HTPC noob - new setup and other questions

P

parsona

n00b
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Messages
19
Hi guys,

I'm gonna be getting a HD ready LCD TV soon and I'm thinking of setting up a mini HTPC to play HD video (not necessarily bluray or HDDVD). I've alot of questions so I hope you all can share with me if you know.

Firstly, my TV will only have one HDMI input (Regza) so I'm not sure if I should be switching between the inputs from my HDMI Dvd player and the HTPC or can I go for component video for the HTPC? Will component video be sufficient to send 720p signal to the TV? Is DVI output enough to display 720p?

Second, audio. a HTPC normally can output audio via fiber optic right? Can I play 5.1 DTS or Dolby sources and output to my amplifier with this? Or, will my audio be output thru the HDMI connector?

Down to the hardware now. My requirements are just to play media, no gaming or tv tuner needed whatsoever, therefore I want the lowest spec possible to save cost, but I do want mobos which has fiber and HDMI/component out. Also I would like to have those very small casings, like the mini Acer pcs, not those square Shuttle type casings. So, what mobo should I get? What would the minimum CPU + Ram I need to get?

Thanks all!
 
Firstly, my TV will only have one HDMI input (Regza) so I'm not sure if I should be switching between the inputs from my HDMI Dvd player and the HTPC or can I go for component video for the HTPC? Will component video be sufficient to send 720p signal to the TV? Is DVI output enough to display 720p?
Click to expand...

Why not replace the DVD player with the HTPC? With the match of the right software (ffdshow) and player, you will get excellent quality. This way you don't have to worry about switching and just get an HDMI motherboard like an Abit AN-M2HD.

Second, audio. a HTPC normally can output audio via fiber optic right? Can I play 5.1 DTS or Dolby sources and output to my amplifier with this? Or, will my audio be output thru the HDMI connector?
Click to expand...

If you want to passthrough digital audio to your receiver then Coax or Optical on the above mentioned motherboard will suffice. To answer your question, yes, you can use separate audio connections instead of audio through your HDMI. On the other hand, if your receiver has HDMI inputs/outputs you can connect that way as well.

Down to the hardware now. My requirements are just to play media, no gaming or tv tuner needed whatsoever, therefore I want the lowest spec possible to save cost, but I do want mobos which has fiber and HDMI/component out. Also I would like to have those very small casings, like the mini Acer pcs, not those square Shuttle type casings. So, what mobo should I get? What would the minimum CPU + Ram I need to get?
Click to expand...

I just built a nice little system for my buddy that plays Hi Def with these components:

Abit AN-M2
X2 4200 65w
2GB Corsair XMS DDR2 800

Probaly overkill for what you want but it works nicely and has some expandability. It also supports AMD Live as well, www.amdlive.com.
 
Thanks for your reply!

Thing is, I'm still gonna play alot of SD DVDs and I'm abit worried that the PC can't upscale as good as a dedicated HDMI DVD player. Is that perception wrong?

Still need to know if the PC DVI output enough to display 720p?
 
Thing is, I'm still gonna play alot of SD DVDs and I'm abit worried that the PC can't upscale as good as a dedicated HDMI DVD player. Is that perception wrong?
Click to expand...

I honestly think, when setup correctly and tweaked for your res..etc, the HTPC is better for DVD.

Still need to know if the PC DVI output enough to display 720p?
Click to expand...

DVI will handle 720p easily....no issues..
 
Alright, my specs:

AM2 X2 2300+ 45W
Asus M2A VM HDMI
1x 1 GB Kingston Value RAM 667Mhz
400 GB Western Digital
Hauppauge PVR 150 MCE Kit
Toshiba Regza 42A3000E
Windows Vista Ultimate
Harman Kardon AVR5000 5.1 DTS receiver

- At first I bought the Biostar TF7050 but I realized it doesnt have a S/PDIF pci bracket, and I have no idea where to buy it separately, so unfortunately I have to change to the slightly older and more expensive asus 690g board. cry.gif Does anyone know of any m-ATX mobo that has HDMI and optical out?

I'm still in the process of setting up all the software. So far, I've installed:
Purevideo
TVxB and Bladerunner 3.0

To be installed:
Powerstrip beta for support with 690G chipset (http://forums.entechtaiwan.net/viewtopic.php?t=5726)
ffdshow

I can post up pics if anyone is interested. My setup is like this:
Astro input to Hauppauge via S-Video and RCA. PC output to TV via HDMI (At first had a problem outputting Astro's sound thru HDMI, it would only go to my SPDIF output, but after restart it was ok, weird. However, Vista I think can only output to one audio channel at a time, but realtek has a custom driver file that can allow simultaneous output to all audio outs. Copy this file http://neosmart.net/downloads/guides/Vista...nd/rtkhdaud.zip to C:\Windows\System32\drivers and restart).
DVD and downloaded HD video output thru HDMI for video only. Sound will be output to my DTS receiver via S/PDIF.

Currently, I'm having a problem getting my Vista Media center to download the EPG, a huge turn off... I've followed TVxB's Vista guide here (http://www.tvxb.com/doc/Vista-BladerunnerPro Instructions.htm) but when Media Center tries to download off my IIS, it still says it cant connect. I've verified my IIS settings and everything checks out fine. I'd welcome any assistance!

Also, having difficulties getting my onboard ATI to display 1366x768 @60 hz. I'm hoping this beta powerstrip will allow me to.

Man, its been really hard setting all this up.. but very fun! Will be posting reviews once everything is set up properly. ATM, Media center detected my Astro signal and also the remote controller very well. A complaint is that there will be a significant lag (1second) when using the MCE remote to control Astro.

*Astro is my satellite provider
 
So I have one of the 1366x768 flat panels how do I get the best results with it?

Using 1366x768 causes one issue for a PC which is that 1366 pixels is not divisible by 8 and due to legacy issues PC graphics cards cannot typically produce a resolution that isn't divisible by eight. Thus 1360x768 or 1368x768 are the closest resolutions. The newest drivers from NVIDIA and ATI are fairly good at working with the 1366x768 sets and can set 1368 and trim 2 pixels off to match it.

NOTE: Custom resolutions such as 1360x768 are only available with VGA or DVI/HDMI. Component video ouput is locked into the standard DTV resolutions (480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i).

There is one problem that may prevent any 1366x768 compatible resolution from working which is not a PC problem. Many TV vendors do not expect a PC to be connected via DVI/HDMI, as such the DVI/HDMI input only accepts standard Digital TV type resolutions. Download MonInfo and run it, it will tell you the various timings the port will accept. If you don't see a 136*x768 timing listed there isn't much you can do: try 720p or 1080i and see how it scales, or switch to VGA. Many vendors of 1366x768 sets that include a VGA port allow the custom timings over VGA.
Click to expand...
http://www.missingremote.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1288&Itemid=1

As for the Spdif out from the Biostar board I'll have to look at mine (I'm actually heading out the door right now so not much time to do that) and get back to you on it but it's not very hard to make your own or to get a compatible one off of Ebay or someplace.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top