SwitchcResX is a really great utility that lets you take more control over the resolution of all your monitors.
That's fine for browsing the web or fiddling with settings, but when I'm watching iTunes Movie Trailers or watching content from Boxee or Plex, I want the resolution to be at 1920x1080.Ĭhanging settings manually is a total pain, and at first, I considered writing a script (or seeking out a friend to write a script for me) to change resolution based on what was being used. Changing the resolution to 1280x720 doesn't solve the problem completely, but it makes it much better. Our 40" Samsung LCD (LN40A550) looks beautiful at 1920x1080 resolution, but unfortunately, reading text and small icons from that far away is less than pleasant. One of the problems with having your computer hooked up to a large high-definition television is that at maximum resolution, it is very difficult to see icons and menus from the couch.
To really make your Mac mini the ultimate HTPC, it helps to have all the proper codecs (so that you can play everything you need) and assorted media plugins, not to mention a tool here or there to make the experience more comfortable. I'll do another post once I get the Mantra/Mira combo hooked up.Now that you have your Mac mini configured and connected to your home theater system (for a good visual "hook-up" guide check out Robert's Mac mini media center post), it's time to actually put your media powerhouse to use!
This resolved the problem where I was seeing a lot of video related noise using the DVI-D to DVI-D cable. The Mac Mini is connected to our HDTV (input 7) via a DVI-I to DVI-I cable. For right now it pulls content from the other iTunes library's in the house and so far, with the Mini hardwired to our router, that seems fast enough. I'll be adding some external storage via the Firewire port at some point. Their hardware is called the Mantra TR1 and requires their Mira software, all for ~$32.00. I'm looking at implementing a more family friendly remote, using the standard Apple remote (from our iMac) and attaching an Infrared receiver (USB) from TwistedMelon to the Mini.
Rowmote Software (using my iPod Touch as the remote for now).I had replaced my original Mini with one of the latest Intel based versions. I decided to put an old Mac Mini to use as something other than a door stop. Hogan (1) LED (1) RFID (1) SLAC (1) Stingray (1) The Outer Limits (1) The Wedge (1) WI State Fair (1) alumni (1) anime (1) ball bearing (1) barns (1) (1) blandinsville (1) browsers (1) carbon fiber (1) clothing (1) computer games (1) conservation (1) css (1) depression (1) dipity (1) dvd (1) freehub (1) grill (1) hacks (1) halloween (1) harley-davidson (1) hawking technology (1) heart (1) houdini (1) iTunes (1) iphone (1) ironclad (1) iso-elastic (1) jack-o-lantern (1) james bond movies (1) lincoln (1) look (1) lure coursing (1) mac mini (1) macintosh (1) miniDV camera (1) motionbased (1) northwave (1) pedal car (1) photochromic (1) pixels (1) practicable (1) printer (1) radio shack (1) review (1) road bar (1) security (1) smartphone (1) snowshoes (1) spinning (1) steam train (1) thanksgiving (1) timeline (1) transition (1) travel (1) vibram five fingers (1) weird sign (1) wi-fi (1) wisconsin (1) Bicycle (53) bike (37) spring city spinners (25) hobby (23) About (21) steadicam (12) Pedal The Kettle (9) dachshund (9) instructables (9) sun microsystems (9) work (9) julbo (8) sunglasses (7) Science Fiction (6) computer (6) garmin (6) ipod (5) mini helicopter (5) Christmas (4) GPS (4) blog (4) blogger (4) century (4) deck (4) dog (4) home (4) training (4) yoga (4) Communicator (3) Horribly Hilly Hundreds (3) Polar (3) Thudbuster ST (3) bicycling magazine (3) digg (3) tesla (3) vacation (3) vo2max (3) Clie (2) Cycleops (2) ITBL (2) Pactimo (2) RoadID (2) Sci-Fi (2) Star Trek (2) Trek (2) airline (2) beta (2) family (2) farm (2) fitness (2) gadgets (2) health (2) ioncube (2) minnesota (2) photography (2) ride log (2) superman (2) website (2) 35mm slides (1) BlogRush (1) Brand Ambassador (1) Cane Creek (1) DST (1) Daylight Savings Time (1) Google (1) Hot Wheels (1) James P.