I`m just looking into this section for the 1st time and getting the hang of it....How does everyone connect there tv`s to these streaming devices???

I'm in the same boat, I came here to start looking into this in general.

I'm an uber-uber newbie. I was a bit surprised there isn't a "Servers & Streaming For Dummies" sticky at the top of this section.

Is there a link to something like that someone knows of they can share?

I`m just looking into this section for the 1st time and getting the hang of it....How does everyone connect there tv`s to these streaming devices???

Not sure I understand the question. The video connections are in all the "normal" ways; componite, composite, s-video, hdmi. Is that what you mean?

CD

I`m just looking into this section for the 1st time and getting the hang of it....How does everyone connect there tv`s to these streaming devices???

bailing wire, bubble gum and duct tape...

for the more troublesome ones, a nail gun...

Ok I guess maybe i`m a bit confused. You take one of the streamers mentioned in anyone of the threads and they are connected to your pc correct? Or tv? How then do most streamers connect to a pc? Wireless? or do I have these all crossed up?

Ok I guess maybe i`m a bit confused. You take one of the streamers mentioned in anyone of the threads and they are connected to your pc correct? Or tv? How then do most streamers connect to a pc? Wireless? or do I have these all crossed up?

OK, now I understand what you're looking for. Think of these streamers like a DVD player; they connect to your TV with any of the aforementioned connections. Now, instead of putting a DVD in them, you stream a digital file, which needs to be stored somewhere.

Some have internal hard drives, which can store files there at the unit (which is called stored locally), some have a USB port, so you can attach an external HDD of that type and store files there, and almost all have networking capability (or a combination of 2 or even all 3 of the above).

To connect these streamers to your network, so that they can play files that are stored elsewhere, you need a network connection; either a wireless connection, which you would get from a wireless router that provides a WAP (wireless access point), or, even better, for video streaming, especially if you want to go HD, is a wired connection of Cat5/6 cable; that is a physical wire that runs from a hub/switch/router that bridges the connection between your PC and the streamer.

Hope that helps. It probably raises other questions, so feel free to follow-up.

CD

I started all this and landed up here because I wanted a PVR. So I think I want to go with the Happague 1212 record hd to the pc then stream it out to one of these devices correct?

So here's how I think things work...

a) you have a PC and it has media server software; either Windows Media center edition/Media player, Dixim, Orb, Tversity or any one of the other media server software products.

b) You have a DLNA media player device that connects to the TV using s-video or hdmi and connects to the media server software using UpnP or a proprietary protocol over wireless or wired, i.e. the DLNA device pulls an IP from the router and the media server discovers it over the network and vice versa. Most media player devices will also have RCA jacks to connect to your receiver to stream audio.

The kicker now is that the the media player in (b) needs adequate codecs to play all the streamed content that the pc/media server sends out.

There are some videos from my digital camera and a few other movies that mine does not play. Not really a biggie for me right now, but I am looking into figuring this out!

There are a number of media server software vendors, both free and stuff that you have to pay for, and a bunch of media player devices, DLNA and proprietary that will do all of this. There's apple tv, slingbox, Xblx, playstations and I think hauppage, dlink, and others, each with their idiosyncrasies and advantages/disadvantages.

For example, I like Orb because it lets me do a bunch of things and can even be hooked up to stream online content. The downside is that it has a poor transcoding facility which renders video/pictures poorly, but it does allow me to stream stuff from the htpc over the internet using mycast.orb.

Orb lets me do what slingbox does as well, and tversity didn't let me do online content so I stopped looking at it.

Hope this helps....

Sorry, don't know what PVR is!

Ok I guess maybe i`m a bit confused. You take one of the streamers mentioned in anyone of the threads and they are connected to your pc correct? Or tv? How then do most streamers connect to a pc? Wireless? or do I have these all crossed up?

have you looked at sageTV and their HD extender? lots of people like it, may be worth a look..

