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HTPC vs PS3?

CrimandEvil said:
Actually, if you've read anything about Blu Ray on the PC you'd know that a PS3 kicks the shit out of it due to now fragmented the playback software situation is. :rolleyes:

And what the hell does "TRUE 1080P content" means? :rolleyes:
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true 1080p content = uncompressed 1080p content, as in 60fps 16.7 million colours 1920 X 1080. Content streamed at 100mb/s. Content only a game engine can render :p
 
jonjon0nline said:
I have both and I think the pros and cons are completely user dependent. For ease of use, the PS3 wins-- hands-down.
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Initially, yes... But once it's setup, I pop in a BD and the HTPC automatically plays it in full screen. On my PS3, I have to select the BD to play.
 
I have not used or seen a PS3 in action, so I cannot comment on that piece...however, I do have an HTPC with a BR drive, and it works great. Some content does not always look great, but that is an encoding issue with the content itself and should exist on a PS3 or the HTPC.

The advantages of the HTPC is functionality. The PS3 can't touch the HTPC in terms of functionality. The main advantage of the PS3 is strictly price. However, as volume picks up on HTPC (and the market is growing very fast), pricing for HTPC components will drop making it even more affordable to build a nice HTPC.

Therefore, my vote is HTPC.
 
If you're looking for a DVR in the same box, HTPC is the only option out of the two.
 
WOW

ok

So are you even going to play console only based games? if not then there really is no reason to buy a ps3

Simple as that.
 
Turning a PS3 into a DVR sounds expensive, not to mention the proprietary upgrades it takes to do it (anolog/digital).

I own a couple HTPC, PS3 and a 360 and IMHO, the HTPC is the way to go for versitility.
 
If the PS3 supported more codecs my HTPC would be collecting dust. However, I am constantly running into files the PS3 does not support which I have to play on my HTPC.

Overall.... HTPC > PS3

...imo
 
I got both the 360 and PS3
use the PS3 strictly as a htpc replacement since I use an apple macbook from work looking to get a PC soon though but I love leopard OS
 
I've got both.. wouldn't trade either of them in.. PS3 for gaming/blu-ray.. HTPC for everything else.

I don't want to mess with software players that may or may not downsample the HD Audio codecs. I'll just let the PS3 handle it and pass the audio through to my receiver. Takes the guess work out of it :)
 
Nenu said:
Thats where the problem lies.
You need specific software to decode the HD audio from Blu-Ray disks and not all HD audio formats are supported yet.
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This is sack of bull as WinDVD and PowerDVD both support TrueHD and DTS-HD. The HD4000 series decodes and outputs it up to 7.1 LPCM exactly like how a PS3 would...
 
bfellow said:
This is sack of bull as WinDVD and PowerDVD both support TrueHD and DTS-HD. The HD4000 series decodes and outputs it up to 7.1 LPCM exactly like how a PS3 would...
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You need PowerDVD or WinDVD to play back HD audio on a PC, thats quite specific.
Also not all formats are supported as the audio has to be decoded in the PC and is sent to the amp as a form of PCM, not TrueHD or DTS-HD MA
Using LPCM is akin to streaming a WAV file to your amplifier.
If you bought a Home Theatre Amp that supports TrueHD and DTS-HD, those features wont be used as the only HD audio stream it can receive from a PC is a PCM variant(s).

You are correct that a PS3 is no better though, I missed a beat there as that makes the support between PC and PS3 identical at the moment.
 
Nenu said:
You need PowerDVD or WinDVD to play back HD audio on a PC, thats quite specific.
Also not all formats are supported as the audio has to be decoded in the PC and is sent to the amp as a form of PCM, not TrueHD or DTS-HD MA
Using LPCM is akin to streaming a WAV file to your amplifier.
If you bought a Home Theatre Amp that supports TrueHD and DTS-HD, those features wont be used as the only HD audio stream it can receive from a PC is a PCM variant(s).

