what is the missing link ??

[admin_exported]

hi all,

just about to embark on a bit of a spending spree to upgrade some tired kit, and looking to bring my PC to the party too but, i seem to have come up against a bit of a gap in my understanding regarding what hardware is actually needed.

I'm going to buy a new TV - thinking Sony KDL-46EX503 (but not too chuffed with having to buy a dongle for wifi!)

I'm also going to buy a blu-ray player at some point - so why not the new Sony BDP-S570 (but if this has wifi already does that render my tv dongle obsolete?)

And all the audio i'd like to push through my existing Marantz amp and Wharfdale speakers.

so all thats well and good, and easy to set up, but heres the thing:

i'd also like to get movies from my PC to the TV and speakers, and also get audio from my PC to my speakers - without wires if possible, and all controlled with somethign simple and universal - like perhaps my iphone.

so the question is - do i need to dump the amp and buy one of these 'receivers' ? or can i get something that works with my amp to receive the wireless PC input and then push it to the TV / speakers as appropriate ? And how can make sure i can watch all my HD / AVI / DIVX movies as well as using itunes as my main audio library without compromising on either audio or visual quality ?

god i feel old!

 

[amcluesent]

The Sony KDL-46EX503 and Sony BDP-S570 both have built-in media streamers which can play music/video from a PC running a DLNA protocol server. In my experience with a Bravia TV, the blue-ray player is a LOT better as a media streamer!

Something like Wild Media Server on the PC should be able to transcode movies if needed. Or for a standalone box, the Popcorn Hour devices play pretty much everything.

TBH, I'd stay with wired ethernet for pushing video, wi-fi isn't always quite up to this task if you have interference.

I presume your amp/speakers are two-channel stereo, so you'll miss out on 5.1 sound from DVD/blue-ray disks unless you buy an AV Receiver and just get the two-channel mix-down of soundtracks.

If you want just music without switching on the TV/blue-ray, then Logitech Squeezebox and Sonos both sell a range of wi-fi music players which have iPhone 'apps' as remote controls.

 

[Anonymous]

great stuff amcluesent!

thats given a me a good push in the right direction - i rekon i'm best off buying the TV and then seeing what i can get out of it with the PC / DLNA server. then i'll have a better idea of what to do next!

thanks again for your help!