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HTPC As Good as My Separates?

#1
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8/31/08 at 12:16pm
  • Joined: November 2006
  • Post Count: 4
Hi There.....

VERY briefly, I have a good HD set-up as below (concentrating on video)

Samsung LED LIT DLP TV HLS5679

Denon STD Upconverting DVD DVD 3910

Toshiba HD DVD HD-A2

Sony BDP-S300

Have been considering a HTPC to make it easier to manage my movies - using the standard array of ANY DVD, etc. etc...

Have a year old ACER PC hooked up to TV now for I-Tunes and just for giggles put a standard DVD in to see what the quality looked like vs. the Denon DVD player.....pretty awful....blotchiness, skipped frames, etc. Am sure the skipped frames are just a processing power issue, but the blotchiness (DVI to HDMI in on TV) was pretty bad.

Not looking to diagnose this pathetic system...asking opinion of whether any of the "typical HTPCs" offered (like the s1Digital as example) would yield good upscaling, or whether I'd have to go to an external upscaler?

Also if anyone has experience with doing what I've described using HD-DVD / Blu-Ray readers and ANYDVD HD version to play HD content from the HTPC...again...decent quality based on my existing experience / hardware...want the convenience, but not if stepping back in quality.

Thanks for any advice

Ralph "proudpeacock" Strader
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#2
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9/7/08 at 6:00am
  • Joined: November 2004
  • Post Count: 70

Re: HTPC As Good as My Separates?

I am surprised you are having such poor video quality problems on your pc just from playing a standard DVD. What are your technical specs on your pc? In my experience I have had great results upscaling standard DVD's on mine, and HDDVD/Bluray discs play flawlessly on my combo drive using PowerDVD software. I suspect a shortcoming on hardware performance may be your issue, whether its the video card, processor, or combination of things.
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#3
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9/8/08 at 2:30am
  • Joined: December 2002
  • Post Count: 988

Re: HTPC As Good as My Separates?

i was thinking the same thing jeff was thinking. i get a better pic off my computer than i do my actual upconverting toshiba for standard dvd's. and using the hd-dvd drive on my computer is amazing. i know, i know.... hd-dvd lost. but i still have it and use it.

specifically, what type of video card and processor do you have? are you using onboard video?

listen with your own ears...
watch with your own eyes...
make your own decision.
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