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Distributed Video Help


rf9000

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i use VS in my own home and preferred them over JAP, so not sure where your info comes from.

The reason dealers do it right the first time, is so that we don't have to support a cluster-f of a system or make it painful for anyone else that has to interact with it.

i understand wanting everything for nothing.  That's the American way, but you do get what you pay for.

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1 hour ago, rf9000 said:

I'm doing Video Storm for the Audio distribution. I have a 16x16 audio switch now and need to get another so I can have 32 zones. The ONLY reason I'm doing video distribution is because I dont want to rent 14 cable or Direct TV boxes. 

I haven't read every post (so forgive me if this redundant) but since you already have that VS audio switch it makes a lot of sense if you stick with VS for your video distribution. If you must have 4k your encoders are about $400. After than you need endpoints at your TV's. Amazon Fire Sticks are cheap.

What can be more convenient here is that you don't have to put all your cable boxes in your rack. You can leave them at various locations local to your TV's where they may already be located. You just add the encoder at those locations. Of course you can locate the boxes in the rack or any combination.

With VS for video you pick up some interesting features that might be useful. The ability to tile sources on the screen. In other words you can watch a few games on the same screen. You could have a game and a stock ticker etc etc. You can add mobile devices such as tablets as endpoints.

If I were you I would talk to VS first and exhaust that as an option before looking elsewhere. You may end up elsewhere, but at least tick the box.

 

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4 hours ago, rf9000 said:

Thanks eggzlot. I just dont like the idea of using Firesticks, etc. It just seems cheap to me? The guys that sell "Just Add Power" say that Videostorm doesn't compare, but I suppose that goes without saying. I could use NVidia, which seems like it would work better, but here is my question. When all TVs have NVidia boxes connected, and are turned on, what comes up as a menu? Is it the Nvidia menu? How would I select say my DirectTV box, Netflix, etc.? Please walk me through what this would look like

You would press “watch TV” or “watch cable” or whatever you call the source.  You would not have t go to the shield menu then pick a source.

an Audi dealer will tell you their car is better than a Mercedes, the Mercedes guy tells you he is better than Audi

VS And JAP have their pros and cons.  For me, the pro’s to VS outweighed any cons so I have VS.

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22 hours ago, rf9000 said:

Thanks eggzlot. I just dont like the idea of using Firesticks, etc. It just seems cheap to me? The guys that sell "Just Add Power" say that Videostorm doesn't compare, but I suppose that goes without saying. I could use NVidia, which seems like it would work better, but here is my question. When all TVs have NVidia boxes connected, and are turned on, what comes up as a menu? Is it the Nvidia menu? How would I select say my DirectTV box, Netflix, etc.? Please walk me through what this would look like

Why would Nvidia work better than a Firestick in this scenario?

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1 hour ago, rf9000 said:

THANKS GUYS. With video storm, I assume I would need 14 C4 remotes then, one for each TV. I have a few SR-250 remotes. What are the differences between the SR-250 and SR-260 remotes?

The 250’s are a solid work horse of a remote. 

The 260’s add different color options for text and a cool hour glass icon that you’ll see a lot of. 

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I guess I just assumed they would because everyone I have talked to says the Nvidia are very fast and more robust. Buy maybe this is also true with the 4K 3rd gen firesticks too. Also, I thought the NVidia boxes could be direct wired where the Firesticks would be all WiFI? Lastly, with the Firesticks, wouldn’t I always get that first Firestick logo screen that comes up before the source is selected. Like if I hit watch TV on C4 remote, wouldn’t that logo always flash first and then go to that source?

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3 minutes ago, Brownbatsbreath said:

The 250’s are a solid work horse of a remote. 

The 260’s add different color options for text and a cool hour glass icon that you’ll see a lot of. 

Those are the only differences?

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1 hour ago, rf9000 said:

THANKS GUYS. With video storm, I assume I would need 14 C4 remotes then, one for each TV. I have a few SR-250 remotes. What are the differences between the SR-250 and SR-260 remotes?

You can use the app on a phone or tablet as well. 

 

8 minutes ago, rf9000 said:

I guess I just assumed they would because everyone I have talked to says the Nvidia are very fast and more robust. Buy maybe this is also true with the 4K 3rd gen firesticks too. Also, I thought the NVidia boxes could be direct wired where the Firesticks would be all WiFI? Lastly, with the Firesticks, wouldn’t I always get that first Firestick logo screen that comes up before the source is selected. Like if I hit watch TV on C4 remote, wouldn’t that logo always flash first and then go to that source?

VS recommends the stick regularly probably because they work really well and are very cheap. The shields are nice, but they are obviously more expensive. With the stick you configure them with an ethernet adapter.

https://www.video-storm.com/proddetail.asp?prod=netplayhomedecoder

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52 minutes ago, Brownbatsbreath said:

The 250’s are a solid work horse of a remote. 

The 260’s add different color options for text and a cool hour glass icon that you’ll see a lot of. 

Those are the only differences?

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7 minutes ago, rf9000 said:

When using the Firesticks, I suppose the Firestick logo would always appear first?

No.  The C4 system selects the net play app on the device and the stream of which you selected is now viewable.  From a room off standpoint, you’d never see anything Amazon related if you wanted it that way.  Same when you switch sources  

Shield is definitely better performance wise and only requires the IRusb for integration whereas the stick needs a lot of dongles: otg adapter with power charging, Ethernet dongle and also the IRusb. 

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49 minutes ago, rf9000 said:

Those are the only differences?

Other than me not seeing that hour glass all that much (you have an issue, the SR260 just shows it vs freezing) - the layout is a little different, google will find a picture of wither one I'm sure.

 

EDIT, sorry missed the part where he already mentioned that

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Don’t need a remote per room.  Just most used areas.  Start with 3-5 and you can always buy more used if needed

shield or fire tv would work.   Shield has more horsepower as others have said.  And native Ethernet.   

Again ive answered as others you don’t see a shield or AFT logo when you want to watch tv.  That said get the box you like best for NON tv viewing.  If you really like one vs the other based on their app selection or layout go that route.  If you are pinching pennies go the AFT route.  Or get AFT for less used locations and a shield where kids may want to play games or you are streaming a lot. 

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3 hours ago, eggzlot said:

Don’t need a remote per room.  Just most used areas.  Start with 3-5 and you can always buy more used if needed

It depends on your usage, but I certainly agree that you can always start with just the most common areas and add as needed.

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