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HTPC considerations for an NEC XG1351LC
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WanMan




Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273



PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:56 pm    Post subject: HTPC considerations for an NEC XG1351LC Reply with quote


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Ok, so I am told I will not be able to get 1080P out of this projector, or at least not worth a damn. Understood. In trying to get the best performance out of the projector and noting the source will probably be strictly Blu-ray, I am considering an HTPC (again) over a standalone player and scaler.

With the current hardware that is presently available, I am curious to know the preferred manufacturers for the various components. I have a long standing history behind Intel, but that doesn't mean I am literally married to them.

Also, looking for the complete solution. If this means walking the plank and ripping (somehow) Blu-ray and playing the rips from hard drive, I can accommodate that. Heaven knows I am a disk freak when it comes to storage capacity.

    Motherboard and CUP combination
    Amount of suggested memory (may be OS dependent)
    Operating System
    Video Card(s)
    Audio handling (including external pre/pro)
    Case, power supply.
    Etc., etc., etc.


I am going to take a long shot here and presume from this discussion that running 1080 in interlaced form and at a high refresh rate will most likely solve my ability to see flicker. And discussions outside of this for the sake of pure progressive approaches is also appreciated.

TGIF!

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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wan,
What do you have any audio gear?...It makes a big difference as to how you would configure the HTPC.

Mike

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akajester




Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Motherboard and CUP combination - gigabyte motherboard + amd quad core cpu

Amount of suggested memory (may be OS dependent) - 4gb dual channel

Operating System - windows 7

Video Card(s) - radeon 4000 series. If you get the higher models they come with 7.1 audio out hdmi and are hdcp compliant. This will spare you some $ and should work well with powerdvd and your AVR.

Audio handling (including external pre/pro) - start with 8 channel analog outs, onboard. Add card later if insufficient quality

Case, power supply. - I don't like expensive cases and newegg usually has a decent antec around $60 with free shipping. Power supply should be 500watt or higher.

Etc., etc., etc. - buy a bluray sata drive that comes with powerdvd (retail bundle). Also purchase anydvdhd. Playing BD's from the bluray drive should work pretty well. ripping them to hard drive is pretty easy with imgburn. then you can mount the iso and play it that way. otherwise, I use makemkv to rip it to mkv file, then play them in media portal. I'm not concerned about special features, although I keep a backup of the iso for every movie just in case.

+Lots of 1.5tb drives!

If you want specifics let me know. Just trying to be helpful.
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really have a hard time recommending an HTPC if you plan to use PowerDVD 9. It's never played a movie glitch free for me. I paid $79 for that pile of crap, 7.3, bundled is limited to 2 channel I think. PDVD 7.3 retail was ok but it won't install on Windows 7, or at least it would not with RC.

Mike

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betel




Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 448
Location: Maryville, Tennessee (Just South of Knoxville)


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 2:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike

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greg_mitch




Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5321



PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEby wrote:
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike


Clarify what you mean by "work"...my xg110 will sync up and display fairly well 1080p from PS3 and my new Samsung 3600.

I like 1080i better but it will "work" if you wanted to use it.
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike


Clarify what you mean by "work"...my xg110 will sync up and display fairly well 1080p from PS3 and my new Samsung 3600.

I like 1080i better but it will "work" if you wanted to use it.


Most people have bad foldover with standard timings....Im surprised you say it even worked...What are you using for a converter...Fury or Moome?

Mike

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WanMan




Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273



PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEby wrote:
Wan,
What do you have any audio gear?...It makes a big difference as to how you would configure the HTPC.Mike
Paradigm Studio Series 100's, ADP's, CC. Outdated Pioneer Elite VSX-45TX that needs to be replaced.
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.
I can only go by what others are telling me.
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do you want to connect your HTPC to your AVR with an analog link (6 or 8 RCA jacks) or HDMI?...If HDMI then I you need a Moome or HDFury. I don't think a digital link will work without a display device present.

Your outside my area with the digital link, I run my audio via analog out of the HTPC. The reason I went this way was because I already had a Pro/Processor with analog in, no HDMI. If I didn't have an AVR or Pre/Processor I might have went another direction.

Mike

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akajester




Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEby wrote:
I really have a hard time recommending an HTPC if you plan to use PowerDVD 9. It's never played a movie glitch free for me. I paid $79 for that pile of crap, 7.3, bundled is limited to 2 channel I think. PDVD 7.3 retail was ok but it won't install on Windows 7, or at least it would not with RC.

