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Brando457

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 11, 2003
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Looking to some help on setting up my HTPC to be 100% functional.


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:))

So from my computer in my room I ran a hdmi cable to the mancave 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 libary 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 at HF 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!
 
For Audio your going way out of your way to do a simple task just right click the speaker in the notification area on the taskbar and click playback devices which pops up the window to pick the audio device you want to use pick the one you want and done. It's annoying but it's far less so than going all the way into the control panel.

Your video issue im confused on what is the exact issue with the tv/video. Does your main monitor have a higher resolution than the 1080p? They both need be 1080p for duplication to work and look right. You could get something like displayfusion that puts buttons in a windows to menu bar or even use it to set the default window location so that every time you open VLC is to launches on the TV.

For movie management well no clue on that I've played with My Movies and one or two others like it but never really got around to setting them up fully
 
Movie management : XBMC

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Sollord said:
For Audio your going way out of your way to do a simple task just right click the speaker in the notification area on the taskbar and click playback devices which pops up the window to pick the audio device you want to use pick the one you want and done. It's annoying but it's far less so than going all the way into the control panel.

Your video issue im confused on what is the exact issue with the tv/video. Does your main monitor have a higher resolution than the 1080p? They both need be 1080p for duplication to work and look right. You could get something like displayfusion that puts buttons in a windows to menu bar or even use it to set the default window location so that every time you open VLC is to launches on the TV.

For movie management well no clue on that I've played with My Movies and one or two others like it but never really got around to setting them up fully
Click to expand...

The audio thing I found a quick solution for, no issues there anymore. The video my plasma is a 720p, computer monitor is 1080p. I take it I'd have to set it so that my resolution was 1280×720 for it to duplicate both displays properly?
 
Brando457 said:
The audio thing I found a quick solution for, no issues there anymore. The video my plasma is a 720p, computer monitor is 1080p. I take it I'd have to set it so that my resolution was 1280×720 for it to duplicate both displays properly?
Click to expand...

Pretty much... Try the display fusion demo and use the window location feature to see if thats a useable solution.
 
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. I cannot find a fix for this, but might live with it for now until I buy a new tv in the summer.
 
Brando457 said:
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. I cannot find a fix for this, but might live with it for now until I buy a new tv in the summer.
Click to expand...

Might want to look into some alternative monitor software for doing extending. I could have sworn there was one that allowed scaling on another monitor (ie: it'd rescale your 1080p desktop in mirror to 720p friendly in the secondary monitor)..desktop things (icons, fonts, etc) wouldnt be pretty, but videos should be fine as long as it is scaled 1:1.

For management, I'd recommend XBMC. One of the best UIs for tv shows and movies.
 
I'm using XBMC now and working with media companion to get the file names down proper.

I tried using ultramon to do the scaling and actual monitors with no luck. As long as the resolution is at the 1176 x 664 though I have no issues watching movies. I figure it is better than nothing.
 
Oy organizing 300+ movies stinks lol, tomorrow night I'll do all my tv backups
 
Now I can get regular movies to play fine in xbmc, but when I do like HD or my bluray backups it becomes very very choppy. Playing them externally in vlc player has no issues.
 
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