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AFryia
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 965
Location: S.E. Michigan VPH-G70Q
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| Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject: What Kind of BLueRay Drive |
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Should I get a stand alone BR player or a BR drive for My HTPC?
Pro's and Con's ? 
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rod
Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 418
Location: Northern Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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There are a lot of posts in this forum about getting a PS3 as a player, even if you are not a gamer. I went PS3 did not regret it. I am not a big gamer but PS3 does a hell of lot more as a overall media player compared to a stand alone BD player.
Personally I don't like HTPCs. You are always fiddling with it. I orginally used one but ended up converting to a simpler life. Some however do like their HTPCs if you are so inclined.
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Rod
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betel
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 448
Location: Maryville, Tennessee (Just South of Knoxville)
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| Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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AFryia, how about posting some pictures of your G70. I'd like to check out the paint job.
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AFryia
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 965
Location: S.E. Michigan VPH-G70Q
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:47 am Post subject: |
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If you don't own a scaler, then it depends how important custom timings and playback at a multiple of 24fps are to you.
I like my PC.
But it is an enormous amount of work. Getting a PC to play back SMOOTHLY for Bluray is not trivial.
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Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 2567
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:05 am Post subject: |
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I use a PC right now but wish I had standalone players and a scaler (in addition to my HTPC). The PC is lots of work to make go, but gets used for more than movies so I can't really see not having it.
I use a LG combo drive.
How fast is your HTPC?
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AFryia
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 965
Location: S.E. Michigan VPH-G70Q
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:42 am Post subject: |
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| Zebu Fellenz wrote: | | How fast is your HTPC? |
It's a P4 3Ghz 800Mhz FSB running 1GB memory.
Do you really need a scaler for a standalone Blue Ray player?
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AnalogRocks
Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26706
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:45 am Post subject: |
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| AFryia wrote: | | Zebu Fellenz wrote: | | How fast is your HTPC? |
It's a P4 3Ghz 800Mhz FSB running 1GB memory.
Do you really need a scaler for a standalone Blue Ray player? |
That depends on the player. SOme of them only output 1080P/24 not 1080P/60 so in that case you would. However if you get one that does do 1080P/60 and judder doesn't particularly bother you then you probably don't need that scaler
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CRT.
HD done right!
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Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 2567
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:15 am Post subject: |
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| AFryia wrote: | | Zebu Fellenz wrote: | | How fast is your HTPC? |
It's a P4 3Ghz 800Mhz FSB running 1GB memory.
Do you really need a scaler for a standalone Blue Ray player? |
I wouldn't be confident that Blu-ray would work on that PC, do you have H/W accelation on your video card?
Most of us are using at least a 2.4ghz dual core system with 2+ gigs of ram and a video card with H/W acceleration
I'm not sure if you need a scaler, if it outputs 1080p60 and doesn't have timing issues I would run it straight into the G70) do you have a digital input?
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AnalogRocks
Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26706
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:02 am Post subject: |
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Someone told me ( Kai maybe sorry can't recall ) that you can add an ATi card to an older AMD 3200 AGP system and do highdef so the video card can make all the difference. I have a dual core 4400+ ATi 3450 512meg and the HDDVD/Bluray combo drive. It works analog VGA or digital DVI or component quite well. It's nice being able to select 1080i/72 or 1080i/96 or 1080P/48 with powerstrip.
Never tested those resolutions with the component output yet though. ( Hmmm new test 2007 Moome card and HTPC component at 1080i/72 ?  )
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HD done right!
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gcom007
Joined: 26 Aug 2007
Posts: 112
Location: Beverly Hills, Michigan
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 6:55 am Post subject: |
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I've gotten to like my HTPC so much for DVD, DVR, HDTV and whatnot that I'm thinking about adding a Blu-Ray drive. I've got H/W acceleration to handle it on my video card and I'm actually planning on upgrading my card anyways to something better. On top of that, I've got an intel Core2Quad at 2.4ghz and 3 gigs of ram. If I upgrade to 64-bit os I'll dump more ram in it too. So I'm not real worried about performance. But, I do need a new power supply first...
And while I'm happy with the convenience and general quality of my HTPC, I'm not convinced I'm getting the most out of it as I've done very little to really set it up. The whole systems still just tentatively set up so I haven't wanted to invest a ton of time to get it "perfect" yet. But even so, it's still outstanding right now.
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-Elliot
Barco 1208s/e
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:33 am Post subject: |
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Ok, why would anyone set a HTPC to output component to a CRT projector?
Oh, and Elliot, your PC will laugh at Bluray. I have a Q6600 Quad Core and I overclocked it to 3.0ghz (so far..MWHAHAHA) and it just screams. Full software decode of Bluray is about 25% CPU load.
