networked DVD playing?

[mkla2000]

Wanted to do something like Kaleidescape is doing (a RAID HD set-up networked w/ software players - the harddrives could be located in one place, while a bare-bones computer connected via 802.11G wireless would access and play on a bigscreen TV & stereo system).

Has anyone done something similar?

I guess I could use WinDVD or such, but the beauty of the Kaleidescape system is that it can sort the movies in whichever way you feel like (by category, director, actor, etc...), showing a thumbnail of the DVD cover and direct access to the movie. So, what I would need some sort of a database that can run a software DVD player on command... any suggestions?

[mkla2000]

no ideas?

[mkla2000]

I guess nobody is interested....


doing a bit of research, I think I found a work-around (not sure if it will really work well, as I haven't tested yet), but here is the proposed setup:


1) using MovieCollectorz softwared (shareware) - it's a personal movie database, which has a nice feature - you can actually create a hyperlink field pointing to the VIDEO_TS.IFO file corresponding to the desired movie... if you have a software player installed and associated with the *.IFO files, the program will open the movie automatically

2) would need a decent computer - would probably need a component video output and optical audio output, a 801.11A/G wireless card, and hopefully a very quiet drive/fan connected to the A/V setup that you have at home. A wireless keyboard/mouse and/or a remote control for the software dvd player would come in handy

3) would need another computer or NAS with as much storage as you can afford to store all the movies, connect to the wireless router and network with the A/V computer (thinking about storing the movies away from the A/V components because of the noise associated with the hard-drives and fans, and because if this works, you could have multiple A/V setups for different rooms in the house)

I think by using the 802.11A/G at 11-25Mbps speeds (which should be attainable), I could be able to stream movies without major hickups.

Points to improve:

1) I know that using Cat-5 cables would be better, but I don't want to run wires all over the house.
2) finding a way to get hid of the keyboard/mouse would be nice
3) any suggestions/comments are welcome