Question on creating a video server

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

Hi All,

  OK, I'm just asking for opinions here on some application
software.

  Like most people we have a nice big 21" TV set that will be
obsolete in Feb.  I have been thinking about replacing this with a
big screen TV set but the prices on them are still way, way
way out of my budget (I just can't see spending $500 for
a TV set, sorry!!!!)

  I can pick up really high quality, large, old-style
video monitors from a computer surplus place near here for
next to nothing.

  I'd like to setup a PC and put a HDTV tuner card in it
for over-the-air HDTV broadcasts, and use that as a TV.

  We also have a ton of DVD's and I'd like to rip these
to video files and put them on the PC.  Then when anyone
wants to watch a movie they just watch it off the PC.
I've already started doing this under Windows and it works
great - it's even better since I can remove all those
movie previews that the studio wants to force you to
watch.

  Has anyone done this with FreeBSD and open source
software, and has recommendations on what hardware to get
and what software works with it?

PREFERABLY cheap - since ultimately we likely will get
a big screen TV set once the prices fall.

Ted