[geeks] Home Made STB/HTPC

[Sridhar Ayengar]

I just got a 67" TV.  I'm interested in playing stored video on it.

The machine needs to be fast enough to decode 1080p video compressed 
with a variety of algorithms, with the most processor-intensive probably 
being H.264.  It needs to talk to my TV at its native resolution of 
1920x1080.  Being able to output unaltered Dolby Digital and DTS sound 
over a digital pipe to my receiver would be a huge plus.

It doesn't need much storage, since I'll be streaming the video from a 
file server.  A single PCI slot would be convenient for various reasons 
I don't need to go into.  Low power consumption would be nice.  Silence 
is golden.

Anyone have any pointers or suggestions for me?  I'm more looking for 
hardware tips.  I'm reasonably familiar with the software.  Thanks.

Peace...  Sridhar