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Next: New reciever advice
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External
Since: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 1) Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 3:55 am
Post subject: HTPC help
Archived from groups: uk>media>home-cinema (more info?)
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So i'm toying with the idea of setting up an HTPC to do all.....
DVD recorder/player
Freeview
HDD PVR stuff
Broadband (via cable)
5.1 (or more) sound.
fully remote etc.
Not interested in gaming per-se, but if the costs are OK then who
knows.
1. Can anyone recommend any suitable resources for info, sourcing the
components (in particular the case).
2. Anyone know if DVD-A or SACD can be played through such equipment.
This would hopefully just plumb into my existing Phillips 32pw9525 and
Yamaha DSP-AX630 setup
Any thoughts, comments, ideas and info gratefully received.
Cheers
Doc |
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External
Since: Dec 27, 2003
Posts: 24
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(Msg. 2) Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 3:06 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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>> Hey that looks right up my alley (OO-ER), Thanks.
>> Do you know if it's possible to better than the S-Video to TV? RGB
>> f'rinstance?
>
> It's a good question, and one I was wondering about. You see the ATI
> Radeon family are normally able to output RGB with a special cable (that
> you'll need to make yourself), but I'm not sure about the integrated
> versions of the chips. Apart from a few of the Matrox Millenium cards, the
> Radeons are unique in this ability, so with other graphics cards you'll
> have to make do with s-video.
>
This is pretty much the only reason i really want to get a lcd/plasma. I'm
using mythtv to do everything you listed, with vga out to my PJ and s-video
out from a nvidia card to the TV, which works OK... but in the bedroom i
have an LCD connected to a mythtv frontend, and it looks soooo much nicer
than the tv-out.
One other option that ive started playing with is to use my xbox as a
frontend with linux installed, then you can use all of the connectivity that
has, including rgb, progressive etc.
I'd fully recommend going mythtv, its marvellous, and a new release should
be out any day. I tried showshifter under windows too, and its "nice" but
not "as" nice. BTW, mines running with 2xDVB-T cards and a WinTV to
capture, in a standard black desktop case that sits in my av rack.
--
Alex |
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External
Since: May 10, 2004
Posts: 6
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(Msg. 3) Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:28 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:13:28 +0000, Neil Pollicott
<spam.DeleteThis@cti-uk.com.invalid> wrote:
>The Elonex Artisan came out tops in a PCPRO roundup last month, and
>seems pretty reasonably priced for the spec.
But what PCPro didn't say is that if you want to record the output of
a Digibox and get the best quality it can give, you need a Scart
connector which accepts RGB, and the Elonex doesn't have any Scarts at
all. I think only one of the boxes reviewed did, but it wasn't
RGB-capable. >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: May 10, 2004
Posts: 6
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(Msg. 4) Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:35 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 14:19:02 GMT, Nigel Barker <nigel.DeleteThis@hp.com> wrote:
>I've been looking for an excuse to buy a Asus Pundit-R barebones system. It
>takes up to a 3.2GHz P4 & is fantastically well specified e.g. memory card
>reader, PCMCIA socket, LAN, ATI Radeon 9100IGP, USB2, Firewire, TV-out, DVI,
>VGA, S/PDIF Optical Out, Serial-ATA etc
I'm posting this from one. I have a 2 GHz P4 Celeron in it and it's
quiet enough to be right next to the monitor and not bother me. I'm
sure it would be louder with faster CPUs though.
Plus if you have it vertical, it's fiddly loading CDs and DVDs, you
have to kind of "help" them in as the drawer closes. I'm experimenting
with having mine on its side at the moment. However it has to be sat
on a book because the little door which you open to get at the front
sockets extends beyond the boundaries of the side when opened, so
would lift it off the desk if it were directly on it (does that make
sense?)
Also also, the microphone input in mine does not work, so for Skype
I'm using a USB VOIP-phone rather than a simple PC headset like the
Plantronics Audio 40 I use at work.
Not trying to put you off though, it's a great little machine. I have
three Asus barebones now, a Terminator running FreeBSD as my
firewall/router/mail gateway, the Pundit running XP and a Terminator 2
running Linux. The T2 is a bit plasticy compared to the others and has
a variable speed CPU fan which can be a bit annoying when the machine
is doing work, as the speed varies constantly and makes a kind of
moaning noise. >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 5) Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 6:34 am
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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Mal Franks wrote:
> In article <1107863748.844066.110510.DeleteThis@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
> Dr.Hfuhruhurr.DeleteThis@pixellatedspace.com says...
>
> > 2. Anyone know if DVD-A or SACD can be played through such
equipment.
> >
>
> AFAIK there are no SACD compatible drives available for PCs - but
you'd
> get DVD-A playback if you get a Soundblaster Audigy 2 (or newer)
Thanks for that. I'm not overly concerened about SACD but it would be
nice to have the all in one box. I was probably gonna go for an Audigy
(always had Soundblaster cards) but hadn't realised the spec included
DVD-A
Cheers
Doc >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: May 15, 2004
Posts: 232
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(Msg. 6) Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 8:48 am
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:28:28 +0000, Jim Hatfield <local@localhost> wrote:
>On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:13:28 +0000, Neil Pollicott
><spam DeleteThis @cti-uk.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>>The Elonex Artisan came out tops in a PCPRO roundup last month, and
>>seems pretty reasonably priced for the spec.
