Rig Pictures

[SnakeDoctor]

Originally Posted by blaze818

snake doctor, i love your setup very nice and clean. the second picture of your setup is hared to put into context. is that a shelf you made in the wall or what. just hard to tell how it is setup with the close up picture.

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I construcetd a 22.5" X 30" X 8" box and recessed into a wall that is adjacent to attic space. The shelves are adjustable (see the slots on either side) and don't go all the way to the back to allow for wiring. Notice the handle at the top and the small ell brackets around the perimeter. The back of the panel is removable to allow access to the attic THROUGH the panel. The attic side of the panel is insulated to keep hot/cold air out. There is nothing near the panel so I agree, it's hard to put it into context. I was trying to keep the picture small. It is mounted such that the bottom edge of the panel is about 8" above the floor. If I had it to do over again, I would have made it 10" deep.

Edit: Here' a picture of the panel with the door on.

[SnakeDoctor]

Originally Posted by Joe The Dude

Snake Doctor, did you make the TV Base, and Shelves above it, yourself, or did you hire a contractor?
Also, does the wiring for the components on the shelf above run down through those two wooden beams?

What's the model number of your TV?
Does it have a wide viewing angle?
Does it suffer from blurring during fast-motion HD?
If you have a PSP with TV-Out, are you able to use a Zoom Mode with that TV that makes PSP games fill the entire screen?

I really dig your in-wall setup for your cables, LAN and HDHR.
Using magnets to keep the door on it is genius!

Yes, my wife and I made the base and shelf ourselves. Woodworking is one of my hobbies. And yes, the vertical columns (beams) are hollow and allow for all of the wiring between the shelf and the TV. This was required to get the WAF meter to start moving off of 0%.

The model of the TV is HL-T6189S (Samsung). We sit in front of it about 13 feet back so viewing angle is not an issue fo us. Overall though, I would give the vertical viewing angle a 3 out of 10 and the horizontal viewing angle a 7 out of 10. Other TV technologies were too expensive for the size I wanted so I comprimised viewing angle for screen size. No regrets. No bluring during fast motion. This TV is driven by high output LEDs (no bulb) and the response time is rated at 16 microseconds. Much faster than a typical fast LED screen rated at 5 milliseconds. I don't have a PSP so I can't comment. Our PS3 look great and I love BluRay movies.

Thanks for the comments about my panel. See my previous post (reply to blaze818) for some details.

[blaze818]

SnakekDoctor,

wow that is a super clean install! im glad that you took a pic of it all put together helps me put it into perspective. prolly one of the cleanest installs i have seen in a while, and the fact that you made it yourself sets you apart.

Joe the Dude,

i think i have something in my kitchen that will work perfectly. better safe then sorry.

[SnakeDoctor]

Originally Posted by blaze818

SnakekDoctor,

wow that is a super clean install! im glad that you took a pic of it all put together helps me put it into perspective. prolly one of the cleanest installs i have seen in a while, and the fact that you made it yourself sets you apart.

Thanks blaze. I had a lot of fun putting it all together - both HTPC hardware/software and the cabinetry.

[SnakeDoctor]

Originally Posted by Talk4Cheap

Guess I'll join in as well. The computer sets behind the entertainment center so nothing is really too obvious. One regular cable box and one HD Box on the left shelf along with the Wii. On the right, the DVD player and a never used VCR used mainly to fill in space now. The box on the right along with the speakers on top are part of the DVD player. The sound for BTV are regular 5.1 speakers on the shelves beside other components.

The skin used is Windows Vista style skin with this background image. Lots of really nice wallpaper there btw.

Nice setup Talk.

If I wanted to change only the BTV background, which file gets replaced?

[DougPage]

Originally Posted by SnakeDoctor

If I wanted to change only the BTV background, which file gets replaced?

I can't put a link into a message yet as I'm new, so change the message number in your browsers URL to 47596 and hit Enter.

[RiderFan]

Here is my setup. I have my BTV rig and my BTV-LINK rig and 3 satalite receivers in my furnace room on shelves. I also have my HP Media Smart Home Server, my HD-PVR as well as a bunch of other junk right beside it. I then run cables to my TV's. No noise, no mess (except for my daughter's potato heads)

I also threw a picture of my MAME cabinet in my office. I work from home so it's a good distraction.

[TomXP411]

Nice console. I've been considering building a sit-down console for racing and flight simulators.

[blaze818]

tom, this thread is for rig pics, im sure your question will get answered soon.

Riderfan,
what cables do you have running to your tvs from your server room?

[RiderFan]

Originally Posted by blaze818

Riderfan,
what cables do you have running to your tvs from your server room?

HDMI, SPDIF, USB, CAT6 downstairs. SVIDEO, RCA, USB, CAT6 upstairs.

[blaze818]

thats a lot of wiring, but i guess you gotta pay the cost to be the boss lol.

[Zaap]

SnakeDoctor, that is a really impressive setup!

I'd love to do something very similar. Right now I just chopped the top off an old entertainment center and put a new top surface on it to use as a stand for my Samsung, but something like you have is what I'd eventually love to have. Even having the PS3 up on a top shelf is exactly what I've been thinking of doing. Of course, I don't have your woodworking skills so I'll just have to buy something that looks decent.

[SnakeDoctor]

Originally Posted by Zaap

SnakeDoctor, that is a really impressive setup!

I'd love to do something very similar. Right now I just chopped the top off an old entertainment center and put a new top surface on it to use as a stand for my Samsung, but something like you have is what I'd eventually love to have. Even having the PS3 up on a top shelf is exactly what I've been thinking of doing. Of course, I don't have your woodworking skills so I'll just have to buy something that looks decent.

Thanks Zaap. My original base was not too different from what you currently have. The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was the depth of the shelf. To accommodate the HTPC and the receiver, I had to custom build it. It is 20.5 inches deep and that leaves just enough room for the cables in the back. I had to have the center channel speaker above the TV because if it were below, the coffee table (barely visible in the picture) would have blocked it. I originally had the PS3 in the base but it quickly overheated due to it recalculating its own heat in the compartment - even with no door! Just as well though since I plan to add doors to the base. I also had issues with heat recirculation with the HTPC but that solution is another story.

[Talk4Cheap]

Originally Posted by SnakeDoctor

Nice setup Talk.

If I wanted to change only the BTV background, which file gets replaced?

Thanks!

Just close the viewscape (BTV can still run in the tray while you're doing this) and go into your Programs Files - Snapstream - BeyondTV - FSMedia - Images - and look for the image called "background_sml" Just make sure whatever image you use has that same name and is saved as a PNG file. Mine is a 1920x1280 picture since I use that as my viewscape size. You can put any image there as long as it's a PNG file. Open up BTV again and viola! I also changed the splash screen when BTV opens as well. Instead of the boring "beyond tv 4" opening up, I have this image. It will fill in as the program opens just like the regular splash screen. Just replace the "logo_normal" image or "logo_btvlink" image with it.

***And just in case this is copyright infringement, I'm just kidding, I don't really use this image***

[HomeyFour]

Well, here is my contribution. This is my main BTV rig (BTV server). I also have 3 BTV links.
The setup is a 2x PVR-150, HDHR, and an HD-PVR. I had to dump my PVR-500 due to uncontrollable time-stamp issue. Windows XP, Antec Fusion case. I also have 2 Audiotrons (love them, wish they were still for sale). Polk Audio 5.1 speakers, Sony components for Audio. Samsung 46" DLP.