Evolution of a Digital Den - Part 2: Video

In Part One of this two-part series, I described the evolution of my music library, from a stack of CDs, into a digital library that could be accessed from anywhere on my home network. In this article, I'll tackle the more difficult topic of how I've worked to store movies and photos on my home network for display on my TV. I don't claim to have a final solution, but I'll describe what I've tried, what I've had success with, where I've failed, and where I want to go in the future.

The first step for displaying my media library in the living room was acquiring some sort of networked multimedia device that would be hooked to my entertainment centre. Going all-out, would mean using a high-powered PC with software to make it act like a multimedia computer. In the Linux world, I'd use something like Windows Media Centre edition. Apple is just starting to get their feet wet with their Front Row product.