Semi-Official BD and HD DVD on an HTPC Configuration/Playback FAQ - Page 9

I'm not surprised you're seeing 100% in KK. It's one of the more demanding titles. I see 40-60% cpu usage on my E6300 @2.8gig.

I think the problem is more down to CPU load when processing PiP stuff, even when it's not on. Your GPU can't accelerate that.

As you say, more mature software may fix that. PiP really shouldn't cause a CPU hit when it's not being used.

i found an X2 4400+ hpefully that will do the trick when it arrives.
in the meantime batman returns is reasnably smooth on my single 3200+ and a couple other 2.40:1 are at least viewable if certainly a little bit distractingly chopy here and there.

Hi, been trying to read up on everything before I made my first post

I just purchased the xbox 360 hd dvd player to use w/ my laptop (fujitsu c2d 2.0 w/ x1800 hdcp compliant)

I have a gateway 24" hd ready lcd...

I havn't really read up on anyone w/ a laptop running one of these drives successfully, and I wanted to make sure that the powerdvd ultra will work before I shell out a $110 (plus the back up cd)...

thanks for any help and info...(I'm going to do some more reading and hopefully come up w/ the answer myself =P)

Toshiba releases HD DVD writer

You guys may already know about this, but in case you havn't seen it yet, here is a link to an article about it.


http://www.playfuls.com/news_05712_...D_Writer.htm l

your URL is busted, here's the correct one: http://www.playfuls.com/news_05712_T...VD_Writer.html

Not much solid tech info in that press release, nor pricing info.

On my HP m7640n Media Center will not properly autostart an SD DVD on the internal DVD Drive when MCE 2005 is running if the XBOX add on is attached to the USB port. I get an error message that the region is incorrect, or some autoplays it will not decode properly and both the audio and the video will be garbled. BTW you can drop out of Media Center and autostart and then let select WMP 10 and everything is fine.

If I launch Media Center from the Desktop and the DVD is already in the internal drive it will start fine from the Play DVD button in MCE.

If I diconnect XBOX HD Drive from the USB cable Media Center behaves normally. Insert a DVD into the internal drive while Media Center is on top and the DVD autoplays with no Region Error.

Anyone seen this behavior before??

Does anyone have any idea when we'll see simple internal BD-ROM and HDDVD-ROM devices (XBox hd-dvd addon is close, but it's an external device)? I have no interest in burning discs, I just want to play them on my HTPC. The added cost of the burners is really preventing me from going dual-format at this point. (I have an HD-A1)

Toshiba's SD-H903A integrates a blue-violet laser diode to read and write HD DVD-R discs and supports high-density HD DVD-ROM discs, including high-definition movie and video images.

I was just reading up today on the upcoming (March 2007) Sony XL3:

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/s...use-225301.php

Though $3,300 seems a bit steep, it will be a DVR for OTA content and play your Blu-Ray disks.

Robert

just get powerdvd6.5 hddvd for now mate

this should be linked in the OP


List of 100% HDCP compliant video cards:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1071342

I have or will have this week the following components for setting up my HTPC for HD-DVD:

1) E6600 OC to 3 GHz on Asus P5B-dlx with 2 Gig RAM.

2) XBox 360 Addon drive

3) MSI NX7600GT DIAMOND PLUS GeForce 7600 GT

4) Sharp LC45GX6U 1080P LCD set up with a Gefen DVI switch for direct to panel 1080P.

4) Powerdvd Ultra

I just spent the last hour of so reading through the pertinent threads here looking for a list of step by step instructions for assembling the components. Does anybody know if there is a post on how to and in what order to install the software and components?

Definitely have the X360 hooked up prior to the PowerDVD install or the Blu-ray version will get installed by default.

Just the sort of advice I was looking for. Isn't there a patch from MS that needs to be installed also? Is the cable (mini usb- usb) that comes with the 360 addon the one to use?
Thanks for the help.

Hi! I have a brand new SONY VAIO AR21S (nvidia 7600 gt card) with Blur-ray and HDMI output, and a SONY BRAVIA 46x2000 (1080p). When I connect them, the tv says that it´s getting a 1080i signal. I have another PC connected, with an ATI card, and I have a 1080p signal (depends on the driver, I also had a 1080i signal once). I have looked for newer nvidia drivers, but the one I got is the one they released, back in July. Can anyone help me get a 1080p signal? TIA

Hey Woodspoon.

