hdtv via pc???? (1 Viewer)

[dan dj]

Am i wasting my time or not. I recently bought a Gateway 820gm pc with an Ati x300 video card. to put it simply the display sucks when I send my satellite signal to my 42" plasma screen. (looks great when the sat box is connected directly to the plama)Is it possible to run the sat signal thru my computer and get an excellent display? How about hdtv quality via computer. I don't seem to be able to get any info as to a card that will run on a pci express bus and deliver hdtv quality. Is this task impossible or just difficult. Any help in this area would be appreciated.

 

[Todd Shore]

Are you setting your PC to match the plasma's native resolution and refresh rate? DO NOT use the PC's S-Video or composite video out, use the RGB (VGA) output! If both the PC and the plasma are scaling the picture it will look bad.

If you run a program such as Nokia's monitor test, can you resolve single pixel lines? In other words, get the PC to plasma portion setup right first.

AFAIK you should be fine running any PCI HDTV card.

 

[dan dj]

thanks for your response. i am very green in these matters however let me ask a few questions and i know i can find my way thru. native resolution and refresh for the plasma? so i go to my tv's docs and find out the specs then right click the desk top and go to settings and set the resolution? i can't say that i remember where to set the refresh rates in windows but i will look around. by the way i am using the vga cable to the monitor and not s-video. i have a pci express bus so i do not believe i can use pci cards. do you know of a hdtv card for pci express.
thanks again and i would appreciate any further insight you can add.

 

[Todd Shore]

To change resolution right-click on desktop and choose Properties. Go to the Settings tab and click on the Advanced button. Click on the Adapter tab in the new dialog box to see a list of resolutions and refresh rates your PC is setup to use by default.

Depending on the native resolution of your plasma, you might have to create a custom resolution in Windows which is more complicated.

You can use a PCI card in a PCI Express equipped motherboard.

 

[dan dj]

Thanks! I will give it a try and see what happens. It is good to know that I can use pci. That greatly expands the cards that are available to me to use.

 

[Chris Bates]

I've heard that the MyHD Card is a good choice for a HTPC. Check it out here:

MyHD HDTV PCI Card

 

[dan dj]

hey i like the mad cow line. i showed it to my wife and it was a real hit! that myhd card sounds exactly what i need. it has a daughter card with dvi. is there any reason to use that? it has component in and out on the main card. the way i understand it you can carry an hd signal on component, by the way, the resolutions settings in my dialog box do not match the native resolution of my monitor. is there anywhere on the web where i can get info as to how set up custom resolution settings?

 

[Chris Bates]

My wife nearly fell out of her chair for laughing the first time she saw it.... Im glad to see that there are others out there with a sense of humor. It wasnt long ago another member got all huffy with me and said that it was offensive. Oh well....we cant all be interesting.

HD can and is sent through component but as I understand it DVI is a better connection. If your display doesnt have DVI you dont need the daughter card...

 

[dan dj]

My display has dvi,component,vga,coax and s video. I just wondered if it improved the display enough to spend the extra dough. Things like video card specs are over my head. I am beginning to pick some of it up. Like right now i have my setup box running to my tuner card to the monitor and the quality of the picture is really poor. i know there are adjustment that can be tweaked but i don't have my arms around the whole idea deal yet. thanks for your help and yur humor.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Be sure to buy your HDTV card before the FCC Broadcast Flag goes into effect on July 1. After that, you won't be able to buy an HDTV card that isn't crippled by DRM.

 

[Chris Bates]

Dan.... I poked around a little on the subject and from what I can see is that DVI provides no substantial gains in performance over component unless your talking about long runs. Personally I dont see a need for the added expense and would stick with the component inputs. At the very least you wont have to worry about switching. From what I can tell your not missing out on anything. As far as your resolution and refresh rates go, try Powerstrip

 

[dan dj]

thanks for the info...i will check out powerstrip

 

[dan dj]

well i tried powerstirp and created a custom resolution but all that occurred was it change my screen size ...........like it adjusted the aspect control but it did not clear up my display. i have diagonal lins rolling from the top down while i am watching tv. you really see them when the screen is dark but it really degrades the clarity. i am not sure if it is resolution or another problem. i have tried changing cables and that has not helped either. any idea?

 

[Chris Bates]

Hmm Thats wierd. Did you try adjusting your refresh rate? Surely somebody smarter than me can chime in and help out...

 

[JeremyErwin]

Unfortunately, some manufacturers have opted to conform to the broadcast flag standard prematurely--Samsung comes to mind. So it's not quite a matter of buying a currently available ATSC reciever/card.