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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| lharris3571 wrote: | | Getting rid of the PC would be nice. They aren't very stable and everytime there's a problem there isn't anything I can do about it (ie. the situation I have now) This is the first research I've done on my own to see what options I have for getting the theatre back up and running myself and make it more user friendly for me. I don't mind the computer if that was the only option but it seems that everytime I go to fire up the theatre something isn't working. You're right about the pain in the ass syndrome. |
Like I said, I have a love/hate relationship with computers in the theater. I really like all the things they can do, and they're a tweaker's dream come true. The problem is, I only have the opportunity to watch one - maybe two movies per week. The LAST thing I want to do is spend a bunch of time screwing around with a computer, when all I really want to do is relax, watch a move, and escape. That's what the theater is to my wife and me - our escape from the real world. We used to ride a Harley, and now it's watching movies in the theater when the kids are asleep.
| lharris3571 wrote: | | I really haven't worked up a budget since I'm just now finding what my options are. That's my next project: pricing BluRay players and see what's available to do what I want done. I'm assuming that I'll have to have the HD Fury thingy too. |
Guys here can help with that, too. I'm not up on all the best models and pricing, but some here definitely are. I know a couple of the LG players are well-liked. Some of us also use PS3's as BD players, though they don't have the price advantage they once had, and they don't have a standard IR remote.
We can also help if you want to upgrade your satellite setup if you want. Are you using DirecTV or DISH? Both now have pretty nice HD offerings. Even sub-par over-compressed satellite looks a far bit better than SD DVD. Discovery HD Theater would amaze you if you saw it on your 1272. My wife became the HD snob she is watching for almost a year on our old 1271q. Yes, I turned even my WIFE into an HD snob. We were watching Kite Runner (not available on BD) a couple of weeks ago, and she leaned over at one point during the move and said, "Gee, honey - this would look incredible in HD, wouldn't it?" I was so surprised, I paused the movie so I could ask if she was serious. I was sure she was just yanking my chain. She wasn't. 
| lharris3571 wrote: | I really appreciate you all taking your time to give me advice. I'll take some pictures of our theatre and post them. I think it's pretty cool.
Laurie |
Yes, please do post pics! We love seeing other people's rooms and setups.
SC
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lharris3571
Joined: 26 Jan 2009
Posts: 13
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga
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| Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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I do love the HD programming available on satellite. I have DirecTV. For some reason my husband thinks that the projector doesn't do 1080i resolution but what I'm understanding from you all is that it does. I don't watch that much TV in the theatre just the odd sporting event once or twice a year. I'm anxious to get it back up and running. When I get home this afternoon I'll take a coupla pictures and post them. And when I decide what I want to do I'll let you all know so that I make sure I'm getting the right thing.
Laurie
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lharris3571
Joined: 26 Jan 2009
Posts: 13
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:07 am Post subject: |
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I put some pictures of the theatre up. Tell me what you think!!
Laurie
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papalek
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 1536
Location: Longs SC
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:13 am Post subject: |
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That is a really nice setup to be just letting go to waste. It has all the goodies,consesions,beer and nice decor. 
_________________
My current list of PJ's AmPro 1 1/2-4600,4200, 1/2-3600,2600.
I do love my AmPro's
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Blorton
Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 105
Location: Hotlanta, GA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:16 am Post subject: |
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Hi Guys!
This would be the deadbeat husband answering some of those questions and thanking you all for the input. 
The main issue here is that the pc we were previously using was an old desktop converted for this use. At the time, I "went down the rabbit hole" with it and put a lot into things like using PowerStrip for custom resolutions, reading up on doing the lens flapping mod, etc. Ultimately, the system was mostly reliable no thanks to the pc never having been very stable to begin with and we enjoyed a fair number of viewings on it.
As Laurie said, we used Dscalar with a WinTV card for regular tv sampling(S-VHS from Dish was our best option at the time) with TheatreTek for DVD's. The pc has a specially picked ATI card from that time with an eye towards IQ and we're running a VGA-5BNC cable on it. My goal was to get one of the custom modified cards for straight BNC-BNC runs, since we have about a 15' run, but the cost was too much to justify at the time.
