Add new comment

We've had a computer connected to our TV for the past two years.  Our Samsung 32" LCD has a VGA input.  We had cable for a year since it was coming free with our internet, but cox got stingy and decided to take that away.  For the 5 years before that, I didn't have cable.
 
We've been sampling the growing bounty of online video which has sprung up in the past few years.  You could say we have been on the bleeding edge of the HTPC (home theater pc) revolution.  We have been experiencing a golden age which I think will be coming to an end soon. 
 
I got a new remote control in the mail today.  It controls my playstation and everything else in my entertainment center.  It can learn from other remotes and it can control the stereo system, regardless of what unit I have selected.  Brilliant!
 
I still have to use a mouse to click around to several different sites to find the content I want - but it's wonderful.  There are at most TWO commercials in every break.  TWO commercials. 
 
I was thinking it would be nice if I could press a button on my new remote and I could watch HULU, or Netflix.  No mouse, no clicking on icons or tracking down content - just plain easy entertainment from my couch with the non-fiddly remote control. 
 
But there is a problem with this.  When a HTPC becomes this easy to operate, everyone will be using it.  And when everyone is using it, there will be the ratio of commercials to content that exists on cable and network TV today which is 7:3 - 3 hours of commercials for every 10 hours of content.  
 
Perhaps technology will save us and marketers will find a more efficient way to market to us at a lower ratio.  I also wouldn't mind paying a little money to watch the shows I like without commercials.  The current iTunes pricing of $2.99 is far too much. 
 
My dillema for the present is that commercials on some sites are too damn loud.  In the old way of broadcasting video segments were piped through some common hardware which might have had a limiter on it which could control levels.  Of course, some broadcasters on cable still like to blast the commercials.  However, the commercial volume level online varies wildly, enought to make me a little grouchy. 
 
I need a volume attenuator for the commercial breaks.  I'd also like a aux input which can mix a MP3 player into my audio while I'm playing games.  This could probably be done with a small mixer with an onboard compressor effect - which would probably cost more than $100, but might be well worth it until the online TV world sorts it's self out both technically and commercially - and when that time comes I'll probably be ready to leave it.