I started all this and landed up here because I wanted a PVR. So I think I want to go with the Happague 1212 record hd to the pc then stream it out to one of these devices correct?

Well...this device is not networkable; it looks like it connects to your PC via USB, which means it needs to be in the same room as the PC and the TV. It seems like kind of a weird device; in reading through the FAQ, it doesn't seem like it can playback any files, other than its own (even though it records and plays back its own content in H.264).

I know you're looking for a PVR, but were you also interested in streaming content other than what you recorded with it? Because I don't think this will do it.

CD

I basically want something that I can record HD content and then send it off via the pc to 3 tvs. The 1212 can send to xbox360 or be burnt to dvd/BD etc from what I have read.

The 1212 would work if I can send it out via the Sagetv to my other two tvs, if the sagetv extender will allow me to hook up a tv via component and rca and not shut one or the other ports off and I can flip from one tv to the other...

I basically want something that I can record HD content and then send it off via the pc to 3 tvs. The 1212 can send to xbox360 or be burnt to dvd/BD etc from what I have read.

The 1212 would work if I can send it out via the Sagetv to my other two tvs, if the sagetv extender will allow me to hook up a tv via component and rca and not shut one or the other ports off and I can flip from one tv to the other...

Well Clipse, I'm probably not the one to help you, because I can't really follow what you're trying to do. I mean I know you're a noob, and maybe you're on the right path, but it sounds to me like you're missing something in your plan. But I could be mistaken.

See, streaming is traditionally ripping a file (you pull the digital content off a DVD you "own"), storing the file, and then you can play it anytime you want, without the need for the disc anymore. Of course some don't rip their content, they just download already ripped files from the Net, and I, of course, understand the idea of recording content to an HDD (although I just use a traditional DVR for that, so this is not my area of expertise...and maybe the reason why I truly misunderstand what you're trying to do) for playback later.

What I'm saying, is to me, the 1212 doesn't look like it plays files other than the ones you record through it. That's not exactly streaming, in my book anyway. If that's all you're looking to do, then it might be just right for you; but I'm pretty sure there are devices that will do that, and much more...and if you're looking to do the "other" kind of streaming, something else might be in order.

Plus, you're talking about the 1212 outputting to XBox 360, and to SageTV for 3 TVs; sounds like a messy way to go about things. I think you could accomplish what you're looking for with a cleaner process, of like 1 box at each location.

CD

the 1212 is the HD-pvr or whatever they call it? its whole purpose in life is to take something from it's input and dump it to a PC... by itself it sucks... its worthless... but combine it with a real PVR app like Sage or BTV and it works magic....( some would say GPBR or is it GRPB? whatever its called, its supposedly a good free PVR... I didn't like it last time I tried it... maybe its better now?) the guide data is everything... BTV's guide data works flawlessly, as long as you are in the US... I hear sage is good too...

last I heard the 360 is a terrible extender... doesn't do DVD's... and its noisy... I just use mine for games...

as far as hooking up 2 tv's to one extender(be it sage or anything else)... um, why? that totally misses the whole point... just get two extenders, that way, if two people want to watch two different things, they can...
as for directly answering your question, component and RCA? um, compont generally is RCA, RCA is a style of connector, component is a form of analog video connection... I don't get completely what you mean...


@CDLehner - this isn't messy at all, in some ways it is actually neater then the 'good old fashioned way'....a standard setup would have one PC (your Media Center if you will... doesn't need to be MS WMC or VMC its just the center of your media hub...) so anyway, all your cable/sat/OTA/whatever gets hooked up to this PC... next to each TV all you have is one 'Black Box' (doesn't really have to be black...) that box obvious connects to the TV, also the is Ethernet back to the PC... from that black box, you now have only one channel lineup (ie every thing get combined into one, the end user wont know that its sat or OTA or cable... it just works...) plus you have a global PVR... setup the programs you want auto recorded on the bedroom TV, watch them anywhere else...
personally, my black box is just a cheap pc... and it is in a rack the basement, not at all even close to the TV... (really long RGBHV cable) but its the same concept as the Sage HD extender...

