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Setting Up
a Media Server (Optional)
I have a
cheap Windows XP based computer acting as a media server. This machine
has an old Nvidia graphics card with a composite video output which
allows me to watch the content on a regular standard definition TV. I
use this setup to watch all kinds of materials, from video podcasts via
iTunes, YouTube to Netflix downloads and multiple region DVDs. Of
course, the Eurovision webcast is my main reason for setting up this
machine.
 The Nvidia card is
setup in clone mode with composite video output as the primary
monitor. When the computer starts up I get to see all the
bootup messages on the TV!
The computer has no other monitor attached, no keyboard, no mouse. Certain
motherboards will not start without keyboard attached so you will have
to override the keyboard detection in the BIOS.
Make sure the desktop pixel resolution is relatively low because high
resolution text will be entirely impossible to read on a TV. Television
resolution in North America is 720x486 pixels and 720x586 in Europe so
don't be afraid to go low and use large fonts.
The
computer has a wireless card because it is located in a place where I
don't have a network cable connection. When it boots up it launches VNC
server so I can control the computer using a VNC based remote with a
cheap Linux based laptop. This remote control computer can also run
Windows or OS X but Ubuntu operating system is free and comes with
Vinagre remote software already included.
Instead of
VNC based remote, you can use Windows Remote Desktop which also works
great, or you don't even need the second computer if you put a
Bluetooth card into the server and get a wireless Bluetooth keyboard
with a trackball. The only problem with the latter is that reading
computer desktop and browser content on a standard definition TV is
very hard. I mainly use my VNC remote on a Linux laptop for text
legibility.
Good luck
with your setup!
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