Different Sort of Home Theater - Some n00b Questions
03-12-06, 03:29 PM
#1
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Different Sort of Home Theater - Some n00b Questions
Okay... so I looked around a bit and haven't found much help concerning this... well, I didnt search this forum but meh.. I may as well just ask 
I'm thinking of buying myself a widescreent TV, a nice big one, probably LCD or Plasma and setting up a home theater system.
But rather then going out and buying a DVD player along with it, I figured I would just use my computer as a DVD player by outputting it to the television and then getting 5.1 computer speakers and placing them around the room.
So I have a few questions:
A) Will all DVDs fill my WS TV without any black bars? Or is this only the case with certain DVDs? Does it require an amazing DVD player? I recently got to play with a WS TV and found that movies like Shrek, The Princess Bride and Spider-man would fill the whole TV, whereas others still had black bars. I was under the impression that all DVDs would.. but I don't care that much, I'd just like to know for sure.
B) I hear some TVs come with PC input? How well does it work? Is there any advantage to it rather then just using regular input? I've learned I'll have to use SVideo in and out in order to get a good picture.
C) Any reccomended video cards? I've got an ATI Radeon 8500 right now, but it's old and I'll probably get a new one.
The first question is the source of the most confusion for me, obviously. It is my understanding that not all movies are filmed in one type of widescreen, so they sometimes look different.
Sorry for sounding so noobish, I've only just started looking at this.
Thanks!
(Sorry for typos, I'm very rushed, have to get offline and go home now!)
I'm thinking of buying myself a widescreent TV, a nice big one, probably LCD or Plasma and setting up a home theater system.
But rather then going out and buying a DVD player along with it, I figured I would just use my computer as a DVD player by outputting it to the television and then getting 5.1 computer speakers and placing them around the room.
So I have a few questions:
A) Will all DVDs fill my WS TV without any black bars? Or is this only the case with certain DVDs? Does it require an amazing DVD player? I recently got to play with a WS TV and found that movies like Shrek, The Princess Bride and Spider-man would fill the whole TV, whereas others still had black bars. I was under the impression that all DVDs would.. but I don't care that much, I'd just like to know for sure.
B) I hear some TVs come with PC input? How well does it work? Is there any advantage to it rather then just using regular input? I've learned I'll have to use SVideo in and out in order to get a good picture.
C) Any reccomended video cards? I've got an ATI Radeon 8500 right now, but it's old and I'll probably get a new one.
The first question is the source of the most confusion for me, obviously. It is my understanding that not all movies are filmed in one type of widescreen, so they sometimes look different.
Sorry for sounding so noobish, I've only just started looking at this.
Thanks!
(Sorry for typos, I'm very rushed, have to get offline and go home now!)
03-12-06, 03:52 PM
#2
DVD Talk God
Originally Posted by Kalinda
So I have a few questions:
A) Will all DVDs fill my WS TV without any black bars? Or is this only the case with certain DVDs? Does it require an amazing DVD player? I recently got to play with a WS TV and found that movies like Shrek, The Princess Bride and Spider-man would fill the whole TV, whereas others still had black bars. I was under the impression that all DVDs would.. but I don't care that much, I'd just like to know for sure.
03-12-06, 04:03 PM
#3
Administrator
A) Your widescreen set will have a ratio of 1.78:1. A regular TV has a 1.33:1 ratio. Movies that are filmed in about the same ratio as your widescreen, 1.85:1, won't have any black bars. Movies in higher ratios such as 2.35:1 will have bars on the top and bottom. 1.33:1 format movies (generally old movies & TV shows) will have black bars on the side. And movies that are "letterboxed" will have bars on all sides. That's just the way it is.
B) You will want to use component or VGA or DVI output from your computer. S-video looks like crap.
C) Your 8500 will work ok. I've got a 9600 that's a bit better. The new preferred card seems to be the Geforce 6600. I'm not sure it matters if you're using DVI (which I usually do, depending on what set I'm watching).
B) You will want to use component or VGA or DVI output from your computer. S-video looks like crap.
C) Your 8500 will work ok. I've got a 9600 that's a bit better. The new preferred card seems to be the Geforce 6600. I'm not sure it matters if you're using DVI (which I usually do, depending on what set I'm watching).
