A few general questions

[BillW 30]

     I’ve got a couple of questions that are all over the place so I’m just putting them here in general discussions. If they need to be moved to a more appropriate thread feel free.

 

MBT themes – at this point I’m guessing the default is the only option? I didn’t see

anything else available in the plugin section. It makes sense. When you’re building a home you don’t call in the drywallers until the electricians and plumbers are done and out of the way.

 

Folder Icons – At least that’s what I think they’re called. My folders are movies, kids

Movies, TV shows etc. When I go to the folders page they are black boxes. I kind of remember when I put MB2 on my system last autumn some theme developers had icon packs, some free others for a nominal fee. Are they still available and useable in MBT?

 

3D Playback – Is it possible through MBT now or in the future? No big deal if it’s

not possible. I would like to be able to rip my collection so I can put all of my media in a spare bedroom closet and out of the TV room. Both the wife and I really enjoy watching 3d flicks. I looked at an MKV file of Thor 3D a couple of weeks ago. It’s a 40 GB rip! Another 4tb drive is around 150.00. I'm still on the fence with this idea and just considering my options. I like the idea of having copies of all of my media on hdd’s.

 

WMC Plugin – is it possible to have this start up when MBT is initialized? I have live TV

set up when WMC starts. I would like to have WMC start when MBT does. This is a WAF item. She’s been really understanding of me cancelling our satellite subscription and going OTA tv and streaming. It would be nice to be able to have the system come up on live TV when she turns it on. I have a harmony one remote. I keep showing her this neat little button called live TV on the screen. That’s all she has to push. The answer I get is ‘I’ll get used to it’ After 36 years of marriage I know what that means, Bill you “!@#@$%#@!!&^” Thank God I was born with selective hearing and a thick skin!

 

     After one full day and an evening I’ve got MB3 set up pretty much the way I want it for now. I’m really glad to be along for the MBT development ride and looking forward to watching the new features being released. This weekend its back to the business of ripping my collection to my hdd. No more trying to figure out how to find and change xml files, build playlists etc. Free at last, free at last, Thank God I’m free at last!!!

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

1) MBT is an Alpha quality program right now. Themes will be available in the future. If you use MBC, you can use themes now.

 

2) you can set Folder Icons with the server. MBT will inherit them. If you look in the Fanart forum here, you can find some images that people have shared.

 

3) 3D playback should be available. You may need an external playback for some formats. 3 Terabyte Drives are less expensive per terabyte right now and more reliable. 4 Terabyte drives will drop in price once the 5 and 6 terabyte drives become more popular this year. You can also use a tool like Handbrake to "compress" your Bluray rips into a more manageable size.

 

4) Windows remotes have a green button that is usually mapped to launching Windows Media Center. Might see if Harmony is the same. If you go into MBT's settings and choose plugins, there is a plugin to launch Windows Media Center as well. In the future, MBT should support Live TV directly. This support is already in the server and web client. Just waiting for it to be integrated into the other clients. Finally, Media Browser Classic is a plugin for Windows Media Center so you can install that and run Media Center by default. Then your wife can get LiveTV and still switch to your Media Library easily.

[Abobader 2947]

Good day,

 

For No 2, we have tut's for the server setup and customize matters, please see them here:

 

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/forum/49-server/

 

My best

[BillW 30]

Thanks for the quick reply Wayne. I'll have to check out the fanart forum when I get home tonight. My harmony has a set of icons on the screen for whatever activity you choose. Once i select watch tv the remote screen gets populated with every entry point of WMC. Live tv, recorded tv etc. If you touch any of them WMC comes up in that activity. I'm getting the feeling this is more of a personal issue to her than a functionality one.

 

Does compressing MKV's with a program like handbrake effect the PQ? I've got a 4tb data drive that is already 2/3 full and I'm not done ripping my 2d collection yet so I know there will be another hdd or two installed in my immediate future. Especially if 3d rips work out well

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

Compressing video is a "lossy" process. The system removes bits of video data, audio tracks, etc to get to a smaller size. The trick would be coming up with profiles that fit you. However if you can build the storage over time, creating 1:1 copies of your media will still be the best route and least time consuming. You will essentially trade money for time with 1:1 rips.

 

If you add clients in the future like tablets, phones and the Roku, then the server can transcode the files on the fly to make them compatible.

[BillW 30]

Good day,

 

For No 2, we have tut's for the server setup and customize matters, please see them here:

 

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/forum/49-server/

 

My best

I didn't think about looking on the server dashboard. I'm still not accustomed to this being split into server/client. It makes sense to start doing as much as I can on the server. Right now I only have the one system. I may eventually add another one upstairs to be used when our kids come in to visit.

[BillW 30]

Thanks again wayne. My first reaction is to go with 1:1 and keep the pq.  That has been my one disappointment cord cutting. The pq from streaming sites like netflix is so so compared to OTA network tv  even when it's HD. Dark scenes look blocky. The next thing I want to start researching are methods of improving pq with different renderers. At least I think that's what they are called. I can fill a library with what I don't know about home theater systems but I'm getting there.

 

I already know I won't ever stream to a tablet or phone. I never got the attraction to watching video on a 4 or 8 inch screen. My two sons do it all the time. It's just not for me. What may be in the future is a second htpc in our upstairs or something like a roku for when we get visitors or the wife wants to watch something different.

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

Well tablets can also be used to control devices like Chromecast which puts your video back on the big screen. Chromecast support is in development now. HTPC's are fairly expensive these days, even at $200-$500 dollars... I will probably use Roku devices upstairs later this year. Just worried about saturating the network traffic...