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My new laptop wouldn't consistently handshake with my Vizio VO32LF, and I've grown FAR too accustomed to the 32" 1080p desktop real-estate to deal with a small screen, so I did the only thing natural; sell the Vizio on Craig's List and go shopping. I did my research online, and settled on a...

Updated the original post with my new Z68 configuration. I'm thinking the RAM is probably overkill, and perhaps I should switch it out for a 4GB kit when I upgrade my main desktop to LGA 1155.

EDIT: disregard

I finally moved from BeyondTV to SageTV, and I can't say I miss Beyond. The fact that that BeyondTV wouldn't interface with my x264 mkv movies was reason enough for me to shell out another $80; the slicker interface, weather tool, and pandora plugin are just gravy on top.

I’d like to think that as an electrical engineer by trade, I’d make a good reviewer. I have the technology background to understand what’s at work and I’m used to making cost vs. quality decisions. I’m willing to subject the monitor to the usual applications...

Believe me when I say I understand cost objectives, but if you have any sort of decent paying job (meaning that your time is not worthless) you'll thank yourself later if you opt for a larger hard drive. A 500GB drive will run you about an extra $50 on sale, and honestly, if somebody kicked...

RAID usually accomplishes one of two things; either faster disk access, or data redundancy. For HTPC usage, faster disk access is usually pointless. Depending on the value of your data, redundancy might be a desirable feature. On my archival file server I run RAID5 to help prevent a disk...

^-- that card + satellite (via a coax cable) = standard def :(

This thread had a point at some time, right? </sarcasm> Call it your l33th4xor box for all we care. Arguing over a name is retarded.

ESiR and company exceed 'scene' standards and are what I would call good HD. Given that, I'm not sure I've ever seen a 9,100 kbps x264, but I certainly don't watch everything. Back on topic, as w1re said, x264 support just sucks right now. There are a couple of ways to hack it, but as far...

10,000 kbps 720p x264 is overkill imo. I'd guess your quants are in 'excessive' range (ie, beyond being visible). 'Scene' is like ~3,000 kbps, good HD is like 4,500 to 6,000 kbps.

Good luck with that. CRT is generally accepted as having the absolute best blacks.

To add my experience (and take it for that, I'm not stating that people haven't been able to get 1080i working on a 6150) I had to pony up for something stronger get glitch free 1080i playback. I have no regrets though, because smooth HD playback is a beautiful thing :)

This recommendation always gets mixed reviews, but a good way to save a bundle on speakers is to buy used. I watched Craig's List for a few months and picked up a nice five speaker Paradigm setup on the cheap. If you find somebody upgrading, it's a great way to pick up a set of Mid-fi speakers...

Part of the problem is you're veiwing this images on your (relative to a TV) small monitor. Blow up a standard def image on a 55" screen, and you'll have no problem telling the difference between SD and HD.

I'm sure there are others, but the Vbox Cat's Eye 150 is a true dual hybrid tuner, in that it can simulateously handle 2 ATSC feeds, 2 NTSC feeds, or 1 ATSC and 1 NTSC feed. No QAM though :-(

how to set a custom resolution with powerstrip.

Newer nvidia drivers give you the option to specify a custom res. I can't speak for ATI drivers, but I would imagine they have this function as well. If not, you might want to look into Powerstrip.

It's not uncommon for LCD screens to use a native resolution which is slightly 'off' of the convential 1080/720 resolutions. A quick search at AVSForum can probably tell you what the real native resolution is.

It's an Infrant ReadyNAS (RNV2-S2-0000.) I bought it diskless so I could shop fatwallet/slickdeals for good deals on hard drives. With Vista and GigE, I'm getting less than optimal write times (I top out at about ~11 MB/sec write) but I've heard that has a lot to do with your GigE NIC drivers...

With picture goodness. I didn't realize how small this thing was before I got into it. I was expecting something shoebox sized, but it's hardly bigger than the four hard drives it holds.

Adidas4275, Because I'm a cheap ass, I pull all my HD from the OTA antenna sitting on top of my right speaker. If my cable box was HD, I'd still be limited to coax, composite, or S-video between the cable box and the computer. The only really feasible way to get HD from cable is to use an...

Antec NSK2400, or if you're feeling saucy, the Fusion.

Not to completely bust your balls, but I am an EMI engineer by trade. Amongst a variety of things, we take a very analytical look at cable coupling. Differential digital signals (like those used in HDMI signals) are of the most robust interfaces in use today. I hate to generalize the last two...

I'm a fan of my Vbox 164e's dual ATSC tuners, but I use it with XP, and BeyondTV, so I can't vouch for it with other setups.

That riser looks very slick on your stand. Job well done!

You gave out the private link to your wishlist. The public link is http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5892746. Looks pretty solid all the way around. I'd drop the soundcard and use the 8 channel onboard (or the SPDIF if you already have a home...

This is probably splitting hairs, but it is my understanding that x264 is a codec that follows the h264 standard, ala divx follows mpeg-4, part 2. Everything that is referred to as h.264 (e.g., European HDTV) still used some specific codec to achieve h.264 spec video, correct? Could one of the...

While I completely agree with your statistical analysis (because in the end, EVERYTHING is statistical,) they create DVD standards for a reason; so that every DVD has the same statistical chance at being played. The fact that other disks play fine makes me think either either the disk is...

Incorrecto... nVidia's overscan correction will work for digital connections as well. It's been a good long time since I've done it, but I believe it's under the 'Video & Television' button in the newer nVidia control panel. Sorry I can't be of more help, but I KNOW I've done it via my DVI output.

If you don't mind drilling your own PCI bracket, I got my SPDIF header for my MSI K8NGM2-FID from FrontX for $6.60 shipped. I think I may have had to take a paperclip and move one of the leads over a pin in the connector, but it was really easy to do.

The only problem with sending the sound with the video (which is absolutely, 100% the way HDMI is supposed to work) is that a lot of HDTV's (mine included) won't pass through the 5.1 to the coax or optical out. My TV has a SPDIF out, but it only passes the ATSC 5.1. I completely agree, you...

That's a pretty slick looking mod to the Antec. Take a sharpie to the screw holes that you put in the top part to complete the look :D

It sounds as if the bundled software is assuming it's running on MCE. There are several apps that will allow you to use the blaster with XP (like Girder, or HIP) however these solutions may or may not interface well with the HVR software. Several of the big PVR apps include native support...

Depending on your sound system, it may be advantageous to use a digital output, and let your receiver (which usually has better D/A converters than sound cards) do the decoding. This enables you to use a cheaper (or integrated) sound card as the card itself does not have to do any processing.

http://www.antennaweb.org/ I ended up choosing the amplified (which btw, makes absolutely no difference in my case) Terk, but it really depends on your location.

The problem is a CATV amplifier is not built to amplify (or possible even pass) the higher frequency signals that the cable modem uses. It could, in effect, filter out the modem data. You can certainly try it with little risk involved, but if your internet stops working, it is most likely...

Unfortunately, you only have a couple options regarding HD cable. I'm not sure what the QAM situation is like in the great white north, but if there is unencrypted QAM cable offered, a HDHomeRun will allow capture. Encrypted channels (eg. HBO, Showtime, ESPN) will not be able to be tuned...

digital cable != ATSC. ATSC is terrestrial broadcast, which requires an antenna to tune.

Just an fyi, as I noticed this issue last night, I couldn't get the 32-bit Purevideo working on Vista x64 with the 101.41 beta drivers. Perhaps it's isolated to my 7800GT, but I couldn't get the video to display. The 100.65 drivers work fine with purevideo however. If you're on XP64, you can...