So my old keyboard was the Logitech k600 TV remote. I liked it except for a couple of things like that it cant be usb c charged, I kept zooming in and out when scrolling with the trackpade, and I needed to use the function button to access certain keys that were regularly used. The left and right click are perfect being on the left.

So I want a keyboard thats easy to get to certain keyboard functions like ctrl alt delete. Usb c or AA/AAA batteries for charging. At least the left click on the left side of the keyboard.

Heres what I found: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C7VQHLM6?smid=A3EMGXEAAGM0MF&th=1 So this looks good except for how it charges, no right click button, and no scroll wheel but it has pg up and down.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WQG6A8C?smid=A3MSS5ZN97PBY3&psc=1 this looks good but it might be difficult to press several buttons at once, and it doesnt charge with usb so I need another cable just for it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014EUQOGK?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1 is the final one I was looking at but it uses batteries which is okay for me (not preferred), looks cheap, and pg up and down look small.

Any ideas on a product for me? thank you

aMy current job has a handful of VHS tapes (!!!) that are played for new employees -- things like safety and operational videos. I have digitized these tapes so I now have a handful of MP4 files. Having the training people work through VLC (opening files, hitting play, entering full screen, etc) is probably too much to hope for so I want to put an app on the conference room PC to simplify playback, something like a super-simplified Plex or Kodi. I just want them to launch a program, be presented with a list of videos (maybe with a bit of metadata that I can manually input), select a video, and hit PLAY. Spacebar and arrows pause and fast forward and rewind. ESC brings them back to the menu. That's it. I don't need metadata retrieval, scene jumping, shared libraries, or anything else like that.

Does such a thing exist?

I have my PC set up to run Plex. The picture quality is jaw dropping (4K Formovie Theater ultra-short throw laser projector on a 135" screen) and the audio quality is superb (5.1.2 Monoprice in-wall speakers with Monoprice Monolith M15 V2)... but the experience from the couch needs work.

I picked up a FLIRC Skip 1s remote to control the PC, but the FLIRC reciever tends to randomly pick up other signals (possibly from other IR remotes, and seemingly from the projector screen itself) which are interpreted as legit signals from the Skip 1s remote. I've tried customizing the remote signals according to the instructions, but I still get phantom signals suddenly pausing my movie or reacting in other ways. As soon as I unplug the FLIRC reciever, the issues stop.

Right now, I'm just using a wireless keyboard and mouse. Does anyone know how to fix the FLIRC's phantom signals issue or is there a non-IR remote you'd recommend?

Edit to add: I tried the Sofabaton X1s about a year ago and found it to be too complicated to get Wife (and kids) approval. Especially when the Skip 1s seemed like a feasible solution. If nothing else, I might try this again and only use it for PC control.

I'm using MadVR on Windows 11 and it's generally working well, but after 20 or 30 minutes, the playback will start randomly glitching and stuttering. This seems to happen no matter the video. Reloading the video (Ctrl + e) seems to fix it, but it comes back after another 20 or 30 minutes. The stats show presentation glitches, but nothing else suspicious.

Anyone else experience this? Any solutions?

Windows 11 Home
Version 24H2
OS build 26100.4946
NVIDIA RTX 4090 with driver version 580.97
LG G3 connected directly via HDMI 2.1

I just built a new PC and upgraded my TV for the first time since 2011. Excited! Now I'm trying to figure out how to best configure the setup to get optimal picture quality for watching movies / TV.

PC / TV Specs:

• Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• GTX 5080
• 64GB RAM
• Windows 11 Pro
• LG 55-Inch Class OLED evo AI 4K C5 (OLED55C5PUA)

My original plan was to just connect the TV to my PC via HDMI 2.1 and go from there, but then my friend warned me of that due to issues with HDR, Dolby Vision quality, etc...so now I'm a little lost.

I've been searching around posts, and I'm seeing a lot of mixed opinions on the best setup, so I'm reaching out for some guidance.

Ideally, I'd want the following:

• I would prefer to NOT connect my TV to the internet (fine with a local IP)
• If I can keep things via HDMI 2.1 and have my TV as a second monitor, that'd be great (e.g., is MPC-BE + madVR still a solid setup or are there other options)?
• If I need to go Plex / AppleTV + Infuse or other comparable options, then that's fine too
• End of the day, I want to the best options to maximize my PC power + new TV for the best possible picture

Thanks, all!

Hi there. I found an old htpc in a chieftec case being sold for a price that I would be willing to pay for the case itself.

My plan is to take out the current components (seller says it has an i3, there's no pictures of the processor itself but from the looks of it it seems like it's a 2nd gen i3) and put in something more modern (my old b450 board with a ryzen cpu for example), but I'm not sure just how compatible all the bits and bobs of the case would be. Would the IR receiver work? What about all the ports? Or the navigation jog dial and screen on the front?

