Wiring for video AND computers at the same time.

[Graham Harrison]

Just bought a new (well 2nd hand!) house originally built on the 30s and extended in the 80s and then again in the late 90s. We don't have an outside TV aerial and I'm thinking of getting one installed. That has set me thinking about how to then distribute the signal though the house. It used to be easy, bring the wire into the house, split the cable and away you go (bear in mind it's over 20 years since I last did this). Now, it might be nice to make it possible to view the output from a video machine situated with one TV on a different TV. With the emergence of PCs with TV (and huge discs to allow video recording etc) the possibility of networking such a PC with other PCs and also allowing another TV to view video from the PC hard disc is another thing I'd like to allow for even if I don't have the kit right now. And then, of course, there's the issue of controlling lights, heating etc.

I probably need to do some background reading first if only to rein in some of my wilder thinking. I see there's a "Dummies" book on the subject; any good? Any other books? Any web sites I should peruse? A different Usenet group?

The house is on the South Somerset/Mendip council border. Anyone happen to know an installer in the area?

Thank you for any pointers.

[Vortex]

Cat 5/6 wiring should be all that's necessary going forwards (or perhaps no wiring at all). Take a look at

read the datasheet.

David

[BigWallop]

The home automation websites are a good place to start. It has lots of ideas and tricks to follow in making things work magically.

for a few discussions on this type of subject, there's here:

[Harry Bloomfield]

Graham Harrison used his keyboard to write :

Add a TV distribution amplifier after the video, then a coax from the outputs to each point a TV might be needed.

For the PC's a router is the way to go... Probably a combined broadband modem/router with a wireless access point. A network card in each PC, either for wired or wireless (WiFi). If the unit is mounted in a suitable location, you might find WiFi will provide adequate coverage, otherwise a CAT5 cable from router to each PC.

[Derek *]

We had a lot of difficulty getting all of Tyne Tees and all of Yorkshire plus a vcr and satellite reciever without patterning (the cheap modulators in sat recievers and videos are double sideband and spread over 2 channels). That was before C5 not to mention digital.

PC with TV card equated to low resolution and frame rate when I tried it. Only really good enough for watching in a small window whilst working at the PC.

PC with USB frame grabber is still only vcr resolution, but with no tape noise (better), but with compression artifacts (worse). TV was recorded as raw data IIRC 1 hour = 37 gigabytes! Compressing it to Mpeg takes several hours, busies up the PC like nobody's business and the final Mpeg file is about 1,100 Mb/hour.

There's no real reason not to use wireless networking

uk.tech.broadcast

Don't let what I said about PCs and video put you off if you want to take it up as a hobby. It's nothing if not absorbing (of time and money), but dedicated recordable dvd machines are now approaching the

100 quid mark and have a high useability factor for SWMBO. More/less every PC comes with a DVD burner nowadays so a good way to go is to capture off air onto a re-recordable DVD on a dedicated DVD recorder, then burn it onto a cheap bulk DVD if you want to keep it. Even on long play quality is quite acceptable. That's 6 hours on a DVD.

Well my son just bought a house in Bristol and was offered all this sort of thing as an optional extra, so somebody must be doing it in the south west

send them an email or phone their Bristol office and ask them.

DG

[Owain]

"Graham Harrison" wrote | Now, it might be nice to make it possible to view the output from a | video machine situated with one TV on a different TV. With the | emergence of PCs with TV (and huge discs to allow video recording | etc) the possibility of networking such a PC with other PCs and also | allowing another TV to view video from the PC hard disc is another | thing I'd like to allow for even if I don't have the kit right now.

Gigabit Ethernet is just coming along; in 5 years time it and a hard-disk home media server in the loft will be commonplace, streaming audio and video down to chipped Xboxes in every room. Running Myth if you want an open source solution, or MS Windows Meeja Center if you want 'digital rights management'

Owain

[Andy Burns]

I'd do some more digging on that device, I remember seeing some flack about it on digitalspy (or maybe somewhere else?)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Well, yes. Hence the restriction to 5 analogue channels in the UK. Using 'free' parts for a modulator doesn't mean you'll be free of problems that broadcasts would have had.

