magnuscarnage

I've been using my computer to play music through my receiver and now I want to realize a dream to get the computer more integrated to my home entertainment system. Specfically, I would like to use the pc to play dvds (of all regions) as well as serve as the tv and radio tuner etc. To play DVDs through a computer to receiver and get 5.1 etc...is all I need is optical output from the pc to the receiver (as well as a dvd drive?) Or is this idea just not worth it.

Let me know!

X

Many people here use their PC to play DVDs, connecting to their receiver and display device.

To pass the audio all you need is an optical output to the receiver along with a software player that handles digital (such as WinDVD, PowerDVD, etc.).

[email protected]

I just bought a Toshiba Qosmio laptop that functions as a multimedia center - s-video and component video outputs, Dolby AC3 digital audio output, and a tv tuner and Tivo-like recorder built into it. (Plus 100G hard drive and 8x dual-layer DVD-recorder... this has got everything I need!)

eedoon

I too watch my DVD on my PC. Although I didn't connect my pc to any display system other than my monitor, it looks a lot better than most system save from the very best one.

On the audio department, you can connect your PC to receiver via optical/coaxial cable depend on what your preferences. My PC has both.

kvrdave

My computer is the center of my Home Theater system. Even though I have the Media Center OS, I don't really use it. I have Tivo so I really haven't needed it much. But it does the music, it plays the movies, and the ability to customize is far greater than anything I had before. I have a Soundblaster Audigy2 card, so the 5.1 is no problem, and figure that upgrading that to 7.1 etc. in the future would be pretty easy as well. Once the blu-ray/HD-DVD issue is resolved, I can just add a drive to the computer and I am good to go. My tv cable connects to my video card, and I am set.

Brian Shannon

More than likely you will be upgrading the entire computer before that happens.

kvrdave

Possibly, but mine is pretty good, especially for what I do with it. But I suppose that if it takes years, and years, then you would definately be correct. Though I do tend to upgrade when a new OS comes out.

bryce0lynch

There's a pretty good chance you will need to upgrade your CPU, motherboard, videocard, and display device to ensure that the entire path is DRM aware. If you don't then you wno't be allowed to play the disc.

SuX.

On another note ... I always see the optical cables mentionedin the context of 5.1. Do these pass mono & stereo content also, or do you need a seperate connection?

eedoon

They pass mono & stereo content. So far my optical connection can pass Dolby format of any kind, DTS, PCM and MPEG-2 format on DVD, as well as games and MP3. At least that's what my venerable SB Live! Platinum does.

Of course, you won't get four point audio when you're playing game with that but I reckon you don't play game that much.

sracer

I guess I march to the beat of my own drummer. My Pioneer DV-578 DVD Player is the center of my home theatre. It plays mp3s, wmas, displays JPEGs and if there are mp3 and jpegs on the same disc it will play the music in the background while displaying jpegs in a slideshow fashion, as well as playing DVDs, VCDs, SVCDs, etc.

For audio, I'll be upgrading my current system to one of Logitech's THX-certified 5.1 PC speaker systems.

TV. Nothing I've seen beats the quality of the picture of my Toshiba 34" HDTV widescreen direct-view monitor.

Computers are too big, too cumbersome, too expensive, and too noisy to use in my home entertainment system. For the price of a mid-range notebook PC or high-end WMC PC, I'd rather have my current setup.

But as I mentioned earlier... I weird like that.

X

Perhaps in yours, but not one of those adjectives is necessarily correct. You can have an easy-to-use, cheap, quiet PC in a home entertainment system.

Mine sits right in my stereo rack behind a glass door, can't be heard more than a foot away, and would cost about $500 to duplicate today. Actually, I could make or buy something even more powerful for that price today. It would take a several thousand dollar DVD player to match its performance.

The only thing I haven't done is make it easy-to-use as I haven't converted to Windows XP Media Center Edition or another simple front-end interface yet. Pushing the power button, logging in and clicking on a media player with a wireless keyboard and mouse is easy enough for me. Being able to play music stored on a central server is a great feature of using an HTPC.

Sdallnct

And correct me if I'm wrong, but can't a HT PC do things with aspect ratio's that a stand alone DVD cannot?

X

Absolutely. I just didn't want to get too technical. I can easily do whatever I want with aspect ratios, find the one that suits my display the best, and even move a 2.35:1 picture up and down the screen periodically to even out burn-in.

Not to mention the quality improvement that I can realize just by updating to a newer software player or a newer video card.

I recently added a USB digital interface to my HTPC that lets me play DVD-A through my receiver. Another extension to its capabilities for about $30.

kvrdave

And I have found Media Center OS not worth the price of an upgrade. It doesn't add much. It is obviously made for the less computer friendly masses. I'd probably still get it on a new computer, but I would never bother to upgrade.

bryce0lynch

I'm planning on a Maxi-Mini, with an EyeTV 500, a M-Audio Transit, a Kepspan remote, and a 500gig external HD. I expect to have it in a couple of weeks. I'll update this thread as it comes in and starts working.

(I may 'downgrade' from my H&K DPR 1001 to a Panasonic slimline receiver also, I haven't decided yet. The above gear will be replace my Bravo D1 and Samsumg OTA STP.)

Spiky

All this just to catch my Denon 2900. Well, almost. Only a $1000 machine. Tsk, tsk....

AGuyNamedMike

I didn't know you could post at DVDTalk with your Denon 2900. Neat!

X

...that doesn't do scaling.

Spiky

Don't need scaling, good TV. Smooth, beautiful. Mmmmm, that's good....

Uh, what were we talking about, again?

X

I didn't need it either on my Pioneer Elite. But it certainly did improve the picture much more than the minute of effort cost me.

Spiky

I'm mostly just playing around here. But what DVDp did you go from?

X

The HTPC was my first progressive player. I'm talking about going from 480p to 1080i which bypassed the scaler in my display and did the scaling in the video card.

Spiky

Gotcha. I'm guessing you have a CRT RPTV if it does 1080i, doesn't that display do both 480p and 1080i natively? So, were you actually converting to HD in the TV before? Or just comparing the 2 display modes?