Brando457

NJRC Member
Location
North, NJ
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Looking to some help on setting up my HTPC to be 100% functional. I build all my own computers and am pretty good with electronics, but these issues have me stumped.

First let me describe the setup:

Basically I have my main computer in my bedroom which has a hdmi 28" lcd as my main display, 2.1 speakers through analog for audio, wired keyboard + mouse. I do all my browsing/gaming/music listening my bedroom.

Now on the other side of the wall is my man cave so to say. It houses my audio receiver, 5.1 speakers, 50" plasma, and 180 gallon saltwater fish tank in wall (bragging I know
smile.gif
)

So from my computer in my room I ran a hdmi cable to the man cave in to the receiver input with the hopes of using the computer to play my media directly to the tv. My graphics card is a gtx 670.

Now I am able to watch movies from the computer to the tv, but it require some tweaking/round about way of doing it as outlined below and is why I'm here for some help.


The problems:

1. Audio:

Right now if I want to watch a movie from my computer to my tv I have to switch the audio output. I do this by going to Start > Control Panel > Sound > I then have to right click on my tv and set it as default device. (This will then play the sound only through the receiver). Now when I am done watching a movie in order to use my computer for gaming or music I have to go back to Sound option and right click and set "Speakers" as the default device.

I was thinking of setting up a macro to run through the clicks for me. Unless there is a way to have windows detect when the receiver is on to switch to that as default device for audio. The receiver is only on if I am watching a movie in that room.

2. Video:

Now on to the video issue if I try to set my multiple monitors as duplicate the whole desktop/start menu does not properly fit on my TV screen at 1920 x 1080. I tried switching through the resolutions with no luck.

What I do now is I have windows setup to extend these displays. To watch a movie now what I need to do is open VLC player and win + shift + right arrow to put the video player onto my tv. Then I have to right click in the video player and set it to full screen.

This is a major Pita. I'd prefer just to duplicate the desktop to the tv so I can see everything I'm doing and just have full control of the system from there.

Now right now I only have a wired keyboard in my bedroom, but what I ordered tonight is a Logitech Mini PC Dinovo Keyboard and 10 ft usb extension cable. I figure with the extension cable I can run that to the room and put the Bluetooth dongle there. This should eliminate any distance/through the wall issues.

3. Media Management:

Right now I have a media library of around 300+ movies backed up onto my pc and around 30 different television shows ranging in season size. I attempted to use "MyMovies" as an easy way to catalog/select the movie, but it is a bit slow/non responsive at times. Any recommendations for software to make picking a movie/show to watch easier from my catalog is appreciated.

Well I hope the fine community can help me with this and any additional details/questions that need to be answered I will do my best.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the help in advance!
 
Location
Huntington
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Why not just build a small purpose built media PC for the cave? I was kicking around designs for something like this but with all the possible issues it just seemed easier to do a separate unit. You can still link the media library and the other benefit is less clutter on the media unit.

Also, I know soundcards are mostly unneeded but I recently added an asus phoebus to my setup and it's amazing the difference it makes over the onboard, especially with a good headset/speakers.
 

Brando457

NJRC Member
Location
North, NJ
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Why not just build a small purpose built media PC for the cave? I was kicking around designs for something like this but with all the possible issues it just seemed easier to do a separate unit. You can still link the media library and the other benefit is less clutter on the media unit.

Also, I know soundcards are mostly unneeded but I recently added an asus phoebus to my setup and it's amazing the difference it makes over the onboard, especially with a good headset/speakers.

I would love to consider building a small purpose meant for the cave, and actually have components if I do decide to do that, but do not want to go that route.

One reason being is that is a separate system I'd be running and well I have all my media on this computer for when I switch back and forth rooms. Not to mention this computer is around $2k. Thus if I can use this super computer I would prefer that.

Worse comes to worse what I'll do is setup a macro to run through the mouse clicks of changing the audio source, but that still leaves me the issue with media management and video.

Thanks for the input though.
 

Reef_Paddy

Always Thinkering
Location
NJ
Rating - 100%
22   0   0
Media Management - Check out Plex (Server and client), its free.

You should also check out MCEControl application. It will allow you to run batch files or scripts from an iOS device from an app called RoomieRemote.(Roomie has its own forum also)
 

jaa1456

MR's Greatest Member
Rating - 100%
50   0   0
Get a smart tv, lol. Seriously I have a smart tv and it recognizes anything that is hooked up to it. The tv has wifi built in and Bluetooth, but it also has UBS ports, so I just hook an external hard drive directly to it. I download movies from the PC to the UBS and then right to the tv. But also this tv already has Netflix, Hulu plus and tons of other things built in already. It also has an option for a 3D channel, but I have never looked into or all of the Tv's features. But I'm really impressed with what this tv can do though. Sorry I can't help with your issues, but my tv automatically reads the format of anything hooked to it and compensated for whatever it needs to do.
 

Brando457

NJRC Member
Location
North, NJ
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Get a smart tv, lol. Seriously I have a smart tv and it recognizes anything that is hooked up to it. The tv has wifi built in and Bluetooth, but it also has UBS ports, so I just hook an external hard drive directly to it. I download movies from the PC to the UBS and then right to the tv. But also this tv already has Netflix, Hulu plus and tons of other things built in already. It also has an option for a 3D channel, but I have never looked into or all of the Tv's features. But I'm really impressed with what this tv can do though. Sorry I can't help with your issues, but my tv automatically reads the format of anything hooked to it and compensated for whatever it needs to do.

In July I'll be buying a 55-70" tv, but right now I'm focused on fixing this problem. Realistically if I could get it to duplicate displays properly I can live with that for a bit.
 

Brando457

NJRC Member
Location
North, NJ
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Well I found a program that makes it 2 clicks to switch audio sources so that is a good thing.

Now to find a solution to my duplicate display issue.
 

Brando457

NJRC Member
Location
North, NJ
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Yeah so I ended up not needing to buy anything or setup an additional box.

I fixed the audio issue with a simple switcher and figured out the video issue too.

So I figured out the audio, kind of figured out the video.

For whatever reason unless the resolution is set to 1176 x 664 my HDTV will not show the full desktop, it kind of stretches over so to say at 1280 x 720. At 1176 x 664 though everything displays fine.
 

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