This post discusses the system setup that Nomad uses. It goes without saying that there are numerous ways this could be done and some of these are discussed in other articles.
Lets start with the obvious: a broadband internet connection is needed and a minimum download speed of around 2Mbs will be required for reasonable performance. This setup uses a Network Router with a PC running Windows XP. Almost any PC that was bought in the last 5 years or so should prove adequate for the job.
A software product called Miro is used to download video from compatible web feeds. The good news is that Miro is available free and is easy to install. Once Miro is installed you can subscribe to compatible web feeds (for example Sky News Headlines). Miro then downloads new items as they appear on the feed and stores them on your hard drive (Sky News Headlines is updated 4 times a day). You can change the settings to control which new items are downloaded and which old items are deleted. Downloaded items are typically in MPEG-4 format. You can also use Miro to watch downloaded items on your PC.
Server software on the PC is TVersity. This provides audio and picture media in addition to video. Tversity can also be used to download data and in theory could replace Miro. However the Miro user interface is much better than TVersity for which reason it is worth keeping. The basic version of TVersity is free.
To view downloaded video items a Linksys Kiss 1600 Media Player is used. The Kiss 1600 also plays DVDs via a front loader tray. The Media Player has a remote control which allows the desired operation while slumped in armchair mode (the technical term is a '10 foot interface'). The Kiss 1600 is now obsolete and as of today the Linksys DMA2200 would be a good buy (if your PC runs Windows 7). The LG BD390 is also worth looking at, as it pays Blueray DVDs. Go for a unit that is DLNA compliant.
The Media Player is currently connected to the PC by an ethernet over mains adapter which provides better than 100Gb data rates.
The display is a 27" monitor connected to the Media Player by HDMI interface. We recommend buying a monitor with native 1920x1080 pixel resolution (16x9 aspect ratio). This will give the best results when viewing Full HD output (Blu-Ray for example).There is a separate output from the Media Player to an audio amplifier and speakers.
Internet: Pipex (download speed runs at 3.2Mbs)
PC: Dell Optiplex GX280 2.8GHz 2Gb RAM 80Gb Hard Drive
Router: Belkin ADSL Modem with Wireless-G Router
Download Software: Miro 2.0.3
Server Software: Tversity 1.7.2.1
Ethernet over mains link: Maxvalue 200Mbps Home Plug
Media Player: Linksys Kiss 1600
Display: Iiyama ProLite B2712HDS-B1
http://www.getmiro.com/
http://tversity.com/
http://news.sky.com/skynews/podcasts
http://www.linksys.eu/
Updated 10 July 2010
Friday, 6 November 2009
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