Digital Video Recorder -- Continued
- Monday, October 06, 2003It's been about a month since I started on my journey to turn my computer into a Tivo-like machine. I'm happy to report that everything I wanted to do, I can now do. Here are the requirements that were accomplished:
- Easily record favorite shows automatically
- Play full-screen video on my TV so I can still use my computer desktop
- Use a remote control for the video
- Make video available as a streaming service over the internet
While I can't say it's been easy, it does work. In fact, I haven't watched commercials or live tv in weeks! Here's some tricks I learned along the way:
- Upgraded video card to get an S-Video out. Now using an ATI Radeon 9200. The software was a real pain to set up, and I think it was conflicting with my ATI brand tv capture card. Eventually, I realized I needed to install the capture card, then go to ATI's site and follow driver download and install instructions very carefully.
- Set the TV monitor's resolution to 600 x 480 and make it the primary monitor. Full screen video defaults to the primary monitor, and lower resolution helps to keep processing down and doesn't degrade quality.
- To get your task bar back to the now secondary computer monitor, just unlock it and drag it to the other monitor. Then lock it again. Sounds simple, but it drove me nuts for 2 days!
- I love SnapStream's Person Video Station software (see previous post). It's taken a while to understand all the features and learn how to really use them, but it's worth it. My favorite feature is it's ability to set a priority to a recording job. I can set Survivor higher in the list than reruns of the Simpsons. If a conflict occures, the program will automatically determine which show to record. Cost is about $60, they have a 30-day trial, and will likely offer a reduced cost as the trial nears an end.
Related Posts:
posted by Kevin Watts | 
Permalink |
<< Home