FAQ for the 3D HTPC - Page 29

Perhaps HD 5970 (well, every HD 5xxx GPU equal to or higher than 5750) supports MVC hardware decode (< 30% CPU usage with a decent dual-core processor). It (well, every HD 5xxx GPU) supports HDMI 1.4a 3D video formats. Do you have a HDMI 1.4a AVR? You won't get HD audio bitstream with a HDMI 1.3 AVR (GeForce is the best choice in this case: HDMI -> TV for video, DVI -> AVR for audio).

nope, i don't have a HDMI 1.4a AVR i just use my 5970 -> Samsung 46" 3DTV and then my Auzentech HomeTheatre HD -> Edifier S550. Will probably upgrade to a AVR setup soon.

I tried my nvidia GTX 460 yesterday for 3D viewing, the "wear your 3d glasses" icon just wont popup when playing 3D movies unlike my 5970.

Before you use a GeForce card for 3D video, you have to configure 3D video settings in NVIDIA control panel > Stereoscopic 3D > Set up stereoscopic 3D. (Radeon card is ready to be used for 3D without configuration.)

I'm building a HTPC for 3D movies. It's almost done. I, however, don't know which one I should buy : TotalMedia Theatre 5 or PowerDVD 11 Ultra. They both are good and nearly at the same prices (~$99). Which one is better price/performance? I'm a fan of youtube, if you want to know.
Can I buy a PowerDVD 11 Deluxe instead to save more money?
Thanks for your prompt replies.

Some people including myself have been experiencing excessive stuttering after the first few minutes of a blu-ray movie when using TMT5 so as of today I would give PowerDVD a try. However don't buy it right now, use the trial period first!

any suggestions on a decent video card that will do 3d and hd audio?
currently i am using an older ati 4850 (gift a few years back), and i rarely play games.

also i plan to use this vid card to hook up to my reciever. does it matter if the hdmi cable has to go through an adapter or not? like a dvi to hdmi adapter.

i looked at some cards on newegg and some either have mini hdmi (not sure if this matters or not) or dvi outputs.

I think I would go with a ATI Radeon 6570. I have a 6850 which is overkill for an HTPC but the 6570 wasn't avail when I bought it.

Is your AVR HDMI 1.4a or 1.3?

For a HDMI 1.4a AVR: Any of Intel HD Graphics 2000/3000, AMD HD 6xxx (I recommend 6570 or 6670) and NVIDIA GeForce GT(S/X) 4xx/5xx (I recommend GT 430 DDR3-1600 or GT 440 GDDR5) is good for video/audio over HDMI (then video over HDMI from AVR to display).

For a HDMI 1.3 AVR: Intel or NVIDIA is the only choice (because they support dual audio stream and it is pretty easy to select the audio device you like); connect HDMI or DVI (with a DVI-HDMI adapter) of the card to the display for 3D video, connect DVI (with a DVI-HDMI adapter) or HDMI of the card to AVR for audio.

ok cool. thanks. my avr is 1.4a and i was thinking about an nvidia card. the 430 seems to be pretty cheap, i think i will go with that one.

i know i said that i dont play any games, but when it comes to gaming how does the 430 compare to the 4850?

thanks.

HD 4850 is better for DX 9/10 games (GT 430 supports DX 11).

thank you for you help renethx.

I would like to ask a simple question, i hope it hasn't been answered too many times before.

is it completely necessary to have a video card listed as nvidia or amd 3D ready ?! (PureVideo HD 4 ,VP4, HD3D)

i have an somewhat older amd 4850 which has the ability to output to my pj at 120Hz and i was hoping that would be sufficient for movie viewing (no gaming) however i can't seem to get the 3D working just yet. i was hoping to avoid the video card change.



Setup:
quadcore intel + amd 4850
Optoma HD66
Optoma BG-ZD101 DLP Link 3D Glasses
arcsoft TMT 5

Yes it's an obligation to have a 3D compatible AMD, nVidia or Intel card.
Sorry.

