DVD Player or HTPC? (1 Viewer)

[elMalloc]

Hi everyone,

I bought a Toshiba 46HM84 DLP set that hasn't been delivered yet. Should I buy a DVD player or use my PC which is in the same room (radeon 9700 all in wonder with DVI out) as an HTPC? WHich produces better video quality?

Thanks,
ELmO

 

[EricRWem]

You could try the HTPC way, but it's going to be a few headaches and you're going to sacrifice some convenience.

I'd go for the DVD player myself, depending on what you're looking at. PQ will be comparable either way.

 

[Leo Kerr]

Problem with the HTPC is unless you've one specifically built for silent running, they're noisier than most DVD players.

Leo

 

[elMalloc]

Gotcha on that one, but what about the picture quality?

The thing is, the Denon is like $600-700. That's a HEAP! I could upgrade my radeon 9700 all in wonder to an X800XT for half life 2 (for $500 probably), which I would prefer, if the PQ was the same. My PC does make some decent noise (it has 5 silent fans). I can tell when the PC is off or on...but if I even have a slight chance of getting better PQ with the PC, I would probably do that - it's going to be sitting right beside it (1 or 2 feet away), anyway.

My seating distance is about 8 feet away, and I can tell when my PC is on, but I don't think it will be taht big of a deal to me if I could use that $500-600 on a new video card for half life 2, instead.

Maybe I'll even try gaming on the DLP set? Who knows. I'll need a wireless mouse/keyboard for that.

-ELmO

 

[Kevin T]

i'm currently building a htpc. i got my video card in today (radeon 9600 pro). i'm going to be hooking it up this evening and giving it a brief test run. i'll try to remember to post my impressions tomorrow. my display is a sony vpl-hs3 projector. my current dvd player is a denon dvd-5900 connected via dvi to the projector.

kevin t

 

[JoeESP]

Although my PC has an ATI card and a DVD burner I prefer to use my Sony DVD player through my AV system. MY PC is connected and I can display it on my AV system. I prefer using the Sony. Blowing up stuff (PC gaming)on the big screen is big fun though.

 

[Kevin T]

well, i got my htpc put together. i'm still waiting for a hauppagge tv tuner card to arrive before it will be complete. connecting the ati 9600 pro to my projector has been a chore. i needed to use software called powerstrip to custom set the resolution and the learning curve is fairly steep. i imagine that by the end of next week, i should have everything hooked up and ready to give a head to head versus the 5900.

kevin t

 

[elMalloc]

powerstrip isnt that hard to use...what else is there to it? Can we get 1x1 pixel mapping easily?

 

[Kevin T]

trying to set my projector to it's native (and odd) resolution of 858 x 484 caused it to go into fits and give me a black screen. i reviewed the manual today and reset the resolution to the pj max resolution of 1280 x 720 and viola! i got a widescreen desktop. by this time, my girlfriend and her friend showed up for movie night so i had to stop playing and hook the denon back up. i'm off monday so i should have plenty of time to set everything up.

kevin t