[phishphan]

Hello,

I am a little unclear on if XBMC would work in my situation.

Currently I have a Tivo that I push my shows to to watch on the TV from my media server.

The media server is in the basement. If I installed XBMC to that server, through what would I control it with and how would I pull it up on the TV?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. :confused2:

[Chris!]

Simplest way to put it is that XBMC is a media player, usually it is installed on a player (htpc, appletv, computer etc. Then that computer is connected to a TV via HDMI, DVI etc.

So unless that server is connected to a tv then you won't be able to use XBMC as you state.

[jhsrennie]

XBMC can act as a uPnP server. If your TV is connected to your network you can probably play media from your server using uPnP. You would have to leave XBMC running on the server though.

A quick Google suggests that the Tivo cannot act as a uPnP client.

Most of us use an HTPC with the video output connected straight into the TV. That way you get all the XBMC eye candy :-) Running XBMC on an HTPC means it's easy to connect to pretty much any server.

JR

[phishphan]

XBMC can act as a uPnP server. If your TV is connected to your network you can probably play media from your server using uPnP. You would have to leave XBMC running on the server though.

A quick Google suggests that the Tivo cannot act as a uPnP client.

Most of us use an HTPC with the video output connected straight into the TV. That way you get all the XBMC eye candy :-) Running XBMC on an HTPC means it's easy to connect to pretty much any server.

JR

My TV does have an ethernet connection (Sony KDL-46Z5100) and I have no problem leaving XBMC running because that media server is always on anyway.

[Chris!]

Oh yeah, my response wasn't clear.
I meant you can't get XBMC UI without connecting it directly.
Cheers jhsrennie

[cider123]

My TV does have an ethernet connection (Sony KDL-46Z5100) and I have no problem leaving XBMC running because that media server is always on anyway.

If your TV has UPnP support you can select movies much like connecting an USB device to your TV and watch through that. But if you want every good bit of XBMC you'd have to use some kind of media player connected to the TV. You could possibly put a 10m HDMI cable between the server and TV, and remote controll with Android or iOS app. Easiest way is to build an ION/Fusion system or Apple TV v2 and hack it (altho only 720p will be shown)

[jhsrennie]

My TV does have an ethernet connection (Sony KDL-46Z5100) and I have no problem leaving XBMC running because that media server is always on anyway.

I'd try it and see how well it works. In theory uPnP and DLNA should be standard, but in practice there are incompatabilities so you'll have to try it to find out how useful it will be to you. For testing you can run XBMC on anything connected to your network, but remember to enable the uPnP server in Settings, Network as it's not on by default.

Some points to remember:

- XBMC will only serve stuff that has been scanned into your library

- XBMC doesn't transcode and most TVs play only limited formats, so you need to make sure the video is in a format the TV is happy with

JR