Watching Internet Video etc. on HDTV

[remdataram]

I've been quite happy listening to music, saved in FLAC format on my computer, via a Logitech Squeezebox Duet and a separate DAC.

It must be the New Year, but the time has come to be able to stream video onto my sound and TV system. Watching the Dutch TV streams of Mahler Concerts has proved to be the 'tipping point' in my resistance.

I'd welcome any advice on both how I can record these streams, including BBC iPlayer, and suitable equipment I will need to add.

Thank you, in advance!

[french frank]

Not much advice forthcoming on this, then?

[johnb]

My guess is that there is unlikely to be a 'perfect' solution that will do everything that you are hoping for.

The most elementary answer would be to connect your PC to your TV with HDMI/Audio cables. I tried this some months ago and it worked fine, though my PC is relatively new and has a decent video card.

There are various boxes that enable you to stream video from your PC, iPlayer and, though much more limited, from internet 'broadcasts'. The Sony range of TVs and DVD/Blu-Ray players are very good indeed - they play iPlayer TV programmes at an excellent picture quality - much higher than you get on your PC. They also enable you to watch the Berlin Phil 'Digital Concert Hall'. Whether they would connect to Dutch TV internet relays is another matter though - and my guess is that they wouldn't.

If you post the link to the Dutch TV website I'll see if I can get my Sony Blu-Ray player to connect to it.

There are many set top boxes dedicated to streaming from a PC but, from what I can gather, they are all a bit of a compromise, so you have to pick one that best fits your individual needs. The D-Link Boxee box is reputed to have the widest compatibility but it costs around £160-170. It probably would be able to relay your Dutch TV channel but without knowing the exact channel it is impossible to check.

[remdataram]

Hi John,

Thank you for your thoughts.

The link to Dutch radio is as follows: http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/programmas/3620-mahler

It seems as if there is no perfect solution - yet.

Ideally I want to keep my PC out of the listening room, so I assume I'm looking for software that can record audio and video onto my server or hard drive, then some means of streaming the audio and video into the listening room by either wifi or ethernet (wifi might not be able to deliver the video reliably) - connecting with TOSlink and HDMI cables.

The Squeezebox Duet achieves this for audio, it's the video that is the problem. I know I can buy a Humax freesat recorder to record TV channels and BBCi player, but I'm inclined to think that the internet will be the way forward rather than satellite making foreign TV and sites like youtube more easily recordable.

Perhaps patience is required!

bws

[Globaltruth]

I'm interested in doing this too...

Is this an answer?

http://www.apple.com/appletv/#airplay

Does it stream the sound I wonder? What TV's does it support?

Will be worth keeping an eye on CES as this is a definite technology growth area for 2012.
As ever, the best solution is 18 months away....and all looks like typical overkill at the moment.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/010611-ces-cisco-videoscape.html

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/samsung_smart_tv_ces2012.php

I basically want a wireless gizmo that I plug into my laptop and into my TV which streams audio and sound....I don't really want to invest in a load of new tech. but as I have a couple of Apple devices Airplay may be an answer...

[Bryn]

Hi John,

Thank you for your thoughts.

The link to Dutch radio is as follows: http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/programmas/3620-mahler

It seems as if there is no perfect solution - yet.

Ideally I want to keep my PC out of the listening room, so I assume I'm looking for software that can record audio and video onto my server or hard drive, then some means of streaming the audio and video into the listening room by either wifi or ethernet (wifi might not be able to deliver the video reliably) - connecting with TOSlink and HDMI cables.

The Squeezebox Duet achieves this for audio, it's the video that is the problem. I know I can buy a Humax freesat recorder to record TV channels and BBCi player, but I'm inclined to think that the internet will be the way forward rather than satellite making foreign TV and sites like youtube more easily recordable.

Perhaps patience is required!

bws

Are symphonies 1 to 5 still available there at all. I have no Dutch so have not been able to sort that one out for myself.

[I have since found them via the A-Z navigation facility.]