From what I understand the 1212 will record the files to my HDD as h.264 I believe and then I can send them out using Sage or something else? The 1212 should do nothing but record and then Sage will do the streaming part?

Component as in R B G
RCA as in R W Y

And there is no need for two extenders if its just for two people watching something at the sametime

Mostly for wifes shows and our shows we watch together...

HDMI cable

the 1212 is the HD-pvr or whatever they call it? its whole purpose in life is to take something from it's input and dump it to a PC... by itself it sucks... its worthless... but combine it with a real PVR app like Sage or BTV and it works magic....( some would say GPBR or is it GRPB? whatever its called, its supposedly a good free PVR... I didn't like it last time I tried it... maybe its better now?) the guide data is everything... BTV's guide data works flawlessly, as long as you are in the US... I hear sage is good too...

last I heard the 360 is a terrible extender... doesn't do DVD's... and its noisy... I just use mine for games...

as far as hooking up 2 tv's to one extender(be it sage or anything else)... um, why? that totally misses the whole point... just get two extenders, that way, if two people want to watch two different things, they can...
as for directly answering your question, component and RCA? um, compont generally is RCA, RCA is a style of connector, component is a form of analog video connection... I don't get completely what you mean...


@CDLehner - this isn't messy at all, in some ways it is actually neater then the 'good old fashioned way'....a standard setup would have one PC (your Media Center if you will... doesn't need to be MS WMC or VMC its just the center of your media hub...) so anyway, all your cable/sat/OTA/whatever gets hooked up to this PC... next to each TV all you have is one 'Black Box' (doesn't really have to be black...) that box obvious connects to the TV, also the is Ethernet back to the PC... from that black box, you now have only one channel lineup (ie every thing get combined into one, the end user wont know that its sat or OTA or cable... it just works...) plus you have a global PVR... setup the programs you want auto recorded on the bedroom TV, watch them anywhere else...
personally, my black box is just a cheap pc... and it is in a rack the basement, not at all even close to the TV... (really long RGBHV cable) but its the same concept as the Sage HD extender...

SWL, I don't get the impression he has any Ethernet.

CD

From what I understand the 1212 will record the files to my HDD as h.264 I believe and then I can send them out using Sage or something else? The 1212 should do nothing but record and then Sage will do the streaming part?

Component as in R B G
RCA as in R W Y

And there is no need for two extenders if its just for two people watching something at the sametime

Mostly for wifes shows and our shows we watch together...

Record your shows using the Hauppauage 1212 and store on pc via USB.
If you want to play the recording back to different TVs, then the easy way (to deploy but hard to setup) is setting up a network and using the pc as a server and buying some of the devices mentioned on this forum that can play H.264 files (PCH, TVix, etc) that connect to the network and simply play the recording. Harder way (to deploy but easy to setup) is to copy the recording to the playback device just mentioned (if it has a hard disk) or use a USB storage device and plug it in to said playback device and watch the recording.
Or, you can buy a TVix or PCH install a hard disk then use it has the USB storage device (connected to the PC) when downloading from the 1212 device and then contect the playback device to whatever TV you want to watch it on! Also, the h.264 recording from the 1212 may need to be "fixed" before playing on some of these devices. You need to check for any gotchas before buying.
I've owned a 1212 since August and have been to busy to hook the dang thing up! I use my Mythtv server for regular OTA recording.

From what I understand the 1212 will record the files to my HDD as h.264 I believe and then I can send them out using Sage or something else? The 1212 should do nothing but record and then Sage will do the streaming part?
yep

Component as in R B G
RCA as in R W Y
oh, component & composite...