Mike


I've had good luck with pdvd 8 with the free updates. Plays great in win7 RTM and supported all the necessary channels.
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

akajester wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
I really have a hard time recommending an HTPC if you plan to use PowerDVD 9. It's never played a movie glitch free for me. I paid $79 for that pile of crap, 7.3, bundled is limited to 2 channel I think. PDVD 7.3 retail was ok but it won't install on Windows 7, or at least it would not with RC.

Mike


I've had good luck with pdvd 8 with the free updates. Plays great in win7 RTM and supported all the necessary channels.


The problem with 8 is it downsamples, how are you connected? Analog or SPDIF?...I'm not sure if Wan cares that much about audio anyway.

I know I'm making this complicated...I'll bow out if you would like, there are just so many options.

Mike

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akajester




Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 2:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEby wrote:
akajester wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
I really have a hard time recommending an HTPC if you plan to use PowerDVD 9. It's never played a movie glitch free for me. I paid $79 for that pile of crap, 7.3, bundled is limited to 2 channel I think. PDVD 7.3 retail was ok but it won't install on Windows 7, or at least it would not with RC.

Mike


I've had good luck with pdvd 8 with the free updates. Plays great in win7 RTM and supported all the necessary channels.


The problem with 8 is it downsamples, how are you connected? Analog or SPDIF?...I'm not sure if Wan cares that much about audio anyway.

I know I'm making this complicated...I'll bow out if you would like, there are just so many options.

Mike


I used pdvd8 with spdif, but since have switched to analog. haven't tried it yet. I really prefer ripping the bd's to mkv anyways.

Thanks again for pointing me towards analog audio. I spent a few days doing research on the different compressions, codecs, etc. Analog is the way to go until I convert to hdmi, hopefully years down the road.
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

akajester wrote:

I used pdvd8 with spdif, but since have switched to analog. haven't tried it yet. I really prefer ripping the bd's to mkv anyways.

Thanks again for pointing me towards analog audio. I spent a few days doing research on the different compressions, codecs, etc. Analog is the way to go until I convert to hdmi, hopefully years down the road.


You will notice a big difference going analog...At least I did, are you re-encoding with FLAC for MKV's? If so then you will get lossless over analog...I agree 100% on MKV's...They rock!

Put AnyDVD on your shopping list.

Mike

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greg_mitch




Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5321



PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEby wrote:
greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike


Clarify what you mean by "work"...my xg110 will sync up and display fairly well 1080p from PS3 and my new Samsung 3600.

I like 1080i better but it will "work" if you wanted to use it.


Most people have bad foldover with standard timings....Im surprised you say it even worked...What are you using for a converter...Fury or Moome?

Mike


HDFury GE to Kimcoder.
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WanMan




Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273



PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike


Clarify what you mean by "work"...my xg110 will sync up and display fairly well 1080p from PS3 and my new Samsung 3600.

I like 1080i better but it will "work" if you wanted to use it.


Most people have bad foldover with standard timings....Im surprised you say it even worked...What are you using for a converter...Fury or Moome?

Mike


HDFury GE to Kimcoder.
I got lost in this translation.

BTW, I am not against upgrading the AVR. If I got HTPC then I can adopt custom timings. Aren't the new ATI 57xx cards now processing the newer forms of audio codecs across the HDMI interface?

# Integrated HDMI 1.3 output with Deep Color, xvYCC wide gamut support and high bit-rate audio

* Max resolution: 1920x120012
Integrated VGA output
* Max resolution: 2048x153612
3D stereoscopic display/glasses support13

# Integrated HD audio controller

* Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
* Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats

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greg_mitch




Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5321



PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

WanMan wrote:
greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike


Clarify what you mean by "work"...my xg110 will sync up and display fairly well 1080p from PS3 and my new Samsung 3600.

I like 1080i better but it will "work" if you wanted to use it.


Most people have bad foldover with standard timings....Im surprised you say it even worked...What are you using for a converter...Fury or Moome?

Mike


HDFury GE to Kimcoder.
I got lost in this translation.

BTW, I am not against upgrading the AVR. If I got HTPC then I can adopt custom timings. Aren't the new ATI 57xx cards now processing the newer forms of audio codecs across the HDMI interface?

