Considering getting a Boxee

[sysrez]

Hi all.

I'm considering getting a Boxee, I want something to replace my Playstation 3 for viewing my media library, and I want something reliable and easy to implement with my current setup. All I have is a few questions about the device's compatibility with my current setup.

I have a Plasma TV that doesn't have native HDMI support, so I have a HDMI to DVI adapter plugged into the DVI port of the Plasma, and a HDMI cord running from the adapter to the Playstation 3, soon to be replaced by a media player (hopefully a boxee :P). I'm unsure if this could cause any sort of issues, I doubt it, but I thought it would be safe to ask if the Boxee will be okay with displaying 1080p using that method.

And my only other concern is my server. I have a home server running Linux and currently it has a media serving and transcoding piece of software which allows my PS3 to display all the content using DLNA, this is mainly because the PS3 hasn't got any SMB capabilities and also doesn't support a lot of codecs.

Is Boxee able to browse and play media on my Linux server over my network? If so, how is this accomplished? I've read that it supports a large variety of codecs and containers, but a lot of my collection is high definition video, some of which use DTS audio and 1080p video, will this playback okay over a gigabit network?

Thanks in advance!

[darcilicious]

I have a Plasma TV that doesn't have native HDMI support, so I have a HDMI to DVI adapter plugged into the DVI port of the Plasma

Boxee doesn't officially support DVI (or HDMI/DVI) connections so this may or may not work for you (it does for some, and doesn't for others).

Is Boxee able to browse and play media on my Linux server over my network?

Boxee supports SMB, AFP, and NFS for file sharing over your network. You would add the shared folders from your Linux server to your Boxee Sources (see: http://support.boxee.tv/entries/2077...-media-library) and Boxee would scan/identify them based on the filenames of your video files (see: http://support.boxee.tv/entries/3252...ng-conventions)

a lot of my collection is high definition video, some of which use DTS audio and 1080p video, will this playback okay over a gigabit network?

It should but note that in most cases there are audio dropout issues for HD audio formats (bitstreaming digital audio) (see: Known/Common Issues sticky post)

[sysrez]

Boxee doesn't officially support DVI (or HDMI/DVI) connections so this may or may not work for you (it does for some, and doesn't for others).

Boxee supports SMB, AFP, and NFS for file sharing over your network. You would add the shared folders from your Linux server to your Boxee Sources (see: http://support.boxee.tv/entries/2077...-media-library) and Boxee would scan/identify them based on the filenames of your video files (see: http://support.boxee.tv/entries/3252...ng-conventions)

It should but note that in most cases there are audio dropout issues for HD audio formats (bitstreaming digital audio) (see: Known/Common Issues sticky post)

Well that HDMI/DVI issue is a bit of a worry, I'm hoping it will work though otherwise I'll have to figure something else out. Does Boxee support YPbPr RCA at 1080p?

It's good to hear that the shares seem flawless.

And those Audio drop out issues don't seem to effect HD Audio when using S/PDIF as the sound output. If that is the case then I am in a bit of luck, because S/PDIF is what I use for my surround sound setup.

[darcilicious]

Does Boxee support YPbPr RCA at 1080p?

No, the Boxee Box only has HDMI for video out.