my retro pvr .. or personal video recorder

[stevearama]

hello there... im new here.. so feel free to flame me out totally for my inappropiate posts and numerous spelling errors.

my project.. which i hoped to get you help with, is basically a pvr... the theory been that i use a pc with a tv turner card, hdd and a dvd burner to record tv shows and watch em later..

but i figured id punk it up a bit... pc cases are ugly and i figured id build mine in the casing of a retro stereo reciever...i enclose a picture so you can get the idea.. tho i just stole this pic from ebay.. its not the one ill use.. you get the idea tho.

ive got the puter hardware part sorted.. well.. pretty much... ill butcher a few old pc's i found at work... but...

what i wanted to do was remove the analog turner part and replace it with a LCD that will display stuff like... i dunno.. tv show title.. the time remaining... and other stuff.. you know.

i saw the project on the main page.. the one to make a lcd to display winamp stuff by connecting it through a printer cable.. thats where i got the idea... i walked through the guide... seemed possible enough... i was wondering if any of you guys had ever build lcd stuff.. and could tell me if what i want to do is possible.

im still gathering stuff... and i havent got any of the lcd stuff yet... any pointers would be great... also..i live in sydney (australia).. if anyone can point me to a local electronics store that will be able to answer my crap questions and supply me with bits.. that'd be tops.. or an aussi online store is fine... ive had a bit of a look on google.. but recomended places are way better..

also... hi :D

[surajbarkale]

Winamp provides a plugin support which is used to display info on LCD. If the program you use for recording & playback supports plugins, you can run a check on their forums for the necessary software.

[audioguru]

Hi Mike,
Welcome to our forum.
I am renting (only 2 bucks a month) a Personal Video Recorder from my cable company. It is fantastic, it records 2 shows at the same time as I am watching another recording. It's great for time-shifting: Push "record" during a show, go get a beer or do something else for a while then when you come back, press "resume" and it plays where you left-off while continuing to record and playback.
The cable company has it combined very well with their on-cable TV Guide for one-button recording of future shows. My hundreds of cable channels are all digital now, so its picture and sound are absolutely perfect! Even the time-zone-shifted shows from the other ocean thousands of km away.
I wish you the best of luck to make one.