Designing a Proper Home Media System

Over the last couple of days I’ve had a lot of time to think about the design goals for a home media system. I firmly believe we possess all the technological bits and pieces to make this system a reality but I have yet to find anyone having published an article describing a real-world implementation.

The design goals are:

  1. I want to be able to view live and recorded HD cable (including premium channels) via a CableCard box on every TV in the house. I’d also like to be able to switch to satellite or OTA HDTV if I choose in the future.
  2. I want to be able to set up recording timers from any TV, computer, or device in the house. I’d also like to be able to do this remotely via the internet or telephone.
  3. I want to be able to share recorded programs between TVs. For example, if I record CNBC’s “Mad Money” from my office then I’d like to be able to watch the recording on another TV upstairs in the evening. I’d also be able to record a movie off HBO-HD in my family room and be able to watch the recording later in my home theater.
  4. I don’t want stacks of equipment next to every TV. Instead I want a client/server architecture (or more appropriately extender/media-center/storage-server architecture) and put it as much as possible in an equipment room.
  5. I’d like access to my entire library of CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray titles instaneously on any device in the house without loss of quality. If displayed on a smartphone then I’m happy to have it transcoded to a lower bitrate.
  6. I’d like to be able to view pictures, movies (regardless of codec), music (regardless of codec), and other content stored on a storage server on any display in the house. Adding content should be easy.
  7. I’d like to be able to pause a show/movie/music (either live, recorded, or stored media, internet TV, and HD/XM/internet/regular radio) on any playback device in the home and pick up from where I left off on another playback device.
  8. I’d like to be able to send recorded shows to my smartphone, portable music/video player, or laptop for viewing at another time. I’d to the player to know how far I was into the show just like a car CD player begins playing a song from where it left off when I turn off the ignition. When I return the device to the home network it should sync playback info so I can pick-up for where I left off again.
  9. I’d like to be able to view all of the content (live TV, recorded TV, movies, music, media files, internet TV, and HD/XM/internet/regular radio) anywhere I have an internet connection.
  10. I’d like to be able to burn and/or archive the shows onto another storage media as I determine.
  11. I’d like to be able to easily mirror the video content on either a subset or all of the displays in the house.
  12. I’d like to be able to easily mirror the audio content on either a subset or all of the multi-room speakers and audio systems in the house.
  13. I’d like to able to control this system via a home automation system (Crestron) and remotely when I’m not on the premises.
  14. I’d like to be able to selectively display caller-ID, weather, smarthome statistics, security camera feeds (triggered by a doorbell for example), and any other info on a display-by-display basis based on any triggering criteria desired. I’d also like these triggers to be able to lower the volume or perform other actions.
  15. I’d like the less technically inclined people to be able to run the system without supervision or fear of ruining the system itself.

I think this would satisfy my requirements but I’m sure there are things missing. Is there anything else you’d add or remove from this list? Let me know in the comments below.

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August 5, 2009 | Filed Under General, Tech/Gadgets | 2 Comments 

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