[kuharious]

I need some help with my setup. I am currently testing the waters of going satellite free using OTA (HDHomerun) and a mix between Netflix, Hulu and iTunes season pass. I am using a white macbook (2.1 with 4g ram -leopard) hooked up via mini-dvi to hdmi adaptor and RCA audio through the headphone jack. Both are going to an Onkyo Sr70x receiver then to my Samsung 50in plasma. My issues are below:


1. The screen does not fill out the TV screen completely. I have black bars around all the four sides. The computer is running at 1620X1080(?? I think this is the resolution). Is there a way to fill out the screen?

2. The video quality is horrid and audio seems off. OTA (via VLC), Netflix (via Plex), and videos streaming (via Plex) are awful. I get better Netflix quality on my Wii. The video streaming is done with reg DVD rips and nothing in HD. It seems that the macbook is struggling with loading it up to the high resolution TV. Surely that cannot be, it is not that old of a machine. What say those who are way smarter than I?

3. I need to test, would have done last night -another story, whether or not the same video quality is had with files directly on the machine and not streaming over the network. I will also test using my daughter's newer macbook pro running snow leopard.



#3 might give me all I need to know, but I want to know if there are any tricks or pointers you all can give on the subject. Ideally I would love to trade the white macbook with a newer mac mini that is dedicated to the htpc roll, but do not want to drop coinage if it won't be any different.

 

[chefklc]



Quote:
What say those who are way smarter than I?

A few quick thoughts, why are you doing analog audio and not sending optical to your AVR? Why are you playing your EyeTV OTA recordings back with VLC? How are you "streaming" to this MB, you didn't mention what your network was like, where the dvd rips are located, etc. What makes you think Netflix instant watch on the Mac would be any better than from the Wii?

Quote:
I am using a white macbook (2.1 with 4g ram -leopard)

I have the same Macbook, it's perfectly capable of playing back high def EyeTV recordings from your HD Homerun, ripped dvds and with Plex can even handle most blu-ray rips. I put a fast 7200 rpm drive in mine, but even if you're using the stock drive you should be fine.


I think your problem stems from trying to send video through your AVR and then to the TV and that you haven't actually connected to your TV properly, as a result everything looks like crap. What's the native res of that 50" plasma? First thing I'd do is connect directly to the plasma, see what resolutions you're offered, and test your videos--you can still send audio only to your AVR over optical The reason you want to do this is to isolate the problem to the AVR.


make sure you understand the difference between mirroring and extended desktop--ideally you want the MB to drive the plasma at its native res, whatever that is, up to and including 1080p.


A new Mac mini would substantially improve your situation in a number of areas, but the MB you have should be performing much better for you.

 

[kuharious]



Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc /forum/post/19507961


A few quick thoughts, why are you doing analog audio and not sending optical to your AVR? Why are you playing your EyeTV OTA recordings back with VLC? How are you "streaming" to this MB, you didn't mention what your network was like, where the dvd rips are located, etc. What makes you think Netflix instant watch on the Mac would be any better than from the Wii?

I was not sure I could send optical to the AVR. How is this done a different cable? Currently I am not using EyeTV for the OTA -I have not bought it yet. I am only watching live OTA using the HDHomerun program which uses VLC as the viewer. I tried both wired and wireless streaming with no difference. The streams are coming from an iMac in an adjacent room. Netflix I would have imagined would have been just as good as the Wii, but it is really worse.


I will try to hook the MB directly to the TV to see what happens then. Thanks for the advice and tips.

 

[Phillie14586]

Why are you complicating the OTA stuff by running it through the HDHomerun then the MB then your TV. I am assuming your TV has a digital tuner. Split the antenna wire and send one to the HDHomerun to record stuff and the other directly to your TV and let it do what it does best.

 

[kuharious]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Phillie14586 /forum/post/19509112


Why are you complicating the OTA stuff by running it through the HDHomerun then the MB then your TV. I am assuming your TV has a digital tuner. Split the antenna wire and send one to the HDHomerun to record stuff and the other directly to your TV and let it do what it does best.

See, thats is why this place is fantastic...I never thought of using it that way. I was overcomplicating the live OTA aspect. The problem is the way the family and I watch tv. We never watch live shows, always on the dvr...well 90% of the time. And with the move off satellite, we will be using Hulu, Netflix and itunes more and more. Your suggestion will be done however, using an additional antenna. Good idea.

 

[lovekeiiy]

to fill the screen, if your mac isn't detecting the TV probably, you can use switchresx. Make sure to read the sticking on it because it can be easy to do something and get no picture.