New Member HTPC Discussion Thread

[hugh]

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[qubikal]

Hi,

I'd like to get some help to use my laptop to display via the VGA ports to my toshiba 44nhm84 dlp tv.

Under the manual, the tv's native resolution is 1024x768 (which is 4:3) format. I have tried to use powerstrip to change this to a 720p display (1280x720), but the tv doesn't reconize this and nothing is displayed.

Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks

[57]

Your TV's native resolution is 1280 x 720, as are all 720P DLPs, as indicated in the following link. It is NOT 1024 x 768.

http://www.electronicsforless.ca/Pro...D=93&view=tech

How are you connected from the laptop to the TV - i.e. what cable are you using and what connectors are at both ends?

Do you get a picture at any resolutions?

[Majoram]

Hi, is there any recommended TV Tuners I can use in my PC for viewing Rogers Digital cable?
Or do I have to use the Rogers digital terminal and then send that to my analog TV Tuner?
Or do I need some sort of additional equipment i.e. cable card etc?
I'm in toronto, ontario if that makes any difference?!

I've tried searching the forums but the search does not seem to be working ("Page cannot be displayed").

Thanks!
Majoram

[57]

1. Rogers digital cable channels are encrypted (except for the odd "preview" channel), therefore you need their STB.

2. CableCARD is not supported in Canada yet and probably won't be for a couple of years when it's two-way. Currently CC is only one-way (no VOD, PPV, IPG, etc)

[Majoram]

Ah ok, thanks for the info! But what about running the outputs from the STB to my PC with an Analog tuner? Will that work?

I want to use the PC as a PVR/Media Center.

[57]

May be best to use composite video or S-video if your card has those inputs. RF-coax isn't the best...

You're probably better off using the Rogers DVR. It's the only way to get HD (if that's what you're after). See the Digital Home FAQ "Recording HD". If you're only after SD, different story.

[Majoram]

Thanks again. I'm only planning to subscribe to SD service for now.
I have an ATI TV tuner card, can't remember what inputs it has.
But I may get the ATI Theatre 550 TV Wonder card.

[IronCatt]

The Sapphire Theatrix 550 is essentially the same card, but way cheaper (I don't own shares in Sapphire).

[krimson]

I'm looking to ghetto build my first HTPC with some old parts. Can someone go over this with me and see if I need to upgrade anything?

Purpose:
Primary - Playing HD content (ts/wmv-hd)
Less important - DVD/TV upsampling, TV recording, don't really care about this stuff too much though

Hardware:
Athlon XP 1800+ (not sure if this is gonna cut it huh?)
768megs of ram
ATI Radeon 9600xt (w/ DVI)
ATI TV Wonder Pro
dl dvd-burner/sb live 5.1/400+gb HDD space

I'd like upgrades to be as cheap as possible, but not leave me crippled at the same time. Any recommendations?

[bobbinette]

Your CPU XP 1800+ might be the bottle neck for playing HD content. I have a Athlon 2100+ and I can play Mpeg2-HD and wmv-HD not more than 720p or 1080i and it uses about 80% cpu. More than than will result to some sound and image lag. So with a 1800+ it will be very close.

And in the future if you want to watch H.264 HD (such as how it will be encoded on Blue-ray DVD) you can forget it with this CPU. My Athlon XP 3000+ has trouble decoding H.264 at 720p. But the newest video card will come with hardware decoding for this format.

By the way, from where will you get your HD content ?

[krimson]

Thanks. I grabbed an xp3000+ off ebay, best upgrade I could make without having to upgrade my motherboard.

Have you tried using CoreAVC to decode H.264? It's a new filter that's quite a bit faster than it's competition. Approximately 50% or more faster than FFDShow.

[cainx2]

Cannot adjust image settings on Dell XPS 600 with dual video cards to fit correctly onto my KF60WE610 Sony Projection Tv using dvi connection, all four edges of image are "off" the sides of the viewable TV screen. I can still use the mouse to click stuff in toolbars but I must guess and click as they are cut-off.

[57]

Perhaps the following information on Powerstrip will help.

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...36&postcount=4

[zoomzoum]

Can anyone tell me which RPTV with a PC input has the best display for surfing. Ease of set up is also a concern.

Thanks
Alan