I've seen plenty multi-channel UHF systems used in TV studios, etc. They're all rubbish. Only safe way is to use baseband.

[Lurch]

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:17:22 +0000, Andy Burns strung together this:

What device? (No internet access currently, long story don't ask).

[Vortex]

I purchased a "Squeezebox" a few months ago

and I have to say it is fantastic. It does exactly what it says in the propaganda.

Of course this does only audio (and that's all I wanted), the killer feature is the integral display (no need for a TV to be in to use it). ....there are no more CD's in my living room for the children to disrespect!

Having switched on to this technology the D-link device [or something like it] is most compelling. Of course you would also need some kind of "network attached" Hard Disk Recorder to complete the picture.

I'm sure in the coming months some interesting kit will become available.

[Actually this stuff already exists if you are prepared to "Sell out" to Bill Gates - in the form of Windows Media Center ]

David

[Vortex]

D-Link DSM-320 wireless media player.

How did you post your message then?

David.

[Lurch]

On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 18:56:54 -0000, "Vortex" strung together this:

Ah, right. I'd steer clear on D-Link altogether. I fitted a few D-Link modems and firewalls for clients last year and have had nothing but trouble with them. Wireless networks aren't exactly the best way to distribute a distribution system around the home as the network gets clogged up when everyone tries to watch TV at once.

I've got NTP access, but internet access is a PITA as I'm back to a dodgy VNC connection to the machine with the copy of Agent on it, which doesn't do http very well as it's geting on a bit. Time to buy some new PC's I think.

[Chris]

TV cards have moved on a *long* way from this. Not as simple or cheap as a standalone DVD recorder, but cards like these:

will record broadcast mpeg stream (freeview) direct, full PAL resolution, approx 1GB per hour. No need to convert from AVI to mpeg, takes approx 15-30 minutes on a fast pc to transfer to DVD if required (I am currently copying a file to DVD as I type - you only need to leave the computer to itself whilst actually burning the DVD). Quality should be at least as good as a DVD recorder.

Coupled with a listings guide like

(or even just with its own 7 day EPG) you have the basis of a very powerful and user friendly system.

Obviously it is not for everyone, and you need a fast pc, but it does work very well. This particular card also lets you view television across a network, so I have the card in one pc and can watch TV on any other pc connected to the network.

Cheers,

Chris

[Chris]

Another option is this device:

I don't have any personal experience of it.

Chris

[Dave Liquorice]

That group is really for camera/microphone to transmitter after that many other groups take over, try:

uk.tech.digital-tv, uk.tech.tv.sky, uk.tech.tv.video.pvr

[Andy Burns]

It's a D-Link ethernet/wifi box that connects to your TV/AV setup and lets you stream audio/video (MP3/MPEG/DIVX etc) from your PC ...

[Andy Burns]

I liked the look of them too

All my CDs are in a cupboard upstairs (and ripped to MP3 too of course) before buying a squezebox I though I'd better have a look at what else is around, the DLink caught my eye, even though I dont particularly want/need video streaming at the moment

I think it talks to a server process on a windows PC via it's Wifi/ethernet interface, it would be nice to have something a bit more open than that

Yes I think I'll bide my time a while now ...

No thanks, can't escape windows as a desktop O/S yet, but have done for server and don't plan to make my TV prone to BSOD

[Anna Kettle]

Any wiring you install should IMHO be ducted. Whatever technology you install will be out of date in 10 years time so it would be nice to be able to upgrade as time and money permit, without having to rip plaster off walls

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Lurch]

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 19:53:49 +0000, Andy Burns strung together this:

Something similar to my Hauppauge MVP then, which I'm extremely pleased with, but with WiFi.

[Lobster]

I've got one of these, but have never managed to get it to work across the network on another PC. Any tips??!!

Am also a bit worried that doing so, and permitting the required access to the PCs, might leave my network vulnerable to attack from the outside (mentioned by the manufacturer) - do you know if that's an issue? My net access is via a router, and am running Windoze firewalla.

David