[mythtv-users] distributed simultaneous playback

[Mark Wedel]

On 08/28/15 09:31 AM, Jerome Yuzyk wrote:
> What options would I have to display MythFrontend playback simultaneously on monitors in my living room and kitchen, about 40 feet apart? I can use wired gigabit and only do SD so bandwidth shouldn't be an issue. I only need a screen in the kitchen, I can get enough sound from the living room and the remote has a clear line of sight.
>
> VNC? Long HDMI cable?
>
> Taking this a step further, to provide full sound and remote in the kitchen, is there any way to set up MythFrontend to do this?
>


  I do something like this at home - I'm only one person, so do not need 
discrete outputs.  I'm presuming you want the simulateously playback because you 
may wander from the kitchen to the living room and back, so if you fast forward 
one, you want the other fast forwarded, etc.

  My solution:
HDMI splitter - get one that is powered, not passive.  I think these are about 
$30 on amazon.  This goes near where the source (playback) device is - in my 
case, it is right after my surround sound receiver, as the receiver allows 
switching of HDMI inputs so that my roku and satellite receiver are also 
available to all TV sets

HDMI amplifier - this goes near the target TV in the bedroom.  In my case, I 
think I'm only running the cable 20-25'.

IR repeater - receiver goes near the TV, transmitter near all the devices to 
control - it uses radio waves to transmit the IR signals, then converts them back.

  If you have a programmable remote, or just use the same model remote in both 
rooms, and it should work fine.   Different model remotes would probably work, 
as long as there are no conflicting keycodes - a single IR receiver should be 
able to receive both of them, but if they are different models, you had to set 
up the keycode mapping.

  Since HDMI cables carry sound, if you are using HDMI in the above method, you 
get sound in both rooms.  The only gotcha here is if the sound devices have 
different capabilities (eg, once being 5.1 surround, other just be the 2 built 
in speakers) - in that case, your frontend would have to be configured to use 
the lower of the two capabilities.

  Likewise if the monitors themselves have different capabilities - in my case, 
I put an older plasma TV in my bedroom, which only does 1080i, where as the 
other TV's do 1080p.

  For myself, so I'm not actually watching the TV in the bedroom at the same 
time as another TV, I just set up multiple front end profiles with the different 
characteristics, as well as a script driven by a remote control button that 
switches the resolution of the frontend.