Beo-Mac

Re: Connections! Connections!

elephant — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:12:23 GMT

Stoney3K:
the iTunes video and movie store is not available outside of the US.

You are partially correct; BENELUX iTunes stores only have Music and Podcasts etc., as does the Danish iTunes store.

However I have purchased movies and films from iTunes in Australia and the UK.

I have checked a few other iTunes stores, for example France does have TV Shows for sale, and Germany has TV Shows for sale and Films for rent or sale.

I presume this mess is all because of copyright and payment negotiations.

Re: Connections! Connections!

Stoney3K — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:38:43 GMT

elephant:
You surprise me !

Maybe iTunes is different from ATV, but according to my iTunes it is available in all 3 BENELUX countries

Yes, iTunes is, but the iTunes video and movie store is not available outside of the US. We can only purchase music through iTunes, not watch movies or TV shows.

Re: Connections! Connections!

clifft — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:01:45 GMT

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I didn't realise that there were so many solutions! It is a bit daunting, made worse by the fact that I live in the country over an hour from Melbourne which makes me nervous about taking any risky moves in case they don't work as I am far from any on-site help.. I have contacted Ed and am delighted to take up his offer of help and to view his system. I have a lot of questions for him to answer! Unfortunately, the weather and the bush-fire risk means that it will be a while before I can get down to see his set-up. I feel for all Beoworld members in Europe at present with the very cold weather you are getting. We are at the other end of the scale here in Australia in our summer. Today it reached 33C for us in Ballarat and I could hardly touch the steering wheel of my car to drive home. Over the week-end it will be in the high 30'sC where I live and on Monday it will be around 41-42C. We are really concerned about the bush fire risk and are praying we don't get another day like Black Saturday last year. Regards, Cliff

Re: Connections! Connections!

elephant — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:53:23 GMT

You surprise me !

Maybe iTunes is different from ATV, but according to my iTunes it is available in all 3 BENELUX countries

In fact a total of 77 countries world wide are on iTunes

However I agree having to navigate between different stores to get different countries content (assuming one has credit card accounts in multiple countries) is a pain in the rear

Re: Connections! Connections!

Stoney3K — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:26:13 GMT

ouverture:

the ATV is 3x more expensive than the Sony box :-(

Also keep in mind that most services on the ATV (such as the iTunes TV/movie store) are US only. IMO, the thing isn't worth more than 'other' movie players here in Europe, so I wouldn't even consider purchasing it.

Re: Connections! Connections!

ouverture — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:03:30 GMT

Cliff, another option might be the JS Tech product

Component (YUV) to RGB/VGA Converter

they also have an Apple TV to Scart guide if you prefer to go down the ATV route

Re: Connections! Connections!

ouverture — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:31:38 GMT

the ATV is 3x more expensive than the Sony box :-(

Re: Connections! Connections!

Harry2008 — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:27:42 GMT

Probably it is an open door you already thought of, but why not buying an Apple TV?

(see for al types of usage macrumors)

Re: Connections! Connections!

elephant — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:41:16 GMT

Hi Cliff,

firstly, next time you are in Melbourne you are welcome to visit Susan and myself and we can show you our setup.

Secondly, I will look at DivX as I suspect it may be more efficient than the packages I have been using.

So far I have used Handbrake and MakeMKV.

MakeMKV lets me easily capture DVDs that have multiple titles, e.g. movies with special features, music DVDs with behind the stage interviews, and DVDs with multiple episodes of a TV show. It is also faster than Handbrake, but (there is always a but) its "copies" take up more space as it is basically a bit for bit copy of the DVD.

Handbrake is also easy to use, in fact one click, but it takes about as long as the DVD's play time to effect its copy however those "copies" are smaller that the MakeMKV's. My middle son assures me that this means Handbrake is compressing the DVD and that therefore I am loosing quality in the process - any such degradation is invisible on our BV8-32.

Also the MakeMKV creates a folder structure that mimics that of the DVD - the folder has the DVD's name, and each "track" is named in a format like 'title00', 'title01', etc. Whereas with Handbrake I get a single file that is the name of the DVD.

What I have not any experience or opinion on is what is happening to the sound tracks. I am sure that other posters will tell us that somewhere along the way we will be making compromises on the encoding of the audio.

I also have not played with the multitude of settings in either package.

PS, I must admit the humour of the writers of Handbrake appeals to me:

HandBrake 0.9.4: Released! or: Not Dead, Just Pining for the Fjords.

Re: Connections! Connections!

ouverture — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:01:40 GMT

I just spoke to my mum, she uses DivX on her Mac laptop (the laptop is in her office) to encode all types of digital video, she saves ( copies ) the content to an external USB hard drive, she then removes the drive, walks over to the lounge and attaches it to the SMP-U10 ( which is permanently connected to the camcorder phono leads at the back of the Avant TV) , then she uses the Sony remote to play all this content on her Avant 32 in the living room with the grand kids :-)

She tells me that the DivX encoded material is quite superb when viewed on her TV, better than when she used DVD's in the past, work that one out !

Re: Connections! Connections!

clifft — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:36:46 GMT

Thanks, Ouverture, for your help. I will study the review and see how easy it is to set things up. I am intrigued by the Sony device that your Mum uses. It is about $150 here in Australia. I am not sure how you copy stuff across, do you connect it to your computer so you can use the screen to find and transfer your files? Cliff

Re: Connections! Connections!

ouverture — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:42:06 GMT

Cliff - the mini display port is really aimed at users that feel the need to connect up to the 24 inch LED Cinema Display

this maybe a better option than buying a BV7

on the other hand, do what my mum does, she has a MacBook Pro and simply copies all her digital video content to an external USB hard drive, then unhooks the drive and connects it to a Sony SMP-U10 Media Player, which is always connected to her Avant using the Camcord sockets ( on the back of the TV at the top right hand side)

She would prefer to use the Beo4 remote that she is used to when playing DVD's and VHS tapes, but B&O have not listed the SMP-U10 in the latest STB update yet

Re: Connections! Connections!

ouverture — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:57:19 GMT

a good review is here

How to: Connect a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro to a TV

makes it all look a bit simpler I hope

Re: Connections! Connections!

clifft — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:21:32 GMT

This sounds like its getting a bit complicated for someone like myself who isn't an electronics whizz! My fear is getting the new computer and all the other stuff and not being able to get it to work properly. I think I may keep what I've got and wait until I upgrade my Avant and hopefully the digital output from the MacBook Pro will be accepted by the BV7 without any electrical acrobatics. Thanks for the advice, it means I don't have to have earnest discussions with the Minister for War and Finance about it for a while!

Re: Connections! Connections!

Stoney3K — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:53:32 GMT

Yaeger:
"You need the mini displayport to video adapter, and a mini jack to phono cable for the audio. Connect to a scart socket using one of those scart adapters with 3 phonos on the back of it "

and

"Unfortunately, Apple probably expects you to use Mini-DP to DVI, then DVI to Video. "

The mini-DP to DVI adapter is, probably, DVI-D (digital) only, where the 'old' DVI-I to S-video or composite adapter needs a DVI-I (digital/analog) connector. The two connectors will not mate in this case.

You could try a 'dumb' VGA to S-video and composite cable, I don't believe the Apple DVI-I to Video adapter is much more, but there might be some intelligent electronic bit inside that tells the port that it has a video adapter attached, instead of a VGA output.

Using a scan converter is the sure-fire way out, but you may lose some picture quality because of it. Depending on your TV model, a VGA to SCART cable (usually meant for component over SCART in the other direction) may also work, if the TV supports RGB-SCART input.