>
>But what PCPro didn't say is that if you want to record the output of
>a Digibox and get the best quality it can give, you need a Scart
>connector which accepts RGB, and the Elonex doesn't have any Scarts at
>all. I think only one of the boxes reviewed did, but it wasn't
>RGB-capable.
The problem is that no TV tuner/capture card supported by WinXP MCE has RGB
input the best that you can get is s-video & if your programme source is a Sky
digibox half of them don't even have an s-video output just composite. In fact
the only reasonably priced capture card that accepts RGB is the Sweetspot &
because this does not have on board hardware MPEG2 encoding will not be
supported by MCE.
--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: Mar 04, 2005
Posts: 41
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(Msg. 7) Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:00 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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Nigel Barker wrote:
> On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:28:28 +0000, Jim Hatfield <local@localhost> wrote:
>
>
>>On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:13:28 +0000, Neil Pollicott
>><spam.DeleteThis@cti-uk.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>The Elonex Artisan came out tops in a PCPRO roundup last month, and
>>>seems pretty reasonably priced for the spec.
>>
>>But what PCPro didn't say is that if you want to record the output of
>>a Digibox and get the best quality it can give, you need a Scart
>>connector which accepts RGB, and the Elonex doesn't have any Scarts at
>>all. I think only one of the boxes reviewed did, but it wasn't
>>RGB-capable.
>
>
> The problem is that no TV tuner/capture card supported by WinXP MCE has RGB
> input the best that you can get is s-video & if your programme source is a Sky
> digibox half of them don't even have an s-video output just composite. In fact
> the only reasonably priced capture card that accepts RGB is the Sweetspot &
> because this does not have on board hardware MPEG2 encoding will not be
> supported by MCE.
Luckily, a DIY HTPC doesn't have to use MCE... :)
-Vin >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: May 15, 2004
Posts: 232
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(Msg. 8) Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:46 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:00:47 +0000, ViNNY <a.vincent.DeleteThis@SPAMANDDIEclara.co.uk>
wrote:
>Nigel Barker wrote:
>> On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:28:28 +0000, Jim Hatfield <local@localhost> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:13:28 +0000, Neil Pollicott
>>><spam.DeleteThis@cti-uk.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>The Elonex Artisan came out tops in a PCPRO roundup last month, and
>>>>seems pretty reasonably priced for the spec.
>>>
>>>But what PCPro didn't say is that if you want to record the output of
>>>a Digibox and get the best quality it can give, you need a Scart
>>>connector which accepts RGB, and the Elonex doesn't have any Scarts at
>>>all. I think only one of the boxes reviewed did, but it wasn't
>>>RGB-capable.
>>
>>
>> The problem is that no TV tuner/capture card supported by WinXP MCE has RGB
>> input the best that you can get is s-video & if your programme source is a Sky
>> digibox half of them don't even have an s-video output just composite. In fact
>> the only reasonably priced capture card that accepts RGB is the Sweetspot &
>> because this does not have on board hardware MPEG2 encoding will not be
>> supported by MCE.
>
>Luckily, a DIY HTPC doesn't have to use MCE... :)
Agreed but I was just pointing out to the guy who was picking on the Elonex that
in fact it's a limitation of all MCE systems not just the Elonex.
--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: Mar 25, 2004
Posts: 13
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(Msg. 9) Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:06 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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In article <1107863748.844066.110510.TakeThisOut@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
Dr.Hfuhruhurr.TakeThisOut@pixellatedspace.com says...
> 2. Anyone know if DVD-A or SACD can be played through such equipment.
>
AFAIK there are no SACD compatible drives available for PCs - but you'd
get DVD-A playback if you get a Soundblaster Audigy 2 (or newer) >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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External
Since: Mar 04, 2005
Posts: 41
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(Msg. 10) Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:11 pm
Post subject: Re: HTPC help [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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Nigel Barker wrote:
> On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:00:47 +0000, ViNNY <a.vincent.TakeThisOut@SPAMANDDIEclara.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Nigel Barker wrote:
>>
>>>On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:28:28 +0000, Jim Hatfield <local@localhost> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:13:28 +0000, Neil Pollicott
>>>><spam.TakeThisOut@cti-uk.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>The Elonex Artisan came out tops in a PCPRO roundup last month, and
>>>>>seems pretty reasonably priced for the spec.
>>>>
>>>>But what PCPro didn't say is that if you want to record the output of
>>>>a Digibox and get the best quality it can give, you need a Scart
>>>>connector which accepts RGB, and the Elonex doesn't have any Scarts at
>>>>all. I think only one of the boxes reviewed did, but it wasn't
>>>>RGB-capable.
>>>
>>>
>>>The problem is that no TV tuner/capture card supported by WinXP MCE has RGB
>>>input the best that you can get is s-video & if your programme source is a Sky
>>>digibox half of them don't even have an s-video output just composite. In fact
>>>the only reasonably priced capture card that accepts RGB is the Sweetspot &
>>>because this does not have on board hardware MPEG2 encoding will not be
>>>supported by MCE.
>>
>>Luckily, a DIY HTPC doesn't have to use MCE... :)
>
>
> Agreed but I was just pointing out to the guy who was picking on the Elonex that
> in fact it's a limitation of all MCE systems not just the Elonex.
Fair dos :) That'll teach me to read all the comments, not just the
first and most recent :)
-Vin >> Stay informed about: HTPC help |
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