New and overwhelmed... (1 Viewer)

[doane2u]

Sorry, but this is really confusing to me. I haven't installed MediaPortal yet because I'm not sure what I am doing... I have a PC in my office with my huge music library on it which I mainly use MediaMonkey to organize and play back along with Windows 7 MediaCenter Player if I want to view my photo/images and play music at the same time (I can only do that on the PC monitor, not on the TV). I also use ACDsee to organize my large image collection.

From my office PC to the the living room I am connected to Comcast by Cat7 through a wifi/router in the living room which also handles any Wifi. The Comcast cable coming in splits and also connects to their set top box and then by HD cable to my Onkyo TX NR747 Receiver. A Sony Blueray player also HD connects to the receiver and the receiver HD out connects to my Samsung Smart TV with HD cable with is bi directional.

From the living room receiver I can connect to my computer by CAT cable using the DLNA MediaMonkey or Windows server and listen to music (only) and their playlists, but only with limited, small cover art from the tags. All my music is FLAC but can be converted easily if necessary. I can also connect to a USB, or to Pandora, etc. on line but with small cover art.

From the Samsung smart TV I can also connect to the computer by the CAT cable using the Windows server or the MediaMonkey Library server and I can view photos, videos or play music and playlists but it's clunky and I can't do very much or play both at once.

I would like to be able to play back from my computer a folder of my pictures with a play list of my music on the TV. I could start this going from the computer, but It would be nice if I could do it from the TV using an attached wireless mouse or keyboard, which the Samsung can do through the several USB ports, (but with somewhat limited capability, especially when on the internet).

So, is MP something that will work and how would I set it up? The screen shots look amazing and I would love to have some of these capabilities, although I'm not wanting yet another media organizer since I am so used to using MediaMonkey at that this point. And if I did use it, could it import my playlists and rating stars, etc. from MediaMonkey? (I can export playlists to M3u)

In this setup is my computer in the office considered the "sever" with MP installed on it and the TV, is the "client?"

Thanks,

 

[doane2u]

OK, looks like I need a TV card... what would be the least expensive card that is recommended?
Still not sure how this is supposed to be set up though... Is the Comcast cable that I use for internet connection on my computer supposed to have a splitter and one leg would then go to the new TV card in the computer?
And what happens to the Comcast TV box in the living room? Is the TV card in the computer now going to be sending programs back to the HTR in the living room?
Would really appreciate some help here.

 

[Edalex]

Hello, if nothing have changed for last years you should check if Comcast tv channels are "copy once" or "copy free" before buying TV card.
Mediaportal will work only with copy free channels. Am i right, @mm1352000 ?

 

[milhouse]

Yes, from a fellow US user, if you use a TV tuner card (e.g. Ceton InfitiTV) with a cable card, MP is only able to access the channels that are marked as "copy freely". For most providers that is not very many channels. Locals almost certainly, premium channels almost never.

I don't really use MP for photos, so can't even speak to whether you can play music at the same time you are browsing pictures.

For your music library, MP will scan your tags and add to the database - pretty much no matter what tool you use to organize your collection.

I use MP primary for video (Moving Pictures plugin for movies, MP TV Series for TV shows) from my large media library. Only occassionally for music, never for photos. So I might not be able to help that much. By in my setup, I have an HTPC connected to each TV, and a server that has TV Server and the TV tuner card, as well as all the file shares for movies, TV series, and music. All wired ethernet for best performance. And no DLNA.

Milhouse

 

[mm1352000]

For most providers that is not very many channels. Locals almost certainly, premium channels almost never.

I wouldn't necessarily say most, but I'd agree that what you'll get is certainly very highly dependant on provider and also area/head-end.

 

[123vak123]

I would like to be able to play back from my computer a folder of my pictures with a play list of my music on the TV.

Hi

Of course you can watch your photos to music from your playlists on the TV. You can use the built-in slideshow mode or run external screensaver. For example, PhotoScroll screensaver - looks like a screensaver from the Winds Media Center and works great with photos.