033]

since i didn't know you could connect a tv to a computer guess what my answer would be "no"

however i did look up the word "geek" and number 1 fits me so .... come to think about it 2a might fit also, 3 not so much

geek /gik/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[geek] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Slang.
1. a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.
2. a peculiar or offensive person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
3. an expert in computers (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)

 

[handicap18]

I don't, but have looked into it. I'd like to get something that could at least use both the computer monitor and the TV screen. Doesn't have to be at the same time. We do have a computer in the living room right next to the TV, but that computer is a bit older and needs some updating.

My computer downstairs I did have hooked up to the stereo before I moved the TV and stereo to the other side of the room. I've looked into a few different TV cards to add to the computer. The video card I currently have does have a connection for cable TV, but I've never been able to get it to work.

I've always to have the computer and TV to be compatable with each other but honestly I really haven't had a whole lot of time to really sit down and look at exactly what I need to get the job done.

On the upstairs computer I think there is a few open PCI slots that I could add something to make it work with the TV (the TV is litterally 1 foot away from the TV so I probably should do something).

We are looking into getting a new DVD/VCR player/recorder for the upstairs TV. The DVD player is old (about 8 years), but maybe getting a DVD recorder for the PC and some sort of a card to send the video signal to the TV. With the audio out on a basic computer would that send the Dolby Digital audio out to a receiver or just a 2 channel stereo sound? Would a new PCI card that can send a video signal and a digital sound (or at least a Dolby ProLogic) signal be better? Right now my extra receiver isn't digital.

Some idea's from those that are currently set up might help me out a bit.

 

[ukcatfan]

No b/c of the $$$ to do it and probably only I would use it. My DW does not even like me to watch the HD stations. She prefers the old analog ones.

Kevin

 

[Marinerbaby]

We have a media center Gateway hooked up to the Tv in our bedroom. I love being able to pause, record, and watch one show while recording another. We use it as a DVD player as well. We have a projection TV downstairs which hooks up to my laoptop because I use it for shows.

 

[fitzperry]

OMG--you are pretty far out in geek land! I shudder to think what our parents would do with that kind of setup when they babysit (they already can't figure out how to work our tv's), though I am mildly surprised that my techie-geek husband hasn't suggested something similar. He's constantly grumbling about the supposedly inferior quality of our television situation, but we really don't watch much tv, so it doesn't seem like a sound investment to me (as opposed to . . . . I don't know . . . . camera equipment and travel! ). We have dvr's plus the standard assortment of cheap dvd players and vcr's and a surround sound system in the family room.

 

[Anewman]

On the upstairs computer I think there is a few open PCI slots that I could add something to make it work with the TV (the TV is litterally 1 foot away from the TV so I probably should do something).
We are looking into getting a new DVD/VCR player/recorder for the upstairs TV. The DVD player is old (about 8 years), but maybe getting a DVD recorder for the PC and some sort of a card to send the video signal to the TV. With the audio out on a basic computer would that send the Dolby Digital audio out to a receiver or just a 2 channel stereo sound? Would a new PCI card that can send a video signal and a digital sound (or at least a Dolby ProLogic) signal be better? Right now my extra receiver isn't digital.

Some idea's from those that are currently set up might help me out a bit.

Well I would take into account the SIZE/QUALITY of the current TVs. We purchased a couple 22inch widescreen LCDs for the kids rooms and gave away their TVs, but you can get 19inch LCDs(widescreen) for less than $150. So instead of having TV and Computer moniter they have one SLIM LCD with a much better picture than they used to have. The HD tuner Cards from MICROCENTER were $59. Their PCs are very modern and the video card gave me two options to hook up the moniters.

I know it all sounds complicated, but believe it or not the toughest thing for me was getting them reception. I had to install a outdoor(UHF) antenna and run cables, those small indoor antennas dont cut it for HD.

 

[hlbtimes2]

The tv in the movie room is sort of connected to the computer. I say sort of because we dont really use the two of them directly together. But, the computer is hooked to the Xbox 360. Dh uses it for music and photos on his tv. We have three tv's with DVR's so there isnt really a need to record more tv (3 tv's= 6 tuners recording- thats plenty! LOL).

 

[Master Mason]

I don't... mostly because there hasn't been a need to this point.

 

[handicap18]

Well I would take into account the SIZE/QUALITY of the current TVs. We purchased a couple 22inch widescreen LCDs for the kids rooms and gave away their TVs, but you can get 19inch LCDs(widescreen) for less than $150. So instead of having TV and Computer moniter they have one SLIM LCD with a much better picture than they used to have. The HD tuner Cards from MICROCENTER were $59. Their PCs are very modern and the video card gave me two options to hook up the moniters.

I know it all sounds complicated, but believe it or not the toughest thing for me was getting them reception. I had to install a outdoor(UHF) antenna and run cables, those small indoor antennas dont cut it for HD.

The TV in the living room is a Sony 34" HDTV and the computer monitor is a 15" NEC. So I don't think we'll bet getting a monitor that will be used as a TV.

