[mythtv-users] General Set-Up Question

[Brian Wood]

On Jun 1, 2006, at 3:34 PM, Greg Woods wrote:

> On Thu, 2006-06-01 at 12:56 -0700, Robert McIntosh wrote:
>> if the machine that is serving as the MythTV server is
>> not located next to the television, will I need some sort of  
>> device next
>> to the TV in order to control the MythTV server?
>
> You will obviously need some sort of connection to the TV. That means
> either you have to run a cable from a video output of your TV  
> server to
> the TV, and some kind of control device from near where you watch  
> the TV
> back to the server, or you will need a computer near the TV that is
> connected to the server via an IP network link.

If you decide not to run the server's video to the TV set there are  
some inexpensive options, if you only need SD.

A Hauppauge MediaMVP can be put next to the TV and controlled by its  
IR remote. At present it can only play back recorded content, not  
watch live TV, but you can get almost the same thing by "chasing" a  
live recording.

Some folks use X-Boxes as a remote front end, and inexpensive ($100 -  
$200) PCs can work.

If you are tempted to use a wireless network connection be aware that  
even 802.11G can be problematic if you need more than one stream at a  
time, or have heavy traffic from other applications on the net. A  
hard wire is always better.