Ok I really have no reason to complain considering I was able to get the TV server/client setup running without much difficulty with no experience whatsoever with anything involving a server. I am disappointed that it appears the client PC still has to have a lot of guts in order to watch a live HDTV stream. Is there anyway this can be set up where the server PC does the bulk of the work and the client PC just displays the TV stream? I have a quad core PC that could probably handle a few HDTV streams with no real slow down and some older PC's that struggle mightily just to display one. Anyway, what are the benefits of using a TV server/client setup rather than just allowing each PC on a network to handle TV as you see fit? Im not sure if Im asking that well, and again just the fact that this works and is free I dont feel like I have any right to complain. Just a bit disappointed it didnt work the way I was expecting. Also, is there any way the TV server can be configured to serve media files like divx videos, DVDs, saved HD content?
Disappointed (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tiptaptoe
- Start date
Australia
First Off,
Welcome to the MP Family.
The TVServer is designed to control all TV Aspects therefore multiple clients can watch TV using on machines TV Cards (i.e.The Server). The TV Server itself does not decode the stream, it just is a transport mechanism. The great this is that recordings are central so again each client can watch the recordings from a single point.
Indeed the client does need to be a bit on the "Grunty" side to decode the HD streams (stream can be upto 15MB per second) therefore it is ideal if you have a Video Card that can handle MPEG2/H264 decoding in hardware (known as Hardawre Acceleration, DXVA or GPU processing) and that will allow it to take the majority of load off the CPU. Note your Codec selection will also determine how big your machine will need to be.
If you have each client run it's own TV, you may need to purchase more TV cards and also have aerial leads run to each machine. TVServer eliminates this issue as all cards are located on the server. Recordings are done on the server so if each client requests a recording, only the server has to turn on (if you turn it off) instead of each client having to turn on to start the recording on it own machine. More info on the TVServer comparisons can be found on the wiki TV-Server/overview - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation
Now for the extra Media question (Music, DVD's and Photos). Yes these could be stored on the Server in Folders that are shared. The clients can then be configured to to connect to these share and MP setup to use these shares as the Media Locations. The wiki has a guide for a centralised database for multiple clients so IMDB information only has to be retrieved once and then all clients will be updated next time they start. UserGuides/CentralisedDatabases - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation
Note that there are limitations to this though and is stated in the wiki. There ather alternatives as well if these limitations cause to many problems.
I would also suggest that you update your System Specs under User CP menu on the forums, to help assist in where you hardware issue may be. You may find the codecs you are using are not the best for your system.
Welcome to the MP Family.
The TVServer is designed to control all TV Aspects therefore multiple clients can watch TV using on machines TV Cards (i.e.The Server). The TV Server itself does not decode the stream, it just is a transport mechanism. The great this is that recordings are central so again each client can watch the recordings from a single point.
Indeed the client does need to be a bit on the "Grunty" side to decode the HD streams (stream can be upto 15MB per second) therefore it is ideal if you have a Video Card that can handle MPEG2/H264 decoding in hardware (known as Hardawre Acceleration, DXVA or GPU processing) and that will allow it to take the majority of load off the CPU. Note your Codec selection will also determine how big your machine will need to be.
If you have each client run it's own TV, you may need to purchase more TV cards and also have aerial leads run to each machine. TVServer eliminates this issue as all cards are located on the server. Recordings are done on the server so if each client requests a recording, only the server has to turn on (if you turn it off) instead of each client having to turn on to start the recording on it own machine. More info on the TVServer comparisons can be found on the wiki TV-Server/overview - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation
Now for the extra Media question (Music, DVD's and Photos). Yes these could be stored on the Server in Folders that are shared. The clients can then be configured to to connect to these share and MP setup to use these shares as the Media Locations. The wiki has a guide for a centralised database for multiple clients so IMDB information only has to be retrieved once and then all clients will be updated next time they start. UserGuides/CentralisedDatabases - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation
Note that there are limitations to this though and is stated in the wiki. There ather alternatives as well if these limitations cause to many problems.
I would also suggest that you update your System Specs under User CP menu on the forums, to help assist in where you hardware issue may be. You may find the codecs you are using are not the best for your system.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks for the info, definitely helps to know what this setup is supposed to be for. It is pretty neat. Anyway, I was hoping perhaps I could build an Intel Atom based PC for a client and my quad core (Q6600) would do the decoding. I was a bit suprised that the client PC I started with (Athlon 64 3000+ with a FX5700 and 512 mb RAM) was not strong enough to be used as a client (so an Atom based PC wouldnt have a chance). However I tried it on another PC with an Intel Pentium Dual Core and it worked great. Ive been using Mediaportal for a year or two already, but this is my first time at trying out this version. Its not easy for me to list at PC specs because I currently have 4 PCs around the house to choose from. The aforementioned Athlon 64 based machine is by far the slowest. The others are at least Intel dual core based. I have 2 USB HD tuners (Dvico HDTV5 and Hauppage HVR-950) and a HDHomerun. Hmm....Im thinking of the possibilities of actually being able to utilize all four tuners from a single interface (Mediaportal client) and record all content to one drive instead of onto individual PCs...interesting...good stuff indeed. Thanks again.
Definitely, TV Server will be the way to go for your recording from a central place. Sounds like you may need to play with codecs to get it going. Your specs should be good enough for SD TV atleast. Have alook on the wiki for some codec guides. I think it is under tips & tricks.
Also just to mention that a thin client App was written just for watching Live TV and recordings. MediaPortal does not need to be installed Only this thin client and VLC.
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/mp-tv-client-262/announce-mptvclient-v1-2-5-20-12-2007-ii-22027/
I could run it on a PIII 500Mhz 384MB Ram - 5700Fx card. SD TV only with the occasional stutter.
Also just to mention that a thin client App was written just for watching Live TV and recordings. MediaPortal does not need to be installed Only this thin client and VLC.
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/mp-tv-client-262/announce-mptvclient-v1-2-5-20-12-2007-ii-22027/
I could run it on a PIII 500Mhz 384MB Ram - 5700Fx card. SD TV only with the occasional stutter.
Just want to echo the point that you can build a less poweful PC, just make sure it has a decent Graphics Card. An ATI HD 3450 is cheap and should decode SD and HD (and Blu-Ray etc) all fine!
I think you need to forgot the Atom idea for a while, the current models don't seem to be powerful enought.
Here is a review -> http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/06/24/review_intel_atom_230/
Going by their comments it wouldn't be good for a HTPC.
Here is a review -> http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/06/24/review_intel_atom_230/
Going by their comments it wouldn't be good for a HTPC.
Currently I wouldnt recomend any ATI card for anyone who is planning to have Vista: 0001192: Flickering Tv-guide and other overlays with EVR enabled - MediaPortal Bugtracker
What comes to the issue that tv server would help the client to have smaller CPU/GPU load, that would mean that the server PC would be decoding the HD content and passing it as non-decoded video stream. Now if you calculate how much is 1920x1080x25x3 bytes/second you see the bandwidth requirements are going to be enormous.