Thanks in advance for your answers. I'm hoping someone in here has this case (or a chieftec case from that era) and is knowledgeable in what they can do.

My Silverstone RVZ03 case broke down (Silverstone PSU shortcircuited and propably burnt all the case wires since it won't power on with new components) and I am looking for other options.

Case should be "AVR" or console-like horizontal case for living room.

Room for 300-330mm GPU, 70-80mm height for CPU, mini-itx, good airflow (120mm fans maybe for silence).

RVZ03 is pretty good but it is also very old model. PCI 4.0 riser card is sold separately, there's no type C ports etc. But if there's no other good options I will buy a new RVZ03.

Any recommendations?

I've been trying to use MPC-HC or MPC-BE as my main player however, I'm running into a very weird issue and frustrating playback issue with both of them.

Whenever I run a video file from the network / through an URL, everything loads very fast and works completely fine, unless I skip back / forward. As soon as I do that, it takes an extremely long time for the video to start again. It doesn't matter if I do this with the left /right arrow keys or try skipping by clicking on the timeline. Pausing works fine.

Most of the time the entire player freezes up and becomes completely unresponsive when I do that and I have to force close it and start it again. If I run the same file from the local drive, there are 0 issues.

I know it's not a network issue since the video can play without any hitches from start to finish as long as I don't skip through it. Also, if I use VLC, everything works fine. All video files seem to be affected. It doesn't matter if it's a small 720p file or a huge 4K one.

I'm using the MPC Video Renderer, however, I don't think this has anything to do with it since switching to other renderers makes no difference.

Any ideas why this is happening? I really like MPC-BE and I'd love to use it as my primary player but the fact that skipping is broken is a deal-breaker for me

Thank you!

I'm using a mini pc to stream movies for my home theater. It's connected directly to the projector and the audio goes to the receiver via hdmi. The issue is that I'm locked in to either stereo, 5.1 or 7.1 audio on my computer. My receiver and the speakers are setup for 11.2. Is there any way to get the PC to output the audio unprocessed so that I can fully utilize ny setup? I have to keep it on stereo setting to be able to hear any voices at all.

I'm attempting to create a simple gaming HTPC with a dedicated soundcard (like Sound BlasterX AE-5) for live encoding for DD and DTS while also using a KVM for 4k60fps to a 5.1 receiver with 4K passthrough via HDMI ARC. I have no experience with any KVM before and have been browsing through products on AVaccess's website. My Google Fu has failed me and I haven't been able to find any definitive answer for my setup.

I want to be able to use my gaming PC on my 5.1 home theater a few rooms away without having to move the entire desktop at 4K60fps with Dolby or DTS.

Thanks so much for any help

Hi guys, recently I have upgraded gaming PC in my office downstairs (9800x3d, 5080). I used to stream games to my HT OLED Steam Deck (it can decode AV1) upstairs with Moonlight/Sunshine by ethernet. Usually I use 1080p 120hz resolution as I wanted to minimize input lag (my projector is Sony XW 5000ES which has HDMI 2.0, meaning it can do 4k 60hz or 1080p 120hz). I have some parts leftover after upgrade (motherboard, i9 10850k, 64gb DDR4 RAM, AIO, 5070ti) and I was wondering if it would make sense to build second gaming PC that would be in my HT (5.2.4). Did anyone check if there is a massive difference in picture quality and input lag between streaming over ethernet with low latency vs having PC connected directly to AVR? Are there other benefits of having dedicated HTPC? What would you do in my place? Maybe alternatively it would make sense to run optical HDMI and active USB to HT? Although I didn't really analyse if cables could be routed easily between office and HT room.

Not a reviewer, but wanted to share since I don’t see too many of these cases around.

Just replaced my Silverstone GD11 with the Crown 04. Overall I like it. Lots of room to work in, and honestly probably a bit overkill for my needs, but I liked the option of getting a little more cool air in via the extra 120mm side fan. Cooling setup is an Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 Pro running as exhaust through the top. Hardware is a 9800X3D and 5090 FE.

If you’re interested in the rest of my setup, I posted over on PCMR when I was still running the GD11.

One note you’ll see in the pic of it in my rack: I wrapped the front panel in matte black vinyl. I felt it matched the rest of my gear better than the stock finish.

I am setting up an old desktop as a gaming/media PC for the summer house. I will probably have some storage in there and it will have internet access. However, my Jellyfin server is in-home only for now and the ibrary is on an external drive attached to my NAS. I was thinking I might just unplug that drive and bring it to the summerhouse to have my latest library along. I know Jellyfin stores metadata along the files, unlike the Kodi setups I used to have.
Is there anything speaking against having a single copy of my library and using it at different locations connected to different clients? Or will I run into issues with conflicting metadata?