You are correct that a PS3 is no better though, I missed a beat there as that makes the support between PC and PS3 identical at the moment.
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What audio formats doesn't it support? Decoding TrueHD or DTS-HD on the PC and sending it using LPCM should sound exactly the same as sending TrueHD or DTS-HD and then having the receiver/pre-amp decode the stream. It's akin to the difference between sending a WAV file or sending a zipped WAV file. TrueHD and DTS-HD are simply used to save space on the disk, they are the exact same quality as uncompressed LPCM.
 
bfellow said:
This is sack of bull as WinDVD and PowerDVD both support TrueHD and DTS-HD. The HD4000 series decodes and outputs it up to 7.1 LPCM exactly like how a PS3 would...
Click to expand...

Currently, for the next few weeks anyway (hopefully), any TrueHD or DTS-MA you send out of a computer is downsampled. The PS3 has a leg up in that department.

Auzentech and Asus are very near in releasing cards that will fix this and the PAP issues HTPC users have.
 
yamahaSHO said:
Currently, for the next few weeks anyway (hopefully), any TrueHD or DTS-MA you send out of a computer is downsampled. The PS3 has a leg up in that department.

Auzentech and Asus are very near in releasing cards that will fix this and the PAP issues HTPC users have.
Click to expand...

Wrong. The AMD HD 4000 series cards can send LPCM (8 channel uncompressed) audio via HDMI that is NOT downsampled. The upcoming audio cards will free you from having to have a specific video card to do this.
 
8 channel uncompressed still isn't TrueHD or DTS-MA. Anyways, this is stupid since both sides of the argument are right. With a 4x00 series ATI card, Intel G45 or NV's 8x00 series IGP you can send uncompressed LPCM (8 channels) but you can't send TrueHD or DTS-MA audio. When you decode such audio formats on the PC there is great potential that it will be molested, downconverted, before it is sent out to your speakers.
 
Ok, there is the chance the software is misconfigured and downsamples for some reason. However, assuming your software if working correctly there is ZERO advantage sending TrueHD or DTS-MA over 8 channel uncompressed. We're in the digital realm here so the decode will have the exact same result no matter if you do it on the PC or in the receiver. In the case you do it on the PC the result is sent over with no loss of quality. The ONLY benefit of TrueHD and DTS-MA are they take up less space on the disk. It seems LPCM has MORE bandwidth available in fact.

I think a lot of people are confused about this since with the old HT audio if you sent PCM over a digital link instead of DTS or DD5.1 you DID lose quality since there was not enough bandwidth for all of the channels without compression. This is no longer the case since the HDMI format has enough bandwidth allocated to the audio to send it uncompressed.
 
the ps3 would a cheaper solution than a HTPC
you can do alot with the ps3.
 
TrueHD is not as good as LPCM. TrueHD uses a lossless codec, LPCM is lossless, not compressed at all. There is a difference, small but there.
 
I have an HTPC and PS3 downstairs.

I use PS3 for BR and Games and HTPC for DVDs and TV.

The MCE interface of Vista rocks the house and with dual cablecard tuners, I am happy as a clam. What is better is that I can be on my eliptical upstairs and use my x360 in my bedroom to watch TV without any additional STB equipment..media extenders rock.

Of the two, my HTPC gets WAY more use. The PS3 really just collects dust after I beat MGS4 for the 3rd time.

Sony is really hurting in the exclusive titles category.
 
CrimandEvil said:
8 channel uncompressed still isn't TrueHD or DTS-MA. Anyways, this is stupid since both sides of the argument are right. With a 4x00 series ATI card, Intel G45 or NV's 8x00 series IGP you can send uncompressed LPCM (8 channels) but you can't send TrueHD or DTS-MA audio. When you decode such audio formats on the PC there is great potential that it will be molested, downconverted, before it is sent out to your speakers.
Click to expand...

Someone else gets it :)
 
Honestly....if you are concerned about the true fidelity of master audio tracks...you would not use a PS3 or HTPC and you had better have some KICK ASS speakers, amps, pre amps, eqs, and filters. Somehow I doubt that set of $100 polks will be able to resolve the difference between compressed 8 channel and uncompressed 8 chan.

capice?
 
What I am concerned about is getting the sound out that was put on the disk. I've already got a good setup, I just don't want any back-door way of playing the material on the disk (HTPC's).
 
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