# Integrated HDMI 1.3 output with Deep Color, xvYCC wide gamut support and high bit-rate audio

* Max resolution: 1920x120012
Integrated VGA output
* Max resolution: 2048x153612
3D stereoscopic display/glasses support13

# Integrated HD audio controller

* Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
* Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats


HD Fury Gamer Edition to Crescendo Systems Gamma Transcoder (Kimcoder)
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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

WanMan wrote:
greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
greg_mitch wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
betel wrote:
Are you sure 135LC is not good for 1080p? My G70 looked great at 1080p/60 and I understand they are very similar in performance.


They will work with custom sync timings...Just not with PS3 or stand alone player timings.

Mike


Clarify what you mean by "work"...my xg110 will sync up and display fairly well 1080p from PS3 and my new Samsung 3600.

I like 1080i better but it will "work" if you wanted to use it.


Most people have bad foldover with standard timings....Im surprised you say it even worked...What are you using for a converter...Fury or Moome?

Mike


HDFury GE to Kimcoder.
I got lost in this translation.

BTW, I am not against upgrading the AVR. If I got HTPC then I can adopt custom timings. Aren't the new ATI 57xx cards now processing the newer forms of audio codecs across the HDMI interface?

# Integrated HDMI 1.3 output with Deep Color, xvYCC wide gamut support and high bit-rate audio

* Max resolution: 1920x120012
Integrated VGA output
* Max resolution: 2048x153612
3D stereoscopic display/glasses support13

# Integrated HD audio controller

* Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
* Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats


Yep...The 57xx ATI card will bitstream with PowerDVD 9...Supposable, I just won’t recommend something I haven’t tried. The card and drivers are so new, I sure as hell would not stick my neck out and say buy it.

Anyway back on topic I put this HTPC together a few weeks ago. I used this case, it has 500 Watt Power supply and is extremely quiet. It is a little big, but it can hold 5 or 6 hard drives.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3986717&Sku=A107-1122

The motherboard I used is very modest priced and seems to work fine. The Built in Intel GMA X4500HD onboard graphics card works surprisingly well. It does have a PCI-X slot for adding your own card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186162

Sound Card, you have that covered with the ATI.

Ram 4 GB is plenty.

OS, I’m very conservative, I would stick with Windows 7 - 32 Bit, only because I also recommend using Reclock to get smooth pans. There is not a 64 bit version of Reclock available.

BD drive, about anything if you’re ripping get an 8X.

Hard Drive again if you’re ripping…The biggest you can get.

Mike

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AnalogRocks
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Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26690
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G


PostLink    Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MikeEby wrote:
akajester wrote:

I used pdvd8 with spdif, but since have switched to analog. haven't tried it yet. I really prefer ripping the bd's to mkv anyways.

Thanks again for pointing me towards analog audio. I spent a few days doing research on the different compressions, codecs, etc. Analog is the way to go until I convert to hdmi, hopefully years down the road.


You will notice a big difference going analog...At least I did, are you re-encoding with FLAC for MKV's? If so then you will get lossless over analog...I agree 100% on MKV's...They rock!

Put AnyDVD on your shopping list.

Mike


Mike, do you know of a player that will allow you to get 7.1 via analog without ripping to MKV?

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MikeEby




Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5238
Location: Osceola, Indiana


PostLink    Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

AnalogRocks wrote:
MikeEby wrote:
akajester wrote:

I used pdvd8 with spdif, but since have switched to analog. haven't tried it yet. I really prefer ripping the bd's to mkv anyways.

Thanks again for pointing me towards analog audio. I spent a few days doing research on the different compressions, codecs, etc. Analog is the way to go until I convert to hdmi, hopefully years down the road.


You will notice a big difference going analog...At least I did, are you re-encoding with FLAC for MKV's? If so then you will get lossless over analog...I agree 100% on MKV's...They rock!

Put AnyDVD on your shopping list.

Mike


Mike, do you know of a player that will allow you to get 7.1 via analog without ripping to MKV?


The only experience have is with PowerDVD, the retail version of 7.3 will output down sampled 7.1 channels out analog..It actually sounds very good. It won't install on Windows 7. Power DVD version 8 & 9 will output down sampled analog too, 9 is very unreliable on my system, lots of stutters and hiccups.

My problem with PDVD is that it's hit or miss on the disk playing correctly, 7.3 was NOT horrible, but could have been better... Often times you would need to wait weeks or months for patches to play a new released disk. The later patches broke HD-DVD playback, that was not the end of the world but it did work at one time.


Mike

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