June 26, 2008 2:34 PM updated: June 26, 2008 3:30 PM

Hi Tero,

Correct, you need some kind of Digital Media Receiver like the MediaSmart Connect, Neuros OSD, Netgear Digital Entertainer, XBOX 360, etc.

As for your questions:

How do I control the photo showing? Is it done with the remote control of media streamer or do I need to have a computer turned on and use MS Windows Media Connect software? Are both slideshow and showing of individual photos supported?

The control of photo viewing will be done by the media receiver you purchase. The features, like slideshow options, etc.  will vary depending on which device you buy. For the most part the ability to view slideshows and individual pictures should be pretty common among all receivers.

What is the resolution? If I have a setup with HP server, media streamer with HDMI and full DH television, do the pictures end up 1080*1920 resolution to the tv screen? Which component does the scaling? Media streamer?

The digital media receiver will scale high-res photos to fit your TV screen; how it scales will vary from device to device. However, most scale the picture height to the output resolution height. The output resolution to your TV will vary depending on which model you choose.

Finally I'm asking for your opinions.. Is this kind of arrangement feasible for showing photos and other media? For example would the latencies transferring the photos from HP to media streamer over WLAN be disturbing?

I use an XBOX 360 to show digital photos and video to friends and family on my HDTV all the time. I (personally) think the arrangement works great. I use a powerline bridge to the 360 and find it speedy enough. 

July 13, 2008 12:54 PM updated: July 14, 2008 10:01 AM

Jeff Block said:

Matt (or anyone else for that matter), what are you using to stream video from WHS via the XBO 360? The XBOX supports practically nothing natively (I think pretty much WMV only, right?), and that's just not practical since almost all my video is DivX/AVI. I've read up on using Transcode360 to transcode on the fly from other formats to WMV, but that solution is a bit clunky IMO.

I found a great article re: converting AVI's to WMV's, but that's not really what I had in mind either (though it's better than Transcode360 - to me at least).

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Your options are;
1. Purchase a different network media player or media extender. Most if not all will play DivX. Some suggestions: HP MediaSmart Connect, SageTV HD Media Extender, Ziova CS615
2. Mod the XBOX to XBMC, I am not a fan of this but many folks have gone this route. It does require that the Xbox be modified (the bios has to be hacked) and (this will void the warranty and there is always the risk of bricking it). I am 80% sure XBMC will handle DivX.
3. Convert your avi files to WMV using something like WinFF (freeware) but you will need to confirm what version of wmv it is converting to and whether that version will play on the XBox. You lost quite a bit of PQ going the DIvX route and you will lose a little more when you convert to any other video format and there is no way around that!
4. Transcoding real time on the fly is an option as you mentioned but can be problematic, especially if you do not have a fast PC or if you happen to want to watch your video while your PC is busy doing other cpu intensive things.

So depending on your budget option 2 may be the best way to go but it is risky and is only easy if you have done it before.

nmpcrazy

(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect