Htpc Software Needs (1 Viewer)

[Alex Dominguez]

I AM JUST STARTING TO BUILD MY HTPC STARTING WITH A DELL XPS GEN 4 RUNNING WINDOWS XP, 1GB RAM, PENTIUM4 3.6 GHZ, NVIDIA 7800 GTX FROM BFG, AND JUST WAITING FOR THE SOUND BLASTER X-FI TO COME OUT, I THINK I HAVE THE THE HARDWARE PART PRETTY MUCH COVERED, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE VIDEO CAPTURE CARD, I WOULD LIKE TO PASS VIDEO FROM MY XBOX, PS2 AND TV CABLE BOX THROUGH MY HTPC SO THAT IT CAN UPSCALE THE VIDEO TO MY PANASONIC AE700 PROJECTOR. IS THAT POSIBLE? ALSO, I HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT SOFTWARE SHOULD YOU USE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A GOOD HTPC. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP.

 

[Harris_C]

Are you using Windows MCE 2005? Or just Windows XP

 

[Jordan_Brulotte]

You may find that running a game console through the HTPC, and upscaling it, could cause some latency. IE: you push a button and the game "responds" on the screen a fraction of a second later.

However, check out htpcnews.com for a ton of HTPC advice, and here for info on upscaling and cleaning up video with a decent HTPC (which yours qualifies as!)

Also, you stated that you are waiting for the Creative X-fi to come out. I suggest checking out the HDA Digital X-Mystique
7.1 Gold. It is supposedly "the" HTPC sound card to get. Search for it and read what people are saying.

 

[Alex Dominguez]

NO HARRIS, JUST WINDOWS XP.

 

[Kevin T]

i second htpcnews and mind the caps, fella.

kevin t

 

[Max Leung]

Please fix your caps-lock key.

Like Jordan said, I would not pass video from your game consoles through your PC - it would add too much video delay and would ruin your game experience.

 

[Max Leung]

BTW, some software I recommend for newbies to HTPC:

1) Download the latest official NVIDIA drivers from www.nvidia.com - the 77.72 drivers should work well.

2) Download a trial version of the NVIDIA DVD Decoder from NVIDIA's website. After you install it, you have 30 days to evaluate it, and it should come with a small DVD playback program hidden in the installation directory which is actually very good! Unfortunately I have forgotten the filename you should look for.

3) Later, you can try another DVD playback program called ZoomPlayer ( http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/ ). It is harder to set up than most other players, but it is the most flexible and can play virtually anything - provided you have the video and audio codecs installed (for example, XVID codecs, DIVX codecs, etc.).

4) If you want to spend a little more money, you can try the TheaterTek DVD player ( www.theatertek.com ). However, it costs more than $40 US, and you will probably need to uninstall the NVIDIA trial decoders first before using it. The DVD playback quality is extremely good - probably the best you can achieve with minimal effort.

5) Powerstrip ( http://www.entechtaiwan.net/util/ps.shtm ) is another very good program for tweaking your videocard's output - it is much easier to use than NVIDIA's own video tweak panel. I use this to output exactly 60.00 hz to my projector - my projector has a limitation where it will only accept 60.00 hz over the DVI connection - if I use anything else the image will stutter and tear! It cannot accept the NTSC standard refresh rate of 59.94 hz.

Also, be aware that NVIDIA driver's do not output 59.94 hz or 60.00 hz by default, even when you tell it to - usually it is 59.814 hz or 60.1 hz, which is why I use Powerstrip.