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Home Theater Computer
#58992 08/26/04 07:27 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
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mhorgel Offline OP
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I was hoping that the more technically inclined readers of this forum might be able to help me out.

I recently decided I needed a computer to act as a file server, as all the hard drives on my existing computers were filling up with MP-3's and other assorted stuff. That led me to think that I should integrate this new computer in my HT system. I looked around, and came across a system from Shuttle at Best Buy. I didn't get that one, but instead built my own.

Here's what I got...A Shuttle case with motherboard (7x8x11 inches...fits on my rack), a P4 2.8ghz with 800 mhz FSB, 1 GB DDR SDRAM PC 3200, a 250 GB SATA HD, a dual-layer DVD burner, and an ATI Radeon 9600 all in wonder video card. The computer has integrated Realtek 5.1 sound, a 6 in 1 flash card reader, 4 USB2 and 2 fire-wire ports. The video card has HDTV out, and can act as a PVR. I am planning to drop an Audigy 2 sound card into it soon.

Right now I already have a PVR, and I'm not interested in using the computer to store video (except that which I create myself), but I am looking for ideas as to how to utilize this machine to its fullest. Right now I have the sound (a digital optical link) connected to my receiver, and I'm planning on hooking the HD up to the video card this weekend.

Any ideas?

Mark


"Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff"
Re: Home Theater Computer
#58993 08/26/04 08:13 PM
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WHOA!!! way outta my league..

saturn has a pretty complex set-up intergrating his lap-top with his HT.. hopefully he can chime in.

these types of posts scare me cause i think i am doing soooo well.. then suddenly, i realize i have much more knowledge to absorb and much more room to expand.

luckily, i am broke.. so i cant explore no wild hairs, even if i get 'em!!

bigjohn


EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE SINGING BUSH??
Re: Home Theater Computer
#58994 08/26/04 08:37 PM
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First of all, welcome to the HTPC club. If you haven't already been there, think about going over to the AVS forums. They have a great HTPC forum. If you can't find the answer to your question in your searches, they guys over there will be able to help.

It sounds like you have the audio covered. Before you upgrade the card to the Audigy 2, be sure that the integrated doesn't do the trick, especially since you are going to be passing the digital signal to the receiver. I have an old POS card that does this function very well....the receiver is doing the work in that scenario.

As far as HD goes, what is your source material?...Over the Air (OTA)?...Cable? I'm not completely up to date w/ this stuff, but running cable-based HDTV on a HTPC is tricky. Only a few cards support it and none of them will decode the protected HD channels. Both inputs require a card that has an HD tuner on-board. I would suspect that your card will output an HD signal, but doesn't have that tuner on-board. This ability to output HD w/out a tuner would be used more for some of the HD DVD titles out there (Coral Reef, T2, Step Into Liquid, etc), which are decoded, etc via software.

I hope I'm not overwhelming you. There is a lot to cover when dealing with HD on HTPCs. The cards that can do this are all new and are going through continual bug-fixes, etc. In my case, though I will try to screw around w/ it, I will probably use the Comcast box for cable-based material and then used the PC for the movies.

Other things people play around with is ripping DVDs and storing on your hard-drive. This can be storage-intensive, but it can allow you to play around with front-end software that turns your PC into a kind of jukebox.

Oh, almost forgot...HTPCs output progressive scan images, which many take advantage of instead of updating their DVD players.

The list goes on and on. But, for most of us, it is just another fun way to screw around w/ computers. Hope some of this helped. Enjoy!

Re: Home Theater Computer
#58995 08/26/04 09:00 PM
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Mark - I have a 15 pin DIN connector on the back of my Samsung TV that I'll eventually use to connect to a PC. At some point in the not so distant future I will probably replace my current home office PC with something newer, and take my old PC and connect it to my TV, with audio out to the receiver. I'll then pick up a wireless keyboard and mouse, and the PC will remain connected to my network via wireless ethernet.

The uses I am aiming for are
- browsing the net from my couch on the 46" Samsung (seems like a lazy ass thing to do, but what the hell).
- using the PC and a program like MusicMatch or iTunes to play MP3 playlists through the stereo (probably need to update my sound card)
- maybe use it as a DVR, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble yet and I don't know what kind of program guides you could connect to this way. When you think about TiVO it is nothing but a hard drive and some Linux code, so maybe this bears watching.
- storing/playing video I've taken with the camcorder and edited
- viewing pics I have stored on the computer HD on the big screen
- maybe video conferencing with a quickcam (I have one now but don't use it all that much)
- games (although I've got the kids Playstation hooked up already and I'm not a huge game player on the PC; probably be more for the kids)
- like you're already planning, I will have network share locations set up so that I can access the files anywhere else on my network.

I think the good reasons to bring the PC together with the HT is the rich delivery of entertainment...games, the web, internet radio/video.

Sounds like you've already got your connections and media options all worked out so I won't comment there.

You mentioned your card has HDTV out. So does your video card have a built in HD tuner? Where does it get the signal? Cable? Satellite?