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gcom007
Joined: 26 Aug 2007
Posts: 112
Location: Beverly Hills, Michigan
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: | Ok, why would anyone set a HTPC to output component to a CRT projector?
Oh, and Elliot, your PC will laugh at Bluray. I have a Q6600 Quad Core and I overclocked it to 3.0ghz (so far..MWHAHAHA) and it just screams. Full software decode of Bluray is about 25% CPU load. |
Yeah, I'm definitely not worried. The thing can put out. I originally stacked it to run Pro Tools (audio recording software) better but I'm doing a lot less home recording lately and a lot more home theater so it's nice to have a machine that can pull double-duty with no concerns.
If anyone could recommend a good BD drive to buy though as well as anything random to consider, I'd appreciate it. I've got HDMI out of the computer but I'm not sure how that would relate to HDMI out with the Blu Ray. I'm really not that well informed on all of the new Blu Ray computer setups so I'm not sure if I need something special to output straight 1080P or bitstream HD audio or if that's even possible.
But also, if I get a BD drive for the computer, do I really need my Sony BDP-S1 that I haven't even turned on in 2 weeks? I find the unit to be too cumbersome and I don't have a gamma boost yet so it just looks really dark. Maybe I should just sell it to cut some costs and then buy a new standalone player in the next year or so.
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-Elliot
Barco 1208s/e
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AnalogRocks
Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26706
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: | Ok, why would anyone set a HTPC to output component to a CRT projector?
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Because I can. It's all for fun. Who elese in the world will have had an Ampro 4000G running at 1080i/72 via component? It makes me unique and it's something to try.
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Tech support for nothing
CRT.
HD done right!
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AFryia
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 965
Location: S.E. Michigan VPH-G70Q
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:14 am Post subject: |
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| Zebu Fellenz wrote: | | AFryia wrote: | | Zebu Fellenz wrote: | | How fast is your HTPC? |
It's a P4 3Ghz 800Mhz FSB running 1GB memory.
Do you really need a scaler for a standalone Blue Ray player? |
I wouldn't be confident that Blu-ray would work on that PC, do you have H/W accelation on your video card?
Most of us are using at least a 2.4ghz dual core system with 2+ gigs of ram and a video card with H/W acceleration
I'm not sure if you need a scaler, if it outputs 1080p60 and doesn't have timing issues I would run it straight into the G70) do you have a digital input? |
I have hardware acceleration on the card (old Radeon 9800Pro 256MB). Output is DVI direct to the PJ.
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Bucketfoot
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 698
Location: Centennial, CO
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:30 am Post subject: |
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Has anyone used a BR drive to convert to SD and burn a DVD?
I know it sounds strange, but I've had a few instances lately where the kids wanted a movie and I bought the DVD instead of the BR so that they could watch it on other TVs.
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AnalogRocks
Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26706
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| Bucketfoot wrote: | Has anyone used a BR drive to convert to SD and burn a DVD?
I know it sounds strange, but I've had a few instances lately where the kids wanted a movie and I bought the DVD instead of the BR so that they could watch it on other TVs. |
Wonder how long the re-encoding would take?
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Tech support for nothing
CRT.
HD done right!
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gcom007
Joined: 26 Aug 2007
Posts: 112
Location: Beverly Hills, Michigan
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:36 am Post subject: |
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I want to rip the Back to the Future Trilogy DVD's and then edit them together so it's basically a six hour long time-travel epic and then burn that onto a BDR. Oh how joyful I will be on the day I finally venture into such an absurd realm...
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-Elliot
Barco 1208s/e
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Bucketfoot
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 698
Location: Centennial, CO
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:43 am Post subject: |
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| gcom007 wrote: | | I want to rip the Back to the Future Trilogy DVD's and then edit them together so it's basically a six hour long time-travel epic and then burn that onto a BDR. Oh how joyful I will be on the day I finally venture into such an absurd realm... |
For me it would be the extended editions of Lord of the Rings 
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:27 am Post subject: |
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| Bucketfoot wrote: | | gcom007 wrote: | | I want to rip the Back to the Future Trilogy DVD's and then edit them together so it's basically a six hour long time-travel epic and then burn that onto a BDR. Oh how joyful I will be on the day I finally venture into such an absurd realm... |
For me it would be the extended editions of Lord of the Rings |
When the LOTR EE's come out on Bluray, I will convert them to MKV files and queue them in Zoomplayer.
Like I have the Matrix Trilogy and Harry Potters already, from HD-DVD.
It's much more convienient than messing with the discs.
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