Difference between revisions of "Media Directors"

Revision as of 03:16, 27 April 2008

Media directors is a PC which channels the audio and video content managed by the LinuxMCE system to audiovisual devices which are connected to it.

Although a LinuxMCE system can only have one Core (or hybrid Core/Media Director), there can be many Media Directors in the system.

There can be a separate Media Director in each room or entertainment area, for example, each connected directly to the TV, stereo, or other AV devices in that area. Content is output to the AV devices through the graphics and sound card of the local Media Director PC.

Each Media Director is connected to the LinuxMCE Core server through your home automation/multimedia LAN.

While a dedicated core can be hidden in a closet or somewhere, each Media Director is generally attached to a TV or entertainment center. As such, it has requirements similar to a Home Theater PC (stylish case, good graphics and sound cards, low noise, low heat production).

Unlike a Home Theater PC, however, the Media Director does not require a large storage capacity, nor an extremely powerful processor, since most storage and processing functions are provided by the Core (or hybrid). A lot of the functions of a typical home theater PC is performed by the Core for the entire LinuxMCE system. Since a Media Director does not have to do all these functions, therefore, it does not need all the hardware and capabilities of a typical high-end home theater PC.

A Media Director, for example, does not need a large hard drive. (The Core does the PVR functions and all network media storage functions for the entire system, no matter how many media directors there are. Only the Core needs a large hard drive storage capacity.) The Core also generally has the TV video card for the entire system; a Media Director does not typically need one. Because Media Directors can netboot (and therefore act essentially as thin clients to the Core), they do not even need an OS.

A Media Director does need a good (nVidia) graphics card and a good sound card, however. Outputs to TV and stereo are directly from a Media Director.

A Media Director also provides the interface for input devices. Remote controls (USB-UIRTs, bluetooth devices, etc.) are generally connected to a Media Director.

Therefore, choosing a PC to be used as a Media Director must be done carefully when considering the input and output capabilities of that PC.

Also, a Media Director sits next to your TV, usually. It must have a stylish case, must be whisper-quiet (either quiet fans or a fanless heat sink), have low heat emission (usually low power consumption), and be small and unobtrusive.

These demands are more easily met with a Media Director than with a Home Theater PC, since many of the functions of a HTPC are in the Core of a LinuxMCE system reducing hardware requirements of a Media Director. A typical Media Director is therefore much less expensive than a typical Home Theater PC.

Although the AV devices are connected to the Media Director(s), they are nevertheless administered by the Core. In the LinuxMCE admin panel, A/V devices settings are specified separately from the settings of the media directors to which they are connected. This is done because the Core keeps track of the controls and settings of every device on the system. Because it is possible to netboot Media Directors from the Core, all settings for all Media Directors and all devices must centrally be stored in the Core.