Multizone Audio/Video setup? [picture]

[NickSE]

Hi I also posted this on AVS forum but didnøt get any replies so I'll give it a go here

My name is Nick and I’m really struggling with the planning of a home audio/video distribution retrofit for our new apartment. You can see a large version of some of the devices i'm trying to setup here: http://www.vimse.com/av_setup_1.jpg

I’m new to this and the drawing might seem childish for some of you gurus, but I think it will help me explain what it is I’m trying to accomplish 

I have spent the last week continuously reading this forum and other specific front end system forums like Meedio and Xlobby. I think I have read almost all newer threads and I’m starting to understand some of the basics, but the bigger picture is still quite fuzzy to me.

I’ll try to explain in words what I need to do:

I would like a central content server that holds all content, DVD’s, Divx Xvid and all pictures and an iTunes library. I’m not yet sure about the tuners and recording TV
Possibilities in this new place because we might only have a normal antenna and no digital TV but this is something we would like to add later. So the central content server should be able to support this future expanding.

The apartment is covering two floors and they’ll both have several zones and I would like to control everything from fixed and portable touch screen clients located in the different rooms.
So if the used frontend is Xlobby, the menu should be shown on all of those devices and awaiting user input. Then it should be possible to browse the content and direct it to the zone selected.
I do not expect the touch screens to be used as video monitors but they should of course show the information about the selected content while it’s being shown on one of the plasmas or the PJ.. or if it’s audio then it should show the cover art and so on.
I’m also planning on creating some home automation s
o it’s possible to control all lighting from the panels. And these controls should always be at hand so it’s easy to turn on/off all lighting and maybe activate a scene e.g. (entertaining guest or romantic evening with a tap on the screen)

I understand that I might be requiring much from the frontend software and after reading up on the different forums, it feels like multi zoning isn’t really the big priority for these companies and it doesn’t make any sense to me, since I feel it’s one of the main areas the software developers should attend to, and I hope I have overlooked some features somewhere

I hope some of you friendly HTPC and AV specialists will give me a hand trying to figure out how this can be done and with which products. The cost is not an issue but the simplicity is, I have limited cabling possibilities since this new apartment is somewhat restricted so the less wires the better. Another thing, I would prefer not to have a client PC in every zone since it would make the system less straightforward e.g. then I would need to have them running at all times to support instant action right? I just checked my CPU usage when I play a Xvid movie and it only takes up 5-8% so shouldn’t it be possible for the HTPC to decode Lion king and forward it to zone 2 and Xmen to zone 1 and send of some audio to zone 3 and 4? And still have enough processing power for maintaining a healthy status? I understand that this would require several audio/video outs and I’m not sure if that’s possible but just one of the ideas I hope you’ll shed some light on.

- Nick

[hvs69]

Xlobby supports Multizone Audio only at this point. You either need multiple sound-cards or soundblaster live/audigy series with kx drivers (not the original ones from creative) that can allow up to 3 independent wave-out devices from one single card.

Streaming multiple video streams from a single server will be technically very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve due to a number of issues. For example, I am bringing my 3 GHz pentium machine almost to its knees during dvd playback due to all the video post-processing (sharpening, resizing, etc). Playing multiple files under such conditions is simply not feasible. I am not even sure whether the current renderers (overlay or VMR) support such a thing. You are better off buying wireless audio-video client units which are fairly cheap, if you don't want to invest into building local client PCs for each point.

[rhinoman]

Mutlizone audio is easy with xlobby with independent client and independent zone control. the video side will require slave local computers that can share the main database but its possible.

[Colby]

After looking at your setup I am curious about the touchscreens and actual computers. I see 5 touchscreens and 2 servers. Are you planning on having the 5 touchscreens be shared video outs of the same server or will they control different servers? Also will the portable touchscreens be clients or extensions of the servers? What will the HTPC server do that the media server wont or cant? Do you have any equipment yet or are you buying/ building now?

[NickSE]

You either need multiple sound-cards or soundblaster live/audigy series with kx drivers

Will look at this card. I assume a sound card with multiple outs is required for all multi zone setups also for audio only installs?

Streaming multiple video streams from a single server will be technically very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve due to a number of issues. For example, I am bringing my 3 GHz pentium machine almost to its knees during dvd playback due to all the video post-processing (sharpening, resizing, etc).

I'm not sure about the post processing you're experiencing, is this due to custom settings you have enabled? When I play a dvd in windows media player 10 it takes 10-15% cpu but maybe i'm not reading the data correctly? I read about a product called Thinsoft that should be able to turn 1 PC into several "seperate" virtual pc's have you heard about that?

