Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater HTPC

I built up my first HTPC. Any you guys have the same experience? I am getting better video than my older Toshiba 3750 Progressive scan.
Sound is I think the same since I use the reciever to process the signal via Coaxial Digital. Layer change is definitely quicker. Normal players have a layer change in .8 - 1.5 secs. I don't even see a layer change at all.

Sound I stay with this rather than upgrade to a newer model progressive scan DVD?

EPIA Mini-ITX M series with C3 933 Mhz
(M series has built in DVD compensation, VGA 3D/2D, Lan, S/PDIF)
512 megs DDR PC266
LG DVD 16X
20 gig laptop 2.5 inch drive
6 in 1 media reader
Win XP PRo
WinDVD

Had to jimmy rig a silent Inwin 200w Mini ATX power supply externally. The one built into the Cube was too noisy. Waiting couple of months to see if a new small silent one shows up.
all for under $530 CDN taxes-in

One nice thing is that I can insert a DVD or CD or compact flash and it all automatically is loaded on the screen. No mouse or keyboard needed. Power on and Power off starts and shutdowns the OS. Good ole XP.

http://www.spacelofts.com/HTPC/

That's a neat little setup Saturn.
I was thinking about buying my father one of those cube Shuttle computers since he seems to move around so much. Beyond a laptop, they would suit his needs well.
However they are also certainly a great idea for a home theatre PC.

I haven't done it yet, as I've had other expenses get in the way, but my rig at the moment will consist of the following:

Athlon XP 2400+
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe mobo
2x 256MB PC2700
Antec True350 PSU
DIGN HTPC case
ATi Radeon 9500
Hauppauge PVR-250 cap card (Win XP MCE compatible)
Western Digital 2000JB HDD (will probably require a second one shortly)
Logitech wireless duo keyboard and mouse

I'll be using an external VGA to Component converter as ATi was kind enough to handicap their component video adapter.

Umm... I think that's it.

Thankfully, I have sources that can help me procure Windows XP Media Center Edition without buying someone else's over priced hardware.

Thats a sweet setup. I had some issues with noise. Thats what I got the first time around. I had to find power supplies (quiet power supplies) that are quiet and hard drive (Seagate drive fluid bearings) that spins quietly. The fans on the AMD is also loud (special heat sink). The fans is loud too on video card (special heat sink) . I ended up with the above setup. Hardly any fans. A little underpowered but everything works up to par and it is DEAD silent now. There also this nice Keyboard/mouse on keyboard combo wireless. All in black looks sweet with handles on side of keyboard to carry about. I picked it up for a mere $32 CDN on sale. I'll send you info on it if your interested.

Quit PC info:

http://www.quietpc.ca/psu.html
http://www.mini-itx.com/
http://home.swipnet.se/tr/web.html

A really really really nice case to match my Rotel. Soon to be shipped. DROOOOOLLLLLLL factor!!!!!!!!!

http://www.hushtechnologies.net/

Saturn

ps: BTW you got any leads to procure Windows XP media Center Edition. wink wink

Sound is a definite issue. I'll be sporting an Alpha heatsink and an L1A Panaflo fan on the CPU along with a Zalman passive heat pump on the radeon. The Antec PSU's are very quiet so that will work. The only source of major noise will be the HDD, but I simply can't make do with the size of the Baracuda IV's and V's. 200GB will be pushing it as is and I'll likely have to add a second for 400MB.

I've seen those Hush cases before and they are indeed very sweet. The only problem is that they're mini-ITX and I need something that can hold a full ATX board. I want the nForce2 + MCP-T's ability to encode positional game sound into Dolby Digital and there still aren't any micro-ATX cases with that chipset combination let alone mini-ITX.

Your current rig won't run Win XP MCE though. You have to have a video capture card with on-board MPEG 2 encoding (like the Hauppauge PVR-250 I mentioned or the 350). That brings up another question I had. What are you using to input television signals? Are you planning on using this for PVR activities?

I didn't know you were going to do PVR activities. Thats why you need that horsepower. I tried capture via firewire on MiniDv and even with my main system it was barely chugging along. Video capture and process is a hog in CPU and hard disk. No PVR activities for me. But if I did PVR activities could I just add external case firewire drives since I got 4 firewire inputs? As with capture I do have 1 PCI slot at back and put in a Sigma Design XCard which is hardware MPEG2.

As with the TV tuner with inputs check this out. I have been using these for 2 years with much success.
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/video_box_nextvisionn6.htm

I personally use the entry level VB50HRTV for $150 CDN
The N5 is $220 CDN and the N6 is like $600+

Saturn, i realize that this component will increase the resolution of the signal to a higher level but can you describe the quality of the signal afterwards?
i.e. at the present time my cable signal is really quite crap for some channels, green edging shows on some channels, not others, sound varies from stereo to mono, a certain 'fuzzyness' is apparent on some stations while others look like near digital quality, etc.

This gadget will upsample the resolution of the cable signal but again, how is the actual quality of the picture in other regards after the upsampling?

Since our cable is generally quite terrible all around (and i have tried cable boosters which helps a bit), i would consider such a device if it at least makes any improvement to a standard cable viewing experience.

Hey chess;

I'll try it out tonight. Maybe get some some pictures through my digital camera (If the pictures comes out). Based on the quality of picture I would say is as good/bad as the ATI All in Wonder setup. The picture is definitely upscaled and the Viewsonic processor upscales up to 1024x768. I have the processor plugged into a Sony CPG400 19" monitor and it looks pretty good. I would say just a tad less quality than DVD quality played on a PC using the PC DVD reader. The picture is very slightly soft. Not like the hard details you see on real HTDV. If you compare my older 36" Toshiba tube TV vs the Viewsonic processor I would say the Viewsonic processer would definitely have an edge. Hue tends to be in the green and yellow side but there are adjustments in color, hue, brightness and contrast that you can switch to get the right color you want. The adjustments are not that fine tuned so moving the adjustment 1 to 2 clicks above or below makes a dramatic change. This is the lower model VB50HRTV so maybe the newer models have changed there menu options. I also have cable booster thing (I'll tell you what it is tonight) and this really helped a lot. Its not the standard booster from Radioshack. It was supplied by Bell to me because where I used to live I had really bad reception. After they plugged in this baby the signal is crytal clear. It even has a coaxial cable that is run out from the cable inputs/outputs and has power run (or thats what it looks like) rather than the standard power cord run. <-- don't knock me on this language. I'm no engineer

Saturn,
I"m curious to hear more about your cable booster now as well. I had a Radio Shack model from my parents old house that i'm using but i've never been thoroughly convinced it does much of anything (my father used to run a Radio Shack in the early 80s). Channels in the basement are relatively clear while upstairs they get a bit distorted and sometimes grainy. Using the booster tends to 'help' a bit but certainly does not boost the cable signal nearly as much as i think it should. I also have a cable problem that connects to my ATI AIW and i'm not 100% sure that it isn't the fault of the card having a loose coaxial plug. The bedroom tv still confirms my doubts. I've wondered whether there are some better, even if more expensive, solutions out there for cable boosting, perhaps this Bell item as you say.
Calling the cable company of course gets you absolutely no where. Unless the cable signal is not working at all or looks like some form of satellite jamming, they won't bother coming out to check it. I live right within the city so distance from the source should not be a problem.
Virtually every cable company i've dealt with has different ranges in quality. It is reallly quite annoying.

You may find this thread on HTPC's interesting. The latter part is discussing the UI currently which is the most forgotten (and as yet least optimized) portion:
http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=67909965&m=3480961855