_ _ _ _

dang i was hoping for non-gaming the 120Hz output would have been sufficient. guess i'll be investing in a later model card.

thanks for the reply rica!

i've seen some non gaming cards on newegg that will do 3d and hd audio for like 40-50 dollars. they are the nvidia 430 cards.

before i purchase this card, i want to make sure that its compatible with 3d and hd audio. it does not list it under the "details" section, but it is a nvidia 430.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130656

this should be fine for use with my htpc right? i just want to run it to my 1.4 AVR and my 3dtv.

thanks

The card will support HDMI 1.4a 3D video and HD audio bitstreaming. Personally I recommend DDR3-1600 video memory such as EVGA 01G-P3-1432-LR, ASUS ENGT430/DI/1GD3(LP), GIGABYTE GV-N430OC-1GL, ASUS ENGT430 DC SL/DI/1GD.

renethx, im sorry for all the questions, but does the video & audio pass through the dvi-hdmi adpater? or will i need to buy a mini hdmi cable?

thanks again.

Yes, the DVI port with a DVI-HDMI adapter supports video + audio. DVI (with a DVI-HDMI adapter) and HDMI are equivalent as far as NVIDIA grahics is concerned.

Is it necessary to use an adapter (with an HDMI > HDMI cable) for the nVidia cards, or can you just use a DVI > HDMI cable?

Not necessary; you can use it as well without any doubt.

@ ricabullah: Thanks for confirming that!

hello everyone. im new here, but have been readin a lot of the threads.

my setup is not the best, but i hope i can find some answers,

i do not know much about hardware, but this is what i am currently using:

i7 920
4gb of ram
old ATI 4850.

i bought this pc from dell about a year ago, so the motherboard and powersupply arent that good.

i recently picked up a 50 LG 3dtv at frys for 600 with 2 pairs of active glasses.
the tv itself is only 720p.

i have my pc hooked up to a monitor vga cable, and i also have the dvi-hdmi adapter to a 20 foot hdmi cable hooked up to my tv. so when i want to watch a movie from my pc, i turn off my pc monitor, and i change the resolution to 1368x768 for my 720p tv. since i have my pc hooked up to both my monitor and TV, is this causing me to lose any quality?

what i would like to do is pick up a video card that will allow me to output 3d and HD audio to my denon 1611.

i also use the frame doubling scripts found here with ffdshow:
*sorry i cant post links yet* but it's a thread here in the htpc section.

i can use some of those scripts fine, but the video card does not support 3d or hd audio.

i would like to try an nvidia card for the cuda, and madVR that many of you are talking about.

what is a good choice for me? my psu is a generic 360 watt, so im not sure if it can handle a nvidia 450 or higher.

im thinking about the 430, but is it enough to do what i need?

thank you

BTW, the cheaper the better. i really do not want to spend over $100.

Yes, this is the best choice IMO.

went with the 440 and everything is good so far. IF i went with a 450 instead, would PQ be better or the same?

i like to use mpc-hc with the frame doubling scripts used with ffdshow.

Well, I thought I had 3d on my HTPC figured out. Well that was until I started tinkering, I decided I wanted to make a custom resolution for my blurays to play at 23.976 hz. When I made that custom resolution it broke 3d playback. When I should switch to 3d mode it just switches to 24 hz and nothing else. No 3d. You can't possibly tell me that I can't have both. Right now I'm getting rid of the custom resolution and reinstalling the Nvidia drivers.

Has anyone got this working, or is this just another limitation? Maybe I'm just going about this the wrong way? Please help.


Update: Okay I got my 3d back, but now I can't switch to 23.976 fps for standard blurays?

Intel SNB - GT430 - Pioneer 1120 - Samsung pn58c8000

PQ depends on the upscaling/upsampling algorithms, that use either CPU or GPU's stream processors for calculation, and 440 has a sufficient number of stream processors for this purpose. So you won't see difference by upgrading to 450. SVP + madVR works very well.

any GT440 GDDR5?
in my local store i find Gt440 512MB GDDR5 at the same price with 1 GB GDDR3,
would you recommend the first or the second card?
the GT440 1 GB GDDR5 costs about $30 than the others

renethx, do you reccomend using SVP, or the ffdshow scripts in the "frame doubling" thread?

i thought they did the same thing.

Anyone?