Mac Mini for HD video streaming

Hi:

I want to use a mac mini to stream 720p or 1080p video to different tv's. one mac mini on each TV, streaming from a hard drive on a central computer, probably a mac pro or powermac G5. I'm choosing to use a mac mini over an apple TV, becasue the apple TV does not put out surround sound, only stereo, and i need surround sound.

the setup should be as follows:

one Pro machine with lots of external storage where the video will be stored.

3 televisions, each with one mac mini, which only has to play video

surround sound on each mac mini


Is there some software that works somewhat like the apple TV interface that I could use on the mac mini's?

can the mac minis put out 720p and 1080p video without stuttering? if not, can a processor upgrade fix that? like if I put a core 2 duo processor in, will it be able to play it with the video card it has? also, i can upgrade the RAM to one or 2 GB to make sure it runs smoothly

Is there some way to put Blu Ray and HD DVD movies on the hard disc so the mac mini's can play them? this way I dont have to resort to HD content from the DVR, and I dont need to put HD DVD and Blu Ray players on each TV.

also, if theres any ideas for an easier way to do this, I'll really appreciate them.

Thanks a lot

Aldo