Where I stopped progressing on the system was when it came time to do the Girder integration - as ecrabb very much nailed it, the PITA factor got to be too much. The motherboard on the pc had chipset issues and if I added a network card, it would go crazy. (This was an old Pentium 3 machine with AGP and PCI.) I got tired of it at that point and it's just been in "play when it boots up" mode ever since.
So nowadays we have a much more current and stable machine to build up with and I'm just getting back up to speed on what the right software bits are to use these days. (A friend turned me on to MythTV and I'm hoping to include that somewhere in the mix.)
Anyways - thanks again everyone for the advice and pointers. The motivation is greatly appreciated. Now if I could just unplug those godawful fans in the 1272. 
Dan
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ralpharch
Joined: 02 Nov 2007
Posts: 211
Location: Derwood
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:53 am Post subject: |
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I'd recommend staying away from the computer/scaler approach
Like others have mentioned why not try a ps3/streamer approach? I assume you have ethernet in the room so you can get hd shows with something cheap ota like an HDHomerun network hd tuner (don't know how to get the HD out of DirectTV without renting a dedicated STB). I use a Moome box but I suppose the HDFury would work and be a little less $.
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Spanky Ham
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 5643
Location: Comedy Central
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| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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If you would have posted last week, then I could have came by and given you a hand. Fortunately, I will be in Miami till March. Chuchuf and Wanman are close by though.
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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: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| ralpharch wrote: | I'd recommend staying away from the computer/scaler approach
Like others have mentioned why not try a ps3/streamer approach? I assume you have ethernet in the room so you can get hd shows with something cheap ota like an HDHomerun network hd tuner (don't know how to get the HD out of DirectTV without renting a dedicated STB). I use a Moome box but I suppose the HDFury would work and be a little less $. |
You could go with an HDFury1 with power supply and RGBHV cable, a powered switch box, PS3 and a streaming media box. That would work great at 1080i.
_________________
Tech support for nothing
CRT.
HD done right!
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Blorton
Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 105
Location: Hotlanta, GA
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:13 am Post subject: |
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Thank you all for the continued advice.
I just ordered the hdfury1 since we can drive that now with the directtv box and enjoy the projector hassle free. (I'll go diy for the power supply.)
We'll start shopping for a blu-ray player.
Thanks again!
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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: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:33 am Post subject: |
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| Blorton wrote: | Thank you all for the continued advice.
I just ordered the hdfury1 since we can drive that now with the directtv box and enjoy the projector hassle free. (I'll go diy for the power supply.)
We'll start shopping for a blu-ray player.
Thanks again! |
Then you've seen the link to the DIY power?
https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=11413.html
_________________
Tech support for nothing
CRT.
HD done right!
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Mr. Green
Joined: 23 Feb 2007
Posts: 1394
Location: Calgary
TV/Projector: Marquee 9501LC / NEC 9PG+
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:40 am Post subject: |
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Welcome Laurie and Dan!
That is a really cool theatre! I love the old intermission "let's all go to the lobby and get ourselves a treat" stickers. If I ever get a basement big enough to do a theatre, I'd like it to look similar. I'll have to keep my eyes open for old theatre seats, what a cool feature.
I have the HDFury1 with a PS3 (also the box 1040). If you are going to spend $200-300 for a good blu-ray player, I vote for spending the $430 on a PS3 + remote. It upconverts standard DVD beautifully, can surf the net with it, you can use a USB drive and run music, photos, etc with it, firmware is easy to update, download movie trailers and game demos... It's worth the extra $100. Not that I'm trying to spend your money, but if you liked all the things you could do with your PC, then it's better than a regular Blu-ray player. Just my two cents.
_________________
You can be young only once but, you can be immature forever.
Current Projector Marquee9501LC with PS3 (BLu-Ray) at 1080P LOVE IT! Screen is an Elunevision 120" 4:3 (2.4 gain - no hotspots). (also own a NEC 9PG+)
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Blorton
Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 105
Location: Hotlanta, GA
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:06 am Post subject: |
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Indeed! It's bookmarked. We've got tons of wall warts rattling around and I'm sure I'll find one suitable with the required polarity change, of course.
