Home theater PC?

[slxrti]

I would like to build a HTPC, the objective is to achieve much better than average video performance (better then the oppo dv971).

Is this possible? what video card was used? Was any after market decoder
SW used?

slxrti

[JuniorJBL]

Yes that is a fun subject.
for best performance use a late model ATI of Nvidia card with RGB out or if you use a digital screen then use the DVI. Get a Teac DVD drive (teac still makes one of the best transports around and some of that tech. makes its way into the computer products.) it will run you about $70 for the drive and about $250 for a good GPU.

With that said the next thing you should think about is getting a good RAID 5 disk subsystem (like maybe 3Ware) so it can be a DVR and also a DVD server.

If you want to get TV through the computer then get the ATI all in wonder video card. it has a HD cable tuner on it already!

[slxrti]

Yes that is a fun subject.
for best performance use a late model ATI of Nvidia card with RGB out or if you use a digital screen then use the DVI. Get a Teac DVD drive (teac still makes one of the best transports around and some of that tech. makes its way into the computer products.) it will run you about $70 for the drive and about $250 for a good GPU.

With that said the next thing you should think about is getting a good RAID 5 disk subsystem (like maybe 3Ware) so it can be a DVR and also a DVD server.

If you want to get TV through the computer then get the ATI all in wonder video card. it has a HD cable tuner on it already!

I looked at a ATI, I did not notice a digital tuner.

Was there a different in video quality between a PC and a video player?

slxrti

[Ian Mackenzie]

HI,

I thought about the route but on expert advise bought a Strong (regarded as the best in and used by the networks) dedicated Hi Def tuner/set top box.

HP already make an expensive branded media Centre with ...Dual Core 3 Gig processor, 1 gig ram 250 Gig drives and Nvidia videa card ect.

The problem is reliability with the very hi data transfer rates required for Hi Def and the fact the card still needs a lot of horsepower from the CPU delivering Hi def while burning and performing other PC functions.

With the dedicated set top box I get very reliable performance and also up to 1080 with DVI, Component while also outputs simultaniously to S video , Compositive and Optical digital audio and Coaxial AC3. I am not aware of a card that can do that and certainly not with the Video performance of the Strong box.

[duaneage]

google "myth tv" nice linux solution

[jblnut]

If you decide to tackle the DIY solution, do a bunch of reading first. If you're going the XP Media Center route, the best resource is thegreenbutton.com. I just built an HTPC so that I can record over the air HD. I used the 3ware RAID controller (it rocks!) and the Avermedia 180 HD tuner card. You don't really need a super high-end video card (radeon 9600 or better will do) or a high-end sound card (just get something compatible with an optical digital out).

I get about 10 HD stations here and it's really cool to be able to record HD "for free". Yeah the PC cost about 1g to build (had some spare parts to kick off the project) but at least I'm not paying over $100/month for HD cable like most of my friends.

PM me if you want any more specific suggestions...

jblnut