CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[_in_peace_]

Hi!

I'm running a G70 with my PS3 into Moome 1.3.. (1080p) And it looks great!
fH 67kHz
fV 60Hz

Is there something to achieve in using a HTPC instead with this setup?

[LOTREE]

I guess if it looks great continue using it. Otherwise if you feel the picture is lacking something that you cannot control through the PS3 then a HTPC may help with more options of tweaking and/or customization with resolutions, gamma control, etc. I have no knowledge of the PS3 capabilities so I can't really comment further.

[ecrabb]

The big advantage of HTPC is active-area scanning for improved sharpness and even-multiple scan rates for reduced judder (smoother motion).

For film sources, you can run 48hz, which will reduce bandwidth, improve sharpness, and more importantly make for smoother pans and other full-frame motion.

Active area scanning is cropping scope to display only the center portion of the 16:9 image, reduce bandwidth, and increase sharpness.

Personally, I'm pretty happy with my 1080p/60 image from the PS3... HTPC isn't worth the expense and hassle to me at this point, but some people swear by it.

Maybe in a year or two when I can pick up a decent used machine for $200, throw a BD drive in, and play, I'll give it a whirl.

SC

[MikeEby]

Another advantage to an HTPC is with a media server is you can have access to your entire movie collection with a few clicks of the remote. I have about 250 blu-ray ripped movies all episodes of several HD TV shows residing on my server I can play any of them within seconds.



Mike

[_in_peace_]

Ok Thank's!
I have tried it out some and i think 720p 72hz was really nice to moome..
Further experiments to come

[Ben851]

[MikeEby]

[Sparky015]

Mike, what software are you using for your media server, or is this the media center software out of Windows? I have not seen Windows 7 yet. I managed to snag a nice rack from work for a $1, and I've been tossing the idea of building a server or two for picture and movie storage. It would be nice to get rid of the movies out of the room and have them available at a click of a button.

Paul

[MikeEby]

[akajester]

For the past year I've been using Media Portal and it's working great. Like anything that's great it's heavily customizable, so it is a time commitment to learn but it looks awesome! It auto grabs imdb info, fanart and more.

here's a couple of pics of the skin I use called streamedMP, or click here for all of them
http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/streamedmp-301/new-streamed-mp-v1-0-rc2-13-mar-2010-supports-mp-1-1-0-rc1-79351/







-akajester

[ecrabb]

[ecrabb]

[Sparky015]

I too don't have a proper HTPC yet, but I did take a spare laptop early last year and played with both XP Media Center and then Media Portal. I had issues with both. None would download the Eagle Eye imdb info. It could have been my crappy copy of XP Media Center, not sure. I'll have to try it again with a newer machine and Windows 7. I tell you what, my initial farting around wiht it didn't look anything like those screen shots. That looks phenominal, and exactly what I'd like to do with my movie collection! I don't care so much for any DVR features, or even the weather stuff, but just having a digital library of my movie collection and even a mode for displaying our digital photos would be great.

My sticking point is buying an Oppo BR player, or using that $500 to build a nice HTPC wiht a BR player built-in. I looked at the PS3 route, but DNLA doesn't seem to be enough. I want to have the same video and sound reproduction as if I played the disc on a stand-alone player.

[ecrabb]

[Sparky015]

Your missing one thing, and that is the "shelf" that all of those movies are sitting on. I don't have a dedicated theatre with a special closet for the movies. My "theatre" shares space with the family room. Therefore I don't have a dedicated spot in my theatre/family room for a huge shelf for over 300+ movies. By digitizing, I can box all of them up and store them away. Rack mount the components in the basement, now all you see is a screen and PJ in the room.

I also do like to watch movies over and over. I enjoy watching movies a whole lot more than TV. I watch the same one maybe 2-3 times a year. My main motivation is just getting some space back, not laziness of having to load a disc. I don't mind that at all.

Now you ask, why buy the movie? The answer is, I pick them up used for hte same price a a rental from my local Blockbuster store. Why pay to see it once, when you can pay the same amount and own it? Even my critical wife who thought I was crazy that I watch the same movie more than once finds her self watching her favorites over and over again.

[ecrabb]

OK, storage space... I suppose that makes sense.

Of course, you could still store all the keep cases and just put the discs themselves alphabetized into a couple of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Targus-CityGear-Capacity-TDP018US-Contrasting/dp/B000I3XIEO

$60. Boom. Done in 1/50th the time (no ripping). Obviously, no cool factor whatsoever, and not as fast as a remote control, but it's a whole lot cheaper!

I get buying vs. renting - I used to buy a lot, too... But, where are you buying used BD's for the same price as renting? I can rent for under $5/ea. (a lot less if we're talking Blockbuster or Netflix), and anything remotely not back catalog is going to be 2-3 times the price to buy.

SC

[Sparky015]

Very good point, and to be honest, this is probably what I will be doing for a while. I have a nice little bookshelf for all the movies, but it's full now, and by ditching the entertainment center and old-school CRT TV and converting to a screen and PJ, it just takes up to much valuable space. Ditching the cases and doing something like this is probably my plan of attack, short term. I am definitely not a rich man! Heck, I wasn't even planning on rack mounting my components, but I scored a rack from an employee auction at work for a $1.
I have to admit, I just started buying BDs back in November, and I've been pretty selective. I never pay full price. My wife and I have an agreement, as long as the movie is under $10, I'm good. At first I thought I was getting screwed, but just a little effort, and I am seeing deals. For example, I got I Am Legend for $9.99 at Target. I got a few others from my grocery store for $9.99 as well. Blockbuster, their BDs are still on the scarce side for buying, but it's getting better. I ususally wait to score them when they offload their excess discs. They always have 3 for $25 deals or 2 for $20. So far I've only been burned twice with buying what I thought was a good movie, only to find it's total crap. Not a bad record.

[kal]

Saving storage space make sense, but what a lot of people really seem point to as the reason for ripping everything to terrabyte arrays is to "save time". Like what MikeEby said:

[kal]

Saving storage space make sense, but what a lot of people really seem point to as the reason for ripping everything to terrabyte arrays is to "save time". Like what MikeEby said:

[Sparky015]

Ok, here is a question. Is there anyone out there that has racked their components outside of their viewing space and still loads the movie manually? If I rack mounted the gear, the rack would most likely go below my family room in the basement. Again, for 1-2 times a week I would watch a movie, walking down the basement to shove in a disc is not a big deal to me. Especially if the cost of a server and HTPC is way up there. Yes, there is the ripping time (I had to do it with iTunes when I first got my iPod too). Just curious what the masses are doing.

In Kal's post, I definitely fit in category 1 iwith a hint of 2. I like the simplicity of a standalone player, because with it comes the warm and fuzzy that it will play with no hiccups. Nothing is worse than seeing artifacts, or a skippy movie due to a bug wiht Windows or something.

[MikeEby]