You are better off buying wireless audio-video client units which are fairly cheap, if you don't want to invest into building local client PCs for each point.

AV clients is that the same as a settop box or is it something different?

Thank you for your reply

[NickSE]

Mutlizone audio is easy with xlobby with independent client and independent zone control. the video side will require slave local computers that can share the main database but its possible.

I thought about setting up a PC for each room but I hope it can be solved with less machines running 24/7 but if that's what it takes then i'll go for it If I had a client PC for each zone then how will this machine know what is going on in the other zones and how can I control the actions on the other zones? For example in the bedroom zone, i check the screen and would like to know if I can start some music in the livingroom or if there's a movie playing already and so on?

[NickSE]

After looking at your setup I am curious about the touchscreens and actual computers. I see 5 touchscreens and 2 servers. Are you planning on having the 5 touchscreens be shared video outs of the same server or will they control different servers?

I must admit that I'm not sure about te drawing I created but I think what I want is that all touch screens are clients and they should just show the xlobby software and i should be able to click on any zone on any panel ad start stop any media on any of the 2 plasmas or the projector.. or something like that. Is my example drawing there's only 1 pc with the xlobby software.. the server is only sending the content. This might not be possiple but that's where I need your help

Also will the portable touchscreens be clients or extensions of the servers? What will the HTPC server do that the media server wont or cant? Do you have any equipment yet or are you buying/ building now?

They will be clients. I placed the HTPC in that location so I can make use of the great quality DVI output for the projector.

[NickSE]

I just wanted to add that I have read about what Crestron and other expensive setups can do and I'm trying to emulate that in the drawing I made but some of the stuff is new to me so it's only a rough idea I have and I'm welcoming any ideas and advice

All I know for sure is that there'll be 3 viewing spots (2 plasmas and 1 PJ) and I prefer to use DVI for the PJ.. There will also be several listening spots that I havent totally defined yet I would like to control the content distribution to these viewing devices with total meshed zone controls available.

[rhinoman]

I think you could get away with the htpc drving the plasma and the projector of the same room, use the server perhaps for the plasma in the bedroom.

Do you need a touchscreen where there is a plasma, a remote control would simplify the issue with ir linked back to the pc.

With xlobby a touchscreen needs to be running either as a monitor or could run the thin client or web client but not "currently" from the same pc that is running xlobby.

I did see a touchscreen networked attached wall plate device that runs win ce which means it should be suitable for use with the xlobby thin client.

The thin client allows independent control of any zone but as yet I dont think there is a way to know if a film is playing before music is put on. I think more often you would know whats going on in a room or just put the music on when you get there.

There are other soundcards suitable for multiroom music, rme and maudio both do some that work with xlobby. It depends how high end you want to go.

[ryguy]

Bump?

I'd like to do this as well...has anyone come up with a solution for multi-zone video?

[dwayne]

Nick,

If you havent purchased your touchscreens yet, please check out our new product:

http://www.redradio.com/products/relaytouch-utma.html

I just found XLobby today, and will determine whether the multiple audio card support works with RelayTouch-UTMA for a zoned system.

-Dwayne
RedRadio

[ryguy]

will this product allow me to access the same session from multiple screens? So for example, if i start a video on one screen, and i go to another room, can i still view that same content without restarting it?

I'm trying to understand exactly how this works. Would i only have to run ethernet cable to this screen? No vga etc? Does it just make use of fast-user switching?

Thanks for your response.

[dwayne]

will this product allow me to access the same session from multiple screens? So for example, if i start a video on one screen, and i go to another room, can i still view that same content without restarting it?

No, each RelayTouch-UTMA is a separate windows session, running a separate instance of the software application.

I'm trying to understand exactly how this works. Would i only have to run ethernet cable to this screen? No vga etc? Does it just make use of fast-user switching?

Yes, just Ethernet and Power.

[ryguy]

so how much is this product?

I'm interested in the ability to start a video in one location, and be able to view the same content from screen to screen. I noticed there were 2 version of the screen; one with and one without smarts (computer). Would this provide this ability? Also does audio run over the ethernet connection?

Thanks

[dwayne]

so how much is this product?

I'm interested in the ability to start a video in one location, and be able to view the same content from screen to screen. I noticed there were 2 version of the screen; one with and one without smarts (computer). Would this provide this ability? Also does audio run over the ethernet connection?

Thanks

RelayTouch (non-UTMA) is just a wall mount touch monitor. You can use multiport video cards and extenders. You would be able to "drag" an application across the virtual desktop using some simple macros. This might give you what you want. However, audio would have to be run separately from the host pc to the display locations.

Prices are here:

http://www.redradio.com/products/order.html

-Dwayne
RedRadio