[Evangelo2]

Hey Guys,

I am about to purchase TheaterTek and am wondering if Im doing the right thing.

First off, I have a HP Z556 Digital Entertainment Center PC (P4 3.0 GHz, 1.5 Gig Ram, GeForce 6600 128 MB RAM, 250 Gig HD, Gigabit Ethernet Connection). I am running MCE 2005 Rollout 2 and have fully updated it. I also have purchased the NVidia PureVideo Platiunum Decoder.

I want to use TheaterTek and ffdshow as well. Does TheaterTek, the NVidia PureVideo decoders and ffdshow all play well together? I dont want to spend the money on TheaterTek if it is not compatable with the NVidia PureVideo decoders or if it is reduntant to purchase.

Thanks for any advice guys.

-Evangelo2

 

[hendricksonet]

Does TheaterTek, the NVidia PureVideo decoders and ffdshow all play well together?

-Actually TheaterTek comes with the PureVideo decoders. You wouldn't have needed to purchase them seperately.


I run TheaterTek using PureVideo decoders as the primary and ffdshow as the secondary (i think that's the names of them in theatertek). The picture is amazing compared to my dvd player.

 

[lousygolfer]

Do a free trial of TheaterTek to see if you like it.


I very much like the video results I get with it, but that is just the Purevideo at work. I also like the fact that I had been having problems using WinDVD and PowerDVD getting SPDIF passthrough to work to send DD 5.1 and DTS digital signals to my HT receiver to decode, but everything worked like a charm with TheaterTek. I actually prefer the interfaces of WinDVD and PowerDVD to TheaterTek's, but will deal with it temporarily until I get everything set up to run using a remote control. Speaking of remotes, TheaterTek is supposed to be compatible and work easily with over 70 brands of remote controls.

 

[umdivx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelo2 /forum/post/0


Hey Guys,

I am about to purchase TheaterTek and am wondering if Im doing the right thing.

First off, I have a HP Z556 Digital Entertainment Center PC (P4 3.0 GHz, 1.5 Gig Ram, GeForce 6600 128 MB RAM, 250 Gig HD, Gigabit Ethernet Connection). I am running MCE 2005 Rollout 2 and have fully updated it. I also have purchased the NVidia PureVideo Platiunum Decoder.

I want to use TheaterTek and ffdshow as well. Does TheaterTek, the NVidia PureVideo decoders and ffdshow all play well together? I dont want to spend the money on TheaterTek if it is not compatable with the NVidia PureVideo decoders or if it is reduntant to purchase.

Thanks for any advice guys.

-Evangelo2

Well I'd think since Theatertek comes with the Nvidia pure video decoders built into, I'm pretty sure their compatible

So the problem though is if you get theatertek you basically double paying for the Nvidia pure video decoders.


Also why did you buy the platinum decoders? There really isn't any need for those if your doing spdif audio out.


- Josh

 

[Evangelo2]

umdivx,

I thought that for it to send DTS out over sPDIF I needed the platinum. If not then I guess I didnt need them

I am not sure what DVD player my HTPC is using now via MyMovies. I guess it is whatever came installed on the z556 (InterVideo WinDVD?). Will ffdshow work with the default palyer? Is the default player even using my PureVideo decoders? How do I check this? Thanks again guys.

-Evaneglo2

 

[umdivx]

use the MS decoder Checker to see what is the current MPEG decoder:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en


as far as purevideo platinum, what that is for is if you DON'T want to send the audio out via SPDIF, meaning if you use an analog audio card and send out the analog signals to an external receiver or amp, the pure video platinum decoders decode the DD and DTS and then send those individual audio channels out that way.


If you want to just send the digital audio and pass it through to your reicver then no need for the extra package.


when you say mymovies, I take it your running MCE? When you open up a movie does it just open up within MCE or does it use an external dvd playing application?


An no you can't use the post processing features of FFdshow with MCE's dvd app or WinDVD, you need a DVD player like Theatertek or Zoom Player to use the post processing features.


- Josh

 

[eric.exe]



Quote:
Originally Posted by umdivx /forum/post/0


An no you can't use the post processing features of FFdshow with MCE's dvd app or WinDVD, you need a DVD player like Theatertek or Zoom Player to use the post processing features.

Im trying to understand this stuff too.


Doesn't Theatertek have it's own post processing? If so or if not, what are the benefits of using using FFDshow with Theatertek or Zoom over Media Player Classic?

 

[umdivx]

Theatertek is more pretty and user freindly, and ZP limits are endless when it comes to customization.


MPC is good in its own rights but not that great of a DVD app for its user interface, but you can infact use FFDshow to post process DVD's.


- Josh

 

[Evangelo2]

OK Guys,

Purchased TheaterTek and set up fffdshow. Results look pretty good. One problem now. I have enabled MyMovies to use TheaterTek by selecting the option. ONly thing is when I click to start watching a movie in MyMovies, it launches TheaterTek behind the Media Center window. I thought that KillManager app (or whatever its called that runs in the taskbar) is supposed to bring down or minimize Media Center so that TheaterTek can come to the front? I dont want to have to get the keyboard out to hit alt-tab everytime a movie is on. Any ideas guys? Thanks.

-Evangelo2

 

[Evangelo2]

OK Guys,

Did a little research and found out that there is a always on top option I need to turn on for TheaterTek to come up on top. That should do it I think

Also, I get some stutter when playing DVDs. Any idea what I can try to help cut back on this? I disabled Norton and have very little installed/running on my machine. Any ideas/suggestions would be great.

-Evangelo2

 

[lstepnio]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelo2 /forum/post/0


OK Guys,

Did a little research and found out that there is a always on top option I need to turn on for TheaterTek to come up on top. That should do it I think

Also, I get some stutter when playing DVDs. Any idea what I can try to help cut back on this? I disabled Norton and have very little installed/running on my machine. Any ideas/suggestions would be great.

-Evangelo2

The first thing is to start with post-processing disabled and only using PureVideo. You'll also want to configure PureVideo for VMR9 (In most cases). You can access the PureVideo configuration once a video is player through the icon next to the system clock. I don't know about TheaterTek but in Zoom Player you also have to setup your renderer (VMR9) in the player to match the codec setting or it can cause problems.