New addition.

The new LED backlit LCD TV arrived yesterday in all its glory.   It was the IPS model panel as I'd hoped rather than VA(less quality apparently from ugoogling).  Its a bit larger in the room than I'd though(55" goes a long way), so now I get to figure out how/where to wall mount it and we'll also start the hunting process on a new entertainment center.  Overall though I'm very pleased and a 1.2" thick TV is just crazy to see.

I started playing with the new features of course, and immediately upgraded the firmware.  Netflix integration works as planned and UPnP / DLNA is nearly as good as I'd hoped.  I'm having some trouble streaming full HD content from my HTPC(using MediaTomb), but that'll be something I can resolve with time if needed.  For now I'll just switch inputs to MythTV on my HTPC for any recorded HD content.  On a good note, the nearly 200 movies I have stored on the HTPC play just fine remotely, so at least its a step.

My one gripe so far is the HDMI-CEC functionality provided by LG(otherwise known as Simplink).  Apparently they only certify LG products, but I was really hoping to drop a DVD or Blu-Ray in my PS3 and have LG's Simplink give me control or ideally begin playing without me having to switch inputs.  Unfortunately though, it looks like it doesn't even recognize the PS3, so I imagine without a future firmware update, I'll be forced to manually switch inputs and possibly remotes(*sigh*).

So next on the agenda(in no particular order) will be to hang the LCD, get a new entertainment center, attic mount my antenna, clean up the cabling for all this, figure out a single remote solution(that's opposite sex friendly), and test out the optical digital out from the TV to my receiver(in hopes that I can keep from having to switch inputs on my receiver too).

To begin with...

I should start this off by saying, I cut the digital TV cable at least four years ago in favor of OTA and have never looked back since. I've also used homebrew DVRs for longer than that as well, probably nearing on six years, so this blog will most definitely reference topics in this area.

Found the cordcutters sub-reddit today and will have to check this often so I can watch for new happenings in the MythTV and homebrew DVR area.

I plan to upgrade to the latest MythTV via Mythbuntu in the next week or two as I've decided to delve into the flat panel TV area and will want to stream video via MediaTomb soon.

First...

Trying out this whole "blogging" thing.  The goal here is to see how many people I can put to sleep at once with technology stuff... starting now.