Altenative to MCE

dUnKle

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Help please

Use MCE at moment but after asking if I am getting an upscaled 720p picture when watching DVDs in MCE it would seem the answer is no

So ........

Is there an alternative Media Centre that is as Girlfriend friendly as MCE and gives ALL of the following ....

(1) Play DVDs in upscaled 720p or more
(2) Play AVI files stored on a HD
(3) Play DVDs stored on a PC (like MCE does via MyMovies)


Im not after TV watching or anything like that - but do need the front end like MCE

Also need it to be able to use the MCE remote if possible

Cheers
 
TheaterTek will do all of those, and it's about as friendly as you get.. :)
 
The Dude said:
TheaterTek will do all of those, and it's about as friendly as you get.. :)

not for my mrs - needs to have the front end type thing for her
 
Showshifter is quite good.

Mytv the linux based one
 
tinoest said:
Showshifter is quite good.

Mytv the linux based one

Cheers - does Showshifter allow for watching of DVDs stored on HD ?

also will it upscale - can not find any mention on web site
 
Xlobby does all the above with theatertek as you player. There is probably a skin that will look like MCE.
 
DLPMaybe said:
Xlobby does all the above with theatertek as you player. There is probably a skin that will look like MCE.

Now that sounds a good idea
 
Mediaportal. You can use the MCE skin with it and it looks just the same. You can do a lot more with it than MCE too. I use theatertek as my player, and it integrates pretty much seamlessly. You can use the player it comes with though if you dont want to use theatertek.
Once you get it setup, it really is very good, and best of all its free. http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/

Edit - Forgot to mention you can use FFDshow for post processing/scaling etc with the built in player too. It also has built in support for the MCE remote, so you can just plug it in and everything works as it should.
 
Here are some screens from my setup. This was based on a skin on the site. I modified it for my requirements.
 

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DanH said:
Mediaportal. You can use the MCE skin with it and it looks just the same. You can do a lot more with it than MCE too. I use theatertek as my player, and it integrates pretty much seamlessly. You can use the player it comes with though if you dont want to use theatertek.
Once you get it setup, it really is very good, and best of all its free. http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/

Edit - Forgot to mention you can use FFDshow for post processing/scaling etc with the built in player too. It also has built in support for the MCE remote, so you can just plug it in and everything works as it should.

Oh

Now that sounds good too - like the theatertek ffdshow thing
 
I prefer using Theatertek to the player it comes with. Not that theres anything wrong with it, but Theatertek is just better. You can edit the registry to disable the splash screen, and then when you select Play DVD in mediaportal away it goes, and the MCE remote works great in Theatertek aswell.
 
I thinbk mediaportal should be the first option. Xlobby can be an ar$e to setup :)
 
DLPMaybe said:
I thinbk mediaportal should be the first option. Xlobby can be an ar$e to setup :)

YTep just been looking at that - kinda put off - will give mediaportal a go - in fcat may even start now
 
DuncanWardle said:
YTep just been looking at that - kinda put off - will give mediaportal a go - in fcat may even start now

Neither of us can type today ;)

I tried Mediaportal and it just was not flexable enough for me. It was only very minor issues but XLobby gave me the full flexability. Xlobby does give the extra options but IMO at the expence of ease of setup. Setting up databases in Xlobby for example takes a good while to get your head round.
 
DLPMaybe said:
Neither of us can type today ;)

I tried Mediaportal and it just was not flexable enough for me. It was only very minor issues but XLobby gave me the full flexability. Xlobby does give the extra options but IMO at the expence of ease of setup. Setting up databases in Xlobby for example takes a good while to get your head round.

As long as it can play DVDs upsaled along with AVI files and DVDs stored on HD using DVDDecrypter it will be ok

Dont use one half the functions of MCE - dont have TV card and dont intend to get one - for me HCPC is just a posh DVD player
 
If you are running MCE2005 you can get DVD's to playback seamlessly with Theatertek via the My Movies plug-in...just change a setting in the My Movies settings, and have theatertek installed and when you go to watch a dvd it should open within the theatertek interface. You can then use ffdshow.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
deleted member said:
If you are running MCE2005 you can get DVD's to playback seamlessly with Theatertek via the My Movies plug-in...just change a setting in the My Movies settings, and have theatertek installed and when you go to watch a dvd it should open within the theatertek interface. You can then use ffdshow.

lisa

Is there actually an option via MyMovies to pop a DVD in and have it play without having it added to the database and playing as if an "offline" title
 
Duncan,

Also have a look at the nvidia Pure Video codecs. As far as I can tell, you don't need to use post processing software with these meaning you can use MCE and let the nvidia codecs upscale.

deleted member uses hers like this, maybe she can shed some light.

Richie.


Richie.
 
DuncanWardle said:
Is there actually an option via MyMovies to pop a DVD in and have it play without having it added to the database and playing as if an "offline" title
No, I don't think there is - good point, you do have to add it to the database first (i think!).

With regard to the nvidia codec there is a scaler option in the settings, mine is set to native - I am not 100% sure but I assume it scales the video to either the desktop resolution or the native reolution of the display device.
 
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Another vote for Media Portal. Can take a while to get the set-up right though. The current version has some problems getting ffdshow to work, and video codec choice is very confusing.

Paul
 

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