----
Thanks for the PS3 suggestion - I know those are awesome, but I've always balked at their price. I'm leaning towards a standard player at this point - but we'll see what Laurie has to say. (She's a big Guitar Hero junkie on our ps2 and xbox360.)
We've had great fun with Rock Band in the theater, but I always worry about burning the screen. Is there an inline jiggler one can use to prevent that?
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drice1234
Joined: 07 Oct 2006
Posts: 1309
Location: Allen, Texas
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:44 am Post subject: |
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My son puts quite a few hours on the PJ playing games between the PS3 and Wii and I have had not problems with burn in
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ralpharch
Joined: 02 Nov 2007
Posts: 211
Location: Derwood
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Blorton wrote: |
Indeed! It's bookmarked. We've got tons of wall warts rattling around and I'm sure I'll find one suitable with the required polarity change, of course.
----
Thanks for the PS3 suggestion - I know those are awesome, but I've always balked at their price. I'm leaning towards a standard player at this point - but we'll see what Laurie has to say. (She's a big Guitar Hero junkie on our ps2 and xbox360.)
We've had great fun with Rock Band in the theater, but I always worry about burning the screen. Is there an inline jiggler one can use to prevent that? |
Another pitch for the PS3. If you (r wife) like (s) singing try out the SingStar Abba after watching Mama Mia (quite the blast for the older generation of wives)!
Seriously it has the extra significant advantage of being a network streamer; so when you part with the Satellite service you will still have HD from OTA available by streaming from a network tuner. Or download HD movies to view using the PS3.
Or what are you going to use for that internet connection now that you got the HTPC out of the theater room? (The ps3 with a USB keyboard fits that niche).
and you can use it to view your photo collection on the big screen.
A whole lot more than a simple blue-ray player
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Blorton
Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 105
Location: Hotlanta, GA
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| Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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You guys are a bad, bad influence.
Fry's had a nice sale on a PS3 combo this weekend along with some good deals on Blu-Ray movies so I picked one up last night. We've only watched it on the living room 37" LCD, but it looks great! We did have a nervous moment several minutes into Top Gun on Blu-Ray when the TV started flashing "not supported" and blanking out. I swapped the hdmi cable and that cleared it up. The upscaling for regular dvd's is not terrible.
So now we're just waiting for the HDFury to come in, do a reconverge and then it's TIME FOR POPCORN! Woohoo!
Thanks everyone!
Dan
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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Glad we could help spend your money!!!
SWEET! You'll LOVE Blu-ray in your HT.
One warning on the PS3... Not sure what you have for a remote setup in your HT, but if you're using some sort of programmable IR remote, you'll need an IR dongle to run the PS3, and you won't be able to power it on with the IR remote unless you spend >$100. It's the one thing that sucks about the PS3 for HT duty (IMHO). Of course, you can always do the "two different remotes" thing.
Oh - you also can setup the PS3 to "play on disc insert"... Which, means when you stick a disc in the slot of the PS3, it will turn on and launch the disc - all without a button press.
Then, there's the streaming, the games... Have fun!
SC
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drice1234
Joined: 07 Oct 2006
Posts: 1309
Location: Allen, Texas
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| Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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I use a software package called PlayOn that allows you to stream numerous things through your PS3 including NetFlix. You can download a trial and it's only 30 bucks to buy it.
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perisoft
Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2920
Location: Ithaca, NY
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| Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | My husband started putting a new computer together but lost interest in it... |
Divorce him. He's not actually a man.
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lharris3571
Joined: 26 Jan 2009
Posts: 13
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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The HD Fury came in today and the PS3 is just waiting to be connected. I'm looking forward to getting the theatre back up and running. The neighborhood Bunco gals are coming over next month for movie night so Dan now has to get it working before then. Thanks so much for the great information and help. I'm glad I found this forum and will be checking in often to see what the ya'll are chatting about. Thanks again!!
Laurie
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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: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:36 am Post subject: |
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If you have any problmes with the HDFury don't hesitate to ask. That's what we're here for.
_________________
Tech support for nothing
CRT.
HD done right!
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