This is the third in a series of articles on my trials and travails about living the cable-free life. The first part dealt with moving to Apple’s AppleTV platform by way of MythTV and Tivo. In part two talked about the reasons why I moved from an AppleTV to a Mac Mini-based HTCP setup. This article will focus on the software I am running to make all of this palatable along with a few hardware and OS tips thrown in for good measure.
I am going to start out with a few hardware and OS items, because these will be important in deciding where to go with the software.
Video Output
As I noted in part two, I purchased an Apple Mac Mini 2.26GHz (Late 2009) to replace the 40GB AppleTV. This particular model has two video output options:
- Mini-DVI
- Mini DisplayPort
This allows for easy conversion to S-Video, DVI, or VGA. In the box you receive an adapter that will allow you to connect directly to a DVI-D (dual link or single link) cable or port. Unfortunately the adapter does not allow you to connect a DVI-D cable. If you want to use the Mini DisplayPort output (instead of or in addition to the Mini-DVI port) you will need to buy an additional adapter. Apple sells several different ones to accomplish different goals:
For some reason, while Apple sells an adapter to allow for conversion to VGA from Mini DisplayPort they do not sell one to convert to S-VIDEO or composite video, in fact it doesn’t appear that anyone does. If that is your goal, then you will need to daisy chain the Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter adapter to the included Mini-DVI adapter.
If you want to connect the Mac Mini directly to an HDMI component then you will need to buy either a Mini-DVI to HDMI adapter, Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, or add a DVI-D to HDMI adapter to the included Mini-DVI to DVI adapter. Initially I was using a Belkin DVI-D to HDMI adapter, however I have since moved to using a single piece Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable from monoprice.
Audio Output
When it comes to audio output from the Mini, your choices are a lot simpler, at least in the beginning. The Mac Mini supports two audio output options from a combined port:
- standard stereo analog via a 1/8″ inch (3.5mm) cable
- S/PDIF format optical via a mini-toslink adapter or cable to a toslink input
Most people won’t have any issues, however in my case I had a problem where my receiver disabled the digital input jack when I connected the Mini to HDMI on the receiver (either by using a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable, or when running through the Mini-DVI/DVI-D HDMI adapter/HDMI cable combo). Here’s what I got from Sony on this one:
This issue can occur with an Audio/Video (A/V) receiver that has HDMI® Active Intelligence. HDMI communicates with all of the HDMI-connected devices and requires authentication (a.k.a. handshake) from each device. Since the DVI jack on the TV is not HDMI, authentication cannot occur and may cause the A/V receiver to not produce any audio.
In my case I ended up connecting the digital audio to the receiver and the video to the second HDMI input on my television.
One possible solution to this would be to purchase an adapter that will take the Mini DisplayPort video signal and combine it with the digital audio signal to a single HDMI output. Both monoprice and Kanex make an adapter to accomplish this. Kanex also makes an adapter that will take analog audio and add it into a combined signal. I have yet to actually purchase either and test it, however I will be doing so in the future.
Software Choices
Back in the good old days I was using a MythTV setup and I really liked the interface (up to a point anyway, it wasn’t near as polished as some of the commercial options, but at that point I was gung-ho on opensource movement). After moving to the AppleTV, I became spoiled by the polish that I was seeing with the Apple interface as well as the Boxee project. After settling on the hardware choice of the Mac Mini, I then began looking for a suitable software product. Now I know several folks that use iTunes, Safari and FrontRow to handle most of this, however I wanted an all-in-one solution as much as possible. I settled on using Plex. This is a Mac OS centric fork of the XBMC project, so it may look familiar to some of you out there (Hey Joe Newton!).
The Plex application is quite similar to Boxee in that it maintains the XBMC application structure. There is a developer SDK available and you can easily write small apps to fill the holes in the ether. For instance, there is a rather nice application for viewing the TED Talks.
Unfortunately there are still somethings that a standalone application does better. I prefer the Hulu Desktop application, especially since Hulu goes out of their way to shun all third-party integration into their ecosystem. I also prefer using the NetFlix web interface over the Plex app. There are just some pieces to the integration that doesn’t function to my satisfaction. Also, to listen to my SACD and Digital Audio content, I am forced to use iTunes. This is due to a bug in the way that audio content is handled with respect to the frequency settings for digital audio in Plex. According to the developers this will be fixed in the release of version 0.9.
Getting Your Content
Here is one area where we are still at the mercy of the content creators and providers. If all the content you watch is ripped from legally purchased dvds and cds then you should have no problems, since Plex has been able to handle every format I have thrown at it. If you buy or rent video content from the iTunes store, then you are going to have to use FrontRow or iTunes, since the video content (unlike the music) is still encapsulated with DRM encryption. If you are in search of current tv show episodes, then your best bet is going to be to use Safari and watch the shows through the browser or to use Hulu (which is even better now that Hulu Plus has come into being).
Controlling the HTPC
When it comes to controlling your media center, most people expect that they will be able to use the ubiquitous remote control that we all seem to have so many of these days. Some of use still remember when you had to get up and physically change the channel on the television (seems like a quaint notion nowadays). Then we progressed to having wired remote controls, then on to infrared remotes, then to RF remotes that can work through walls! Well, I have a Logitech Harmony 550 remote that is programmable and can control all of my components. I can setup macros (or activities, as Logitech calls them) to do certain things, like go from tv watching mode into listening to the turntable mode (yeah, I still own a turntable and LPs). One of the nice things about the Mac Mini (like the AppleTV) is that it has a built-in infrared port, so that I can control Plex using my Harmony. Plex comes with built-in support for either the Apple Remote or the Logitech Harmony.
As for browsing the web, I still use a keyboard and mouse. Thankfully Apple makes this easy with their built-in bluetooth support. Currently I am using the new Apple wireless keyboard and a Might Mouse. At some point I plan on trying out the Logitech PS3 keyboard, since it has a built-in trackpad for cursor control.
Final Thoughts
Having been cable free for almost two years now, I can definitely say that it was a journey worth taking. Not only have a I reduced the financial costs associated with watching media, I also pay more attention to exactly what I am watching. Since my media storage is not infinite, I have to care more about what I keep and what I don’t. With the advent of NetFlix instant streaming, Hulu, and the prevalence of companies like ESPN, CBS and others that allow you to watch current content over the web, the storage burden has been lessened, but it is still something to keep in mind.
The main problem with this solution is for content that hasn’t made it to the new media generation. Many of the media providers still have the idea that cable is king and that they need to charge outrageous prices in order to maintain the monopoly. What they should be doing is allowing us access to the content, no matter how we want to watch it. One example of the bone-headed thinking out there is the way that Hulu has handled the interaction with systems like Plex and Boxee. The claim is that the content owners (NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.) have directed them to attempt to block usage that will conflict with standard transmission methods, such as cable and satellite. What they don’t seem to understand is that the way in which I watch the content is less important than if I watch it at all. On Hulu the content is ad-supported. On the ABC website, the content is ad-supported. I don’t think that it should really matter where the ads are seen, as long as they are, but apparently this is not the belief of the big-wigs in the boardrooms.
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