Ultimate Home Theater Guide

[MohawkAngel]

What if I plug my tv cable provider directly in my computer with pci tv-card and i use DVI cable for my computer screen? With my rig is there any tricks to boost the quality of the signal and the videos speed? Thank you !

i dont know if you want to mention this but with that powerful of an htpc there is no need to turn bitstreaming on. as long as there is hdmi and a powerful processor you dont have to encode the signal at all, just use pcm to get it from the htpc to the tv/receiver/whatever.

bitstreaming is only necessary when you have a lower power rig and no hdmi cable because the cpu cant process the information fast enough and the optical cable or rca cables didnt have the capacity to carry it.

so it is preferred if given the option to turn off bitstreaming as the crazy A/V enthusiasts insist for the sake of purity to use pcm instead.

 

[Easy Rhino]

What if I plug my tv cable provider directly in my computer with pci tv-card and i use DVI cable for my computer screen? With my rig is there any tricks to boost the quality of the signal and the videos speed? Thank you !

probably nothing you can do since the picture quality between hdmi and dvi is the same so far. the nice thing about hdmi is eliminating the need for an audio wire and its ability to carry a sh*t ton of information.

 

[Mussels]

probably nothing you can do since the picture quality between hdmi and dvi is the same so far. the nice thing about hdmi is eliminating the need for an audio wire and its ability to carry a sh*t ton of information.

i dont think HDMI is being used to its full potential yet.


i noticed my HDTV supports DLNA and a fwe other features, and saw a DLNA media box on the news page...


looks like HDMI can transfer controls from a remote to other devices.

EG, my TV remote has play/pause/rewind (even if they dont do anything on the TV) and they can be passed through HDMI to these devices, even without line of sight/compatible remote

 

[freaksavior]

Please guys, if this thread doesn't make sense, you don't understand something, and its just not clear, please let me know. I fixed what Raid 5 means, but i posted this on Hardforum and the first few post were critical and negative about "I would never recommend any of this to anyone" So I want to know why.

So let me know if something is wrong or doesn't make sense .

 

[Easy Rhino]

i dont think HDMI is being used to its full potential yet.


i noticed my HDTV supports DLNA and a fwe other features, and saw a DLNA media box on the news page...


looks like HDMI can transfer controls from a remote to other devices.

EG, my TV remote has play/pause/rewind (even if they dont do anything on the TV) and they can be passed through HDMI to these devices, even without line of sight/compatible remote

yea, im sure hdmi is not being used to its full potential yet.

 

[Delta6326]

is there any way to rip my dvd's faster took over 1hour for one dvd

 

[freaksavior]

Which software are you using?

 

[Delta6326]

the one with the fox

 

[freaksavior]

anydvd is actually really slow its pathetic.

try DVD Decrypter

 

[coljarcker]

thanks for hte guide

 

[freaksavior]

Updated with how to use VLC to play mkv/avi files

 

[Easy Rhino]

don't want to jack your thread, but a lot of people may want to consider XBMC as an alternative to WMC.

 

[freaksavior]

No worries. Input is welcome. I haven't used XBMC so I can't really input on that one.

 

[viczulis]

Nice guide man

Thanks

 

[mon74]

Thanks for this write-up!

I was considering buying a sound card, but since i use toslink to connect the pc to mi receiver, the onboard audio is just as good, seeing as it is digital, or there are real differences in audio quality?

 

[Mussels]

Thanks for this write-up!

I was considering buying a sound card, but since i use toslink to connect the pc to mi receiver, the onboard audio is just as good, seeing as it is digital, or there are real differences in audio quality?

with digital, no not really. the only advantage would be in encoding, which is relevant for gaming, not for media playback.

 

[Johnny87au]

hey mate just sent you a pm, Also wanting to know, Do you have to use My movies as a program for 7MC to work?? All my videos are DvD rips etc, not actual Full DVD Rips off a dvd, So how would i go about putting those into My movies? the same way or ?

 

[freaksavior]

Replied to your PM and no, you can use the files, my movies will index them and play them accordingly.

There are other softwares like my movies, but I like that one the best.

 

[Johnny87au]

thanks

 

[Samdbugman]

messed something up

i guess i should have replied here. after using anydvd and then my movies, i start media player, the box art is there, i hit play and it ask for the disc. the reason for loading them will is so i dont need the disc.
i assume i am missing a step and cant get it right. also note..i own each dvd i want to store and play on my hdd. i will not make any copies for sale or to give away, i just want to be able to go to media center and look at all my movies and decide which i want to watch without digging out the disc. thanks again all! i previously posted this in software, i wil delete that post now. thanks again all!

 

[Dent1]

i guess i should have replied here. after using anydvd and then my movies, i start media player, the box art is there, i hit play and it ask for the disc. the reason for loading them will is so i dont need the disc.
i assume i am missing a step and cant get it right. also note..i own each dvd i want to store and play on my hdd. i will not make any copies for sale or to give away, i just want to be able to go to media center and look at all my movies and decide which i want to watch without digging out the disc. thanks again all! i previously posted this in software, i wil delete that post now. thanks again all!

Create a .ISO image of the DVD Disc using or shareware/freeware application. i.e. MagicISO, PowerIso, Daemon Tools.

Once you have created the ISO file of the DVD you have to mount the ISO file. You can use the above mentioned applications to mount the DVD. Once mounted the computer will create a virtual drive allowing playback in AnyDVD or whichever player you use.


http://www.filehippo.com/download_magiciso/
http://www.poweriso.com/download.htm
http://www.filehippo.com/download_daemon_tools/5054/

 

[Samdbugman]

what i have done is to use dvd dycrypter, sending it to "my videos" file and then just adding them to media player library. seems to work just fine.
&

 

[freaksavior]

i guess i should have replied here. after using anydvd and then my movies, i start media player, the box art is there, i hit play and it ask for the disc. the reason for loading them will is so i dont need the disc.
i assume i am missing a step and cant get it right. also note..i own each dvd i want to store and play on my hdd. i will not make any copies for sale or to give away, i just want to be able to go to media center and look at all my movies and decide which i want to watch without digging out the disc. thanks again all! i previously posted this in software, i wil delete that post now. thanks again all!

Create a .ISO image of the DVD Disc using or shareware/freeware application. i.e. MagicISO, PowerIso, Daemon Tools.

Once you have created the ISO file of the DVD you have to mount the ISO file. You can use the above mentioned applications to mount the DVD. Once mounted the computer will create a virtual drive allowing playback in AnyDVD or whichever player you use.


http://www.filehippo.com/download_magiciso/
http://www.poweriso.com/download.htm
http://www.filehippo.com/download_daemon_tools/5054/

what i have done is to use dvd dycrypter, sending it to "my videos" file and then just adding them to media player library. seems to work just fine.
&

That would work but it also requires you to manually load the disc each time while my movies will do it for you. if you follow the guide, it is pretty similar. My movies is just to index the movies and then it loads an external program to play them.

 

[Samdbugman]

freeaksavior i want to thank you for the incredible guide. i now have all my movies installed, but what i did was send each to libraries>videos>my videos and made a new folder for each one, and i dont need the disc now to run any of the movies. however i didnt use any indexing program, i open media player, and the movies are listed alphabeticly. i figure thats good enough for me, i dont want to install an indexing program and possibly mess something up. i had no idea how many dvd's we had until i got finished and dont want to go through that install again. and many thanks!

 

[Jyoti]

Thank you so very very much, freaksavior, for your fantastic work writing this guide. I learned a whole lot and got answers to quite a few of my question. Please keep your good work and share your knowledge with us newbies. Take care!!!