Maybe the HD tuner card and use the DVD on the PC for movies and get an extra hard drive to record TV shows and have them playback on the TV instead of the PC monitor. I think DW would go for that.

 

[tinksdad]

We don't either at this point. Have an older large screen rear projection TV, when it goes, then I'll probably look more closely at that option. It does have many advantages. I really like the ability to record shows on the hard drive and watch them at your leisure and zipping through the commercials.

 

[ktulu]

I have yet to hook up a pc to tv. Mainly due to the wife not approving funds to purchase said hardware

Mark, what OS and software do you run on those?

 

[Lachesis00]

I have an HP media center. It is nice when my nephews come over and fight over the TV in the living room. I just plop one down in front of my computer.

I do record some stuff off of the TV. I wish I could figure out how to turn off the 'record daily'. It is driving me nuts. I have 4 hour long shows that record daily. It sucks your hard drive space down. I have to go delete every 2-3 days max.

 

[Sanka]

I got a modified XBOX, not the 360. I have it on my network, and stream movies/tv shows/music/slide shows on to my 48" HDTV rear projection.

It's great, cause I have the XBOX on a wireless network connection, so I can move it around to any of the TV's in the house easily. On the 48" I have the xbox HD pack, so it streams in HD. For the rest of the tv's, I just use the regular wires that came with the xbox.

 

[dcox931]

I cant say enough about my DVR.. this thing is a life saver. Without it, I wouldnt even have a TV, so maybe its a bad thing? LOL

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Our geeked out home setup is as follows:

We use DirecTV as our TV source. We tried cable (Time Warner) and didn't like the DVR's that they supplied.

All of the computers in the house are tied to the servers (1 old computer with a bunch of drives and 2 NAS RAID boxes). The servers have lots of movies, TV shows, cartoon shorts, MP3s, pictures, and slideshows on it. These can all be watched/heard from any of the computers around the house.

We have a downstairs "playroom". It's listed as a "formal dining room" on the floorplan, but since we're not a restaurant, that seemed like a pretty silly use for a room. It has the kid's computer. They have a 19" LCD. Their computer is mostly used for MAME games these days with a big double joystick "hotrod" controller. It also has an elliptical machine with an 18" LCD monitor in front of it. That monitor has it's own HD DVR and a mini-computer.

I have a computer in my office with dual 19" LCDs. That's where I do my photoshop work. I rarely watch movies on it and don't have any TV watching capability.

My wife's computer is in the kitchen. She uses it primarily for e-mail and web surfing. Because the family room TV is visible from the kitchen, she never watches TV on her computer. It's a low power mini-ITX. I picked that design because in our last house it was hidden in a cabinet and I wanted to minimize the thermal output.

In the family room, we have a 50" HD DLP rear projection TV. It has a computer, an HD DVR, a DVD recorder, and a Wii hooked up to it.

Upstairs we have a theater room with a front projector and a 110" screen. It has a computer and an HD DVR. My wife watches TV on it after the kids are in bed and we all watch movies on it. Most Friday nights we have family movie night. We also have a GameCube hooked up to it.

We could use the computers as DVRs, but we can't pick up "over-the-air" HD broadcasts where we live, so we couldn't record HD on them. We find it easier to just use the HD DVRs provided by DirecTV. The computers could also be used for big screen gaming, but we've never really bothered. I don't really play PC games anymore and the kid's prefer the Gamecube and Wii games.

Here's the view from between the front and back row of seats:

Additional pictures are at Barbieri Home Theater

I also have a laptop that I use as a wireless web surfer around the house.

The two main TVs (family room and theater room) are controlled by Prontos (touchscreen remote controls). They are so easy to use that a minute of quick instructions is usually enough for a house guest to pick it up and be able to do everything they need.

We don't have any TVs in the bedroom. My wife and I are both avid readers and like to read in bed. Neither wants to have that interrupted by someone watching the TV. We're also not keen on the kids having a TV in their room. Pesonally, I find TV boring. I love the technology though.

Off the grid, so to speak, we also have two 7" headrest monitors in the minivan. We have dual DVD players in the dash, so the kids can watch the same movie or put on headphones and each watch their own movie. We also have it set up so that we can move the GameCube from the theater room into the van for driving trips. The boys also have their own DS's for handheld gaming.

My next project (I've been saying this for a while now), is to mount a 32" LCD HDTV in a picture frame over the fireplace along with an embedded computer and use it as a digital picture frame. I'd also like to mix in some short HD video segments along with the pictures to do "Harry Potter style" pictures.

 

[mabas9395]

My Tivo is hooked up to my computer so I can download TV recording to my mp3 player and watch shows/movies on my one and a half hour commute on the bus to down town Seattle.

 

[ktulu]

Mark,

Nice setup, but what OS/software do you run?

 

[MarkBarbieri]

what OS/software do you run?

The PC in the theater room runs Windows XP Media Center 2005 as the OS, but I use Meedio rather than Media Center for the front end. I find it to be much more easily customized. The rest of the PCs just run Windows XP Home.