I watched Gladiator(HD version) on wednesday. We had some guests over and what started as a demo of one fighting scene ended in us watching the entire movie. Everyone including myself thoroughly enjoyed the AV experience. I do not have dedicated Home Theater seats yet, just an existing sofa. We were able to accomodate six people comfortably using additional beanbags and chairs. Anything more, and it start getting crowded. Made me wish I had another four feet length. But was that we are only four of us at home, so nothing to worry. However, there is one big cause for worry apart from upgrade fever and other things AV.
The problem is that while we are in the HT, we are totally cut off from the outside world. Actually this is a great thing, and this is how one should enjoy movies, music etc. However, in an ideal world, we would like to keep a tab on whats happening outside without getting distracting too much.
Because of this problem, we are unable to watch a movie in one stretch. Either my wife or I have to excuse ourselves. We are affected by this problem in atleast three ways:
1) My wife and I have a one year old son and we need to keep a constant eye on him. If he is awake, he will not sit in one place(typical of kids of that age
) and while he is sleeping, we would like to know when he cries or wakes up. Ofcourse, he cannot sleep inside due to the sound.
2) Most of the movie-watching happens in the night and with the current crime scene, we are also worried about security issues
3) We can't hear the door-bell - just a matter of adding an additional calling bell and link it to the door-bell.
4) Others in the house can't get my attention - I fixed this by getting us a wireless calling bell by GM. Works well, has a light as well. So all good in this aspect.
Obvious Solution that came to my mind: A DIY monitoring system. Since I did not require something very feature-rich. I decided to use some existing web cams and a laptop. I googled and found some freewares that offered features including motion detection, alerts etc. My plan is to have a spare baby bed just outside the HT and monitor it with the webcam and a laptop inside the HT. Distracting but important
. I would address the security aspect next based on the success of this one.
While I was gathering more info to do this myself, I noticed that xtreamer(yes, the Media Player) is coming up with some VFM product shortly. It looks quite promising from the little description that they have shared. Read on....
Link on the xtreamer site:
Xtreamer.Net - FAQ
It is not like we did not think about this when we were building this dedicated room but we under-estimated the problem. It is also temporary in some ways but it is affecting us now and we need a solution.
So, in the interim, I need a workaround. Does anyone else have similar issues? Please give me ideas...Thanks in advance
