I’ve had a couple of request lately for a chart detailing exactly how my HDTV/Mac set-up is, well, set up. So I opened up Photoshop and put this together, detailing all of the components involved in viewing and recording free(!) HD programming onto a Mac and then watching it over my home network on multiple Macs.

I’m all about consolidating as many components into as few devices as possible. But sometimes additional hardware is unavoidable. This is how I felt about my beloved Sirius Satellite Radio. Commercial-free channels like Chill, Alt Nation, and (yes) Big 80s mean I’ve been willing to add a Sirius receiver to my spartan set of HTPC hardware to get the amazing programming into my Mini.

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BOTTOM LINE: Plex is hands-down the finest media manager/player available for the Mac HTPC enviornment. Gorgeous and exponentially more flexible than Front Row, it rules HD playback, handling 1080p material with ease.

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Among the many features VLC brings to your Mac HTPC is the ability to create and save video playlists to control playback of more than one file at a time. And its compatibility with almost any format allows mixing more than one file type not a problem, unlike some other programs (iTunes, I’m looking in your direction…). Best of all it’s simple: just load up the playlist, save it if you like, and press play when you’re ready to watch!

With a little imagination, this feature can be a huge advantage in a HTPC environment. I use it on a regular basis in a variety of situations and I thought I’d share a couple of the most common.

TV Programmer: With the state of network television’s quality, watching reruns of “classic” shows is a no-brainer. Since I’ve backed up a bunch of my favorites from DVD sets to a HD, I routinely “program” my own night of TV shows.

Check out how the line-up I’ve created below…

…blows away anything CBS, NBC, ABC, et al could throw at me! And the lack of commercials is just icing on the cake. I also will often load a whole series into the playlist and just choose “Random” for a customized marathon.

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Well, it took Rogue Amoeba more than a year to develop and after many replies of “It’ll be released when it’s released” in their now-dead forums, RA released a major upgrade to their Airfoil application today.

At the top of the “Wow” list is the app no longer requiring Airport Express units to play audio on different Macs! Instead, they use a free app called “Airfoil Speakers” that runs on any Mac you want to route sound to and shows up in Airfoil the same way an AEX would.

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A definitive list of apps that help my Mac Mini HTPC realize its full potential.

Plex - Amazing (and free) media manager/player that has no peer. Read my full review here.

EyeTV - The only real option for a Tivo-like experience on a Mac is thankfully well-tended by its developers at El Gato Systems. Use it to record & playback HD, digital, and/or analog programming (depending on your hardware).

Must-have features include time-shifting, scheduled recordings, integrated TV guide, snappy editing to remove commercials, robust exporting to devices like iPods and iPhones, and much, much more.

VLC - Hands down the finest standalone Mac video player - VLC’s versatility, price, and feature set make Quicktime look like a child’s toy by comparison. Support for almost every codec out there means you can play a DVD image (or actual disc) back-to-back with AVIs, TS streams, MKV HD files, and whatever else you may find in your archives.

As if that’s not enough, this badboy has been free for years.

Remote Buddy - Whatever you may be using to remotely control your Mac HTPC, Remote Buddy can enhance and refine the experience to EXACTLY how you want it to be. I started out using the Apple Remote, which RB allowed me to remap so it could browse and control every app I use. I then upgraded to an IR receiver from Keyspan and RB allowed me to do the same with a standard universal remote. Now I’m on my iPhone, using it as a beautiful universal remote to control my Mac from anywhere in the house via WiFi.

Extras like Applescript support only gild an app already worth every dollar (or Euro, in Remote Buddy’s case).

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Until now, my Mac Mini’s limitations haven’t slowed down any HD material I’ve thrown at it. But, admittedly, I’ve never asked for anything beyond 720p playback. I recently began archiving HD material at 1080p however, using the .MKV file compression and I wasn’t sure if my Mac Mini could handle playing it back effectively.

Out of the box, VLC was stuttering and dropping frames…even as the only application running. So I began hitting up friends with similar set-ups and quickly found a solution that worked beautifully.

Using the latest stable build of VLC, I opened up the Preferences menu and made sure Advanced was selected. Then I headed to Inputs/Codecs > Other codecs > FFMpeg, selected
“Skip the loop filter for H.264 decoding” and chose “All”. This immediately improved playback exponentially and I’m now enjoying 1080p playback without a glitch.

The only caveat I’d add is that it does NOT seem consistent over a network (mine’s gigabit)…but my media is stored on a Firewire 400 drive attached directly to the Mini and that’s been aces so far.

Tonight, I found myself making an adjustment in VLC that I’ve been using for quite some time: easy tweaking to sync up audio and video. It’s so simple and I realized that everyone may not be aware of it. Simply put, use the “F” key during VLC playback to slow down the audio and the adjoining “G” key to speed the sync up. This can also be used with an AirPort Express & Rogue Amoeba’s excellent app, Airfoil if you’re streaming video to another computer. 

EyeTV is one of the cornerstones of my Mac home theatre system. I love the program and am eternally grateful to El Gato for continually refining and expanding the features it offers…particularly in light of the fact that there’s no real alternative for Mac users interested in an HDTV viewing/recording system.

So, based on the reality that I NEED EyeTV to simply do what it states, continued stability is always at the top of my wishlist when a new release comes out. Not that it’s a chronically unstable program…it’s not. But I dare not look this gifthorse in the mouth when it comes to hoping for bling on a new release.

Sometimes, however, a wonderful surprise arrives that you didn’t even imagine would be on the way. And EyeTV’s 2.5 release contains a zinger for iPhone owners. In short, it allows full access to your library of recordings wirelessly over any WiFi connection via the iPhone’s Mobile Safari browser. You simply turn this feature on under EyeTV’s Preferences and each time a show is recorded, the app produces an iPhone-ready version that it hosts, just waiting to be watched!

I use it primarily on my home network when I’ve got chores to do, but it can be accessed anywhere you have a WiFi connection (EDGE is out…sorry). The High-Priestess-Of-All-That-Is-iPhone, Erica Sadun, even wrote a detailed how-to over at TUAW that explains everything beautifully.

And there is a small launcher hosted at ModMyiFone that can be added to a modded iPhone’s springboard for one-click access from anywhere you’ve got a WiFi connection.

Not only is this just flat-out cool, it also offers a workaround for the iPhone’s 8GB of storage space. Forget having to selectively load up the iPhone with TV when you’re away from home. I just confirm that there will be internet access at my destination, pack my AirPort Express (or make sure WiFi will be available), and BOOM…EyeTV just became a virtual Slingbox at no additional charge to me. I can even watch stuff recorded after I left.

While this probably isn’t reason enough to buy and set-up an EyeTV system (although the cost of an EyeTV Hybrid isn’t that much more than a Slingbox…which doesn’t work with iPhones yet), it is a tasty frosting-refinement for those of us already using the app.