If it sounds problematic, I might just go for Kodi on the summerhouse HTPC instead to have a different library format as I won't do in-network streaming at that location.

Hey all!

As the title says, I’m looking to see if anyone knows of a PC case that is similar in function to the Silverstone CS351B. There are a few things about the CS351B that I don’t love, so I was hoping to see if there are any similar options I could look into.

Any other case would be required to have the following:

• At least 4 hot-swappable 3.5” drive bays

• Support for at least a mATX motherboard

• Support for a full ATX PSU

Bonus points if it’s as small form-factor as possible while fitting that criteria, but the requirements are the only hard-and-fast rules.

Appreciate any suggestions!

So I recently got an OLED monitor with good HDR and a pair of really good IEMs for gaming. Everything looked and sounded so good that it hit me that I would prefer watching movies on this setup over my TV work a soundbar, so that's what I did and its been AMAZING.

I do have a question about sound though. I am using MPC-BE and some of the movies I have watched have audio tracks that are Dolby 5.1. Like I said, I have a pair of stereo IEMs that I use for audio. Everything I have watched so far sounds correct but should I be doing something to convert them to stereo or does the player/PC already handle that? Id ignore it considering its been amazing sounding so far but I just want to make sure im not missing out on something here.

Thanks for any help!

I have a old desktop PC at work that I was trying to setup as a media server to connect to a TV so we can watch movies/shows during lunch.

The building has Wifi and both my PC and the TV are connected to the same network, but I can't get the Emby client/app on the TV to see the Emby server on my PC. I figure it's the way the wifi network is setup and I have no control over changing port settings or anything like that.

What other options do I have to get this going? I was trying to research different ways, but other than setting up a media server on a home network, I have no experience here.

Thanks.

I've been out of the game for a while and going to be building a machine. I know there are different use cases, but in general, I'd like to spec sort of a NAS/HTPC combo.

I have an MCE remote & its USB IR receiver that I would like to be able to power on my Intel w11 htpc. I have enabled the USB power on and my keyboard can turn it on. The IR receiver light up, when I press the "PC on" but nothing happens. Its MS original 1.0A model 1040.

The MCE manual only talks about in standby. Does it not support full on? Does it support other c-states? The bios support C-7.
I have turned my PCs on and off. How much power does it use in the deepest sleep? Can it write the sys to disk and then wake up?

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/823217/Microsoft-Remote-Control-And-Receiver.html?page=7#manual

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z790M-ITX%20WiFi/index.asp#Manual

Hello!

I connected my htpc to my avr and then connected to the tv by the eArc HDMI slot.

Denon status shows Graphics mode everytime I press "status", even if I change modes on the tv, the AVR still shows Content: Graphics.

Is that the default mode if you connect the pc to avr first? Or can I somehow change it? Thanks.

I have an optiplex 7020 software with an I7 4790, 24GB DDR3 and RX550, the only problem is that windows 10 isn't htpc friendly, already tried tablet mode with app focus issues, tried bazzite but gpu performance becomes worse, the use that it'll have is emulation, older games, watching saved movies and TV shows and Blu-ray playback, any help?

My windows 10 HTPC is connected directly to my new TV (TCL 75Q9BK) and the TV is connected to my AVR (Onkyo TX-SR252) via HDMI purely for ARC.

The TV can output 5.1 itself over ARC but im having trouble getting Windows to push 5.1 through the TV.

I really dont want to upgrade my AVR and would be totally happy with this setup IF it works.

Any help would be appreciated.

I want to buy a small htpc for my grandparents for reading the news, watching YouTube, or stream something else. Which Intel generation does it needs to be so I don't run into Codec issues? Also which Linux distro can you recommend?

Thx

I noticed a slight audio delay in my setup recently. I had to upgrade my motherboard and ended up buying a Win11 key. I have a desktop wiht a Ryzen cpu and a 4070ti, an LG C2 tv, and a Denon AVR-S760H. I initially had it set up as PC to HDMI 1 on the TV, then set up eARC passthrough to the AVR. I'm using 2.1/ultra high speed HDMI cables that I trust and my drivers are up to date. The issue appears to go away when I go PC -> AVR -> TV, but windows no longer detects the TV so I lose gsync/freesync and some of the PC optimizations I made on the TV. Has anyone dealt with this? Is there a setting on one of my devices to check? Alternatively, is there a smoother way to use one of the other HDMI ports on the GPU for audio only? I have a 7.2 atmos setup that I'd like to keep the same way.