Re: Home Theater Computer
#58996 08/26/04 11:24 PM
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mhorgel Offline OP
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My card will input analog cable only. It has no HD tuner, it will simply output its signal in a 540p, 720p, or 1080i format via a dongle that converts the signal to component video. I also am going to use the machine for digital video editing.

Right now, though, the computer is crippled...I downloaded and installed SP2 and the thing wouldn't reboot. It also wouldn't go into safe mode. Thankfully I had Norton GoBack on the machine so I am reverting my system to the way it was before the install.

I don't really want to do the DVR thing, as I already have a DVR that does Hi def. I mainly want to play games on the big screen with surround sound, access my mp3's so I can play them on the HT system, and do video editing.

Mark


"Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff"
Re: Home Theater Computer
#58997 08/27/04 12:18 AM
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I think I'm going to stay away from SP2. What a headache!

Glad you were (or are) able to restore. Good luck!

Re: Home Theater Computer
#58998 08/27/04 02:18 AM
Joined: Dec 2003
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I installed SP2, or rather I should say my computer installed it, and other than resetting my default printer to my fax utility, when using IE (I just had to reset it, of course), I've had no real problems with it at all.

Strangely, it seems to have sped up my web surfing some. I'd noticed lately that most web pages were slower to load than I was used to. I checked my broadband cable ISP speed, and everything was normal, but pages just were slow to load. After SP2, I'm back to fairly fast loading again. YMMV.


Jack

"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue." - G. K. Chesterton
Re: Home Theater Computer
#58999 08/27/04 02:42 AM
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Mark when you have it all set up check out some of the WMV HD for what can be expected with the new HD DVD content. Should look cool...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx

I must be one of the few that've had no problems with SP2 so farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Jag


Re: Home Theater Computer
#59000 08/27/04 03:00 AM
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I have had no problems since I loaded SP2. Of course my desktop (xp) is only really used for ripping/serving MP3s and gaming, you know the important stuff. Otherwise it's my win2k laptop for surfing/chatting/posting to Axiom forums.

jr


"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence." C Hitchens
Re: Home Theater Computer
#59001 08/27/04 03:46 AM
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Hey Mark;

I too have a HTPC built which I use with my projector. Most of your stuff is up to snuff. It will play HD DVD via WM9 very well. Your setup is pretty much like mine. P4 3.0Ghz, ATI IGP 9100 chipset. My only suggestion is to pass on the Audigy 2 and go with the M-Audio Revolution 7.1
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Revolution71-main.html

The Audigy does some pre-processing of the digital stream...based on what people say. The M-audio doesn't. It passes the raw signal to the Surround receiver.
http://www.spacelofts.com/h30/mini-IMG_1968.htm
http://www.spacelofts.com/h30/index.htm

When you have it all setup do buy Terminator 2: Extreme Edition. It has a HD version that plays on WM9. It looks fantastic.

If you want to fully tweak you HTPC picture most people will use Theatertek with FDDShow or WinDVD with all the Dscaler and FDDshow tweaks. For an easy software DVD player that is almost as good as the above but is just a one step install use NVidea NVDVD 2.55 player. (Thats what I use)Make sure to also get Powerstrip to change your desktop to 16:9 to fit your HD television. Do see my HT links and you will see all output is via the HTPC.

I believe the only way to get HD on the HTPC is through a HD capable PVR/HD card or if you have a PVR card that accepts input from the HD signal from a STB.
http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/htpc/myhd/myhd_performance.html



Re: Home Theater Computer
#59002 08/27/04 05:08 AM
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I agree with whats been said here. Esp on the Creative card. Out of principle I refuse to EVER give money to that company again (SB Live! debacle). Anyway sounds like you are already doing the things you want on that PC. I think thats the beuty of a HTPC is it can do the things YOU want it to. I haven't kept up on it lately but I know there are some good HTPC front ends out there. Basically would run a GUI/Menu for ya to more easily play music, watch videos etc that you have on the PC. Might even interface a remote control to do basic tasks vs having to keep a keyboard/mouse around all the time.

Re: Home Theater Computer
#59003 08/27/04 02:46 PM
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Hey Mark, sounds like you'll be having a lot of fun this weekend. I just started toying around with connecting my PC to the HDTV yesterday and so far it's been fun. I only have a Sony 32" (tube) so my results weren't astounding but I plan to go to a projector eventually. Anyway, I have an ATI AIW 9700Pro and have been a faithful AIW "fanboy" since my original AIW Radeon. I'm sure you're going to love what that card can do and the software is top notch, mostly. When you get things back up and running again, get ready to play around with a TON of resolutions on your HDTV. I spend a couple hours last night playing with several timings and resolutions and right now settled at 720P timngs. I also played a bit of Unreal Tournatment 2004 and that was problematic. Especially since 1024x768 and 800x600 are NOT HDTV standards. So I would have to change the res back and forth to get through the menus and game play. *grrr* The best part however was it sounds INCREDIBLE in 5.1 with the Axioms.

As Saturn already said, be sure to install PowerStrip. I have it and plan to do some more tweaking to see if I can get better results. Here's a good link about all this stuff.

ATI HDTV Guide

Best of luck

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