CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Jonnycp]

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Hi all

Little while back i bought a very low hour xg, been really patient with setup etc and now am starting to see what all the fuss is about. This thing throws images that are both bright and with lots of detail but the wow factor is in the phenominal depth and filmic quality, i find it totally absorbing, anyway i digress

What is coming to light is that source files and hardware matter LOTS. I have been down several routes here and none are yet hitting the mark for both functionality and quality.

first up was a DVCO duo tv, streamer box. Average pic quality, clunky clunky interface, did not scale output so projector claking amonstst lots of convergence settings.

Next up, samsung bd-e85000 smart blue ray player. I set this to 720p, a fixed output, should be cool, problem is it will switch between 50hz and 60 hz depending on movie file playing or 50hz when using the tv tuner (im in UK!). This shouldnt be a problem as i can copy convergence between 720p60 and 720p50, however at 50hz projector will only display reduced with image , shifted to the left of my screen? I Dont understand this, any help? At 60hz i have full with and cenrtred!. Has to be said that the remote and interface is not brilliant also, too many button, no backlight etc. this matters in an AV setup for me. Image quality on blueray, with high datarate media and Vimeo is brilliant however, the image just pops out of the screen which is what im calling the money shot. Very nice

Recently, friend sold me on idea of a apple tv, gen 3 as airplay is now unlocked for ios devices. Now this should be a pleasure to use and work in numerous situations. I leave the atv switched on, it frame rate converts so i can fix output at 720p60, all i do is fire up an app, or plex on ipad, stream a movie and im away. Bluray is not covered obviously but functionality and real life useability is. I fire up some vimeo that im familiar with and...... Flat, really flat, the image is okay but it has lost lots of that magic. Damn, close but still far away. Maybe im asking too much?

Then yesterday i borrowed an oppo 95 player, guy said it was good and should try it. Oh boy, yes even more depth than the samsung! This depth thing is like a drug, really it matters. Of course it will not framerate convert and is not really a customisable media system. A tv tuner is not that important to me but i am looking for good user experience and media streaming, app installation ( netflix, vimeo etc), withh killer video quality. Any recommendations? I am reluctant to go down the scaler router, one for cost but two i have far too many remotes already. Maybe a mac mini running plex, can push framerate up to 72 or 96 even.

I see that there is a oppo 103 coming out soon that can upscale to 4k , or downscale and has a hdmi input for that purpose. Maybe i connect apple tv3 into it at 1080p60, let it downconvert to 720p, and if im lucky it outputs at a fixed 60hz and the image has some magic. Maybe its operating system is slicker than the 95, can only hope

Im buying this kit to try out, loosing 30$ a time when i sell but thats fine, its quite a minefield out there and im learning- true cinema is surely not that far round the corner, its all very interesting but will be nice to just dissapear into a film at some point rather than a setup menu!

Any thoughts?

Jon

[Jonnycp]

Anybody have suggestions on a good front end here. Surely some of you guys are after the same thing?

Recently tried raspberrry pi running xbmc, and managed to get 1080p and 1600x 1200 synced into the nec. great picture but this is real clunky and unstable, for complete geeks only it seems.

Is anybody else here frustrated with 50 button complex remote controls with no backlight. Other that an expensive scaler, i guess a mac mini is the answer or a small footprint windows pc and deal with the heat and fan issues.


Surely there are good solutions out there?. Any ideas i would appreciate it

Thanks

[ecrabb]

If you want killer image quality, it has to be Blu-ray (or BD rips). No streaming, whether Netflix, Vimeo, or practically anything else is going to give you that "wow" factor you're after. Even high-quality Vimeo HD streams are pretty poor quality compared to BD, and a streaming 720p source just isn't adequate for large-screen presentation. I've heard Vudu's 1080p HDX is pretty great, but I've never seen it myself.

Don't know what to tell you about this whole "front end" thing... I've never been overjoyed with any single option either, so I use BD for image quality, AppleTV/streaming for convenience for certain content, and DVR/satellite for certain content I can't get anywhere else (which is also far from BD quality).

I love the idea of some integrated front-end, but an HTPC or Oppo/Dune front-end/media server are currently the only two really good ways to do it. Both are either more expense and/or more effort than I'm currently willing to spend.

As for the sh*tty remote situation, I feel your pain. I hated all the traditional universal remote solutions, so I was trying to get an AMX system up and running, but realized I'd never have time. Then, along came iRule. I quickly realized it was my dream remote. Touchscreen, iOS and Android, inexpensive, totally customizable, controls IR, IP, RS-232, and contact closure, and super-cool to boot. I liked it so much in fact, I started working for the company.

Cheers,
SC