And there is no need for two extenders if its just for two people watching something at the sametime

Mostly for wifes shows and our shows we watch together...
then there is no need for two TV's...
now that said, if both TV's are in the same room, not an issue, just use one 'black box'...
if the tv's are in separate rooms, use 2 black boxes... there are just so many reasons for, and the only reason against is to save a very little money... if the 2nd TV is standard def, then its very very little money...
just a quick reason for, REMOTE... the remote will need to see the black box to change channels/pause/rr/ff etc... unless you are planning on implementing a multi $$$$ automation solution just to not spend $99 (I believe that is how much the sage SD streamer is, could be even less now)

another option is forget the extender/streamer/black box and just build yourself a HTPC?
either way, if you haven't done so already, check out the AVS HTPC forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26/)

HDMI cable
why?
the only reason our Benevolent Media Overlords are pushing HDMI as better is because it supports HDCP, and component does not... and they are very afraid all those evil pirates( ie their customers) will rob them blind without HDCP....

strip off the shackles of HDCP, be free, choose analog! viva la revaluation! long live TPB!!!

I guess I need to stay out of this one, because you guys seem to know better then me how this guy can play recorded material, at 3 TVs, without a network.

CD

I guess I need to stay out of this one, because you guys seem to know better then me how this guy can play recorded material, at 3 TVs, without a network.

CD

There is a network. Me got wireless or can run cables anywhere in the house no problem....

Oh and I need the 1212 as no OTA in my area in Canada....Unless there is something else out there that someone can suggest that records HD and drops it on pc?

Oh forgot to add I already have the dual tuner option as actually I have two seperate HD receivers...

There is a network. Me got wireless or can run cables anywhere in the house no problem....

Oh and I need the 1212 as no OTA in my area in Canada....Unless there is something else out there that someone can suggest that records HD and drops it on pc?

Oh forgot to add I already have the dual tuner option as actually I have two seperate HD receivers...
wireless for video sucks... great for data, ok for audio... but video, one dropped packet is very noticeable...

wireless for video sucks... great for data, ok for audio... but video, one dropped packet is very noticeable...

Besides Sage what are some of the other good media extenders around that price? With Component video

Besides Sage what are some of the other good media extenders around that price? With Component video
to be honest, I know of none...
sage integrates perfectly with a PVR (sage oddly enough)
the NMT's (PCH,IStar,etc) are working on integration with the various PVR's...
the MS Media extenders are just too limited due to valid fear of lawsuits...

There is a network. Me got wireless or can run cables anywhere in the house no problem....

Oh and I need the 1212 as no OTA in my area in Canada....Unless there is something else out there that someone can suggest that records HD and drops it on pc?

Oh forgot to add I already have the dual tuner option as actually I have two seperate HD receivers...

Here's your OP

I`m just looking into this section for the 1st time and getting the hang of it....How does everyone connect there tv`s to these streaming devices???

Please point out to us the part where it says you have a network? OTOH, the title of your post is ubernoob, you mention you're here for the first time, and you don't even know how to hook a device up to a TV; am I suppose to assume you have a network?

You're right, you are a noob; learn how to work son.

CD

Here's your OP

I`m just looking into this section for the 1st time and getting the hang of it....How does everyone connect there tv`s to these streaming devices???

Please point out to us the part where it says you have a network? OTOH, the title of your post is ubernoob, you mention you're here for the first time, and you don't even know how to hook a device up to a TV; am I suppose to assume you have a network?

You're right, you are a noob; learn how to work son.

CD


Noob in regards to no knowledge of streamers,extenders, whatever other ways there are to get video from pc to tv besides running a long cable. I`m sorry I didn`t give you every single detail. Didn`t think it was that important. But I believe this so far has given me what I need. Thank you everyone...

Noob in regards to no knowledge of streamers,extenders, whatever other ways there are to get video from pc to tv besides running a long cable. I`m sorry I didn`t give you every single detail. Didn`t think it was that important. But I believe this so far has given me what I need. Thank you everyone...

You didn't think what kind of network you have is important to recommending a streamer?? Like I said...

Good luck,

CD