ak357 0 Posted February 4, 2007 Hi, I would like to ask if anybody can share opinion,idea.... on good, reliable, flexible PC based Home Automation +CCTV+Media Centre system Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CollinR 0 Posted February 4, 2007 I currently provide one of each, however they aren't directly integrated. I hope to have an integrated solution. I don't see it happening in one box, well unless you hardware to MPEG4 or dvix but still it's cheaper to do more then one at that point. Lots and lots of problems in the media center area, your customers will want HD TV and that basically won't be happening for a while. Sure you can get your locals ATSC and linux users can do more with QAM but HBO, Cinemax, Showtime nope. Well except the new ATI cablecards, but they are OEM only. The interface is the biggest issue, how will you interact with it and what can it really do. How many places can you interact with it, how many concurrently. How will it be maintained... Little stuff like ripping CDs, automated MP3 tagging, playlist generation, album art. That alot of crap just to have it kinda maintain itself, all your customers will want cover art too. Don't even think about using Windows MCE for TV, it's funtionality is pretty sad compared to BeyondTV, SageTV and MythTV. AMX and Crestron have capacities like this but I don't do those. ($$$) IP cams make everything easier, no encoding = little CPU work. Thats a very complex subject you really need to study all 3 subjects plus theater design, terminal services or ?, VoIP and QoS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lolo Wolf 0 Posted February 4, 2007 Hello, The MCE platform is limited but if you just want access to library and basic media functions there are plugins. Is this a end user,home based build? Go look at HAI http://www.homeauto.com/main.asp and Homeseer http://www.homeseer.com/, If your going the Microsoft Media center route they have plugins for MMC you might want to look at the Pro-100 series II. Personally my home build I used Homeseer http://www.homeseer.com/ in combination with some ELK cross platform controls (did a lot of trial and error) but had some fun http://www.elkproducts.com/ the two talk to each other, there are a lot of plugins for third party, scene lighting,thermo,pc music/whole house speaker control and other goodies but you should investigate the differences between software systems and firmware based.Try combinations of the two.For my personal home security (cctv) I only use a dedicated system, although have it integrated with whole house tv modulation and linked communication with gated entry points, entry/closure. In so far as the commerical aspects with intrusion/security systems etc, thats best left to others for advice on this board who specialize in that trade like Mr collin R But for CCTV I am old school,nuts and bolts prefer the reliability of a stand alone dedicated system with few devices and toys in between. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
