For a number of years I have been running an old linux laptop as a media server. Using a few basic tools like get_iplayer, mplayer, vlc and a tv tuner,
I am able to play video/audio/live tv locally and also stream that content over
the internet. I am fairly familiar with the tools I use and prefer to stay with what I have in terms of software, at least for the present, maybe take a look at XBMC further down the line...
I am in the process of moving to a RasPi. Now I find, I can't do the simplest things satisfactorily, for a start, I am having problems playing video with mplayer, I have always used just something like $mplayer -cache 1024 filename.flv and the video played perfectly, even with iPlayer HD content. With the RasPi it is unwatchable, with a jerky frame-dropped effect. I suspect this is only a matter of configuration or codec options or something similar but, seriously, at my age (63), I don't have the patience to
dig around searching the internet and experimenting.
For starters, can someone help me with the following:-
1: Playing videos with mplayer. (in best quality).
2: Making the video image full screen ( using the HDMI o/p) the mplayer -f
option just gives a mid-size pillar-box effect in the middle of the screen with a wide black border...
3: Directing the mplayer video output to hdmi o/p when operating remotely,
I know that this probably involves piping mplayer o/p to /dev/fb0, just need the syntax.
Help much appreciated,
regards,
an old mainframe sysprog..