I think the reason you're seeing 1080i and not 1080p is because your LCD isn't 1080p capable. It's native resolution is 1366x768 and that equates to 1080i and 720p only.

Someone, correct me if I am wrong.

The 46S2000 is a beautiful set by the way. Yes, I own one too.

-Mike

I have the 46X2000, not the 46S2000. Mine is 1080p, as I said before. The problem is in the HDMI connection or in the software. I had to change drivers on my other pc because it would set 1080i, and the older ones would do 1080p, but on the VAIO, with the Nvidia card I only get 1080i. Does anyone know if there´s a driver update coming?

1) E6600 OC to 3 GHz on Asus P5B-dlx with 2 Gig RAM.

2) XBox 360 Addon drive

3) MSI NX7600GT DIAMOND PLUS GeForce 7600 GT

4) Sharp LC45GX6U 1080P LCD set up with a Gefen DVI switch for direct to panel 1080P.

4) Powerdvd 7.1 Ultra

Works great after I rigged it for 5.1 analog sound.

tell us about the 5.1 analog sound. please. which soundcard . which hd sound formats are working.

I'm using the onboard sound on the Asus P5B-dlx wifi edition. When I used SPDIF coax output to my panny XR55 reciever with King Kong (the only HD-DVD I have at the moment) it would give DD 5.1 until I pushed play the movie and then would it give a staccato noise when the DD+ 5.1 kicked in. It would only work over coax out with 2 channel stereo selected. None of the multi channels selections would work well enough over coax to understand what was going on in the movie. 6 channel analog out to the XR55's 6 analog input sounds pretty good. I would say that the dialog is more clear than regular DD or DTS from SD DVD's. Absolutely nothing wrong with the sound (which I assume is DD+) except that I don't have any bass management and that I'm not driving my 2 back speakers because I only have 5.1 inputs on the XR55. A good reason to upgrade to a Yamaha 1700 reciever.

One more observation with the above set up using the onboard sound of the Asus P5B-dlx with Phantom of the Opera HD-DVD is that I had to run the panny XR55 just about wide open at 10db in order to get enough volume. It was at the point where the amp hum was so bad that I had to drop it down to around 20 db. I'm not nearly as as happy now as I was with the sound in the previous post.

I tried a xbox 360 hddvd drive on my stock HP a1600n desktop without a hdcp video card and rented Tombraider 1 and all I got was the start of the Paramount logo before it quit.I'm using powerdvd 6.5 and powerstrip to manage the video to my Barco.I got sound and video before it gave me a protected disc error.So my question is will a hdcp card with a vga adapter allow me to watch hddvds?Thanks BigD

Is the Gateway confirmed 100% HDCP on all connections? I just more or less confirmed the Dell 20" Wide monitor is NOT HDCP on the DVI connection, which means I am staying away from the 24" model..

Thanks .

Why are you staying away from the 24" model ?

DELL don't feature HDCP on their 20" screens and below.

The 22" http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna...dhs1&sku=88221 upwards (including the 24" obviously http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna...dhs1&sku=59234 ) all include HDCP.


HDCP is digital-only ! It only applies to DVI/HDMI inputs !

Why is this thread stickied with bad/old information?

In the future, when HDCP and AACS are totally cracked, when BD and HDDVD drives lower down to a reseaonable price, That would be more easier for HTPC to play......

But I still can not imagine how does a HTPC output future digital audio signals to amplifiers? such as DOLBY DIGITAL Plus, DOLBY DIGITAL Ture HD, DTS-HD........

It is said that optical and coaxial cable can not transfer them, only HDMI will do. How can a HTPC mix those audio into the graphics card (then to HDMI)??? Build the audio chip in north bridge???

Why not analog decoding via soundcard. There are already some pretty powerful soundcards with 7.1 output channels. The right software and a little bit of processor overhead and viola... at least as flexible as a receiver upgrade everytime someone comes out with a new audio format.

I still prefer AV amplifiers.....

In my opinion, the correct and proper task of computers is just to output digital signals ....... both video and audio ~~~~~~