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Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
#210871 06/06/08 05:39 PM
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I know everyone thinks the PS3 is the best thing since sliced bread.

However, I might be able to acquire PC parts more economically.

What is the prevailing opinion on the viability of hardware and usability of the software to play Blu-Ray via a PC? Must I have Vista?

Thanks for your wisdom \:\)


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Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
tomtuttle #210878 06/06/08 06:55 PM
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If you gave up beer for a few months, you could have yourself a PS3 at a discount...

Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
pmbuko #210886 06/06/08 08:18 PM
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But life wouldn't be worth living.


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Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
tomtuttle #210897 06/07/08 01:16 AM
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Is there a way to get the HD audio formats from a htpc?

Do they make a card that outputs HD video and sound through HDMI in a single output?

I imagine the hardware requirements for blue ray playback are preety steep although pc parts are pretty cheap these days.


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Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
tomtuttle #210905 06/07/08 02:10 AM
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The way to do it is binge for a whole week, then you'll be good going without for a month or so. It will taste sooo good when you resume after the PS3 is in your possession.

Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
gmeyer #210918 06/07/08 11:49 AM
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If its HDMI passthrough there will be no penalty. The most recent video cards do onboard hardware decoding so again, there is no processor penalty.

I havn't done any reading on this in a couple of months, so I don't know what the state of affairs is for HDMI 1.3 either for video cards or players.


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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
tomtuttle #210919 06/07/08 11:54 AM
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Tom, I'm a little out of date on hardware and software players for bluray. Last time I checked a month ago the only player I could find was the older hp (I think) HD-DVD/Bluray combo player at around $200. I doubt it will handle HDMI 1.3.

A quick search on someplace like avforums will probably give you an answer.


Fred

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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
fredk #211068 06/09/08 04:15 PM
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In order to get that Blu Ray player to work on your PC, be prepared to drop some coin on a pretty decent graphics card, most of which won't pass the audio at all. Processing capabilities are a different issue entirely. On the audio side, I suppose you could get a card to send the PCM stream out to your receiver to decode, but that's pure speculation. I bet that there is an audio card that can either do that, or decode the Blu Ray signal internally and pass it via multi-channel outs.

For my money, I think you're better off with the turn key stand alone player or a PS3. All that hardware (not to mention software compatibility issues and no tech support) to buy makes me concerned - and I looked into this option a couple of months back before deciding to go the stand alone player route.

Also consider that, if you buy a stand alone player today - get one cheap, try eBay - you can always hustle that one to a second TV when the players get cheaper and better.

Just seems like a bigger headache than its worth.

Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
Capn_Pickard #211070 06/09/08 04:28 PM
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Have a look at this card for your sound needs.


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Re: Blu-Ray HTPC Drives
Ken.C #211101 06/09/08 09:43 PM
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Stop being a tight ass and just buy a damn player Tommy.....

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